Garin and the Empire - 2. Chapter 2 High Priestess of Psi

Chapter 2

High Priestess of Psi

In the Waldian home system there’s a small class III planet that is 99% water. There’s a single small continent and located in the opposite hemisphere from it are a small cluster of islands. The islands, part of the Imperial holdings, have one large palace taking all the real estate of the largest island in the archipelago. The 30 story tower had many balconies overlooking the vast ocean, on one of the topmost stood a tall thin figure. The stiff brocaded robes and the elaborate headpiece composed the Inapto Iwa, the robes of the Superior General of the order of the Psi Institute.

From a pocket in her black and silver brocaded robe, she withdrew a blue sphere and balanced it on her long pointed fingernails that were enameled in gold. Looking deeply into the glowing blue depths she read the message sent from the lowest levels of the palace. She spoke softly but clearly, “Come to my private chamber.” She turned to the attendants standing nearby.

“Go, I’m in need of privacy.” She said, then waving to the guards standing on the periphery of the balcony, the guard bowed deeply and slipped out.

Pei walked back into the bright room. It was part of the institute’s suite and was used for business. She once again looked into the blue sphere and touched its surface with the stiletto point of a nail. A hologram on the opposite wall dissolved and revealed a doorway and staircase. She slowly descended into her private quarters. A very practical door slid open and she entered a comfortable room. Pei settled herself in a stiff square chair that was expertly and intricately carved in zoa wood, staring into the blue orb she was absorbed in reports from all over the empire when the opposite door opened and a guard entered followed by Dr Crane and General Nyge. The Doctor was a relatively young man from the order’s laboratories. His research would assist Pei in her commission of purging the Empire. The General was an initiate of the order. His rising career had matched the Imperial families, and his loyalty was unquestioned.

“Gentlemen,” Pei said with a small nod of her head.

The men bowed deeply and murmured, “Long life my Lady.”

“Dr Crane, you’ve prepared the new prisoner, he is compatible with our initiate?” She said.

“We think so, my lady, but these things can’t be too well defined as of yet.” He said.

“The abomination that is homosexuality must be destroyed in the Empire. That is the command that’s been given to us.” She said, “As you know we’ve been trying to eradicate it from the Empire for two centuries, but you men of science can’t find a predetermining genetic marker or a consistent environmental cause. The Imperial program of liquidation when detected has only driven it further underground.” She sighed, “So they turn to us and the order of Psi.”

“Perhaps we shall find the answer, my lady,” said General Nyge.

“Perhaps?” she frowned, “you know as well as I, General, that if we don’t’ it could spell political problems for the order.” She rose and paced the room, “His Imperial Highness will withdraw his protection and support from the institute. We have many enemies.” She looked at the two men and sat back down in her chair, “For your sake gentlemen I hope you’re correct.”

The two men looked at each other and bowed.

In the deepest section of the Place below the level of the surrounding sea floor, was the secure testing unit. No one outside the top levels of the order and the Imperial government knew of its existence. It was operated in gross violation of the old conventions of war. Not that the Empire was known to follow them strictly but it wouldn’t help diplomatic relations with subjugate planets if they knew.

Garin was dreaming, the Psi guard assigned could feel the faint stir of Garin’s mind and knew it was a dream. Without the amplifiers the guard couldn’t decipher more, until he saw Garin’s tumescent penis emerge from its bush of copper hair. The guard smiled and guessed the dream was enjoyable and went back to standing watch.

The hand to hand gym was hot and Garin, dressed only in the small trunks used for underwear, wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand. Mahmet was smaller than Garin’s 6’6” height and only two thirds of his 270 lbs. but he was quicker then a Callixian antelope. The sweat on the olive skinned man made holding on difficult. Garin feigned a stumble, Mahmet wasn’t the smartest guy in the outfit, and when he lunged Garin locked his arm around his head and threw him over his shoulder and flat on the mat. The gasp of air told him Mahmet was done for the time being.

“Good move, Lieutenant,” Marlow said from the door to the lockers.

Garin noticed the tall swarthy man with him. He was nearly Garin’s height and about his weight, but he was far more muscular. His well defined chest was dusted with dark clipped hair. His eyes were dark brown and his smile as he took Garin’s hand was very white.

“I’m Romero,” he said. Garin couldn’t quite decide on the origin of the accent.

“Lieutenant this is our new replacement for Keir. See what you can make of him.” Marlow said as he left.

Garin, went into battle stance and Romero followed suit. They circled slowly each sizing the other up. Garin reached for the man’s forearm but was slapped away. Then Romero kicked out with his foot and caught Garin behind the knee. His leg buckled and he found himself under the larger man. He powered with his feet trying to turn his opponent off him but the big man had him pinned. He was turning his head trying to wiggle a little out from under the man’s center of gravity when the brown eyes, like spot lights bore into his own. Garin froze. The warm brown eyes seemed to look down into his very being and he simply couldn’t think. Garin raised his head slightly and kissed those soft lips and the look of surprise gave him his opportunity the big man shifted and before he knew it Garin was astride his buttocks with one of the big man’s arms behind him applying a slow pressure upward.

“Damn it.’ Romero said.

“I’ll take that as a forfeit.” Garin said and laughed. “I thought you had me for a second. You’ll learn I don’t’ like to lose.”

“I wasn’t’ expecting that,” Romero said, “a very original move.”

Garin looked at the handsome man and said, “With lips like those I would think you’d expect to be kissed often.” He laughed at the crimson flush on Romero’s face.

“I’ve never…I mean… at least not like that.” Romero sputtered.

“Well I’ll have to do it more often then.” Garin said. Hell yeah he was forward, when you didn’t know if you’d be around tomorrow you tended to get straight to the point. Especially with a guy that was making his mouth, and other things, water.

Romero smiled and followed Garin into the lockers. Garin dropped his trunks and headed for the shower. He knew he was at half staff, he hoped Romero got the idea. Garin’s body was in peak condition the corps demanded it. He knew he looked good and that the scars here and there just added to the allure. He stopped at the shower door and looked back over his shoulder. He met the startled gaze of Romero and grinned then went on into the shower.

When the big man entered the shower Garin noted his hard 7 inches and nice big nuts. Garin went to full staff and turned so Romero could see. Romero smiled and took the shower next to him. When Romero turned his back to him Garin took his soapy hands and massaged the broad shoulders. Romero sighed and Garin abandoned his shower for the big man’s. Garin’s dick bumped Romero’s ass crack and the big man leaned back into him and moaned. Garin reached around and soaped Romero’s dick that was steel hard and pumped it as Garin’s dick rode his crack. Romero moaned and cum erupted and was lost to the pounding water. Garin’s own orgasm overtook him and he painted Romero’s ass in his cream.

Garin jerked awake, the glow panels were low but he could easily make out the empty cell. His fighting senses kicked in and he systematically made note of everything. The seamless plazsteel walls and floor the bunk he lay on without a blanket. He was nude and the dream had left him aching but alert. He heard the low buzz at the door opening signaling a disrupter field, and he could just see the edge of the figure of the guard. He relaxed and tried to clear his head. He remembered the explosion on the Varlet,

“Romero,” he whispered.

From the ache in his muscles he assumed he’d been put in Cryo and brought here, wherever and whenever that was. He was hungry so he hadn’t been in cryo long or they’d have given him hyperalimentation. He sat on the side of the cot and looked around the room. He saw the button that had the universal symbol for toilet on it. He stood rather unsteadily and went to the button. A section of floor rolled back and the floor commode was revealed. He attended to business and then sat on the bunk waiting.

“Hey, you Talurian trash, its meal time.” He heard at the door, then a smaller panel slid open beside it and a tray was pushed through and the panel shut. Garin picked up the tray and returned to the bunk as it appeared to be the only place to sit. He ate the grey tasteless food and drank the cold water, all the time scanning the room searching for anything useful. He had no way of telling the time but assumed it was a regular solar day.

He returned the tray to the small shelf and was walking back to the bunk when he heard the door disrupter disengage. He turned to see a hooded and cloaked figure enter with two guards on either side. The guards were in standard Waldian uniform, and the cloaked figure wore the Psi emblem, they told him to turn around and put his hands behind his back. Garin complied and felt the energy restraints take hold of his hands. They went numb immediately. One of the guards threw a cloak around his naked body and told him to move out. He felt the disrupters in his back. He turned and followed the cloaked figure out the door and down a seamless hallway punctuated by other cells, all empty. At the end of the hall they entered a small dimly lit room. The guards removed his cloak and restraints then told him to lie down on the only device in the room and he felt the restraint field encompass him.

He watched the cloaked figure now standing at the foot of, what he realized was a machine, he heard sound behind him and the machine extended until it covered his head and shoulders. He could still see the figure at the foot of the machine now punching buttons on the control panel. He heard a hum and then he was surrounded by brilliant white light.

The light slowly changed into scenes from his past, his childhood, school days. He realized somehow the Psi was rifling through his memory. He dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands and concentrated on the pain. Slowly the scenes faded and he realized that he could sense the Psi. “Get out of my head.” He said in his head.

“You have no choice, Garin. You cannot cause yourself enough pain to keep me out.” The soft voice said.

“What do you want you bastard?” Garin thought.

The light got brighter and Garin heard softly, “I want in….”

The lake was familiar, they’d spent a week camped beside it, training the locals on guerilla tactics. Garin knelt by the water and dipped his hand into the cool depths and brought up a drink. He looked at his reflection and that of Romero standing above him. No it wasn’t Romero, it was someone else. No, it was Romero. Garin stopped confused for a second. “Mallory”, that was the name that came to him and he relaxed. The blond hair, blue eyed Mallory put his hand on his shoulder and smiled into Garin’s reflection. Garin covered the hand with his own, Mallory was familiar but wasn’t. Garin grabbed the hand and lunged into the lake, he came up laughing at Romero sputtering then swam over to him and kissed him. When he drew back and looked the strange doubling occurred again. First it was the swarthy Romero then the blond Mallory. He was dizzy, he felt the lake water then nothing.

Mallory leaned back against the wall. “He’s Psi pos” he thought. Mallory motioned for the guards who picked up Garin by his arms and knees and carried the unconscious form back to the cell. Mallory had heard that a few of the Talurians were Psi but he’d not encountered one. Usually they took to the amplifier easily and he felt that Garin would eventually, from sheer boredom if nothing else.

Mallory went to what to the untrained looked like some type of handle. He placed both hands on it and closed his eyes. He felt the amplifier take hold and his memory of the link with Garin raced past, he knew it was being downloaded for Lady Pei’s review. He left the amplifier and made his way toward his dormitory.

The gong sounded through the corridors and Mallory stopped and focused inward. All over the Empire three times a day the gong would sound and all the Psi initiates would pause and focus on their common link. The link was developed in each during their novitiate. Mallory felt the emptiness then relaxed and let his mind wing away into the blackness. He felt the inward tug and heard without hearing the low drone of the chant. “There is no oneness outside the mind,” his mind chanted in time with the drone. Within his mind he felt the web of connectedness across the light years separating him from the mother house on Waldik 5, home world of the Psi Institute. He felt the tug and could feel the chapel rise around him and the ranks of initiates like himself, thousands of them.

When the gong sounded Pei withdrew her blue orb and looked deep within it. Still after all these decades it was difficult not to let the connection happen. With the orb linked to the mother house Amplifier she could run out through the connection to any initiate. With her fingers on the orb she searched for the spy. He was standing outside the presence chamber of the Emperor. She adjusted the amplifier and his thoughts were hers to read.

She perused his memories of meetings with the Emperor and council, the advance on the Talurian held Nizer sector was another disaster in a season of them. They’d managed to avoid the enemy probes and had landed on the sector’s only colony only to be trapped when a Talurian flotilla arrived. She sifted through his thoughts and now was hearing memories of conversations about herself. “The witch will never make any progress. You yourself assured us that there was no common denominator in the homosexual. You called it a repeatable random non-genetic mutation, and likely a result of multiple factors.” The Emperor said.

“That is correct your Imperial Highness.” The voice she couldn’t’ identify said. The spy had been outside the chamber and didn’t’ know who was with the Emperor. “Your plan to bring the Institute to heel will succeed. The Court and assemblies were present for her acceptance of the mission and her assurances to your majesty. When she fails you will have support in the withdrawal of commissions and payment defaults to the Institute. They’ve outlived their usefulness. Look at the Talurians, nearly all Psi negative and they manage quite well.” There was a pause, “Of course there is also the matter of Brega Omicron 2.” He said quietly.

Pei withdrew and let the gong sound. She sensed the connections breaking. “Brega Omicron 2, yes they want their hands on it.” Brega Omicron was a nearly lifeless world, a desert planet that the Institute used for its novitiate. It also had large deposits of Halon that the Institute mined and profited from. The Emperor would like to bring it into the Imperial holdings to help finance his war. If he called in his Commissions and defaulted on his payments for the Psi advisors that were stationed throughout his government and military the Institute could go into a financial meltdown that might force the sale of the desert planet. She knew going in that the homosexual commission was a trap but had found no way out of it. The current conservative and radicalized religious right wanted someone’s head and the outlawed homosexuals were an obvious target. The Emperor would use that sentiment to drive the Institute into a situation that couldn’t be successful, pushing public focus off the poorly performing war effort. In the end if a head was needed, the Institutes would suffice.Mallory walked down the dormitory hall to his bunk. The circular door opened and he climbed into the tube where he rested. Tackling the Psi positive Garin had taken more energy than he’d expected. His eyes close and sleep overtook him. The dream was as it always is, Mallory’s on a cliff at the entrance to a cave. Somehow he knows the cave is very deep. He’s looking out over a desert valley that’s vaguely familiar. He turns to look for the moons or any planets that would tell him where he is. He feels the warm hand on his shoulder and the dream as always fades.

The glow panels were dim in the cell that held only Garin’s sleeping form.

He’s standing at the mouth of a cave overlooking a dry desert valley. He immediately realized, as an experienced spacer, that he’d never been on this planet before. The four moons stepped across the sky in decreasing sizes are unfamiliar but beautiful. He’s standing beside a young man, with very pale skin that matches his very pale blonde hair. He puts his hand on the man’s shoulder and the man turns.

Garin awoke and lay looking up at the glow panels he assumed it was standard night. The dream left him vaguely uneasy. He remembered the machine and the light and the Psi rifling through his memories of Romero. “Mallory” he whispered, was both the Psi and the man in the dream. Somehow he’d acquired some residual knowledge. “Perhaps the machine works both ways; they can’t take something without replacing it with something.”

The glow panels brightened and he heard the disrupter disengage. Another day had begun. This time Mallory wasn’t with the guards but met them at the machine.

“What is this machine called?” Garin asked the hooded form.

The hooded form shook his head slowly and the guards pushed Garin and saw to it he was positioned in the amplifier.

Once the bright light surrounded him he immediately started singing. The song was one he’d learned in a bar on leave. It wasn’t necessarily polite but he focused on the words.

“You can’t keep me out, Garin” Mallory’s voice echoed in his brain.

Garin focused on his words and suddenly the light intensified. Garin concentrated on the figure at the foot of the table he lay on. “Tell me what you’re after, Mallory.” Garin said to the figure in his mind. Suddenly he was in a large space, with hundreds of shrouded figures like Mallory.

“What are you….you can’t….Stop!” Mallory’s voice said in his mind. The light was switched off and the machine withdrew. Garin looked at the figure standing at his feet.

The figure waved to the guards and they left the room.

“Garin, it will be far better if you cooperate with me. The penalty for homosexuality is death by exposure to space.” Mallory said in his physical voice.

Garin welcomed the switch. “If I cooperate I’m still bound for the vacuum so what’s in it for me, I’m still a dead man?”

“Possibly,” Mallory said. “You know you’re a very rare breed of Talurian.”

“How’s that, a lot of guys like guys?” Garin quipped.

“According to our information and experience Talurians are almost completely Psi neg yet you are very pos. Tell me; do you ever loose to an opponent at contests?” Mallory asked.

“I don’t like to loose.” Garin growled.

Mallory pushed his hood back and Garin recognized the blond hair and penetrating blue eyes.