Christmas in Zonei - 14. Kim vs. the Mind Reader

Kim came awake with a sense of deep dread and the feeling that he’d been asleep a long time. When he remembered that he was somewhere in the bowels of CorpSec the dread blossomed into heart-palpitating fear. Without opening his eyes, he reached out with his mind for Raeden but didn’t find him.

As his panic escalated, he tried to calm himself. He’s probably just sleeping. Kim was pretty sure he’d be able to sense Raeden’s presence if he were just asleep, but the weird comatose state that the technicians were able to put them in at the touch of a button seemed to shut off all higher brain function. That thought gave him chills. He wondered if they used the same equipment to reform people, shutting down parts of their brain permanently.

Do they know it was me who knocked that technician out? God, I hope I just knocked him out. What if he’s dead? Those thoughts put Kim into a tailspin. His stomach twisted and he was sure that if he’d had anything in it, it would have come spewing out of him. He swallowed hard and tried to focus on the present, rather than let his mind ruminate over “Kim, the cold-blooded killer.”

He was still immobile on the padded table. His arms and legs ached and he was desperate to stretch them. His stomach growled loudly and he realized he was starving. He also needed to go to the bathroom. They had catheterized him when they’d provided the drinking tube, but he’d apparently been on the table long enough for other body functions to need relief.

Gary and Boris were there. He knew that without even opening his eyes. He opened his eyes and confirmed that Boris was looking at the readout on a machine while Gary typed into a keyboard. They both looked up at him with apprehension when they realized he was awake. They appeared frazzled and disgruntled, like maybe they’d been working the entire time he’d been under.

Are they afraid of me? “Wha—” Kim’s voice came out in a croak. He drank some water from the tube, letting the coolness sooth his parched throat. Then he tried again. “Where is Raeden?”

“That is none of your concern.” Boris seemed to delight in control games, providing or denying Kim information at his own discretion. Kim realized he was trying to upset him with this comment, and it probably would have worked if Gary’s thoughts hadn’t come through to Kim just then, loud and clear. They’ve still got him under in the other room. After what he did to Daniel, they’re afraid to wake him up.

“What happened?” Kim asked. “Why did you put me to sleep for so long? It has been a long time hasn’t it?”

“Your ‘mate’—” The way Boris emphasized the word mate made it clear that he thought the concept was ridiculous. “—managed to knock out one of the technicians who was administering to him.”

Okay, they don’t realize it was me who did that. Relief flooded Kim. Of course they don’t. They are not expecting that I can read minds. But what will they do to Raeden?

“He got free?” Kim asked innocently.

“No, the mod shut Daniel down with his brain waves,” Gary said.

Boris threw Gary a dark glance. Maybe he just revealed too much information, Kim thought. Gary looked chastised.

“Really?” Kim tried to look appropriately frightened, which wasn’t hard. “I didn’t know he could do that.”

Neither did we. That was Gary’s thought.

“So what happens now?” Kim asked.

“Now…” Boris’s grin was decidedly evil. “Now we bring in someone who will find out what you know whether you want to tell us or not.”

Shit, shit, shit!

“How … how is he going to do that?” Kim could not keep the quaver out of his voice and decided that was okay. He wanted them to underestimate him.

Did I really take someone out with just my mind?

“She is going to get into your little brain and sort through your little thoughts,” Boris replied with a smirk.

I am so fucked! Kim thought. I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t. If I build a wall around my mind, she’ll know I’m telepathic. If I don’t, she’ll waltz right in. A trained professional mind reader will probably just tear right through my defenses and find out anything she wants to know anyway.

Kim fought to quell his rising panic. He focused instead on taking slow deep breaths and letting his thoughts settle. When he finally let himself think about the upcoming “interrogation” it was with strategy in mind, rather than terror.

If I build a newsteel wall like the one I practiced with Raeden, she’ll be able to see it and will know that I’m telepathic. He tried erecting a wall made of thick plexiglass, but realized immediately that it was visible as well. What he needed was in invisible force field.

And, since it’s all in my head anyway, why not?

He focused on building an invisible wall made out of wind. He imagined when a mind reader came too close they would be blown off course. He had no idea if his idea would work. He knew that Raeden had been amazed with his innate ability and how quickly he’d caught on during their earlier practice session, but that didn’t mean he’d be able to fool an experienced mind reader.

But what choice do I have? I have to try to keep her out, otherwise… He steered his mind away from the possible consequences.

The mental walls not only kept others out, they kept stray thoughts contained. As long as he kept the wall in place, he would not leak whatever he was thinking into the ether. In fact, in order to project his thoughts, he needed to create a small opening for them to get through. He had practiced that with Raeden: making a miniscule hole to send his words through and then closing it back up immediately.

Kim practiced using various strengths for his wind, hoping to find one that was strong enough to keep the mind reader out, but subtle enough that she didn’t realize she was being thwarted.

I am so fucked! I have no clue what I’m doing.

His concentration was disturbed when he heard a female voice.

“Hello, boys. Have you been good?” This statement was followed by a sharp crack of leather on leather.

Kim’s eyes snapped open.

The woman was Asian—mostly Japanese, he guessed, but she was also tall and imposing. Her body language said that she owned everyone and everything in the room. Kim, immobile on an exam table, was obviously dirt under her shoe.

She was of indeterminate age—somewhere between thirty and fifty, he thought. She could be considered pretty if you liked severe. Her expression brooked no dissension. Her black leather pencil skirt fit her like a glove. She wore a sleek, fitted grey silk blouse that probably cost more than Kim’s monthly salary. But what caught his eye, and what had made the leather-on-leather sound, was a riding crop that she held in her right hand, poised, ready to strike.

Kim felt his sharp intake of breath. Holy shit! This is the mind reader? She’s a fucking dominatrix—times two!

Both Gary and Boris had snapped to attention and were obviously awaiting her next command, eager to perform for her. He might have been in the same state if he hadn’t been so terrified of her reading his mind. And if he’d been able to move. As it was, all he could do was lie there and wait for her to begin her assault. His stomach began flipping somersaults.

He fought to shut down his emotions, horrified that she’d hear him emanating his fear and know immediately that he was guilty. She must have felt something because her eyes flicked to his face.

“Hello, Kim. Pleased to meet you.” She had a slight Japanese accent.

Kim’s inclination was to stay silent in the presence of her overwhelming personality but, summoning an inner strength he didn’t know he had, he played his equal card.

“And you are?” he asked, his voice steady and strong.

She smiled, obviously amused by his offensive stance. “My name is Lieko, but you can call me ‘sir’.”

Kim swallowed, biting back the “yes, sir” that was on his tongue.

“Nice to meet you, Lieko,” he said grimly.

She drew herself up even taller and the look in her eye might have knocked him over if he’d been standing. She leaned toward him and he could smell her spicy perfume.

“You need to learn to show proper respect for your superiors. Your pretty mouth is altogether too undisciplined.” She ran a red lacquered nail across Kim’s bottom lip. “Perhaps a bit of punishment is in order?” She tapped him sharply on the nose and Kim would have flinched if he’d been able to.

Stepping back, with a flick of her hands she removed Gary from his stool and perched on it herself, crossing her slender legs. “Let’s get started, shall we? Dim the lights, please.”

As the brightness in the room faded to low, Kim took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on constructing his wind shield.

He felt the woman’s mind outside of his own. It was encased in solid chrome, shiny and slick. As she got close, following a thread, he sent his wind. He blew gently at first, and when that had no affect, he sent a sudden gust.

She was knocked off course, buffeted by the wind. Kim felt her surprise and confusion. She searched for another thread to follow, but Kim was keeping his thoughts well contained behind his wind wall.

Finally, she found another one, tracing it back to its source. Kim blew at her again, another gust, but not quite so strong this time. Again, she was blown off course.

She huffed in frustration and Kim felt some of it emanate from behind her chrome façade. She didn’t seem nearly as good at keeping herself protected as Raeden did. He thought he could probably break in and read her mind, but he wasn’t about to try.

“So, Kim, how are you doing today?” That was Gary speaking.

Kim started and opened his eyes. Gary, was looking at him with sympathy, trying to distract him from the fact that Leiko was going to read his mind. Kim felt a sharp pang of irritation at Gary’s interruption and that was enough. He had lost his focus, and Lieko lost no time in following that thread of resentment.

He suddenly felt her alien presence in his mind and it chilled him to the bone. But she wasn’t malevolent. She seemed disgruntled at having been pulled away from her busy life to come read his mind. She wanted to get in, get out, and go home.

Even as these impressions registered, Kim realized that she would probably be able to easily “hear” anything that was at the top of his thought stack, such as the fact that he knew she was inside his mind. Acting instinctively, he focused his thoughts on Raeden. Wiping everything else from his mind, he thought about how much he missed the big man’s reassuring presence. He let her feel his anguish at being separated.

He could tell she was ruminating over this information, but he didn’t dare reach out to discover what she thought of it.

Then she was rummaging, turning over his memories and searching for information. Before he could figure out how to stop her, she found his memory of being shocked the first time he heard Raeden speak in his mind.

Keeping an iron lid on his panic, he lashed out with the only thing he could think of to keep her from discovering more.

Hungry, hungry, hungry!

He felt her recoil. Then she tried to push aside the hunger noise to discover something else interesting.

Pain, ache, need to stretch.

It wasn’t too hard to let his overwhelming physical discomfort take the forefront of his thoughts. What was harder was resisting the urge to monitor and analyze what this woman was doing in his brain.

She pushed the pain feelings aside.

Hungry, hungry, hungry! “I’m starving,” he said aloud to back up the thoughts he had swirling in his head.

Impatiently she scrabbled around the hunger thoughts.

I have to pooh, he thought, allowing the sensation to permeate his mind.

Ugh! The woman’s withdrawal from his mind was abrupt and unsettling, but as soon as he realized she was gone, Kim breathed a mental sigh of relief. He tried to keep the smirk off his face. He couldn’t help getting a tiny bit of satisfaction from her obvious disgust.

“I’m through here,” she said icily. “I’ve seen enough.”

Kim clamped down hard on his inner rejoicing. He had won round one, anyway. Although she had discovered his mindlink with Raeden, she didn’t realize the extent of his abilities. Hell, even I don’t know the extent of my abilities. He stayed on high alert, ready for a sneak attack, but she ignored him entirely.

Her gaze bore into first Gary and then Boris. They both visibly stiffened. “You boys be good.” She struck her thigh sharply with her riding crop, causing a loud sound. Both Gary and Boris jumped. She smiled in satisfaction, then tossing her long, shiny hair over her shoulder, she spun around and strode away, her red stiletto heels clicking sharply on the polished floor.

Kim heard a door open and close. Both Boris and Gary breathed a sigh of relief, and so did Kim.

*****

Captain Phillip Hernandez ogled the tall red-haired woman seated on the other side of his desk. Although she was older than the women he typically went for—early forties, he guessed—her face was beautiful and he couldn’t help but notice how well her breasts filled out her blouse. It gapped a bit at the buttons but she was wearing some type of lacy undershirt so that he couldn’t see much of her cleavage. Pity, that.

“Captain Hernandez,” she said through clenched teeth, “You must understand that Raeden is not an animal. He is a fully-functioning human.”

“He is a mod,” Hernandez reminded her. “Not human.”

“Alright, he is more than human, but certainly not the brainless monster you seem to think he is.”

Hernandez frowned. When he’d gotten the emergency notification that a broken mod had morfed, he’d thought that they’d discover it was a fault with their monitoring equipment or some random fluke that was impossible to reproduce. He had not expected to find a fully operational mod, complete with a mate on his back, ready to fight. He had reviewed the footage that had been taken by the drone, and it was impressive indeed.

“You cannot convince me that he not dangerous,” he said flatly.

“Raeden is not dangerous under normal circumstances,” she said. “He will only morf if he or his mate are threatened or when he’s put into a battle situation.” She glared at him, daring him to disagree, her gray-green eyes flashing.

I bet she’d be a spitfire in bed, he thought. He let his eyes drift once more to the enticing curves under her blouse.

“I would think that someone in charge of mod security would be well-versed in their physiology.” Her voice did not conceal the scorn she had for him.

Hernandez winced mentally. Guess I won’t be bedding her anytime soon. Not that he’d thought it possible anyway. She was married for one—he’d looked that up before he’d contacted her. And she was fairly high up in the CorpSci hierarchy. CorpSec and CorpSci had a long-standing rivalry that in recent years had gotten downright vicious. CorpSec held the upper hand, of course, because they had all the muscle. However, the folks at CorpSci were clever. They’d taken down more than one CorpSec captain with a well-plotted and executed coup. It wouldn’t do to underestimate the red-haired doctor.

He had called Michelle Granger in out of fear. When one of his technicians had suddenly collapsed on the floor during an interrogation, he had panicked. The technician still hadn’t fully recovered and the doctors had told him that they believed he was the victim of a telepathic assault. Someone had forced their way into his mind and brutally taken control of him. Hernandez shivered. He had no greater fear than of someone reading his mind. He had tried to learn the technique of defending oneself against such an attack and failed miserably. Apparently you needed telepathic abilities to defend against them and he had rated less than .03 on the scale when he was tested.

He knew he was out of his depth dealing with a mind-controlling mod, and in an uncharacteristic bout of common sense, he’d called in the woman who was the premier expert. Now he was regretting it.

He wanted a quick resolution to the mystery. He didn’t believe that a broken mod could rebond. CorpSci had tried for years to repair broken mods with zero success. Why, now, would a rogue broken mod suddenly bond on his own with a random human—a male human, no less? It just didn’t make sense.

Not only did Hernandez want to solve the mystery—surely the mod had found a miracle drug or some type of treatment to cure him—but he wanted credit for it too. He wanted to be lauded as the man who had reinstated a functioning warrior pair and discovered the means of fixing other broken mods. That was looking less likely by the minute. Dr. Granger was pressuring him to let her take them to the CorpSci labs. He couldn’t let them out of his control—if he did, all the glory would go to CorpSci and he would get a big, fat nada for his efforts.

“And he’s not capable of knocking anyone out with just his mind,” Dr. Granger was saying. “Your guy probably just fainted from low blood sugar or something.”

Captain Hernandez looked at her steadily. He knew his dark eyes were piercing but the doctor didn’t seem the least bit intimidated. “They’re hiding something and I intend to find out what it is. I don’t believe for a minute that Raeden has rebonded.”

Dr. Granger raised an eyebrow at him. “I read through all the information you forwarded me and I think it’s a pretty good bet that he has. I don’t know how or why, but if you let me take them back to my lab, I can find out for you.”

“I’m not done with them yet,” Hernandez snapped, unable to hide his frustration at the lack of progress his people had made on discovering the mod’s secret. “You can have them when we’re completely finished.”

“Will there be anything left of them by then?” she asked icily.

Just then there was a sharp rap on the door, and before the captain could even bid the visitor to enter, the door swung open and Ms. Matsuoka, one of CorpSec’s senior telepaths, stepped in.

Telepaths were few and far between. Almost twenty years ago, when the Corporation had first discovered that there were normal humans out there with telepathic abilities, they had started a program of testing. Those who rated a five or higher on the telepathic scale, which went from zero to ten, were taken to a secure facility to be trained. Unfortunately, there were only a handful of them, and some had not taken to the training. Those who had were now employed by CorpSec as interrogators and spies. They were held in very high esteem. Much like mods, CorpSec both revered and feared them. They were given high-ranking positions with all of the accompanying perks in an effort to keep them under CorpSec control. Hernandez wasn’t sure they had been entirely successful with regard to Ms. Matsuoka. No one controlled her but herself.

Although she was not one of the highest rated, registering just barely above a five on the scale, she was one of CorpSec’s most effective mind readers. Between her telepathy and her startling dominatrix persona, her ability to make both men and women cower in fear was legendary.

Captain Hernandez tried to keep from goggling at her red spike heels and tight leather skirt. When his eyes finally travelled up to her face his breath caught in his throat. She was glaring at him with an intensity that caused his balls to draw up. Now this is a commanding woman. I’ll get on my knees for you anytime, honey.

Her lip curled slightly as she continued to stare him down.

“Ah, Ms. Matsuoka.” Hernandez was pleased that his voice was steady. His insides were turning to jelly under her gaze. “Are you done reading the small one’s mind? What did you discover?”

“I’ve discovered that you have spared no expense in taking care of him,” she said, her voice dripping sarcasm. “He is so uncomfortable from your treatment, that there is almost nothing that can be pulled out of his mind. I did verify that the mod can establish a mindlink with him, but I don’t how strong it is. I got the sense that this is a recent discovery for them.”

“A mindlink,” Michelle murmured, a small smile playing on her lips. “So it is true that Raeden has rebonded.”

“That’s all you got?” Hernandez asked, disappointment coloring his words. She had been his best hope for a quick answer to the mystery.

Her glare intensified to a level that could have frozen Niagara Falls in a second flat. The Captain felt himself shrinking under her frigid gaze. She flicked her right wrist and a sharp crack reverberated through the room, making him jump.

Holy shit! How did I not notice the riding crop? She must have been holding it behind her back or maybe I was just too mesmerized by her steely glare. Now Hernandez couldn’t take his eyes off the leather implement. His cock, which had been half hard ever since the beautiful doctor arrived, now swelled to an uncomfortable stiffness. A vision jumped into Herandez’s mind: he was naked on the floor, his arms stretched out and hands tied to the legs of his massive desk. The telepath was standing between his thighs. “Legs up!” she ordered. He lifted his legs high into the air and she smacked his taint sharply with her riding crop.

Hernandez let out an audible whimper which startled him out of his erotic daydream. His eyes left the riding crop and snapped to Lieko’s face. She had a small smile playing on her lips.

Oh my God! Is she reading my mind? Does she know what I just imagined? Hernandez barely stopped himself from whimpering again. The vision in his head was back suddenly, striking him again sharply at the base of his balls as the real Lieko brought the riding crop once more against her leather-clad thigh.

“You’ve been a very bad boy, Captain,” the vision in his head said. “I think you need to be punished.”

Hernandez couldn’t breath. His cock was drooling precum all over his designer briefs. Please, yes please, his mind begged.

Lieko turned her attention to the doctor and Hernandez finally managed to take a breath.

“Well, hello Doctor Granger. What a pleasant surprise.” Lieko did not sound particularly pleased.

“Likewise,” the doctor replied dryly.

The telepath shifted her gaze back to Hernandez and he was trapped once more like a fly in honey.

“I won’t be able to get a thing from him until his physical needs have been taken care of,” she said, her tone leaving no doubt that she disapproved of his handling of the situation. “The only thoughts in his head right now are that he’s hungry, his legs hurt, and he needs to go to the bathroom. He’s been laying on that table so long he’s probably getting bedsores. I suggest you start taking better care of him, otherwise even I won’t be able to help you.”

She took a step toward him and raised her riding crop. He swallowed, unable to take his eyes off the black leather device. He flinched as she touched him lightly on the chest with it.

I’m officially on vacation now,” she said, running the crop very slowly down his chest. “If you have further need of my services, you’ll have to wait until after the first of the year.” She stopped when the crop reached the waistband of his pants.

Once more he found himself naked in his head, this time tied hand and foot to his chair, his rock hard cock dribbling all over his stomach as she teased him with the crop. One more strike, he thought. Hit me with that lovely crop one more time and I’ll cum all over the place.

She withdrew the crop, tucking it under her arm. “I hope you are not too frustrated with the delay,” she purred. Then she spun on her heel and strode out of the room, her leather-clad hips swinging with power, grace, and sensuality.

Hernandez took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He felt like he was waking up from a dream.

The red-haired doctor was glaring daggers at him. “Captain Hernandez,” she said tightly, “I will have the warrior pair transferred to the science lab at once. You are obviously unfit to care for them. I don’t believe you will get any more information out of them without extreme and destructive means. Need I remind you how valuable a functioning mod is to the corporation?”

“But—”

She cut off his protest. “I know how you got your position, Captain. I know why your predecessor was reformed.”

The captain’s blood ran cold. How much does she know? The previous CorpSec captain in charge of mod activities had taken a hard fall due to the fiasco that had resulted in Lyzel’s death and Raeden’s demise. Hernandez wasn’t sure exactly what had happened to him, but he hadn’t been seen since shortly after the incident had happened. Rumor had it that he had been reformed and sent to work in the arctic oil fields. Hernandez thought he had covered his own tracks thoroughly. Surely she can’t possibly know about my involvement in that incident.

“I did some research on the flight in,” the doctor continued softly.

Hernandez froze, staring at her in horror.

“I see that Raeden had a partial morf, not once but twice, during the days preceding his full morf on the twenty-second. CorpSec did not even check on him. That shows an appalling lack of competence and concern on the part of your department. It is incredibly irresponsible to ignore an unusual occurrence that involves a mod, especially one as potentially destructive as Raeden.”

This was news to the captain. He hadn’t had a chance to look into the records they kept on Raeden’s data feed. He stared at the doctor in dismay. How the hell did I end up with so many incompetent people working for me? Will the doctor report me to General Halbert? Holy shit! I’d better do something about that damaging data. He quickly schooled his features into an implacable expression, but he was sure that Dr. Granger had seen his flash of panic.

“I suggest you take care of your own house before you start worrying about mine,” she said, standing and smoothing her grey wool skirt. “Now, Captain Hernandez, while you make arrangements to have them transferred, I will meet with Mr. Takemoto.”