4
SLEEPING IT OFF
I turned to see who had said that as I did not recognize the voice. The last thing I remember was hearing Kate yell as I passed out, at least I think it was Kate. I think the shifting of the muscles to turn made the loss of blood known to my brain, and thus, good night sweet prince. Seems she did more damage than I or anyone realized initially. It was also due to the fact that at the time, I was still very much human. The rest of them, including Kate, had been around the place long enough that they were much harder to hurt. If it had been anyone else, or even myself now, it would have been some deep cuts, but as it was, I had multiple deep and potentially lethal puncture wounds.
I have finally gotten a look at the details of my injuries. Her claws are longer than a normal member of her species, a side effect of a dozen different things, not the least of which being whatever Tory gave her, but I'll get to that. I had 4 small punctures to my lungs and she nicked three arteries and a vein, as well as serious tissue damage to the muscles and nerves along my spine. If I had been anywhere else, I would have been dead, or at least paralyzed. As it was, it was still a near thing even so, but just the first aid kit at Joe's was enough to save my life, and a short trip to one of Tory's hospitals prevented any permanent damage.
~
Several hours later, at least I assumed it was several hours later, it was actually two and a half days, but who's counting. I woke up in a bed with something warm and fuzzy wrapped around me. At first I thought it was one of those fur blankets. I must have moved though, because she woke up.
"You're awake." moving so she could look at me, her face mere inches from mine.
"Yeah, a bit sore, but still here. Now where is here?" Looking around, the room was dark, although I could tell it was a bedroom, and not mine.
"My apartment. I felt so responsible for you being hurt. I didn't mean to hurt you. I was so scared. That second shot would have killed us. I have to give you credit for good instincts in a crisis." She hadn't moved except to look at me. The small amount of light was coming from a curtained window.
"Your apartment? Well. If I had know that all I had to do was faint to get into a beautiful woman's apartment. I would have done it a long time ago." I said smiling at her and leaning back into the warm arms around me.
"You're terrible." glaring at me, but still inches from me and not seeming inclined to move. At that moment I had a strange feeling flash through my brain. But, I couldn't pin down what it was.
"You are the one with her arms wrapped around me." smiling at her.
Finally disentangling herself from me, not that I helped mind you. I was rather enjoying the closeness. "Fine, if you don't like my company."
"No. No. It's just that. Well. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to sound that way." Sitting up sorely and looking at her. My back still hurt like hell.
In doing so I realized that she was completely unclothed. Though naked doesn't really apply in the same way when you have fur. I had thought she was a knockout in the bar, but as I looked at her in that moment… Gods, a dozen alarms were going off in my head that I wasn't even trying to listen to.
In that moment I also realized that all I was missing was my shirt, though I was still wearing my pants, and I had bandages across my back. I could feel them. I don't think I could have dealt with waking up naked at that precise moment. Too many possibilities of what had happened during the night to contend with, as it is I found myself in one of those possibilities soon enough, but on my terms.
"So you liked it? Or are you still clinging to the idea that this is all a dream?" Looking at me from the end of the bed.
"It's no dream. I figured that out last night, and if it were. I hope I never wake up." by now she was looking at me funny. She had her head cocked to the side and had an eye ridge raised. "I was telling the truth when I said you were beautiful, and in this light...."
I never got to finish the sentence. I hope I never make her angry. She is amazingly adept with her claws. She leapt at me from the foot of the bed without warning and I was totally unclothed except for the bandages in a matter of seconds.
I was hesitant, not sure what to do, and I had all kinds of things running through my head, she stopped and said one thing and I had no further misgivings. "If I was apologizing, I would buy you dinner. I like you." enough said.
If ever you get the opportunity, the amazing gift of a telepath who wants to make love to you, count yourself one of the luckiest beings in existence. It is an experience unparalleled, the sharing of sensation and emotion, just indescribable. Sex is a drug, as we all know, and once you've had it, you have to have more, and if you haven't had it, you don't understand what you are missing, and with a telepath... Well you do the math; just remember to use powers of ten, not addition.
I admit it, I fell ass over tea kettle for Kate. Her full name is Katlhene Thor Trell-do, and I think I was in love with her back when she was massaging my shoulders. But I wasn't certain till the night in her apartment, at least that is when I consciously registered the fact and when I realized she felt the same.
~
I stayed at Kate's for a few days, that is, until I was healed. This only took a few days because she was using some sort of salve that hurried the healing process, but it did leave me with 10 really cool looking scars. They will make for some interesting conversation pieces.
Once healed, I was free to go, so I got up and got ready to leave. I collected what few things I had, someone had made a trip to my apartment to grab me some extra clothes and my tooth brush, not sure who or how. As Kate wasn't at home and I was still deeply in denial, I walked to the front door and opened it. Beyond it I did not find the bar as I had expected, nor did I find a city street or even the hallway of an apartment building as I had secretly hoped.
Instead I found a terrifyingly beautiful city-scape as seen from high altitude. It was kind of post modern looking, very Dystopia-like. The steady cold breeze spoke of the altitude. I walked out onto what seemed to be a 4 foot wide patio, but turned out to be a walkway much like the upper stories of some apartment buildings and hotels; I leaned against the railing and looked out over the city.
Below me the building fell down to the street's below and I estimated that I was a good hundred plus stories up. There were cars, vehicles of some form, both on the surface and flying in the air. They seemed to be flying in invisible lanes just like every sci fi movie you have ever seen. I then panned my view out across the middle ground and distance. As it turns out my estimate was off, Kate's apartment is on the 352nd floor of the building and there is a low level shield that keeps the wind to just that breeze I felt..
Off to the right, on the edge of what I would have to say was an ocean. Lit by a low sun, was what looked like an airport; at least that is what I thought it was until I watched one of the strangely shaped craft begin its lift off. That was when I realized it was a space-port. The ship rose on a pillar of flame, leaving behind the sound of distant thunder to mark its passage, but I was miles away so I don't want to know how loud it really was.
I have learned that there is a sonic barrier between the city and the spaceport that protects the city from the sound and shock waves of the ships as they come and go. I don't know exactly how it works, but it keeps the sound to about the same level as I heard from that distance, even from just outside the field.
I just stood there and watched the city, transfixed. I watched the sunset, how night fell upon the city, and the city became a false day, from the amount of lights I would have to say that it is truly a city that never sleeps. Actually it wasn't a sunset; it was a suns set. I watched as a lemon yellow sun slid past the horizon, followed a few minutes later by a red orange one. The color play across the sky and city was absolutely breath-taking.
I wrote a poem that night about the sunset. Kate says I have a knack for it, never did poetry before that, but I have written several since then. That is actually one of the few differences between us as species, other than appearance that is. Hers, with few exceptions, sucks at poetry; they just can't do it, at least not well. They can appreciate it, love it to no end, even bad poetry, but they can't write it. Here's the one I wrote for this sunset on Kate's world as I stood there overwhelmed by the beauty of it. She made me write it out by hand and has it hanging in her apartment.
Sunset -
I have seen the Phoenix
It has flown over my head this day
Such Beauty and Splendor, I could not describe or fathom
Should I live to be 1000 years beyond this world
Such majesty that even gods would stop in wonderment
Astounded that such a thing could be.
I just stood there, and as the lights of the city were coming on in earnest. Including the ones for the walkway I was on. I heard someone coming down the walkway towards me. Turning to look, I saw a feline person with their arms full of groceries coming towards me. When I heard the individual mumbling, I knew who it was.
GROCERIES AND SECURITY
"Damn it. I shouldn't be so lazy. Just make two trips, but no. I have to try and carry it all. Now how am I going to get the door open? Knock? Like Kyle is going to answer, told him not to. Oh shit!!" She was dropping one of the bags, and being not but a few feet from me at this point. I rushed over and grabbed the endangered bag, startling her.
"I've got it. You really should have made that second trip or asked me for help." I said, saving the bag from a fall.
"Holy!...." she yelped, looking over the remaining bags at me. "Where in the nine hells did you come from?"
Smiling at her odd question. "Your apartment, though I don't think it qualifies as a hell."
"How did you get out here?" she asked. She was looking around wildly.
I was starting to get nervous. Her attitude was strange. "I opened the door and walked out. How else would I have gotten out here?"
She seemed to decide something. "Oh. Well would you mind getting the door, before I drop the rest of these?"
Smiling again, I motioned her in. "It's already open."
"Oh. Okay." Then she suddenly seemed realize to something, panic entering her eyes. "Oh shit! Get inside before someone sees you!" She seemed very urgent in her direction for me to get inside.
"Why?" I asked confused. She was acting really strange, almost panicked.
"Because the last thing I need is to try and explain to security why I have an unregistered alien, outside of spacer town, and living in my apartment. Let alone the fact that he is of an unknown species, and how I got him here. And I really don't want to have to call Tory to smooth things over." She sounded almost desperate.
Her urgency was rubbing off. "Good point." I jumped through the door with my armload of groceries and headed for the kitchen. Kate followed me and shut the door. She seemed to visibly relax once inside with the door closed.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"You haven't watched the Vid yet have you?" She started unpacking the groceries.
"Vid? I haven't seen a screen, and I couldn't find a remote." I said helping her.
"A remote?" her brow creasing in thought. "Oh. No, just ask. Vid on"
The wall where you would have expected a T.V. to have been, flickered for a moment, and was then replaced by a commercial. I knew it was a commercial, the voice was talking rapidly and excitedly about something spinning slowly in a graphic, and then the speaker was displaying an unidentifiable bottle of something. I couldn't understand the language, written or spoken. So I looked confusedly at Kate.
Looking at my confused face she realized the problem. "Oh. Sorry. As a telepath, I switch languages as a habit. Computer, translate to Colloquial English, Earth normal."
>translating< was its response. The voice was definitely mechanical, but had a feminine quality to it. The news anchor that had come on after the commercial started speaking English. Yes she is a telepath, but I love her for who she is, her being a telepath is just icing on the cake.
THE NEWS BY ANY OTHER NAME
News Person:
According to a recent report from the ECD (Exploration and Contact Division according to Kate's explanation) the unusual radio frequency emissions being detected from the Trilopa sector may be the work of a new and as yet undiscovered civilization. The council is considering the idea of sending a robotic probe to investigate.
Though as usual, the normal arguments of making contact with a possibly space faring race have arisen. Most cite the Tar-luda incident as an example of why personal contact is necessary, saying that the benefits of a manned mission far outweighs the cost, however those in favor of a robotic probe also cite the Tar-luda, and their naturally xenophobic nature for why they reacted as they did and therefore why a robot probe should be first and thus not risking lives unnecessarily.
A public forum on channel 727 will be held at 1222 standard. If you wish to be heard count your vote then, all views will be considered and the council will make their decision next week. However, most opponents of the robotic probe claim that cost will win out over sense.
In other news, a riot broke out in spacer town when a Kan-torian trader attacked a group of Sedorian merchants over the price of Lendo, the Kan-torian was overheard screaming something about his blood .............
~
"Vid off!" I barked. Shaking my head in disgust.
"What's the matter?" Stopping and looking at me worriedly.
"I hate the news. It sounds just like back home, all the same stuff, just with different information. That riot was probably the top story." I said turning back to the groceries.
"You're probably right. Tory's always said that our races were frighteningly similar, psychologically speaking and considering the outward physical differences." She was smiling mischievously.
"Really? I would say we were identical. Our news broadcasts sure are the same." I said finishing with my share of the groceries. Now that she was home, I had utterly forgotten about my intent to leave.
"No kidding." Smiling at me.
"Yeah. Like mirror images of each other. So where is this Tripola sector?" I was adapting quickly to the weirdness that had become my life. I walked around the kitchen island separating us. Save for some odd furnishings tailored for someone with a tail, her apartment could have been mistaken for any apartment here on Earth.
"That is the sector where Earth is." Finishing herself.
"How do you know that? I thought you said I was an unknown race?" Snatching at her slowly swishing tail.
"You are as far as my people are concerned. Remember, I work at Joe's as a second job. I could never afford this place on a class 10 commercial telepaths pay." Flipping her tail out of my reach.
"Okay. But that doesn't answer the question." Making another grab for it while trying to distract her.
I wasn't succeeding but she was smiling. "Actually it does. Think about the people you met there, and think about the information I would be privy to. Most would never even know these things existed, and I have to be able to work there without insulting someone or violating some social code?"
"Good point."
We said nothing for a few minutes, I just watched her as she started cooking dinner. I think that was when I started to realize that I had fallen for her. It wasn't an all at once thing, but I hadn't hit bottom yet, and I never did manage to catch her tail, at least not that night.
We ate dinner in silence until finally I couldn't take it any longer. I started the conversation.
"So. What does a commercial telepath do?" I asked finishing my vegetables. They eat their food in much the same way we do. Even the utensils are almost identical, a 2 or 3 pronged fork, a spoon of sorts, it's meant for use with a short muzzle so the shape is a bit different but still usable, and a knife.
Looking up from her food, "I get paid to oversee business transactions and meetings. I am there to keep one or both parties honest. I also get hired occasionally by the courts to do scans of criminals and witnesses while they are giving testimony. It's good work. But, it only pays when I'm working because I operate as an independent."
Sounded reasonable. "Okay. An independent contractor of sorts, so how much do you make on average?"
"Enough to feed myself, keep a good set of clothes for when I have a job, and a little extra now and then to see a show or get something special to eat."
She didn't sound impressed with the pay though. "Not enough for an apartment then? Where would you live then?"
"In one of many government subsidized telepath dorms, living in a room with 3 or more, low level telepaths." She gave a shiver of revulsion.
I felt her displeasure at the thought of such a place. Though I wasn't sure how at the time. "That sounds awful."
"It is. Sure to turn you buggy. Living with so many people in a confined space, and most of them are lazy scum." She was getting angry thinking about those places.
"Then if it is that bad. You would need a second job. Joe's?" I offered trying to change the subject.
She seemed relieved to change where her thoughts were taking her. I did feel strangely isolated from her though. "Right." I really didn't understand why at the time, I understand now.
Being a telepath, her mental privacy is of tantamount importance to her. As such, she is not going to share her mental space with just anyone, but what I was feeling was just that, her sharing her mental space with me. It is perhaps a more intimate sharing with another person than anything else, including sex, that a telepath can share.
"How much does he pay?" I asked while trying to make sense of the empty feeling I had. Like something had left or walled itself off that I hadn't know was there but I felt its absence all the same.
"I get about 3000 of your dollars a week with tips, after taxes of course."
That was a lot of money, at least from my point of view. I would have felt rich making that much. "3000! How much does this place cost?"
Thinking for a moment. "With the shielding and other extras, about 4800 every two weeks."
Now I was wondering what she was talking about. "What shielding?"
Looking at me like I should have known. "The apartment is shielded against telepathic or other Psionic intrusion. That way I can relax my personal shields and not have to deal with the neighbors stray thoughts wandering through. It really takes a lot to keep up my shields all day. Being able to lower mine when I get home is one of my greatest luxuries, and is well worth twice the extra price."
Now I was getting nervous, starting to think that she might want me to leave. "I see."
"Besides... If I were to be scanned with my shields down, I mean really scanned, I'd come out as being higher than my class 10 registration." Smiling in humor that I missed.
"Oh. Well I guess I should be going soon then. With me here, you still have to keep your Shields up don't you?" Testing the idea that I might not be wanted.
Looking at me like I had broken something valuable. "No actually I don't. I don't mind you being here at all actually."
That was a load off my back. I had begun to feel like I was intruding, and that unidentifiable feeling returned like it had never left. Even if it was something I had never felt before. I now knew where it was. "Thank you. But why would you be higher?"
"Tory's fault really, He gave me a virus which augmented my abilities." She just shrugged it off like it was nothing.
I let my curiosity get the best of me, not picking up on the subtle messages that it was not a subject to talk about. "Why?"
"Because when he found me I was dying. I would have died of burn out and my injuries if it hadn't been for him and the augmentation." She was getting nervous, picking at her food as we talked.
I still wasn't getting the message, and letting my budding feelings and concern for her override sense. "Injuries?"
"Yeah...." She seemed really nervous about the subject.
Finally getting the message. "If you don't want to talk about it, don't. I was just curious."
"Thanks. Maybe another time." The relief in her voice mirrored by the feeling I was still trying to pin down. Looking up at me and smiling warmly.
Trying to get the dead conversation going again. "Now tell me. What is a class 10, and what are you now. I assume class 10 is what you were before you met Tory."
"True enough. I don't want to even try to explain to the authorities how my abilities got permanently augmented. There are drugs that are supposed to be able to do that." Shaking her head in disgust.
Understanding what she was implying. "But, they are illegal aren't they?"
Nodding her head. "Any telepath found using them gets their talent burned out. It's kind of like electroshock therapy. You're never the same."
"How absolutely terrible."
"You're telling me. I had a friend it happened to." She began to shiver in horror.
I had to get up and shake her out of it. "You were telling me about what a class 10 was."
Shaking herself out of the revere. "Yeah sorry, I can still remember her screams." she got a far off scared look on her face.
"Kate!" shaking her again.
"Sorry. It was just so horrible." She took a moment to get herself together and the feelings in the air took a moment to warm as they had gone icy. She told me later when she finally opened up about the events that my hand and concern helped her avoid a panic attack. A very bad thing for a telepath. "The class system is based on a ten point scale. With sub letters to break down each point on the scale into its constituent abilities. A class 1 telepath is powerful enough to communicate across massive distances with non-telepaths. They can also take over and control others. Most class 1's, are also high levels in several of the other talents."
"How far is massive?" I asked trying to keep her occupied. I could see her start to think about her friend again.
"Short range interstellar maybe a few light years or so."
"Wow." That was impressive, even if it didn't make any sense to me at the time.
"Definitely, Class 1's are rare. Only the government and some big corporations have access to the few Class 1's there are, Class 2's are a step down, and also not that common. The in system colonies are on the edge of their range and they can also control others, but they don't have as many or as strong sub-abilities. Class 3's can only communicate with the other side of the planet and the moons, depending on the individual. They have to be within visual range to control another, though a rare few don't, that's where the sub categories come in.
Class 4's can only go the length of a continent, and only a few are strong enough to control somebody else. A Class 5 has a range of a few hundred miles. A Class 6, less than 100 miles, Class 7's less than 20, and Class 8's less than a mile, and many need to be in line of sight, or have few obstructions. Class 9's, have a range of a few hundred meters at best, and only the lucky few don't need to be in line of sight. Lastly, any telepath with a range of less than 10 meters is a class 10."
"That's really fascinating. But you mentioned other talent?" Prompting her. Her thoughts were still trying to wander back to her friend. You could see it in her face, with the terror creeping into her yes.
"Things like pyrokinesis, the control of fire, or telekinesis, the most common, the ability to move things with the power of the mind. Almost all telepaths have one of the other abilities. Usually telekinesis, it is believed that is because nearly the same area of the brain is used." Pointing to the right side of her head.
Nodding in understanding I didn't have. "I see. So what are you now?"
Shrugging her shoulders as she finished the last bite of the meal. "I don't actually know. Most telepaths get stronger as they get older and use their abilities. But I've been paying off the testers for years, ever since I met Tory. So my ratings haven't changed. I suppose I should get a test. Claim that I hit my head and felt really strong when I came to. But, I would have to register at that higher ability. Then come in every week for a year to ensure I remained stable."
I knew I had to ask even though I already knew that answer. "They don't do what I think they do if you become unstable. Do they?"
"Yes." shivering again.
"I'm Sorry I asked. What do you normally do in the evenings." Changing the subject quickly. "For entertainment that is, have stimulating conversations with the walls, or the occasional alien?"
Smiling at the obvious and appreciated diversion. "You mean mindless entertainment. To ignore the real world for a while and pretend everything wasn't all skewed and run through a blender?"
Nodding happily, then standing and collecting my dishes. "Yeah. That about sums it up."
"I watch a movie." Collecting her dishes.
"You call them movie's?" Stopping and looking at her in disbelief.
"No. They're called video-graphic story's or VGS's. But you would call it a movie. Besides I like the term. It's a lot simpler." Putting hers in the washer along side mine.
"It came from a simpler time. What kind do you like?"
"Sci Fi or action, I can't stand those sappy romances, and I think most of what they call comedies are not that funny." Shaking her head in disgust. She's right though, their comedies are the worst sort of situational silliness. Whoever get's the distribution rights for Human movies and television programing once we make contact with her species is going to be rich beyond belief.
Smiling in relief. "A woman after my own heart, so what's on?"
Looking at me and smiling widely. Showing those amazingly sharp teeth. "Let's find out. Vid on. Channel 742."
>742< responds the computer and the wall flickered again.