Page 19 of Dreikx

“You’re jesting.”

“Not this time. He’s bleeding all over the sand, my friend. Better get here fast. I don’t think I can catch another one like this.” Seer hangs up.

I wave at Sotay by the gate. “We shall test the short space jump now,” I say.

“Location?” Sotay asks.

“LA.”

He looks up from his control. “More specific?”

“Anywhere on the shore, and I’ll scan for Seer from there.”

Sotay draws in the coordinates and reads them to me. I place my control inside the compartment of my new pod. Mike stole my previous pod, and my engineers have had to scramble to develop a compartment inside the new pod. The good part of having new things is that this pod is equipped with the latest upgrades, and I’m excited to test them. The gate senses the control and begins feeding it energy, its tendrils translucent and prickling my skin.

“You’re taking the pod?” Sotay asks, then steps back so he won’t get caught in the jump.

“That’s the idea. Ready?”

“Are you?”

“No.” I would have preferred to send an empty pod for the test, but I have two minutes left. The pod shimmers, comes in and out of existence, and a vacuum sucks the breath out of me before I appear on the beach. Immediately, I search for Seer’s com unit, and a red dot appears on my screen. Two miles out. One minute and a half left.

I bite back a curse and fire up my pod, then speed through the air. I land with a thud and exit the pod. Sand flicks my boots and suit as I run toward the males. I hate sand and running on sand. I hate running and rushing in general. And the scene before me, I hate even more. Stopping, hands on my hips, I stare at the Swarm male. Seer’s holding the male up by his arm, which looks dislocated. Pain on the male’s face tells me his brain is likely only thinking about how to die faster. I reach inside his mind.

“Ta-da,” Seer says, effectively severing my connection with the male. Though over the years in captivity, and with nothing better to do but think on how I could protect Sidone’s mind from our captor’s brutality, I have developed extraordinary telepathic skills, I require absolute silence. Interruptions often sever my connection with another mind.

“Quiet, please,” I say.

“What are you doing? Take him into the pod.”

“If I move him, he will likely become unconscious and then die.”

“So?”

“So I need his brain working,” I say.

“Whatever,” Seer says and sits next to the male. He’s beaten him into a bloody mess. The male slumps on the sand, and I reach for his mind again. Now, neither Seer nor anyone else can find out the level of brain development I’ve achieved. And with Seer witnessing, I have to resort to a much less efficient way of extracting information, namely forcing the male to speak what I need him to speak. Crouching beside him, I say, “There is a Telean male in service to your king. Think about any time you’ve heard of him, perhaps met him.”

The male moans.

Thirty seconds.

Seer scratches his head. “I broke his jaw.”

“Interrogation involves speech. He can’t talk.”

“You didn’t mention speech. Just his brain.”

“Working with you is difficult.” I would love to have privacy while extracting the information, and I’m not afforded it. The male is on the brink of a mental collapse, and Seer is too curious to leave. I don’t waste energy or precious time asking him to leave because I know he won’t. It is what it is.

I dig inside the male’s mind, scanning the same way tech scans for location. A wide scan until I can narrow down the images and anything else I find related to Mike. Nothing. The male shows me images of Seer’s brutal beating. He can’t think of Mike. I scan deeper, past his conscious mind, and settle into the memory compartment, waiting for his neurons to catch the presence of my own so they can feed me the information. The flood of memories comes, and acid rises in my throat.

Quickly, I scan the memories and transfer them into my own. I’ll sift through those later. The male is feeding me his pain, and my jaw, shoulder, and leg feel like they’re going to explode. I’ll show the male mercy, and as I leave his brain, I sever the connection between his brain and his body. Paralyzed from the neck down, the male closes his eyes.

Sensing the change, Seer reaches for the male and checks his pulse. “He’s done. You got nothing.” He stands. “I lost a male on this mission, and you got nothing?”

I stand with him. “I have everything.”

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