Galaxy's End: Book One by LeRoy Clary (pdf ebook reader txt) 📕

Stone leaned closer to Kat. “Have you ever noticed that someone not looking at you is just as telling as when you catch them staring?”

Kat silently shook her head.

The captain remained close and said, “Use your powers to convince him to look at us. Not too much, just a little nudge because I think he is trying not to look this way.”

Kat shifted positions. Her eyes squinted slightly became unfocused as she tried to project. She eased the idea into his mind that he should look at them.

The male steward slowly turned. His eyes locked with the captain’s eyes. It was her turn to smile. She called softly as she crooked a finger, “Come here, please.”

He tried to bluff. “I’m not assigned to that table. May I get your steward for you?”

“Yes, you can come over here,” purred the captain, as if they were old friends and she leaned closer as if telling him a secret. When he was closer, she said clearly and loud enough for all in the dining room to hear, “You can get me to allow you to live a while longer if you sit down until we’ve eaten our snack and then accompany us to the bridge. I’m certain you remember the way. It’s where you murdered your captain.”

His face flushed—then paled in rapid succession. He inhaled and started to deny.

Before the first word came forth, Captain Stone said, “Talk without my permission and you die. Here and now. Kat, is that bio-gun of yours pointed at him?”

“Yes,” Kat said evenly, probably never having heard of a bio-gun in her life, but it sounded dangerous.

The steward glanced at Kat and found a perfectly blank face staring back at him. Her hands were in her lap under the table, out of sight. This was not the time for joking or trying to amuse the captain. She allowed a slight amount of empathy to make him fearful, not enough to sprint away but to do as the captain asked.

*  *  *

Kat:

There came the merest touch of a strange sensation inside Kat’s mind. It was him, the steward sitting across from her and Captain Stone. She didn’t try to block it or manage it in any manner. She trusted Captain Stone would keep control of the situation, however, Kat wanted to understand how it felt to be on the receiving end of an empath.

The steward’s attempt to convince her to put aside her weapon was crude and abrupt. The idea of releasing him came in a wave that anyone should be able to reject, she decided. Besides that, the mental touches were contrary to her wishes and beliefs. There was no chance she would do as he wanted. However, it showed how poorly he was skilled. Or perhaps it was just a quick response without any planning.

Her method was softer, often a small step at a time. Gentle suggestions and doubts about the alternative, both at the same time were effective. Tiny thoughts implanted and left for the other to work out until they came to his or her point of view. She would plant an idea and allow it to simmer instead of telling someone what to do.

In other words, the steward stomped on the mind of his victim. He may as well have shouted. The difference was between the nudge of the elbow of the person sitting next to you and a slug on the shoulder.

The experience helped Kat in a hundred ways. There were times she had tried the same approach as he had—and she had often failed. Not always, but usually. Her method took longer. It was also more subtle and allowed the person to lean in her direction before making a choice.

She didn’t feel pressured to do what he wanted, which was a surprise. Instead, she had thoughts that conflicted with what she’d been thinking. It reminded her of sharing a meat pie with Bill years ago. She was hungry. He was hungry. There hadn’t been food for them in three days. He’d offered her the first bite.

Instead of taking half the pie, which was fair, she had bitten off two-thirds. That only left Bill the far end, and she would have wolfed that down too if he hadn’t reached for it and tossed it into his mouth. However, what she chewed seemed to sour. His eyes accused her, not his words.

“I’m sorry,” she had mumbled.

“Okay,” he agreed.

After that incident, she didn’t feel she had earned his trust back for half a year or more. With that single huge bite, she almost lost a valuable friendship.

That was the way the steward used his empathic ability. Like a sledgehammer smashing a finishing nail, she realized. Or a selfish person eating more than his share.

Kat had learned a good lesson with the experience with Bill. She applied that to dealing with the steward. It was time to see what else she could learn. The ice cream arrived in a pair of bowls and they ate and talked genially about starships. They discussed how they were traveled so fast through space. Stone explained using the wormhole universe was like passing through the veins in bodies that connect to other people. Captain Stone explained that it would take generations to travel from star to star without the intricate wormhole system where a ship entered at one nexus and left at another, perhaps a hundred light-years away.

They ignored the killer-steward sitting with them.

They discussed how emerging civilizations were considered taboo for contact as long as they were planet-bound or attempted to only navigate the deep-dark between stars. Once they figured out the wormholes, they were welcomed into the galactic club.

Some reluctantly accepted the invitation. A few kept their independence and used wormholes sparingly. Others, like humans, embraced it.

The steward sat stiffly and contributed