Inheritance

their friendship work again, when they both knew they wanted more.

“Okay,” she said, and as he unpacked, she told him everything.

* * *

Eres Tilhar began the day’s lesson by walking David and Reese through the mapping practice again. Reese was beginning to be able to shape her own consciousness into more of a contained presence; she was no longer a mass of conflicting emotions.

When they finished, Eres said, “There is much improvement. I am very glad to see that. At this point we can continue with the same practice—that is what we would normally do—but because you’ll be meeting with Akiya Deyir this afternoon, I want to ask you: Is there anything you’d like to tell me?”

Reese tucked her hands beneath her thighs and glanced sideways at David. They had discussed this earlier; today was the day. Go ahead, she told him.

“We know you’ve already guessed,” David said to Eres. “Today we’re ready to talk about it.”

Eres nodded. “Good.”

They took turns explaining to Eres about their ability to speak to each other telepathically. They told the teacher how crowds affected them, how sometimes they sensed not only waves of emotion but snatches of thought, and how their abilities had developed differently in each of them.

“To be clear: Reese, first you only sensed emotions, while David, you only heard broken thoughts?” Eres asked.

“Right,” David said. “But we can do both now.”

“Why do you think it happened that way?” Reese asked.

“It may simply be the way the adaptation affected you. We didn’t think it had been completely effective in David at first. We’d have to do more testing before we know for sure. Tell me more about how it feels when you sense a crowd’s emotions or thoughts.”

“It can be really confusing and overwhelming,” Reese said. “These lessons have helped. I try to block them out now—the crowds.”

“And how close to the crowd are you when this happens?” Eres asked.

“I think we have to be pretty close,” David said.

“Yeah,” Reese said. “I couldn’t sense them when I was inside my house and they were in the street.”

“What about your telepathic communication? You said you first discovered this when you were at Project Plato, separated. Have you communicated that way since then?”

“No,” David said. “We tried, but it hasn’t worked.”

“We’ve had to be able to see each other to communicate that way,” Reese said.

The teacher regarded the two of them thoughtfully. “I see. Perhaps it has something to do with your level of mental focus. You may have been more desperate to reach out to each other when you were at Plato. That situation could have forced you to focus your consciousness in a way you haven’t done since then.”

“Maybe,” Reese said. “It was a pretty intense experience.”

“Do you think we could do it again?” David asked.

“There’s no reason why not. If you could communicate from a distance before, I think you’ll be able to do it again. I do believe it will require practice on your part. Have you been able to hear the thoughts of any other humans? Or Imria?”

“No,” Reese said.

“Only in crowds, and that’s not the same at all,” David said.

“David and I are the only two humans who have gone through the adaptation procedure, so maybe that’s why?” Reese said. “Maybe if you adapted other humans, we’d be able to hear their thoughts too.”

“Perhaps,” Eres said. “The crowd sensing is interesting. How big do the crowds need to be?”

“I’m not sure,” Reese said. She and David had never formally tested their abilities; they had only muddled through on their own, trying to avoid becoming overwhelmed.

“These things occur when you are not touching another person, right?” Eres asked. “This is not susum’urda—not the way I’ve been teaching you.”

“No, it’s not susum’urda,” David said. “That sort of makes sense to me now. But this other stuff… it still feels random. Like I don’t really know how it works.”

“Why do you think we can do it?” Reese asked. “You can’t do it, can you?”

“No. None of the Imria have this ability. Susum’urda is predicated on physical connection. This is certainly different.”

“So this wasn’t meant to be part of the adaptation,” David said.

“No.” Eres looked pensive. “I suppose we could have suspected this was possible. There have always been humans who exhibited signs of being able to do things like this. You’ve called them psychics or mystics. And telepathy has always been a source of fascination for your people. It would make sense that humans were fascinated by it because some of you have been able to do it.”

Reese was skeptical. “So the adaptation procedure has turned us into psychics?”

“Not exactly. For a long time, we attempted to analyze the DNA of so-called psychic humans and compare it to our own, to determine why certain genes were turned on and others weren’t, but it was very slow, painstaking work. Those psychic abilities turned out to be mutations that were usually irreproducible in offspring—or at least so random in occurrence that it was impossible to predict. Our scientists stopped testing psychics decades ago, believing that those psychic skills were side effects of the fact that humans did have the ability to share consciousness in their genes, but that ability was never properly developed. The adaptation procedure was supposed to correct that. It was supposed to awaken your latent abilities and to make them heritable so that they will be passed on to your descendants. Apparently the adaptation procedure has awakened abilities we did not expect.” Eres leaned forward. “Will you show me how it works?” The teacher extended a hand to Reese.

“How?” Reese asked, confused.

“Take my hand, and David can send you a thought. Allow me to experience it as it happens to you.”

Reese glanced at David, who nodded. She took Eres’s hand and immediately felt the focus of the teacher’s attention like a lens trained on her. Reese took a breath. David? She sensed Eres in the background of her consciousness like a shadow presence.

Yes, David thought. I’m right here.

Eres’s consciousness seemed to flash in surprise. Again, Eres told her.

Got any other thoughts? Reese asked David.

What should I say? Testing, testing?

Reese smiled. Ten four.

Eres dropped Reese’s hand and said, “I have never encountered that before.” The teacher sounded unusually breathless. “This afternoon when we meet with Akiya Deyir and the others—you will tell them, won’t you?”

“We were planning to,” David said.

“Good. They should know. It is right that they learn it from the two of you.” Eres studied them, as if seeing them for the first time.

Reese shifted uncomfortably. “Is it totally weird?” she asked.

The teacher looked astonished. “It is not weird. It is… beyond what we had ever dreamed of. I only hope that Akiya agrees.”

CHAPTER 31

Akiya Deyir’s offices were on the second level of the ship, and as Reese stepped into the foyer, she felt as if she were truly entering another world. The wall screens depicted a landscape that Reese knew must be Kurra. There was a cliff of red-and-purple rocks angling over an aquamarine sea. Buildings that resembled crystal formations clung to the top of the cliff, some of them secured by steel wires that looked like cobwebs. The ocean waves moved below, licking against the base of the cliffs, and as the water turned, it changed color, showing a flash of gold beneath the aquamarine.