Daughter of Time 1: Reader by Erec Stebbins Page A

first one that had spoken. The second leaned forward.
    “Ambra, I too am a Reader. Readers exist in many of the alien species in the Dram Hegemony. But our talents are weak compared to human Readers. And compared to you – there has never been a Reader like you, Ambra.”
    “The man who did this to me said there was. He said there was one who predicted me.”
    There was a long pause. The Xixian Reader then continued. “We will not speak of this right now. But what you say is true. But you have the potential to surpass everything that he has done.”
    My head was swimming. Already fatigue was catching up to me again. What did they want with me?
    The first one spoke again. “Ambra, how is it that you are blind and yet you see?”
    I shook my head. How was I going to explain all this? I couldn’t really even explain it to myself. My trips to the past – where they real? Was I mad? Did I really see or did I imagine? After everything that had happened to me – kidnapped, my parents killed, the surgeries, the aliens, being sold, nearly driven to death, and now this – how did I know I wasn’t mad? And if I wasn’t, did I even have words to make sense of it all?
    “I…I look at things that were… before . I can look and see things, many things, that have happened. It’s like a web or weaving dancing in my mind…no, I don’t know, I don’t know how to explain it. Things far and close. If I look close, and at those things near me, I can see what was moments before, which is like seeing what is now. Almost. That’s what it is for me.”
    The two were silent, and their eyestalks darted back and forth between each other. I guess it’s what I would call a “knowing look” for these creatures. Something passed between them. The Reader spoke.
    “Ambra, you may call me Thel. I have been assigned to you. There are many things we would like to know. We need to know what you can see.”
    Finally, it was enough for me. The fatigue, the questions, the strangeness of everything around me. I nearly shouted. “Why?! What do you want with me? I just want to be left alone. I don’t want this anymore. Please …please. Can’t you just take me home?”
    Thel spoke softly. “No, Ambra. We can’t.”
    I began to cry.
    “For your pain, we would. But there is so much you do not understand.”
    “What? What don’t I understand?” I sobbed out between breaths.
    “Earth is not safe for you, Ambra. Earth is not what you think it is. You seem to have explored the past, but not thoroughly, or you would have seen that several hundred years ago, Earth was infiltrated by agents of the Dram. In humans, they found a gold mine, herds of humans with powerful Reader potential. They quickly subverted your cultures, your nations, and guided the development of your civilization with the sole goal of breeding, identifying, and selecting humans of the greatest Reader powers. There is no place on Earth where their influence does not extend. Should you return to Earth, very soon you would be back in their hands.”
    “Like I’m in your hands?”
    “We believe we are different, Ambra.”
    “Prove it. Let me go. Take me back!”
    “Ambra, we do not wish to use you as the Dram would use you, only for selfish gain. But we need you. Not only the Xix, but many alien species need you. And your own race needs you, too. Quite desperately.”
    “What can you need me for?”
    “The Hegemony of the Dram has ruled our galaxy for too long. There are those underneath their rule that seek what you would call liberation. This Resistance needs you. Only when the Dram are defeated can they be removed from Earth, and your own planet be freed. Nothing on Earth is as it seems. You are not in control of your destiny. You are puppets on strings. Cattle that are bred, raised, and taken for one purpose: slavery.”
    I was still for several moments. Have you ever had a sudden sense of truth, of something that was hanging over you, but until that moment, you