Page 58 of Border Control

“Dom,” she says, putting down her communication device, and I jolt to alertness. I was almost in a meditative trance, studying what she broadcasts.

“How can I serve?”

She shoots me a small smile, but it’s tight under tension, not her usual perfectly crooked grin, the sparkle gone from her eyes. “We need to get you back to the farm and untangle this mental mind-web thing.”

Drok na, I wasn’t thinking about that at all. “I have no idea how to reverse a mind sync.”

Shaking her head, she mutters, “Well, come up with a few things to try by tonight, please. I’ll work overtime to make up for my late start as it is, and I have to take more to get you back to Ellen’s.”

She drops her head in her hands, and a wave of despair sucks at me, threatening to pull me under with it and, with me, Nevare and Arik.

I block the link between me and the others, snapping it shut like slamming a vault door. Then I brace myself, feet planted wide in my mind’s landscape, spine rigid, shoulders squared. The weight of her hopelessness crashes into me like a black wave, thick and cold, swallowing light and breath alike. It claws at me, seeping into my joints, whispering that nothing matters, that I should just let go.

But I don’t.

I hold Law-rah above it, over my head, steady in my thoughts. I build a wall around her image: her clever mind, her quick words, the glint in her eye that I hope indicates she's thinking of me. Despair swirls around me, trying to sink or drag away that spark, but I won’t allow it reach her. I won’t permit it touch Nevare or Arik either.

Every breath is an effort. My knees buckle in the psychic plane, but I dig in, grip harder, narrow my focus to a single truth: protect her.

The tide begins to ebb. The darkness recedes like fog pulling back from shore, and the feeling eases, then passes.

Law-rah takes a deep breath. “Suddenly I don’t feel so bad.”

I wipe my forehead, sweat rolling down my hand. “Good.”

She spins in place in her seat, blue eyes sharp. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

It’s my turn to hang my head, this time in shame for seeming to break my oath to her already. “I cannot help reacting to emotions that come at me. It’s what a Base does.”

“No, it’s okay, you’re not in trouble.” Law-rah stands up and paces over to me. Without her weaponized shoes, she's smaller, more delicate. She gently rests her hand on my arm and my hearts leap. The golden color of her aura flickers to life again, reaching out to caress my scales. I blink and it’s gone, and then she turns away from me, back to the demands of her screen.

“Welcome back,”Arik says to her as I get out of Law-rah’s car.

“Hi, Arik.” She keeps her dark sunglasses on as she exits smoothly.

I rush around to take the bag containing her screen but she gets there first, holding it by her side with a white-knuckled grip. “Can’t stop to chat, I have to continue working.”

“Can we assist?” he asks, but I shake my head.

‘I’ve tried offering,’I explain, dropping in a memory of me asking Law-rah if I can help multiple times in the car. She refused each one, except when I offered to bring her coffee.

Law-rah lowers her voice. “You can help by figuring out how to untangle this mess, and quickly.”

Arik glances at me. “Dom could try shielding you.”

My hopes leap, scales softening, but I shake my head behind Law-rah’s. I’ve already discounted the idea.

“What does that involve?” Hope ripples through the mind sync, and I hate to disappoint her.

“When Nevare gets too… busy, over focused, over stimulated, I can pull myself over him and block out further stimuli. Like a barrier shield for an interstellar hopper.” I drop her an image of one.

‘BRIGHT BLUE BLOCKY SPACESHIP BIG AS SKYSCRAPER, ORANGE-RED TINGE SURROUNDING IT LIKE HEATWAVE.’

I mentally point to the orange-red.‘That’s the barrier shield, and it’s similar to how a mental shield works. It would cut you off from Nevare and Arik, but, to do it, I need to… get close to you.’

She immediately goes pale as if her scales drained of color. “Like, physically close?”

‘And mentally.’I wince in anticipation of her reaction.