“Uh, I guess I am.” Kione picked up the bag beside his bed and peered inside it. Most prominent was a small display case of war medals. On the top was a name plate: JASON B. CASSIDY.
I’m Jason?
“Your transport has arrived.” The chief walked toward him and frowned. “Have you decided where you’ll go?”
Kione zipped up the bag. “Believe me when I say I have no idea.”
“Well, if you need any help, I have a brother-in-law who has a business out on Vesta III. They courier cargo from the orbiting Odyssey Station to the terraforming worksites on the planet. He’s always after competent pilots. It wouldn’t be much, but it’d be a start.”
“Kione!”
He spun back around. No longer was he in some nondescript room, he was now back in his cell. Through the pale-yellow barrier, Jason Cassidy stood staring at him.
“Were you in my head?” he asked.
Kione rubbed his temples. That’s what that was. “I apologize. I didn’t know what happened. I was in a room.”
“You were in my quarters the day I left the service. It was as if you were there with me.”
“It seemed like a daydream. It started back on Earth before leaving for Orion V. Then I was in a forest somewhere, being chased by Seeker soldiers.”
“Who was that?” Jason wondered.
“Could it have been the guard?”
Jason raised an eyebrow.
“I was in the guard’s head.”
“The one outside the door? I thought you said you couldn’t probe their minds?”
“Perhaps my abilities have increased.”
“Okay.” Jason seemed confused. “But you were being chased by the soldier. Why would they chase one of their own?”
Kione put his hands up. “I can’t explain it, but I was definitely the one being pursued.”
Jason sat on the floor and pondered. He looked as hopeless as Kione felt. But there was a glimmer of optimism in his eyes. “If you can get inside other people’s heads, is there a way you could, I dunno, control them?”
Kione would’ve laughed if it weren’t for their dire situation. “These powers I’m experiencing, they’re new to me. I don’t understand them any more than you.”
“We have to get out of here. If there’s a way you can reach back into the mind of the guard outside that door—”
“I don’t know—”
“If there’s even a chance,” Jason pleaded.
“And where would we go? This is a big ship. We—”
“One problem at a time.”
Jason Cassidy seemed little more than a cowboy who’d eventually get himself killed. Though Kione couldn’t fault him for wanting an opportunity to escape.
“Can you do it?” Jason asked him again.
“I suppose there’s only one way to find out.” Without thinking about it, Kione closed his eyes.
Several moments passed, and his eyelids shot open.
“Try again,” his comrade persisted.
Kione sighed and closed his eyes again. Darkness greeted him, and nothingness surrounded him. An outline formed. It was the door of the brig. He pushed through it as if he were using his hands. Outside the door, the Seeker guard stood, like an unmoving statue. Kione concentrated hard. His mind drove toward him.
His eyes flickered open.
The green of the forest from earlier encircled him. But no longer was he in the Seeker’s body. He was face to face with the primitive-looking being. He gave the impression of an early human Kione had read about as a child, with little in the way of clothing.
Kione gazed deep into his eyes.
“I need your help.”
The forest disappeared, and Kione found himself back in his cell.
Jason eyed him expectantly. “Did it work?”
Kione shrugged. The brig door swooshed open, and the Seeker entered. He walked toward Jason’s cell and with a wave of the terminal beside the door, the barrier dropped. Jason took his chance and jumped the soldier, throwing him to the deck and striking him on the back of the head, knocking him out.
“That was amazing, Kione!” Jason undressed the unconscious alien of his armor and placed it on himself. “How do I look?”
“Just like one of them.”
“I hope that’s enough.” Jason dragged the naked Seeker into his cell. He waved at the door terminal with his hand and trapped him inside.
“It’s time to get the hell out of here.” Jason dropped the barrier on Kione’s cell. “Come on.”
“I’m not going.”
“Are you kidding me? Let’s go!”
“If I come with you, they won’t let me escape this ship,” Kione said. “If they find I’m gone, they’ll hunt me down. You, on the other hand, are dispensable. You may have a chance.”
“I can’t just leave you here.”
“You have to.”
Jason’s mind seemed to play out all the different scenarios. He sighed and stepped back, raising the barrier. “I promise I’ll return for you.”
Kione nodded. He’d shared enough of the human’s mind to know he was telling the truth. “Go!”
Jason put his helmet on and dashed out of the brig. Kione could only hope he had what it took to get away without being killed in the process.
Thirty-Six
Seeker Weapon Ship
In the service, there was an unofficial rule that no one was ever left behind. And here Jason was abandoning Kione to the mercy of the Seekers. A lump formed in his throat as he imagined the lengths they’d go to ensure their weapon became operational.
Unfortunately, Kione was right. The Seekers wouldn’t let him go, and if Jason brought him back with him, he’d be risking the lives of everyone else aboard the Argo.
He scanned the corridor through the visor of his helmet. Data scrolled in front of him, in the same text he’d seen on the weapon ship’s bulkheads. Linguists would have a field day with it when they get home. If they get home.
Around a corner, two soldiers marched his way, and Jason strolled toward them as casually as possible, while holding his weapon firmly in hand. He wasn’t keen to use it, because if he did, his cover would surely be blown. While he thought about all the different outcomes in his head, the Seekers went past him without taking a second glance.
He breathed a sigh of relief and approached the
