Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga Book 1): A Cadicle Space Opera A.K. DuBoff (guided reading books TXT) đ
- Author: A.K. DuBoff
Book online «Empire Reborn (Taran Empire Saga Book 1): A Cadicle Space Opera A.K. DuBoff (guided reading books TXT) đ». Author A.K. DuBoff
The panic in Darinâs tone turned Jasonâs stomach. âYouâre safe here.â
âNo one is safe. Not from it. From them.â
That kind of talk must be what the other interviewers had taken to be a sign of a psychological break. However, there was clarity and resolution to the statementsânot the disconnected nonsense that Jason had half-expected to hear, based on Trevorâs warning.
âWho?â Jason ventured.
Darin laughed gruffly and wrapped his arms around himself, shaking his head. âItâs everything.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âItâs everything. Weâre nothing. I might not remember what it showed me, but I know that. None of you have a foking clue.â
No, I really donât. He suspected the âitâ the young man referenced was the entity in the photo, but he was uncertain of the deeper meaning behind the words. Regardless, he couldnât shake the feeling that Darin was speaking with profound insight rather than madness.
Regardless, it was time for a change in tactics. Bring it back to his mother. His grounding. Jason took a slow breath. âI know youâve been through a lot. I promise Iâm here to help.â
âWhat makes you think you can do anything? The Guard was utterly useless.â
âThey often are,â Jason said with a slight smile. âThe TSS is different. Did your mother ever talk about us?â
At the mention of his mother, Darin softened. âOnly her opinion that all of you Agents are a bunch of entitled pricks.â
Jason managed to keep his expression neutral; rarely had he heard such disrespectful sentiments. Perhaps the TSS had lost some of its illustrious mystique in recent years. âEveryoneâs entitled to their opinion.â
Darin shrugged. âI havenât seen anything yet to change my mind.â
âThe other Agents youâve spoken to donât have my level of ability.â
âMind-reading is mind-reading, isnât it?â
âThereâs quite a bit more to it than that.â Jason hadnât been trained in the most nuanced arts of telepathic therapy, but just as with physical-focused telekinetic feats, the general principle was that the stronger a personâs abilities, the more they could do. So, even with his comparatively basic telepathy training, he had the potential to delve into a personâs mind as well as the expertsâraw ability compensating for his lack of learned skills.
However, his innate strength meant he needed to be careful when interacting with others. Merely being in the presence of someone with his Gifts was enough to overwhelm those in a compromised state. Heâd experienced that firsthand during the Awakening of his own abilities, being near his father and the other Primus Elites. Theyâd needed to keep shields around themselves to avoid inadvertently harming him until he learned how to guard himself; the enhanced environmental sensitivity made those with Gifts so powerful, but it was also enough to break someoneâs mind if they didnât know how to filter the inputs. Though Darin didnât have the same sensitivity as someone newly Awakened, his volatile emotional state made him vulnerable in other ways.
âAre you willing to talk?â Jason asked. Regardless of Darinâs answer, heâd need to use telepathy to delve deeper. Nonetheless, having a conversation about the topic at hand would speed the process along.
Darin scoffed. âDo I have a choice?â
âYouâre not under arrest, so yes, of course.â
Darin took a few seconds to respond. âYouâre not the first guy they sent in, which means either youâre higher up, or theyâre hoping that someone close to my age will soften me up. If itâs the latter, should have thought to send a pretty girl.â
âWould that help?â Jason tilted his head, amused by the suggestion but not letting it show.
Darin shrugged. âI mean, it never hurts. Iâve been stuck on a ship for a long time.â
âIâm afraid Iâm not in a position to bring in anyone else right now, but Iâd like to get you back to your life as soon as possible.â
âFine. Letâs get on with it.â
Jason grabbed the chair from the small desk in the corner and sat across from Darin. He began initiating a loose telepathic link, getting a feel for how much resistance he might meet.
Typically, when entering someoneâs mind, a telepath would encounter a layer of outward thoughts, usually characterized as oneâs internal voiceâthe consciously controlled projection. These outward-facing thoughts could be faked, quite convincingly if the person was well-trained. Truth was found in the inner mind, skimming subconscious thoughts and memories. In most cases, TSS Agents only went as deep as this second layer in order to verify information. However, some occasions required an intensive examination of the inner mind, going into the subjectâs long-term memory; the information garnered at that level was sometimes more than a person knew themselves, where forgotten details were buried or where fragments remained if others had tried to erase a memory.
Jason suspected that heâd been sent on the mission to verify that Darinâs memories were genuine. It was unclear what someone might have to gain from faking an alien attack, but stranger things had happened.
He leaned forward in his chair and looked Darin in his eyes. âWhat was your role on the ship?â
âPilot and labor. My mom isâwasâthe captain. I was supposed to take over the Andvari from her, keep up with the salvage jobs after she retired.â
Good, keep it on his mother. Jason took the opening. âWorking with family can be a double-edged sword. Did you get along well?â
âYeah. I mean, we had our moments sometimes. But, things were good. What does that have to do with anything?â The bite was back in his tone.
âI ask because you were awfully far out for a salvage operation. Was that a mutual decision?â
Darinâs face darkened. âYou think itâs our foking fault we got our crew killed?â
âThatâs not what I said or meant.â His heart was heavy for
Comments (0)