Astra: Synchronicity by Lisa Eskra

in advance, if that. For
example, I knew my trip to Sirius would be more or less viewed as a
success so I hope that bodes well for relations between the UE and
the PAU."
    "It must be amazing to possess that sort of
power…though I'd have a hard time dealing with visions of doom. It
would've been horrible to know I'd lose my memory and not be able
to change it. For all I know it's the first misstep of many."
    "I've always found pessimism to be a
self-fulfilling prophecy."
    As she stood, Amii propped her head on her
fist. "I think I've always been a pessimist. And after losing all
memory of who I am, now I have a good reason to be."
    "Worse things can always happen," Nadine said
while she paced across the room. "I mean, there's death. Paralysis.
Loss of limbs. Drowning…"
    "Pretty sure that counts as death. What if I
had this great life somewhere with a great husband before getting
kidnapped and who knows what else."
    "You're not afraid of me, are you." Nadine
didn't even phrase it as a question since the answer itself was
already clear. "You don't fear the thought of being forced to
reveal your darkest secrets to a stranger against your will?"
    "Should people live in fear that the person
they just walked past on the street is going to pull out a
disruptor and shoot them in the back? Or that their transport just
might fall out of the sky while they're onboard? Normals have used
psions as the single target for all their fears since the Exodus.
Being different was reason enough to brand them the scourge of
Astra." Amii seemed passionate about the cause, a fact that
appeared to surprise even herself.
    "You are different from anyone I've ever met,
Amii. I don't think you're a psion, but…I'm sure it's nothing,"
Nadine assured her. "I'm just happy to have found one person on the
ship who doesn't treat me like a freak."
    "We're all freaks, Nadine," she said with a
smile. "Some of us just hide it better than others."
    The second lady grinned, knowing the truth
behind those words was worth its weight in platinum. It was rare to
find someone so willing to forego preconceived notions about
psions. She'd found a man like that once in Bryan Taylor and today
discovered the same spark in Amii. For that, she felt like the most
fortunate psion in Astra.
     
    ***
     
    Why did it always seem like bad situations
got worse before they got better?
    Magnius sat on his bed and peered out the
window in the same vapid suit he'd put on early this morning. The
heat had long since drained out of his clammy hands, and though the
air was warm, he shivered. His brisk heartbeat hadn't relaxed since
his life had been flipped upside-down, and its strong cadence made
his entire body pulsate. In an entire universe of options, he felt
like he had none.
    Yesterday, his wife stormed out on him, and
tomorrow Tiyuri planned to take him back to Aliane. In the Astra
neighborhood Abyssa was just a day removed from Vega, a fact his
subconscious mind never forgot. Her shroud of dread reached its
glacial fingers over the bleakness of space surrounding Superbia,
and he wondered if he'd ever really escaped her.
    Night had fallen in complete darkness, a rare
sight on Fantasti. Not a single moon illuminated the blackened sky,
unusual because Nuage had dozens. The brightest star in the sky,
Arcturus, peered back at their tiny world from roughly thirty-two
light-years away. The distorted constellation of Orion barely
resembled its Earth counterpart from this part of Astra. A faint
halo of light from Comet RD-65 soared across the southern horizon
on its regular fifty-year trek between Vega and Nuage. From the
second story of his home, the spectacular view quieted his racing
heart.
    The glint of a ghostly visage reflected in
the window, and his hair stood on end. Tiyuri lurked in the house
somewhere keeping an eye on him—an ever-present reminder that
opposition was pointless. He stood six-foot-four, a towering
warrior with amazing strength and dexterity, who possessed