By the time they finished Ishan and Lobo’s briefing, the female Biologic member of the team had regained functionality. Lobo introduced her as Lena. The pretty and very fit girl greeted them politely but then drank two vials of pink liquid and began massaging her chakra points, clearly still needing to overcome the neural trauma of their sub-lightspeed trip.
They wished her well and sat back in their G-chairs. Time to get to the next order of business.
Josh blinked. ~We have about two hours of hyperspace travel to get to Alysa’s backup rendezvous. Let’s start getting a handle on the Mind Attunement.~
Sen just nodded.
Sometimes simple was enough and common body language was the best way to go. Josh needed to keep that in mind.
So far with the Mind Attunement, Josh and Sen hadn’t noticed anything but the jump in their stats. Which are incredible. But Josh had expected to see their free Essence and Cores reflect the presence of the new Mind Essence just as Nagal’s Meridians had clearly shown both Earth and Fire during attacks.
However, all Josh and Sen had was the same deep orange of their Earth Attunement available.
~In sixty minutes, we can share what we find.~ Josh offered. ~Deal?~
~Sure... but how?~
~Good question…~ He rubbed his eyes. ~There doesn’t appear to be any new Essence in our Core or Meridians. At least not yet. Okay... Well, it is ‘Mind’ Attunement. I guess we should start with the brain... Let’s focus on the pineal gland. It was the closest thing to the center of the mind we noticed when we first started Essence absorption from the cannibals.
As they looked, each noticed a new bubble of Essence encircling their pineal gland at the center of their physical brains.
It was cycling an indigo-colored Essence on its own. Josh nudged it with his mind, and instead of running along his Meridians, it expanded in a purple-tinged, transparent sphere to the area surrounding his head. He pushed it again, and it increased to encompass the Raptor’s personnel compartment. A much larger area. Though it didn’t seem to be his limit... Limit testing was for later. Time is a factor right now. Just quick and dirty kicking the mind-tires for now.
Checking his Status, Josh noticed his free Essence was ticking down slowly in low double digits.
Physical Health Status:
15000/15000 Spherical Cultivation units
Free Essence:
38855/40500 Spherical Cultivation units
Okay... it looks like a channeling ability. An ability that can stay on for a length of time or indefinitely but costs Essence while on. It’s also relatively cheap.
Josh also noticed while they were inside his bubble... zone... sphere of influence? golden lights flashed inside the heads of those in the compartment.
Lobo and Katak, talking to each other, had more flashes than Ishan, who was sleeping next to Josh.
After a moment, the flashes lost their golden luster and diffused to a gray-lavender cloud around their heads...
Mind Aura? Let’s find out!
Josh Intended to absorb it, and the lavender Aura streamed to his Meridians, refilling his free Essence and mingling in his Core in an overlapping swirl of deep orange and lavender that reminded Josh a little of a soft-serve ice cream cone from back home...
Well... it makes sense that you would have to absorb it if you didn’t have any to start.
Josh could also see Sen had just expanded his… mind sphere?—to surround his head. He looked like a sixties sci-fi astronaut wearing an oversized purple fishbowl... Well, he was getting there...
What can this do—
Sitting next to Josh, Ishan shifted in his sleep, bumping Josh’s shoulder. Suddenly Josh was there... running in the sun with the Tiger Affin, stripped down to the waist and chasing Gazelle Affins across what could have been the African savanna. They were, in fact, several very shapely gazelles wearing black silk teddies and running shoes... Ishan pounced, and they rolled together on the ground in what Josh could only imagine was a perfect time for a Tiger Affin! Shreds of clothing started flying, and Josh quietly backed out of Ishan’s ‘party’.
After a second of disorientation, he was back in his seat aboard the Raptor. Ishan shifted in his chair with what Josh was confident was a happy growl. But otherwise, didn’t react to Josh’s presence in his dream.
Wow!
Mind Attunement was going to open all kinds of possibilities.
Can I use it at a distance?
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Sitting across the shuttle from Josh, Lena was the closest within his mindscape. Even though her eyes were closed, Lena’s thoughts flashed like the other conscious space marines...
She must still be awake but resting, or perhaps meditating.
Josh focused on the center of her brain, the physical-spiritual link—
Didn’t know the heir was that cute... I heard he has a thing for Jaralons... Ashvi’s been telling me that things have been a little slow since we got married... maybe she would like it if we rotated him into our zero-G time?
There was a pixelated flash of Lena and a Jaralon... presumably her wife, Ashvi, kissing—Josh once more found himself backing slowly out of a mind like a voyeur, shutting down his mind sphere and blushing, slightly embarrassed for the small intrusion. He noted there was barely any disorientation the second time.
Is sex the only thing these space marines think about? What am I saying... of course that’s all they think about when not in combat! They’re marines, aren’t they?
Then he smiled wolfishly at Sen, sitting on his left. ~Play your cards right with Lena, and you might get a crash course in mortal-domestic relations!~
~Huh?~ Sen blinked.
~I’ll tell you more later... For now... I’ve figured some things out...~
Josh shared with Sen what he had learned about Mind Attunement and Mind Aura absorption. The fact that the mindscape was a channel ability... having to spend several minutes explaining what that meant. Then Josh described that he could join Ishan’s dream when he had physical contact, but that he only heard Lena’s thoughts when he tried to do it at range.
~So, video with touching and audio at range?~
~No... It was more than that... It could have just been that Ishan was dreaming... but I don’t think so... it felt like I could have interacted with him in the reality of his mind if I had wanted... Not just seeing him. I’m not sure if he could see me... it’s something we are going to have to experiment with. I also need to see how much Essence this ability costs.~
Status.
Physical Health Status:
15000/15000 Spherical Cultivation units
Free Essence:
36405/40500 Spherical Cultivation units
He went over the rough estimates with Sen... Josh’s Essence was down about two thousand more than expected, if he had only been using the low-cost mind sphere.
Is it one thousand per event? Did entering Ishan’s mind cost more? Did the ranged reading of Lena’s mind cost more? Do I even need the mind sphere to join Ishan since we were touching?
There were a lot of questions and not enough time to deal with them all. Josh needed to work with Sen to get him up to speed.
*****
Sen could absorb the Mind Aura by the end of the next ninety minutes. He had also managed to use his telepathic skills on Lobo, who was sleeping across the Raptor’s compartment. Sen confirmed that he could only hear the random stream of consciousness thoughts without touching the person he was reading. Even though the Wolf Affin was sleeping, Sen could not enter his dream. From the blanching of Sen’s face... Josh could tell Lobo was not having as pleasant a dream as Ishan had. Poor bastard.
Josh also realized his interface had never chimed with the formation of a new power like it had for Earth Attunement so many times... He wasn’t sure what to make of that... if anything, he had expected his interface to have increased in power and functionality with the Mind Attunement. Perhaps what they were discovering was part and parcel of Mind Attunement itself and not the manifestation of a separate skill. like increased strength was for Earth Attunement. The existence of no specific power likely meant that there were actual mind powers in the form of skills that he would have to figure out. He had some suspicions, but it was going to have to wait for—
“We will be exiting hyperspace at Lt. Nang’s rendezvous coordinates in three micro-gyras. Who’s manning the turrets?” Katak cut off Josh’s thoughts.
Lobo and Lena jumped up. Lobo went dorsal and Lena ventral. Ishan and Estra straightened up in the G-chairs and prepared by checking their personal equipment. Static field environmental helmets snapped into place over their EVAs. Sidearms, rifles, clips, and ammo pouches all mounted on electromag plates. Ishan donned a bandolier with multiple ominous-looking grenades of differing types. Last but not least, the senior chief snapped onto his left shoulder armor what looked like a snub-nosed gatling gun.
Josh raised his eyebrows.
Ishan leaned in and a feral look came over his orange and black face. “I’ve got an Affin friend in R and D, sir. I stopped and picked this up to even the playing field a little for this mission.” He patted the gatling gun affectionately. “Plasma rounds and line-of-sight tracking. I can even detonate its nuclear core to overcome stubborn obstacles as necessary.” Then, like a kid with a new toy, Ishan did a little dance of excitement in anticipation. “If things go the way they usually do, I’ll finally get to field test it!”
He then activated an internal power source. An intense and decidedly very deadly hum cycled up as the business end of the gun started to track Ishan’s sight movements with a quiet mechanical whirring sound.
“I’m glad you’re on our side, Senior Chief!” Josh chuckled, only half joking with the seven-foot tiger that was now armed for war.
Sen was now certain of what he had been seeing through his mindscape for the last several micro-gyras.
Ever since Katak had notified the team that they were exiting hyperspace, Estra had sent several golden bursts from her mind to a source outside the ship. There had even been two return bursts back to her from outside. Sen had tried to use his telepathy on her thoughts... but had been deflected by some barrier... if that made sense when talking about psychic forces. This mental barrier had bent slightly to the weight of his attempt... but Sen hadn’t pushed. If he was right about her being a turncoat who was giving away their position... it would be better for Sen to keep the fact he knew of her betrayal a secret until it was time to act.
As his political instructors had told him concerning spies—
“Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity. Without a subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports. Be subtle! Be subtle!”
Sen was confident he could overpower her and make her talk about what she was preparing for them... but would it be truthful? Would she send her forces scurrying to the wind? No, it was better to let it unfold and handle the opposing actors after they had been put into play...
However, it was time to bring Joshua in on his suspicions.
~Joshua...~ Sen opened their Bond, and instantly Joshua knew everything that Sen did.
~Dirty, lying-in-the-weeds sack of... You were right to keep it quiet for now... Let’s see what pops up and be ready. There hasn’t been any communication with anyone else aboard... I think Estra is acting alone... I’m going to tell Ishan... Keep an eye on her... I’ve got a plan...~
An instant later, Sen knew Josh’s thoughts.
Well, here goes nothing. Josh reached out, put a hand on Ishan’s furry shoulder, and Intended.
They faced each other in a vast, empty space with a white floor and no walls as far as Josh could see.
Ishan was looking around for enemies and was obviously unhappy about being present without any of the personal arsenal he had just donned. The Tiger Affin crouched instinctively on his hind legs and displayed the razor sharp claws on both paws. The deadly intent on display was made even more fearsome as Josh recognized the cunning sapient intelligence glinting in his golden eyes as it directed his animalistic ferocity.
“Sir... do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on here?”
“Senior, sorry for the abruptness of this conversation. We are inside your mind... but we don’t have much time to discuss the how and why of that right now, and I couldn’t let Estra hear us... There’s evidence that she;s dirty, Ishan... Sen and I have caught her communicating with someone at the reentry point we are exiting into. We think she is setting up an ambush. We’ll play along, let it unfold, and try to capture some of them for a proper interrogation. We just wanted you to know and be prepared.”
Ishan straightened up and stood at attention. If the news that one of his team had betrayed them set him off, being the consummate professional that he was, he didn’t show it.
He moved right on into the plan of action. “What are my orders?”
Josh told him the plan and what he hoped was going to happen. Finishing, Josh thought for a second. “If Estra has turned traitor and is still active after all of this, do you think you could neutralize her so we can interrogate her when this is over?”
The smile of an apex predator about to feed spread over Ishan’s face. He growled. “Yes, sir! That is well within my capabilities.”
“Good! After our opening response, if she’s still up, take her out so we don’t have a viper biting us in the behind while we’re dealing with whoever is waiting for us.”
Ishan snapped off a sharp salute, and Josh backed out of his mind. The visual matrix of their encounter faded into alternating layers as their consciousness disengaged.
Weird... were Josh’s first and second thoughts.
Ishan blinked his eyes twice but didn’t make any other outward signs of their encounter.
Sen was buckling himself back into his G-harness, and Ishan quickly joined him. Lena and Lobo were already buckled into the top and bottom turrets, which just left Estra standing alone in the Raptor’s center aisle, looking through her backpack when Katak took them out of hyperspace five seconds early and started the Raptor’s burst into sub-light acceleration.