Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (popular ebook readers txt) 📗

Captain Stone smiled. Not much. Just a little as her eyes narrowed and she considered my answer. She said, “Very wise of both of you to keep it all to yourselves. Bert gave you solid advice.”

“What about you? You sensed at the arena I was influencing you—or trying to.” I noticed the change in Bill’s posture. He didn’t know that. Fang slowly turned enquiring eyestalks in her direction.

A silence filled the room as if each of us had lost the ability to hear. Eyes slowly moved from one to another until all focused on the captain. On their way to her, they paused at me long enough to accuse me of revealing something I should have kept to myself.

The captain drew a long breath and seemed to dismiss my revelation. “Yes, you are correct. I am sensitive to empaths. You are only the third one I’ve been in contact with. One was captured by authorities and her contact with me ceased after that. I assume she died at the hands of her captors. My guess is that a government or university has her brain in one of their labs to study. I also assume she killed herself to avoid what was about to happen.”

“Okay, I’m the third. What about number two?”

“Less than a short year ago. A man. Old. Never met him. He was and may still be on Trager Three, a small moon near a wormhole transit point. We carried fish embryos as cargo to that world. He tried to influence my destination. I never understood his intent with the embryos, but he wanted them.”

“You detected him as you did me?”

“Yes. I think he knew that I sensed him, and I reacted by shutting him off and breaking contact. I was almost in a panic. He also pulled back from the contact. Fled would be a better description.”

“That’s all?”

“No. When I was almost asleep that night, I felt his touch again. Gentle. Like a whisper on a windy evening. Instead of sleeping, I remained awake and waited. Listening, if that is the correct word to describe it.”

“He returned?”

“Yes. Soothing as a soft rain. He suggested I had imagined the earlier attempt to sway my thoughts, like something found in a daydream. He tried to convince me that while I thought it had happened, it was not real. He also made it seem as if I wanted to deliver the embryos to his world and sell them to him when I met him. He would appear friendly and honest. A man I wanted to do business with.”

I considered her description of his actions during a pause in the captain’s speech. The old man was smart. Nudge a person to make a choice, then later convince them it was their idea the entire time. I learned something useful there, something I might use one day. It was like the perfect crime Bill and I had imagined and discussed many times. If a victim never knows a crime is committed, they will never report it.

The perfect case for my empathy was to help a person make the choice I wanted then later convince them it had been their desire the whole time. It deserved more thought. I said, “You never met him?”

“No. My ship passed through Trager Three several more times and I never felt his mental touch again.”

An idea grew and matured almost instantly. “Why would he want the fish taken to a different place than they were contracted to go? Maybe because that was where he was going. He may live on a planet with seas but no fish.”

“I came to much the same conclusion. A time may come when I visit the planet where he wanted me to deliver the fish. Now that I know about you, that time might come sooner. If I can detect him again, the two of you might get to know each other. It seems he may have things to teach you.”

“How do you know his sex and age?”

“I cannot explain that, but it’s the same as with you. I knew you were female and young with your first mental touch. It is simply an overall impression you send with your messages. My idea is that if we can find him, he may help you understand and improve your abilities. Become a teacher for you.”

That was interesting. He may have learned a lot in his lifetime.

I needed to talk to Bill and Bert before making decisions. However, my outlook was far better. There seemed a future for me. At least, a possibility.

As much as I was calculating my uncertain future, I caught Captain Stone doing the same. Her intense concentration gave away her intentions. For the briefest moment, I had the urge to use my empathic abilities to convince her to take us all into her care as crewmen, which was silly because that was already decided. It was just a stray thought emanating from my frustrations.

I’d once heard a tale of a man and wife who couldn’t have children. Through a series of humorous accidents, they became the parents of ten kids. That made me chuckle because it seemed Captain Stone was like those parents.

I also wondered what the rest of the crew of her ship would think when we came aboard the Guardia—if we did. There was still uncertainty. At least, in my mind. Her existing crew might not readily accept four new crewmen, none of whom knew the least thing about trading between planets.

My attention shifted. “Stone, I never knew there were pirates. I thought they were just stories, like everyone else.”

“There are no pirates. At least, not like entertainment videos depict. However, taking over a wormhole transition point is a political or military action I’ve never heard of. There have been planets that guarded their nexus, and even charged