Halcyon Nights (Star Sojourner Book 2) by Jean Kilczer Page A

behind my eyes.
    Gather your energy,
the silver being suddenly sent.
Gather it, until it must burst from your forehead.
    Help my daughter
! I threw all the power of my anger and fear into a mental command, groaned as I imagined the ball spinning faster. Moving forward.
Hot. A volcano boiling inside my head. Searing!
Would I die if I increased this power and unleased it? I felt as though I might.
Now?
I sent to the alien, afraid to summon more force.
Now?
    For now, yes,
he replied.
    I pushed at the imaginary ball, squeezed till it exploded from my forehead. I screamed as I flung it at Bjorn, who was turning away. I burned it toward his brain.
Let Lisa and her father go!
    I knew the power hit its goal as Bjorn stopped in mid-stride as though he'd walked into a wall.
    Let them go.
I fell back, exhausted, and thought my skull had split above my eyes. Tentatively I touched my forehead. It was sound. The silver tag faded out.
    Strange.
    Sensation of a vast spiritual desert when he bowed out. Loneliness? Not exactly, but an end to – what?
    Lisa probed and withdrew.
    Bjorn turned back! His hands were pressed against his head. I prayed as he reached out stiffly, hesitated, then tapped Sharkie, who was plugging in my unit. I held my breath as gas hissed into the enclosure.
    Sharkie looked back.
    “Wait,” Bjorn said. I watched his lips miraculously form that word.
Wait.
    Sharkie frowned at Bjorn with hairless brows, his jaw jutted, and glanced at Leo. Lisa's thoughts were a jumble of hate directed at Bjorn. Did it hurt her to project so vehemently?
    If so, it wasn't slowing her down.
    That's enough, Lisa, that's enough
, I sent.
We don't want him to know it's you.
    I exhaled a long sigh of relief as the hissing faded and the gas was sucked out through exhaust vents. My energy seemed to flow back, but fists of pain still pummeled my skull.
    Sharkie muttered as he unlocked the cover and snapped it open.
    I lifted myself and swung out. The room reeled. I held onto the unit's edge till the view steadied. Sharkie was frowning at me. I pushed the croteass aside, went to Lisa's chamber, opened it and scooped her up.
    “Daddy, my head hurts.”
    I hugged her against my chest. “Yeah, baby, mine too. It'll go away.”
    “I was talking with my head, Daddy. Did you hear me? I told Mister Born – “
    “Shhh. Not now,” I whispered in her ear. “It's a secret.” Fortunately no one ever listens to kids. Bjorn wore a glazed look. His head was tilted so far to one side it looked as though his neck was broken. “I…I just received word from the dons over my private link.” He delicately withdrew the flat gold mechanism from an inner pocket and watched it swing on its chain. “He wants – “
    These two on Halcyon,
I sent.
    “He wants these two on Halcyon.”
    Delivery module!
I imaged him the module gliding down through Halcyon's pristine clouds. That combination of key words and pictures still worked best.
    “Yes,” Bjorn agreed. “He wants me to send these two –”
    I stopped listening and winked at Lisa, though my eyes still ached.
    “Can we go home now?” She rested her head on my chest. “I'm tired, Daddy. I want to go home and tell Mommy how I talked without making any noise. Mommy always says 'Don't make noise when we have company, Lissie.' Will you buy me a Vegan bear? I want to go home.”
    “Sure, Lis', but first we have to go to Halcyon. Then I'll get you back home.”
    Somehow.
    I took a breath and projected the images of a few necessities to Bjorn: A backpack of food, a fully charged stingler, a knife, flashlight, blankets, and a two-person tent. I composed a camping list and mentally read it off to him while I projected images. With those supplies, we could live in the wilds of any Earth-type planet, from barren arctic tundra to steamy jungles. Oh.
And defrost the dog!
    Bjorn repeated the list to Leo, who threw me suspicious looks as he fed it into a comp. “And defrost the dog,” Bjorn finished, his