Chapter 63: Psychic Attack

In a basement office of the Gober embassy, the ambassador sat at his desk. He thought about the message he received earlier.

Gober trained all their diplomats in covert operations and espionage, but this was the first covert assignment since they posted him to Dentra. He had waited all his life for this opportunity.

And it was huge. An assignment for Her Imperial Majesty could make or break his career.

A slight cough interrupted his thoughts. He looked up to face a female Gober, standing just outside the open doorway. He cleared his mind of his thoughts and smiled at the operative.

“Come in please, Yuhi,” he said.

She entered the room and sat facing the ambassador.

“I have an important job for you. We need you to locate a target. We think he may be on Dentra,” said the ambassador.

“May I see an image of the target?” asked Yuhi.

The ambassador pressed a button on the device on his desk. Images of Brian appeared above the desk, together with writing in Gober.

Yuhi studied it carefully. He looked rather handsome, if only his skin were more blue.

“Do you have something that belonged to him?” asked Yuhi. “It will help me in locating him.”

The ambassador reached into the diplomatic bag and pulled out a suit jacket.

“He wore this jacket at a reception,” replied the ambassador.

Yuhi took the jacket from the ambassador. She sensed the psychic auras of those who had come into contact with the jacket. All except one were Gober. She focused on the one alien aura and reached out with her mind...

I awoke lying on my back, in a strange yet familiar forest. A fine mist in the air diffused the light from far above me.

I hadn’t visited the forest for a long time. This was a dream.

“Koluna?” I asked.

I got no response.

Strange. I expected to find Koluna here, but I didn’t sense her presence.

I sat up slowly and looked around, hoping for a clue. What brought me here?

Gradually, I sensed another presence. An entity somewhere nearby in the forest. But who or what was it?

Out in the mist something prowled, searching. Then I realized, it was searching for me!

I wanted to escape this dream, but I didn’t know how.

As I felt the presence getting closer, I sensed a cold malevolence. It definitely wasn’t friendly.

I tried to breathe deeply and calm myself. Panic would be my undoing. I tried to think what to do.

The forest was silent. No sound made it hard to pinpoint the entity. The mist obscured beyond a few feet. I had to use my other senses to locate it. But I feared if I reached out, I might give away my location.

Then, inspiration hit me. This was my dream. Perhaps I had some control here. I focused on remaining hidden. I imagined nothingness, like I wasn’t even there.

The mist seemed to get more dense around me, hiding me from the presence.

At one point, the presence seemed close, and I sensed frustration. It was searching for me and failing. I pushed down my fear and concentrated on nothingness.

I waited until the presence moved on, searching in the mist.

Remaining motionless, I could tell it was still nearby, searching. One mistake and I would draw it to me.

I had to wait it out. Eventually the frustration would cause it to give up and leave. Most of my successes in my waking life came from doing something. Here my survival depended on doing nothing except remaining hidden.

Time passed. I didn’t know how long. Finally, I could no longer sense the presence. I felt relief.

I lay back down on the grass. Then the trees faded.

Yuhi returned from her trance several hours later. She found the Gober ambassador waiting for her.

“Welcome back,” said the ambassador.

“Thank you,” replied Yuhi. She felt weary and dehydrated. Then she noticed a glass of water on the desk in front of her.

Yuhi looked at the ambassador. He gestured at the glass. She smiled and picked up the glass and drank it all in one go.

The ambassador waited patiently for her to compose herself.

“I experienced something unusual. At first, I was drawn towards the palace complex. I thought I was homing in on the target. But when I got there, I couldn’t find him,” said Yuhi.

The ambassador looked confused. “So you are saying he is not on Dentra?”

“I am saying the results are inconclusive. Until now, I’d always give you a definite yes or no. I was drawn towards the palace complex, which I consider encouraging. But I didn’t find him there. If he is there, he can hide from me,” replied Yuhi.

“Has a target hid from you before?” he asked.

“No, never. It concerns me. If he can conceal his location, he might have detected my intrusion,” replied Yuhi.

“That is disturbing news! He should be asleep. He shouldn’t be able to detect your actions, let alone hide from you,” said the ambassador.

“I agree. I am confused,” said Yuhi.

“Perhaps you got confused about which aura to trace?” asked the ambassador.

“No. It was the only non-Gober aura,” replied Yuhi.

“So you followed his aura, but you couldn’t find him. This is a covert assignment. If they discover us, we will both be in trouble,” said the ambassador.

“I didn’t get close enough to connect with his mind. He won’t know what happened,” said Yuhi.

“I hope so, Yuhi. Thank you. You should rest now,” said the ambassador.

“Yes, Sir,” replied Yuhi. She got up and left the room.

The result wasn’t what he hoped for. Yuhi was his best psychic operative. When she said it was unusual, it worried him.

He prepared a reply for the freighter captain to take back to Gober.

The next morning, I awoke in the large bed. Jem was beside me. I had memories of a strange dream, then waking up here seemed so warm and safe. The contrast felt surreal, as if I had gone through a dark tunnel and emerged into the light.

I got up carefully trying not to wake her, but at the last moment she opened her eyes and smiled at me.

“You’re quite an early riser,” said Jem.

“I am. I enjoy the quiet time. Sometimes I check in with Ship,” I said.

“Will it be all right if I join you?” she asked.

I smiled. “Please do. I’d prefer your company this morning,” I replied.

We did our morning routine and moved to the lounge.

I walked over to the food dispenser and returned with two coffees. I handed one to Jem, and we sat together on a sofa. We quietly sipped our coffees.

“This is nice,” said Jem.

“Yes. That’s why I get up early,” I replied.

“No, silly! I mean sitting together here,” replied Jem. She punched me lightly on the arm.

I smiled at her. She smiled back.

We sipped our coffees.

“Do you mind if I check in with Ship?” I asked.

“Go ahead, Commander,” she said.

I called Ship on my communicator.

“Good morning, Ship. Can I get an update please,” I said.

“The defensive network is complete. It monitors the system for threats that exceed the capacity of the Dentra patrols,” said Ship.

“Excellent, Ship. And how goes the replacement patrol vessels?” I asked.

“They will be complete later today. I used the Dentra design, and I added Varech shield generators taken from the derelict vessels. It will give them roughly twice the protection,” replied Ship.

At this point Jem spoke out. “Ship, I thought you were building them strictly to Dentra design?” she asked.

“Confirmed, Commodore. The instructions were to not include any Baglogi technology. Since the Varech shield generators were intact, I considered them spoils of war. Did I make a mistake?” asked Ship.

Jem looked at me with a funny expression. I pressed mute on my communicator.

“I told Ship to use the derelict vessels. They aren’t Baglogi technology. It is what I might do, given the circumstances,” I said to her.

Jem reached over and unmuted my communicator.

“Ship, you did the right thing. Dentra is an ally and deserves better shields for their patrol vessels. You did not violate our instructions not to include Baglogi technology. Good job,” said Jem.

“Thank you, Commodore. I will move the completed patrol vessels to a parking orbit tonight,” said Ship.

“Thank you, Ship. Anything else to report?” I asked.

“Confirmed. The Gober freighter left the system during the night,” replied Ship.

“Ship, we should be ready to leave tomorrow then. Once you complete the patrol vessels, return to a parking orbit around Dentra,” said Jem.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

“Ship, what news of the Varech computer cores?” I asked.

“I have only one Varech computer core intact. So far, it has proven more difficult than expected. I have removed it and placed it in a cargo hold,” replied Ship.

“Understood. That will work. You can examine it while we are en route to our next destination,” I said.

“Confirmed,” replied Ship.

I closed the communications channel.

Laine and Mina joined us in the lounge later that morning.

“Good morning. Did we miss anything?” asked Laine.

I looked at Jem.

“No, you’re fine. We got up early and enjoyed our coffee together,” replied Jem.

I didn’t mention that we’d finished our coffee a while ago.

I pulled up the newscasts on the holo-projector. There was talk about the upcoming events to honour the dead patrol vessel crews.

“I guess we hide out here and watch the newscasts today,” I said.

“Mostly,” replied Jem. “We can visit the gardens, but we must remain within the palace complex.”

“Understood,” I said.

I was glad to stay out of danger. We defeated the Varech without being there. By remaining in the palace, we avoid the Gobers.

“I’d like to visit the gardens again,” said Mina.

About then, the door chimed. I activated my adaptive camouflage and Jem walked over to the door to our suite. She talked briefly with a steward and closed the door.

“The princess sent a message. She invited us to dinner this evening,” said Jem.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll stay here until this evening,” I said. I wasn’t in the mood to wander around the palace complex.