Voices by M J Marlow (uplifting novels txt) 📕

watched as he raised the pillow and I broke free of my
captor and shoved the man away. I stood between him and his
victim, my eyes blazing in anger. He laughed and turned to his
companion standing in the doorway. I had not seen him before. He
was not the threat; however, my scan told me. I focused on the
man who had tried to kill our patient. The hatred in his mind felt
like a physical blow; but I would not let it weaken me.
“Will you look at the child?” Lassiter exclaimed. “She
actually thinks she can stop us from doing what needs to be done.”
“Leave her alone,” I snapped at him. “She’s going to be
gone in two days. You have no reason to kill her or her child.”
“Child?” Lassiter’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Maya
again. “She’s carrying Osric’s pup?” I nodded and he set the pillow
down. “That changes things a bit. You, on the other hand;” he said
as he clamped his hand on my throat and shoved me against the
wall; “are another matter entirely.” He ran his hand along my
breast, his eyes filled with appreciation. “You’re young enough
that we can train you to obey.” I saw greed in his mind then and I
struggled to get away. “You would make a very useful tool, little
one…”
“Take your hands off Miss Greyson, Lassiter.” Carey stood
in the doorway; his eyes cold and hard. “She is not involved in
this.”
“She involved herself when she came down here, Carey,”
Lassiter replied. He pulled me to him and I whimpered as his hand
stroked my cheek. “She’d prove quite useful to us.” He laughed at
Carey’s hard eyes. “Oh come on, Carey,” he chided the man; “you
are the one who is always saying we need new blood here. Well,”
he said as he yanked me closer against his body; “here is some new
blood.”
“Miss Greyson and the rest of the Jarusians are our guests,
Lassiter,” Carey snarled. “They are not here to provide you with
breeding stock. Let her go.”
I had heard enough. I bit the man holding me and he let me
go with a yowl of pain. Before he and his man could react, I
opened the window with my mind and jumped out. I rolled and
then I ran until I hit the sold surface of a hard chest. I looked up as
hands clamped down on my arms and saw Tadeus Aitli’s
concerned expression. He saw my mind and his expression went
cold. He turned me over to Quinn, who had come running at his
call.
“Lassiter is after my sister,” he said as he ran.
“You have to help him, Quinn,” I said to the man holding
me. “Lassiter is not alone.” I saw his concern. “I’ll find Drea and
the others. Don’t worry about me. You have to get Maya away
from that monster.”
He saw Brad coming with Mury and Drea and he let me go.
I told the others what had happened and Drea was running. I could
see her determination as she went to help her patient. I started to
follow and Brad pulled me back. He took me to the mine office
and made me promise to stay put. Then he and Mury ran to help. I
felt like a helpless child running to her big brothers and sisters for
assistance and that made me very angry. I was on my way out to
help them when Anjela cut me off. The look in her eyes had me
backing away from her, shaken by the hatred I felt in her mind.
“You’re like the other offworlder,” she hissed as she came
towards me. “A witch! You must be destroyed.”
“I am only here to help!” I protested as she raised the
phaser. I saw her intent and I looked around for something I could
use to protect myself without harming her. I saw it on the shelf
behind her. “I’m sorry,” I said as I pulled the rock off the shelf and
hit her in the head with it. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” I kicked the
phaser away and went to get the first aid kit I had seen in the
kitchen earlier. I bound her wrists and then began to tend her
wound. “Why did you make me hurt you?”
Mury returned and saw the woman on the floor. I told him
what had happened and he took Anjela to the Infirmary where she
was sedated and strapped down. He told Carey that the woman was
a danger and should remain as she was until we left. Carey nodded
and looked over at my white face, frowning.
“I did not realize she would actually try to hurt you, child,”
he said to me gently. “I am sorry…”
“You let him go again,” I replied, my voice dripping with
anger as I saw his mind. “What is Lassiter to you, Mr. Carey, that
you let him do as he pleases?”
“Laura,” Mury hissed; “that is completely uncalled for.”
“No, Mury,” Carey replied; shaking his head. “Your little
telepath is correct. Lassiter does pretty much do as he pleases
around here.” He sat down and I saw his worries crash in on him.
“He and his family are very powerful on this world. They leave us
alone unless they want something from us.”
“Like women?”
“Yes,” Carey nodded; meeting my gaze without apology.
“Like women.” He looked over at Maya. “Lassiter wanted Maya.
Osric said no.”
“So he had Osric murdered?”
“We have no proof yet that the cave-in was not accidental,”
Cary replied. “But I have my suspicions.” He saw Mury’s frown.
“Nothing I can take to outside authorities, old friend.”
“I could get you your proof,” I said to him bluntly. The two
men looked at me. “This man sees me as no threat. If I were to
allow him to take me…”
“No!” Mury and Carey said in unison.
“We are only here until the Betazoid vessel arrives to take
Maya Sutton home,” Mury reminded me. “If Carey needs help
bringing Lassiter down; he will have to get it elsewhere.” He saw
my frown. “You are a Counselor, Laura; not a soldier. And you are
the junior member of our team, so you will listen to me.” He saw
the stubborn set of my chin. “You may be used to getting your own
way on the farms, Laura Greyson; but I am no simple-minded farm
boy. If you do not agree, here and now, to focus only on your task;
I will have you sent back to the ship. You will be taken off of away
team status and spend the rest of this tour on the vessel doing
supply inventory.”
“You wouldn’t…” I bit my lip as I saw that he would. I
hung my head in defeat. “All right,” I said softly. “I will focus on
Maya and keep my mind out of colony troubles.”
“Good!” Mury turned to his old friend. “Let’s go to your
office, Carey. You can fill me in on what is really happening
around here.” He looked at me briefly. “Quinn is just outside,
Laura; so don’t take it into your head to wander.”
I frowned at the man and he looked amused. Then he and
Carey were gone and I was alone with Maya. She had slept
through the attack and I could see she was still resting quite
comfortably. I checked the monitors and saw that her child was
doing quite well. I put my mind to what I had learned and was so
deep in thought that I jumped when Maya touched my hand. I
looked down to see her smiling at me gently.
“Don’t get dragged into this, child,” she said softly as she
started to drift off again. “I tried and it nearly killed me and my
son.”
“I would listen to my sister,” Tadeus said as he came into
the room. He was dirty and sweating. “I lost the bastard. He knows
this ground too well for me to track him.”
“But you’re Betazoid,” I looked at him in shock. “Couldn’t
you follow his mind?”
“I am not as gifted in that area,” Tadeus admitted to me;
“as my father or my sister. My talent runs to the physical.” He saw
my disbelief. “I am capable of some telepathy, but it is only
something I use when I feel I must.” He pulled another chair up
and took my hands in his as he met my eyes. “You, Laura
Greyson; are another matter entirely. I have never felt a person of
such power before.”
“I hurt someone with it today,” I frowned and lowered my
head so he could not see my tears. I looked over at Anjela. “She is
a confused old woman. I should have been able to talk her down.”
“Some people cannot see reason, child,” Tadeus said to me.
“She was going to kill you…” He held up his hand as I started to
protest. “I know this woman. Her hatred for people like us is quite
virulent.” He brought one hand up to my cheek and smiled. “I want
to thank you for bringing my sister back from her hiding place,
Laura.”
“She would have found her own way back,” I discounted
my work. “She is a very strong woman.”
“Do not sell your talents short, little one,” Tadeus said
gently. “You have a gift. It is something you should be glad of;
proud of.” He got to his feet and released my hand. “You are also
still a child; and very impetuous. Listen to your friends and do not
engage Lassiter. Dealing with that man will get you killed.”
He laid the back of his hand against my cheek and then he
was gone. I was astounded by the man’s gentleness and his
concern. He looked on me as someone he needed to protect now. I
assured myself that Maya was well and I moved out on the porch.
Quinn and Drea were there, speaking in low tones. I saw the way
her hand brushed his and I knew there was a connection there I had
no right to intrude on. I turned away, smiling.
“You’re to stay here, Laura,” Quinn said as I started down
the steps. I had not thought he was paying attention. “Mury’s
order.”
“And we listen to Mury because?”
“He is the team leader,” Brad said as he came to join us. He
saw my shock. “You thought I was in charge, Laura?” He laughed.
“Maybe of things medical; but when it comes to our security, Mury
is the voice on that matter. He told us that you met the bastard who
nearly killed our patient.” I nodded my head and told them about it.
“It’s a good thing that you kept a clear head and did what you
needed to do to extricate yourself from that situation, kid. We’d
never hear the end of it, if we lost our team counselor on the first
away mission.”
“Nice, Brad,” Drea scowled at him. “Laura,” she smiled
and held her hand out to me; “what Doctor Dim is trying to say is
we care about each other on this team. If anything happened to
you, we would never forgive ourselves.” She shot Brad another
angry look and took me back into the Infirmary. “You’ve been
running all day, kid,” she said as she led me to an empty bed. “Lie
down and try to calm your mind and body a bit.”
I smiled at her and did as she said. I was beginning to feel
the return of the headache and knew she was right. I had not taken
a moment to sit and rest; my mind had been on overdrive all day. I
set my mind to the calming exercise the priestesses had taught me
and soon