Astra: Synchronicity (22 page)

"While they are often referenced by your
media, I do not think I entirely understand the subject. Enlighten
me, please."

"Some believe that psions represent the next
level of evolution beyond humanity. Whether it was merely a
frightening accident or a gene mutation is a moot point. Psions are
more enlightened mentally than normals are. We're telepathic,
masters of persuasion, and a few of us are lucky enough to have the
power to dominate an entire room full of people or drive a human
permanently insane. There are a few variations: some can foretell
the future or move large objects with only the power of their mind.
Some can extend their life indefinitely."

Havier contemplated her words. "It sounds as
though you are blessed by the Divine. Though I assume by the
context in which you have approached me that psions are not viewed
highly by humanity. Rather, your people are ostracized."

"Exactly."

"Did you come to me to ask for a seat at the
negotiation table in order to facilitate peace amongst all
humans?"

Aliane shook her head. "I think it's much too
late for that. The discrimination against psions is already too
prevalent, and I don't think overcoming their fear of us will ever
be a priority."

"So what are you asking me for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. An alliance? To
be considered for integration in your own culture? Even if it's a
tiny moon, we'll take it. It can't be any worse than where we've
been forced to live in Astra."

"To be honest, Aliane, I am not in a position
to consider a request like that. I am not certain the Xuranians
would be willing to recognize psions as a different species. You
are still human, are you not?"

"I suppose that depends on how different two
groups have to be in order to qualify as different. I think by most
human definitions, we are uniquely different."

Suddenly, her eyes darted across the room as
though in her mind she'd heard people whispering about her. The
second lady wandered through the hall with her brows clenched. The
amount of psionic potential emanating from Aliane, regardless of
whether Nadine could see her or not, had alerted her to their
unauthorized presence.

Aliane glanced at Zingeri and issued a brief
yet urgent command. <>

While she continued speaking to Havier about
the various differences between humans and psions, Zingeri walked
toward the second lady. Aliane found it difficult to continue the
conversation at hand with Nadine lurking about. The woman continued
to scan the room, combing it for a stray thought from the intruder
as Aliane muddled on. "Do you not have a similar evolutionary
distinction in your own society?"

Havier began telling her about how the Aikona
had been integrated into their society, but Aliane hardly heard a
word of it. In her mind she monitored Zingeri's situation while he
approached Nadine. She never understood why the woman dressed in
costume all the time. She looked more like a vintage doll than an
actual person.

The temptation to dive into her mind was more
than he could resist. <>

Gasping, Nadine spun around, and the little
color of her skin drained out of her face. He'd never met her, but
the ease with which he forced his thoughts into her mind shook her
to the core. After all, most psions wouldn't dream of trifling with
her.

He stuck out his hand and tried to distract
her from continuing her search. "Hello, Mrs. Taylor. I'm Zingeri,
and if I were you, I wouldn't do anything stupid right now."

She narrowed her eyes at him, which began to
glow a soft violet color, certain this was a bluff and that he'd
just been fortunate to get his thought through to her. He tried to
clear his mind so she wouldn't grab onto any threads that would
incriminate him. "Why is that, exactly?" she whispered.

"You don't want a bloodbath on your hands, do
you? Because that's exactly what would happen."

"Don't take me for a fool," she said, her
eyes still pulsating. "I feel her…her mind is a part of yours…and
you wouldn't be so brash if she didn't have your back."

"Maybe, but that doesn't change anything.
We're not here to start any trouble."

"Trouble and Aliane go hand-in-hand. So don't
patronize me. There's more to telling the truth than simply not
lying. Tell me—are you as evil as she is or do you just follow her
around like a puppy?"

He clenched his jaw, knowing she'd chosen her
words in order to push his buttons. "I'm her confidante."

"But obviously not her conscience. She's
using you the way she uses everyone else, and when she's done with
you, she'll kill you. It's delusional to think anything else."

"Well, not all of us can have a Prince
Charming like you do."

"I've been through a lot worse than you have,
I'd wager."

"Is that so…" Zingeri's voice oozed venom. "I
doubt your father mind raped you while your mother did nothing but
watch the drunken pedophile destroy your childhood. He was an
abusive molester, but every time I tried to tell people, he'd work
his mental magic over on them and the trouble would mysteriously go
away. To this day, I still have nightmares about the things he did
to me. So don't you ever compare growing up alone in some lab to
the kind of horror I went through."

She lowered her head, and her face flushed
with guilt. "I'm sorry. I just—" She forced her eyes to meet his.
"I don't get the feeling you're a bad person. Not in your heart,
anyways."

"Well, that's where you're wrong," he assured
her. "I'm every bit as driven as Aliane. Doesn't it infuriate you
that psions are not taken seriously? That we're discriminated
against like we have the plague?"

"Of course it bothers me. But things are
changing."

"Really? What things? We're no longer killed
on sight? Whoop-de-fucking-do. If that's all the progress normals
have made in two hundred years, equality will take eons."

"So what is it that psions really want? You
seem to think the only right answers to the problem are your
solutions. So tell me, Zingeri: how can normals right things to
your satisfaction? Most psions I know favor integration. They're
satisfied with our progress. Why aren't you? Has your past left you
so bitter that the only thing left in your soul is revenge? If so,
all I can do is pity you."

Long ago, her words would have been enough to
goad him into attacking her. The reason he didn't talk about his
abusive childhood was due to the fact people assumed his
motivations were revenge—like the past predestined him to a future
of violence. Zingeri never considered himself a morally
reprehensible individual, though when he was out with Aliane, he
played the part of one. "I don't expect you to understand."

"Fine," she said. "You have five minutes to
leave."

"Thank you." He felt her hot stare on the
back of his neck as he returned to Aliane and Havier.

Aliane cleared her throat and interrupted her
companion mid-thought. "So there is precedent for some kind of
integration. Granted, I understand the challenges something like
this would pose and the fact that other solutions seem more ideal,
but as a spokesperson for the psions, I feel a complete
dissociation would be in our best interests. Could you at least
bring our case to the Chancellor?"

"You have my word I will do that," he said.
"We do not take the persecution of sentient sub-species
lightly."

Zingeri wrapped his arm around Aliane's
waist. <>

"Thank you, Havier. I hope we'll be in touch
soon."

He nodded. "Indeed. Good day to both of
you."

As the Xuranian strolled away, Zingeri took
her hand and led her through the crowd. Neither relaxed until the
two of them stood outside the Capitol.

"A productive meeting?" he asked while they
descended the stairs of the building.

"I don't know. His mind was completely blank
to me. Maybe their brains are more highly developed. Maybe I was
just too focused on staying unseen. Were you reading anything from
him?"

"No. But he listened to what you had to say.
I wish normals would treat us with that kind of respect."

"They will."

She sauntered down the street ahead of him.
Every step was confident and deliberate, as though she didn't walk
in a pair of stilettos at all. The two of them passed the army of
reporters covering each and every uninteresting detail of the peace
summit. They'd camped near the park kiddie-corner to the Capitol
Building, and their hovermobiles stretched around the block for
almost a mile.

"What happened to privacy?"

Zingeri laughed while they passed the ANN
News vehicles. "I think it went out of style long before you were
born."

"Things used to be so much simpler," she
said, waxing poetic about the past. "People were more worried about
their family and their crop than any of this. Towns had character
and camaraderie…that's just not there anymore. And the bitch of it
is normals hated psions only slightly more then than they do now.
Today, people want to be famous and damn everything else. What has
humanity turned into, Z?"

He didn't have a good answer for that.
Neither of them did.

***

Captain Ardri Lothian stood with her sister
beside a buffet table in the Great Hall of the Capitol in
Northampton. Both felt honored to be on hand for the historic
appearance of the Xuranians on AC soil. The
Schenectady
had
been their escort ship from Zion to Chara. The journey depleted the
ship's fuel reserves, forcing a lengthy stay before returning to
space. Thus, her crew had been invited to participate in the
festivities.

All of the senior members of the crew
hobnobbed with politicos—the lone exception being Commander Ford,
who took command of the ship in her absence. The chief medical
officer, Dr. Radha Chigurapati, and Lieutenant Faeun chatted with
two female members of the AC Council. Ensign Maxia preened, eager
to brag about himself to anyone unfortunate enough to listen, and
Lieutenant Baca ate lunch at a table with his wife and four young
children. The large room was stuffed to capacity with dignitaries
of every allegiance hoping for the chance to mingle with the
aliens.

"Didi, who's the hot guy over there staring
at you?"

The captain had been all smiles before Lyneea
nodded in the direction of someone behind her. She spun around less
discreetly than she would've liked but had no idea who her sister
could be referring to. She hadn't seen a man she'd consider hot
since the reception began an hour ago.

"Did I miss someone?" Ardri asked after she
turned back around.

"The guy next to the fountain."

Ardri glanced back over her shoulder and
spotted Rashad sitting there with a drink and cigarette in hand.
She looked back at her sister scornfully. "The one with the black
curly hair? It might be time to get your eyes examined,
Lynnie."

"That's crazy talk." Lyneea dismissed her
sister's words with a slight wave of her hand. "He is one fine
piece of dark meat."

Ardri snorted so loud she drew a few stares.
"He's not your type."

"Do you know him?"

"He captains the
Kearsarge
. He's an
egotistical asshole who always does things his own way. I don't
know what his problem is, but I can't stand working with him. On
the bright side, definitely not a psion."

Lyneea frowned at her sister's tasteless
assertion. "That is not something you should make a joke about…with
what I'm going through."

The last thing she wanted right now was
another hour-long story of woe about how her husband kept such a
terrible secret from her and she didn't think she'd ever be able to
trust a man with her love again. The first dozen times, Ardri
listened as any good sibling would. But after that everything went
in one ear and out the other. Lyneea's words only reaffirmed her
choice to remain single.

Her sister's eyes lit up. "He's coming this
way. Smile so you don't look all pissed off."

Ardri forced a grin before she turned in
Rashad's direction. She'd wanted to leave Lyneea on the ship, but
her sister still wanted to enjoy the perks being Mrs. Zoleki
afforded her while she could. An occasional person recognized her
from images splashed across
Viva Vega
, and being married to
a popular philanthropist and businessman thrilled her. Dozens of
women secretly longed for a divorce so they could have the chance
to be the next Mrs. Zoleki. Ardri shook her head, glad she'd never
end up in that kind of mess.

"Commander Mundammi," she called as he
approached. "It's been a long time."

"Captain Lothian. Always a pleasure." He took
a drink from his cup and glanced around the crowded room. "This
must be an exciting moment for you. To be here as history is
written after making history yourself. Admiral McKirin's probably
drawing up your promotion as we speak."

"I doubt it. I did the same thing any one of
us'd do."

A long, uncomfortable pause filled the air
between them, both aware that wasn't quite true. Many captains
wouldn't have pursued the phenomenon, instead reporting back to
command about it where it'd slip between the cracks and be
forgotten. They'd never have met the Xuranians and never find out
why they were at Gamma Pavonis.

"The Xuranians seem to be an interesting
race. Highly evolved, highly advanced."

She nodded. She'd been answering the same
questions over and over since she'd returned to Northampton. "Yes.
I was quite relieved to find their intentions peaceful."

"That initial encounter must've
been…interesting." He smirked and his stare seemed
contemptuous.

"As you know, Commander, the crew of the
Schenectady
is well-trained to handle any situation that we
encounter."