Page 38 of Dreikx

“A five-minute favor. As a friend, if you don’t mind.”

“I’ll report you to the council.”

“You and I make up thirty percent of the council.”

“Exactly, sir. Fifteen percent of the council objects.”

“Math is your forte, I see.”

He sighs. “Fine, Dreikx, but you will have some explaining to do. Security cameras disengaged. Five Earth minutes.”

The com shuts off. I open my mind and scan the area. There are many people on the medical floor. Let’s hope they don’t start roaming the hallways. At the lift, Mike moves Tamey back for me to enter first. The side lift, the one I used, opens, and I turn. Raven exits with the baby, stops, quickly assessing the situation.

“Is that a weapon at my sister’s head?” he asks, voice quiet, deadly.

“Remain calm and allow me to handle this situation,” I say.

Raven’s jaw works. “I’ll kill you, Telean.”

“It’s Mike,” I say.

Raven holds the baby tighter, trying to cover his son with the bulk of his arm muscles. He can’t make a move. Not only is he holding the future heir to the throne, but Mike can pull the trigger at any second. With that in mind, I caress Tamey’s mind. Her eyes shift from Raven to me. “It will all be fine,” I project.

“What do you want, Mike?” Raven asks.

“To be out of here in four minutes with the princess.”

“Negative,” Raven says.

I open my mouth to tell Raven to shut up, but a better idea hits me. While Mike is distracted with Raven, I brush against his mind. His mental wall is strong, fortified, and behind it, the energy of his thoughts calls to me. I wait for a projection, a thought to slip past the wall, like the one earlier when he projected “open open open” when arriving on the ship in the pod.

The lift doors close.

“Open it,” Mike shouts.

Raven snarls. Venom shoots out of his mouth and onto the floor. Footsteps ring in the hallway, my crew exiting the rooms. They stop when they see us, looking from me to what they believe is Mohagox.

Open,Mike projects outside his wall. I almost laugh. Almost. Instead, I slip past the projected thought where his mental wall cracked, allowing the thought to slip out, and enter his mind. Mike stills, sensing my presence.

Raven’s battering him with questions. The medical staff watches. Mike knows he’s trapped and it’s over. He will kill her, then end himself. His brain sends an order for his hand to pull the trigger. I assault the order, sending his brain signals every which way. We battle inside. He knows I’m there. I need to take control of him, alive and thinking so I can retrieve everything from his head.

First, I seize control of his body. The hand that holds the gun cramps.

Tamey weeps. She feels the change of his emotions, I presume. Though I want to stroke her hair and tell her not to be afraid, I cannot. I ignore the urge to comfort her.

“How is he doing this?”Mike wonders.

I answer inside his head.“I’ve spent many years alone practicing mental agility.”

“You never told anyone about this. You’re a liar.”

“And a thief,”I remind him.

“You promised me riches and land on Telea. You promised us all riches. We would overthrow the president and reign.”

“Times have changed. We had to make adjustments.”

“We are slaves to the Regha Alphas.”

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