I just sat there for a while, I do not know how long. This new information from the captain must relate in some way to the puzzle of the Magi. In my mind I could see many threads all tangled together. There had to be a way to untangle them and weave them into a tapestry that would explain everything. I was sure it was just a matter of time before I loosened enough threads to see the outline of the pattern, and could start to weave them properly.
When I got up and left the room, the honor guard was still dutifully at their post. Since I had called the meeting, they could not leave until I dismissed them. Once dismissed, they secured the room and walked off in perfect lockstep. Their dedication to perfection was amazing. With all that was going on, it was heartening to see them so calmly going about their duties. Most of the ship was plagued by the fear weapon, yet these two were seemingly unaffected by it. I set this thread aside to be considered later. There was too much I needed to do now to get ready for my mission.
I headed to the common mess hall where crewmen of all ranks mingled off-duty over food and refreshments. I found a dark table in the corner and covered it with my work to discourage anyone from approaching me. The rule changes did not take long. I had already considered some adjustments, so it was more a matter of drawing up the official documents and placing the orders. Before I left I would have to schedule a department-wide meeting to announce these changes.
Instead of moving on to review my officers’ records, I found myself once more focused on the tapestry of the puzzle. It seemed to call me in; I could not let it go. It had taken a while to get to a point where I could start working with the threads of information, but now that I had something to work with, my confidence of success was much greater.
I sat there staring blankly at piles of records, working in what my father used to call “puzzle-solving mode,” hyper-focused directly on the puzzle at hand almost to the exclusion of everything else. I have been accused of not even breathing when I am working this hard. I had not gotten very far before Larath came to the table.
“Hello, Vydor, mind if I join you?” he asked as he sat down. Clearly he was not really looking for permission. “I see you are lost in thought, no doubt about the upcoming mission and the Magi.”
“You know, Larath, sometimes you have amazing insight into people and seem to read minds - and other times you are the master of stating the blindingly obvious,” I responded with a big grin.
“They are one and the same. It often just takes a change in perspective to see what others are blind to.”
“Perhaps that is so, but you did not come here to trade quips. I perceive you have something on your mind?” I was bluffing. I could never read him, but it was odd for him to appear at my table.
He grinned and said, “Now who is stating the obvious? You are right, of course. Vydor, I know we have not served together for long as yet, but hopefully by now you have learned to trust me as a friend.”
He paused here; he was leading up to something. Because of the nature of my position and rank on this ship I was required to see him regularly for psychiatric evaluation, and through those visits I had learned a bit about his style. He was a master at getting people to talk about their deepest secrets. I had often wondered if he would be willing to train my officers, as his methods would be a major help in interrogations.
“Officially, I am here to make a final evaluation before we are committed to this mission. Unofficially, I am here to offer you a way out. I heard your speech in the meeting, and I know that when you said it you fully believed it, but you were under the pressure of the meeting and the desire to prove yourself to us. In such situations, people may later regret taking so strong a stand and wish they had a way out. As your friend, I am here to offer you one.
“You see, if I declare you unfit for this mission, then the mission is off, and the captain shoulders no blame, as I would be overruling him. Your name would also be clear, since you can lodge a formal complaint and appeal my ruling. This of course would take many weeks to process, and by that time we would have been forced to wipe out the Magi, ending the need for you to fly this mission. All you have to do is let me know that you want out, and I will take care of it. There will be no record of your request, just my assessment saying that you were not psychologically ready for such a mission. Nice and neat, and no one has to take a fall.” He stopped here and waited for my reply.
“If you know me as well as you claim, you know my answer to that,” was my response. I was being very careful not to give him anything he could use to remove me from this mission. I needed to go or I might never solve this puzzle.
“You are right, I do. Originally you were serving out of faithful loyalty and whatever mission was tossed your way you would blindly accept. But that has changed. Now you are so tied up in solving this mystery that you cannot see anything else. To you, this has gone beyond a mere act of loyalty or an attempt to prove yourself. Instead, it’s a challenging puzzle that cries out for an answer. I doubt short of tossing you in the brig I could stop you from going at this point.”
Amazingly, his insight into me was better than my own. He was right, although I was not sure when this change had taken place. I was no longer afraid of the mission, and in a strange way actually looked forward to it. “Okay, Larath, since I am bound on a suicide mission your secret will be safe with me. How do you do it? What is the secret to your insight?”
That actually seemed to catch him a bit off his guard; I had finally got one up on him. I wanted to move the conversation away from my evaluation, to ensure I said nothing to give him reason to think he should cancel my mission. It only lasted an instant, but it was a small victory for me.
“Have you not heard the rumors? I am a mind-reading amphibian from the Outer Colonies,” he replied with a big grin, masterfully not answering the question at the same time as seeming to answer it.
“No, I have not heard that one. Are you a telepath? Look, Larath, I am about to face an enemy who may have paranormal powers. If you have any information on these powers, I really need to know.”
He said nothing for a minute or two. I could see he was deciding how to answer, but nothing could have prepared me for his reply.
“No, I am not. I am an empath, as are most of the top counselors in the fleet. This means I can read your feelings which, allied to my training and experience, is almost as good as being a telepath.”
I just sat in silence. Up to this mission, I had thought all this psychic stuff was silly children’s fantasy and not worth my time studying. I realized that might turn out to be the biggest mistake of my career.
“The Empire has been actively seeking and training anyone they can find with empathic powers and, yes, there are some telepaths. All anyone in the Empire can do is read minds, until now at least. The Magi, or more likely the Black Adders, seem to have learned how to project thoughts, and in a big way.”
“You said the Empire was actively training people. I assume this includes a defense against this kind of attack?”
“Yes, but until now it has never been tried against someone who projects thoughts, because there was no such person. Fortunately the defense does seem to work. In fact, that is how I have managed to keep my cool throughout this crisis. The next obvious question is how, so let me answer it. To block an empath you need to take hold of your emotions and bury them behind a stoic cover. It takes much dedicated practice to do this on a consistent basis, but once you learn it you can still experience the full range of emotions while appearing to have none. Blocking a telepath is much harder; you need to learn to cover your thoughts with a shield. I don’t know how it works, nor am I very good at it. Some people seem to be born with that ability and merely need coaching to do it.”
“Can you teach me to block this fear weapon of theirs?” I asked.
“In the time that we have left? Probably not. But I can give you some basic starter skills to work on, and if you have the gift you should be able to work it out with time and practice on your own. If not, no amount of training will prepare you for the level of skill you must have to wage battle with down there.”
“Fine. Can you come by my quarters at 0600 hours?”
“Certainly. Let me ask you something, do you feel the weapon any longer?”
Oddly, until he said that I had not paid much attention to it. He probably knew the answer already, but I played along. “No, I do not. I’m not sure when that happened, but I get the feeling you’re going to tell me it was when I began to approach this like a challenging puzzle.”
“Yes. Very good, you have completed your first lesson successfully. Tomorrow we can work on more advanced material. Oh, by the way, Dr. Rannor asked me to deliver the order for your pre-mission physical. One wonders if he plans to offer you a way out too,” he said with his trademark big grin. “I must be moving on now. I look forward to our meeting in the morning.” With that he left.
Yet more threads for the puzzle. What did he mean by “I have already completed the first lesson?” How long had the Empire been employing psychics? Besides counselors, what other positions were they in? The possibilities were endless and frightening. Were there more cells out there like the Black Adders just waiting to crack? Was Pandora’s box already open?
Well, that mystery would have to wait. Right now I needed to announce my replacement to my team leaders, distribute the policy changes and then go to see Dr. Rannor. I gathered up all my work and sent a message out to all my team leaders to meet in my office.