Psion's Children

By Christine Myers

Jamerin Narcaza was the strongest human psion alive. They called him the Promised One; his mission is to free the Psions of Aledus. Only the Wholaskans of Velran were strong enough to control him, so they taught him to control himself by following the strict Psion Code of Ethics.

Because he revered the Wholaskans Jamerin adhered to those principals until he met her. Parei was his psi-mate, and they were going to take her away. That's when he went against everything he had been taught to control his parents' minds and make them let Parei stay.

How could a boy so bad be destined to perform a task so honorable? Can the Wholaskan's reform him where his parents can't? Will he destroy their minds like his grandmother nearly had years before he was born.

Can he really free the minds of Aledus?

Intended for Adults Only.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christine Myers
• Release date: May 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224153626

Christine Myers

Chris Myers has been a science fiction fan since seeing the original “Day the Earth Stood Still” at age eight. Her favorite subgenre is space opera romance. Among the most influential in her work are the Lazarus Long novels by Robert Heinlein including “Time Enough for Love”, Marta Randall’s “Journey” and of course “Star Wars”, everything “Star Trek” and “Fire Fly”.A lifelong resident of Silver Lake, NY she wrote her first novella at age fifteen. She has a BA in Cultural Studies from Empire State College majoring in creative writing. She writes a regular column in the local weekly newspaper “Perry Herald”. Chris has written four novels in The Aledan Series:

Book preview

Chapter One

Hankura kissed Chelle one more time before he pressed her up so she could stand as their post-coital bliss faded.  She smiled at him and gave him a hand to help him up from the floor pad of the Sential Trader's observation deck. It wasn't their first time making love in front of the stars there, but it would likely be the last time because they were almost home.

They laughed softly together as they stood naked in the observation bubble, both remembering the last time they had made love in the sand on a beach by the Tharn Sea on Aledus. That was one of the most carefree days they'd spent on Aledus, Hankura's homeworld, and no place any self-respecting Psion would want to live. Psions were treated as second-class citizens and brainwashed as children to submit to the discriminatory Psi Laws.

Those days were far behind them—almost fourteen years. Now they laughed, standing naked in front of the entire Universe, far away from the troubles they faced in the past. Even though terrible things had happened to them, there were some wonderful memories as well. They came through together, sustained by the love that brought them together in the beginning. It was that unique and special love of psi-mates that sparked when they were just children and grew to the bond they still shared a little over sixteen years since they first met face to face.

They had discovered Oltarin while they were with the Explorations.  It was just a fledgling colony lost to the Federation when the colony ship went off course and settled on a planet far from where they'd been headed. Only one of several continents had been settled, and most of it was still wild and untouched.  Chelle was drawn to it because of the horses the clans bred and rode.  The freedom of that world- no Psion laws or discrimination- drew Hankura. It was a world ripe with possibilities. Additionally, they'd made friends among the mountain clans, helping to make peace among the clans and saving Brandt McKell. 

Making their home, there was the right decision.  If not for Jamerin's problem dawning, they would never have left. Thanks to the Tregan attack that almost killed him, Chelle healed his psionic anomalies when she healed his injuries before they even got to Velran. By the time they got home in just a few days, they would have been away almost three years.  They had left with two children and came back with three.

Chelle had officially earned her physician's certification, and Hankura had made a startling discovery about the psi factor. One that he never intended to share with the scientific community.

Chelle slid her arm around her husband's waist, and he draped his arm around her shoulders and gently squeezed her upper arm. Neither could take their eyes from the view of the stars.

Remember when we took your mran from Earth to Aledus? After the first day, we almost never wore clothes until we got there. She slipped the thought into his mind.

Those were good times—just the two of us. Convenient, too, since we could get enough of each other.

We still can't. Chelle laughed aloud. She knew he was ready to go again without looking. But it wasn't as easy to get the alone time with two small children and a nursing baby. She sensed Hankura was looking at her breasts, which had grown two sizes larger since her pregnancy.  He had always admired them, but they were magnificent now.

They still had almost an hour before feeding time, and baby Calan was still sleeping peacefully. Chelle turned to Hankura and leaned into him, sliding her arms up around his neck and telling him without words that she wanted him again. She knew from his thoughts that pleased him and that he was delighted to oblige her. 

They were psi mates. There were no words to express the magnitude of love that flowed freely between them as they pleasured each other, relishing their passionate climb toward orgasm, and none were ever needed. Somehow, it never ceased to enthrall them and likely never would.

Blissfully sated, they returned to their suite as baby Calan was waking for his evening feeding.  He was only a little fussy as Hankura changed him and cuddled him for a few moments before handing him to Chelle to nurse him at her breast. His smile was serene as he watched his son suckle. Life was good, and especially good to be almost home after the six-month space journey from Velran.

Sential Trader was on final approach to Oltarin orbit in preparation for landing at Mari-Sanna Starport. Unlike the journey to Velran, the trip back was uneventful. A huge Tregan cell on Velran had been contained and deported from Velran with the help of the Wholaskans.  That fight wasn’t over.  It might never be over for the Federation, but Hankura, Chelle, Delmran, and Lishaad would be making their stand on Oltarin if it came to that.

They had already avenged the torture, rape, and murder their crew had suffered on Zevus Mar.  Hankura, although a physician, escaped by killing two Tregan officers and every other Tregan who got in his way in his bid to rescue his psi-mate, Chelle. He killed the monsters who tortured and raped his mate and killed many more Tregans.  But it didn’t take away the pain or the memories for any of them. Time and distance, love and friendship helped put it behind them, as did building a new life on Oltarin. The memories no longer intruded into their lives daily.  They couldn’t change the past, but they no longer let themselves dwell on it.

  The Oltarin system is on the opposite side of the Federation territories from Velran and almost as far from Zevus Mar. But the long journey was worth taking to have their children trained in using their psionic abilities by a Wholaskan expert. It was extremely important because their children were more powerful psions than they were. They hoped that would be enough.

Eight-month-old Calan was born on Velran and conceived in vitro as part of Hankura's study on the genetics of dominant psi factor. The implications of the results had so terrified him that he had erased them from all his computers and the study itself. Hankura and Chelle were the keys, and Calan was the proof. Only psi-mates and the children of psi-mates can produce psions with genetically dominant psi-factor. Hankura and his family were full of the genetic material that could produce genetically dominant psions.

This was why the Tregans had tried to capture them on the way to Velran.  Three crew members of the Sential Trader were killed; several were wounded, along with Hankura, who almost died from his wound. Jamerin, their eldest son, was also mortally injured.  Only Chelle’s psionic healing abilities saved them.

Hankura's friend Delmran had served on the Searching Star with Hankura and Chelle when the Tregans captured it. He'd returned to Velran, his home world, a few months before Hankura and Chelle arrived with their children.

He had gone there to take over as security chief at the Federation Embassy on Velran, which was a front for the Federation Intelligence Agency.  He went in pursuit of revenge against the Tregans, who’d escaped their home planet just before the Federation put it under martial law for their attack on Federation colonies. There, he met Lishaad, one of his agents.

The physical attraction grew into love. As part of their covert activity, their eight-month-old baby girl was conceived in vitro as part of Hankura’s psi-factor study.

Delmran made it his mission in life to make the Tregans pay until he fell in love with Lishaad. Then, he realized he wanted more out of life than revenge.

The Wholaskan Mesgar had charged him with protecting the Aledan Hankura.  The best way to do that was to start his new life with Lishaad on Oltarin, where Hankura and Chelle made their home after the Explorations. Their new home was waiting for them along with a new job for Delmran as head of the Federation Embassy on Oltarin. They had never been happier.

Three children were not so happy to be coming back to Oltarin: Jamerin, his sister Lara, and Parei.

We are psi-mates, Jamerin said to Parei. We will be life mates.  We should stay together.

And you’re my best friend, Lara added.  They were alone in the tiny playroom of the Sential Trader.

And you both are my best friends, Parei replied.  She and Jamerin were eight, and Lara was five. But Mommy says we are too young.  We have to be grown up to be life mates.

Our parents said the same thing, said Jamerin. But, I already knew that. Mesgar told me. He knew we would meet and said that we would be together forever—someday. But I want it to be now so we can play and do school, ride our horses, and have fun together.

I know, Parei sighed. I want that, too. But we can’t.  Mommy said that your Dad told her we would still be connected in our dreams when we were apart—like your dad and mom.

That’s not enough, Jamerin asserted. We can take you with us, and they won’t even know you’re gone.  I know how we can do it.

Parei is so upset.  I don’t know what to do, Rona mused.  She wants us to let her stay on Oltarin with Jamerin.  They’re only eight. I don’t want to be apart from her that long. We only come around here every two years.

We feel the same way, Chelle said. Jamerin and Lara are upset too.

We reminded him of Mesgar’s teachings and told him about our psi-mating, said Hankura.  Chelle and I never met face to face until twenty years after we touched minds. I even shared the memories with him. He said it was different because we didn’t get to spend six months playing together and then get split apart.

He’s right, Chelle agreed.  We were never quite real to each other until we met.

So, what do we do? Parei’s mother asked. Put them into stasis until they turn eighteen?

That would only solve one problem and restrict their natural development, Hankura said with a rueful grin. We could sedate them for a few days to give them time to adjust to the separation.

What about stasis for just a couple of months? Captain Otian, Parei’s stepfather, suggested.

Their separation anxiety would still feel just as fresh as it does now, Chelle said. Mild sedation could take the edge off. Then, after a few days, taper it and encourage them to connect with telepathy.  Psi-mates can do that.

We should start the meds today since we only have three days until we touch down.  I’ll bring you enough for a few days before we turn in tonight. Hankura said.

I don’t think we have a choice, Parei’s mother said.  "They can’t be together for ten more years.  It’s bad enough they will only see each other every two years—but Otian’s life—our life is out there. She gestured toward the stars."

It will be fine, Chelle told her, this is different than for Hankura and me.  They have us to take care of them until they can be together.  It will give them something to look forward to.

Earth hasn’t changed much since you lived there, Otian put in.  We didn’t leave Farringay Starport when we were there on our way to Velran.  It’s still a very dangerous place with the gangs and overlords.

You don’t have to tell us. That was like another life, Chelle said. It was probably wise that you didn’t venture out into the city.

That was where we had our first encounter with a Tregan, Hankura remarked.

And he almost killed you…

But I knew you wouldn’t let me die, he smiled faintly at her.

Not after I waited twenty years for you to come back for me.  I wasn’t about to let you die. Certainly, not this last time either.

Hurting you was a mistake, Delmran said.  They were supposed to capture you, not kill you. If you and Otian hadn’t killed them, Emperor Renid would have had them killed.  That whole operation was a fiasco from beginning to end.

Almost everything that could go wrong did, Hankura said.

And I would have been a dead man if not for Mesgar and your kids, Delmran added.

I wish I could have seen Renid’s face when he found out you weren’t dead, Lishaad said.

He only slipped a little when I walked into the room, Delmran put an arm around his life mate’s shoulders. I don’t want to think about him anymore.  We’re starting a new life here—new home, new job.

I can hardly wait to see it, added Lishaad. And I have an interview with Territorial Planning and Land Management. They have quite a waiting list for colonization of the uninhabited continents on Oltarin.

What about Beyonna? Delmran asked.

We will need a nanny, but I will be working from home much of the time—if they hire me.  When not, there are office suites with childcare rooms. So, I can supervise her care while both at home and at the office.

Doesn’t the Embassy provide similar accommodations? Chelle asked.

Actually, I believe so—if not they will, Delmran replied.  What about you, Chelle?  Now that you have your physician’s credentials?

My job isn’t going to change that much.  I will make rounds to the five clans’ villages and see patients in the Blue Summit Clinic once a week,  she said. It’s going to be good to be home.  I missed the horses so much.

Oh, right, said Lishaad. Delmran told me about the horses.  I am looking forward to seeing them for real.

I’ll even teach you and Delmran how to ride if you like, Chelle offered. "Even Hankura has