realize—"
Her chin sagged for a moment. "You did this before?"
"The first time we met, at the trading center." 1 took
hold of her wrists once more and raised them. "This image was one I shared with you." Before she had met Torin—before she had ever seen him. I had prior claim on her.
"Reever—you—" Anger reduced her speech capacity significantly. "I never said you could touch me or—or—"
Didn't she understand? Couldn't she feel the connection between us? Did I have to explain everything to her? "I don't have to touch you."
I dropped her wrist, and she swiveled and began to walk away.
No.
What happened next was as much a surprise to me as it was to her. I reached out to her mind to link, but determination to stop her changed the probe and allowed me control over her physical body.
Stop. Her body halted, as if time stood still. She began to cry out, but 1 stopped that impulse as well. Quiet. Then I went after her.
I moved around her, holding her mind with mine as 1 inspected her. She was trying to speak; I could see her throat moving. But I controlled her speech center, and blocked all sound impulses. I could control everything she did. Her thoughts were frantic—she was wondering how I could be doing this, what type of psychic ability 1 had.
Even experiencing my Hnkhold over her, she could not believe it was possible. I looked into her eyes, and attempted a direct thought transfer. Yes, it is. Reever? She was even more shocked than before. Can you hear me?
Yes. I hear you. I moved closer, enjoying my power over her. Who would not wish control such as this over another being? Especially one I wanted so much?
I felt no guilt. She was my balance. She belonged with me. She belonged to me. And if she did not recognize it now, in time she would understand.
You are really doing this. She didn't want to believe it, but her mind was logical, and she was not a coward. Why? Why are you doing this to me?
How could I explain the needs surging inside me? She would not believe them. I did not myself. You're the only one I've never had to touch.
Her mind was a snarl of contradictions and emotions— curiosity, outrage, fear—and something else, something she wouldn't reveal to me. She held up barriers there which 1 could not penetrate. Beyond her emotions, her mind was orderly and ruthlessly organized—her cognitive knowledge of medicine alone was astounding—and I realized that what she had learned during her brief years would have taken another Terran decades, perhaps even a lifetime to comprehend.
I moved back into what she was unconsciously trying to conceal—her memory center. Everywhere I saw shadows upon shadows, suppressing and obscuring her life before she came to K-2. There was only one, very clear memory I could make out—that of another Terran female, older than Cherijo, with vivid red hair.
PLAGUE OF MEMORY 101
Lighten up, Joey. You do any more studying and your eyes will fall out of your head. Come on, let's go shopping.
Joey. Of course, a diminutive of Cherijo. I liked the sound of it very much.
Jam.
Images of my own body, injured and in a hospital berth, pushed me back, trying to force me from her mind. Those were coming from the ensleg ship, from the present. Reever was seeing me. My husband was trying to pull me out of this snarl of memories not my own—
Reever could not free me, so he took me back to the grove of purple trees, where he and Cherijo had linked for the first time.
Enough, Reever. Cherijo's subconscious drew strength from the shadows in her mind, even though I suspected she herself was not aware of them. The combination was quite powerful. Get out of my head!
My warrior of life. She had yet to recognize that I was her balance.
Wait. 1 took her hand in mine, entwined my fingers with hers. I had to make her understand who I was, what I was. She did not understand that she would be safe with me, that I had as many shadows and dark places inside me. She did not know that I
Her chin sagged for a moment. "You did this before?"
"The first time we met, at the trading center." 1 took
hold of her wrists once more and raised them. "This image was one I shared with you." Before she had met Torin—before she had ever seen him. I had prior claim on her.
"Reever—you—" Anger reduced her speech capacity significantly. "I never said you could touch me or—or—"
Didn't she understand? Couldn't she feel the connection between us? Did I have to explain everything to her? "I don't have to touch you."
I dropped her wrist, and she swiveled and began to walk away.
No.
What happened next was as much a surprise to me as it was to her. I reached out to her mind to link, but determination to stop her changed the probe and allowed me control over her physical body.
Stop. Her body halted, as if time stood still. She began to cry out, but 1 stopped that impulse as well. Quiet. Then I went after her.
I moved around her, holding her mind with mine as 1 inspected her. She was trying to speak; I could see her throat moving. But I controlled her speech center, and blocked all sound impulses. I could control everything she did. Her thoughts were frantic—she was wondering how I could be doing this, what type of psychic ability 1 had.
Even experiencing my Hnkhold over her, she could not believe it was possible. I looked into her eyes, and attempted a direct thought transfer. Yes, it is. Reever? She was even more shocked than before. Can you hear me?
Yes. I hear you. I moved closer, enjoying my power over her. Who would not wish control such as this over another being? Especially one I wanted so much?
I felt no guilt. She was my balance. She belonged with me. She belonged to me. And if she did not recognize it now, in time she would understand.
You are really doing this. She didn't want to believe it, but her mind was logical, and she was not a coward. Why? Why are you doing this to me?
How could I explain the needs surging inside me? She would not believe them. I did not myself. You're the only one I've never had to touch.
Her mind was a snarl of contradictions and emotions— curiosity, outrage, fear—and something else, something she wouldn't reveal to me. She held up barriers there which 1 could not penetrate. Beyond her emotions, her mind was orderly and ruthlessly organized—her cognitive knowledge of medicine alone was astounding—and I realized that what she had learned during her brief years would have taken another Terran decades, perhaps even a lifetime to comprehend.
I moved back into what she was unconsciously trying to conceal—her memory center. Everywhere I saw shadows upon shadows, suppressing and obscuring her life before she came to K-2. There was only one, very clear memory I could make out—that of another Terran female, older than Cherijo, with vivid red hair.
PLAGUE OF MEMORY 101
Lighten up, Joey. You do any more studying and your eyes will fall out of your head. Come on, let's go shopping.
Joey. Of course, a diminutive of Cherijo. I liked the sound of it very much.
Jam.
Images of my own body, injured and in a hospital berth, pushed me back, trying to force me from her mind. Those were coming from the ensleg ship, from the present. Reever was seeing me. My husband was trying to pull me out of this snarl of memories not my own—
Reever could not free me, so he took me back to the grove of purple trees, where he and Cherijo had linked for the first time.
Enough, Reever. Cherijo's subconscious drew strength from the shadows in her mind, even though I suspected she herself was not aware of them. The combination was quite powerful. Get out of my head!
My warrior of life. She had yet to recognize that I was her balance.
Wait. 1 took her hand in mine, entwined my fingers with hers. I had to make her understand who I was, what I was. She did not understand that she would be safe with me, that I had as many shadows and dark places inside me. She did not know that I
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