Pirate Nemesis (Telepathic Space Pirates Book 1) by Carysa Locke Read Free Book Online

kept it to yourself. You felt guilty, wondering if the fact that he was a clone was bothering you on some level. It was not. He was not a good actor, and I’m afraid he was nervous that you would somehow sense the drug he used to spike your drinks. Fortunately, your own guilt kept you from reacting to what your intuition was telling you.”
    It took Atrea a moment to process what he was saying and respond.
    “I really hate you,” she said at last. “Stay out of my head.” Her tone wasn’t menacing. It was flat and matter-of-fact. It was the tone Atrea used right before things went really bad and she started shooting people. She used to carry two metal throwers, antiquated weapons that fired metal projectiles that would rip through flesh and bone in a messy explosion of blood and gore. Since joining the Navy, she’d had to switch over to standard disruptors. They stunned their targets, jolting them with enough electricity to knock them down and out long enough to throw restraints on them. Of course, Atrea carried a backup piece she’d modified herself. It burned through flesh and organs and left nothing but charred tissue behind. Stunning people was all well and good, but she’d been raised never to leave a real enemy at your back. If she survived this, she’d hunt Willem Frain to the ends of the universe.
    Mercy thought of all the times Atrea had stopped in the middle of something to change direction, or said it was time to go right before a brawl broke out, or somehow knew port security was nearby when they were supposed to be clear on the other side of the dock. What Willem Frain was saying made sense. For the first time, Mercy started to wonder if he wasn’t actually crazy. Fear skittered like ice through her veins, shuddered down her spine. If he wasn’t crazy, if everything he said was true, what the hell did that make her? What did it all mean?
    “Now.” Willem turned toward Mercy. “If you would please drop your shields and do as I have instructed.” He paused. “If you refuse, Atrea will not be returning to her cell.”
    The implied threat was clear enough, and unnecessary. Mercy remembered his threats without the reminder. She glared at him, but ultimately did as he asked.
    She dropped her shields, and went into her friend’s mind. She stopped just inside the natural shields every null had. They weren’t like Talented shields, but built on instinct and the mind’s unconscious need to protect itself. Usually thin and full of weak places that allowed thoughts to be projected out easily, or a telepath a route in. Atrea’s were a little stronger than this, probably because she was aware of Mercy’s gifts, and that awareness had led to her strengthening her shields without being conscious that they even existed. Not that Mercy invaded her mind often. But sometimes they used her Talent as a way to communicate silently when they needed to. Atrea knew Mercy could read her thoughts, and deliberately directed them at her sometimes, and Mercy actively used her telepathy to tell Atrea things. But she’d never gone past this point, the place where she could read surface thoughts, the things Atrea was actively thinking. Even that could be confusing if she didn’t concentrate.
    People really had no idea how chaotic and unorganized their thoughts could be, jumping like quicksilver from subject to subject, layered and overlapping. The mind moved at much greater speeds than the words someone stopped to consciously think to themselves. It could be overwhelming. But over the years, Mercy had developed her own technique for sorting them all out. She allowed the quicksilver thoughts to make just an impression, a flash of insight into what they were about, that quickly faded. She focused on the loudest, most present thoughts. It was a little like trying to focus on your friend’s voice in a crowd if the other people were all talking loudly and at once.
    This is impossible. They can’t do this. Mercy can’t do