Mind Over Psyche (33 page)

She pressed her fingers lightly to his lips and the sensation made him dizzy with desire. As his lips played over her fingers, he felt her mind reassuring him. She had felt the times Deryl had slipped away from her; and when she had seen the girl Alugiac called Deryl's wife, she had guessed what had happened. Alugiac had manipulated his mind, used his emotions, but it was
not real.

“It felt real at the time,” he whispered, suddenly sick an
d ashamed.

Then she kissed him, and he knew that no matter how it had felt, it had never been real, and that after today, he would never doubt reality again. His shame washed away, and he pulled her closer, while his mind so
ught hers.

This time, however, she hesitated. Twice they had attempted this, and twice he had been hurt when he let his shi
elds down.

He pulled away before his need made him decide to risk it. He'd thought about it last night and had an idea. He stepped back from her, though still holding her hands, and forced his mind to clear. He found a ley line and reached psychically to pull its power to him and into his shields. Once they were strong, he pushed them outward, past his mind, past his body. Tasmae gasped as they passed through her. Once they surrounded them both, he tied them to a ground, let them go, and smiled at his
soul-mate.

Tasmae stared at him in awe as she felt the world, now so quiet, so still, around her. All of the psychic impressions she took for granted had faded. It was if there was just the tw
o of them.

He pulled her close. Their bodies pressed together as their minds flowed into eac
h other's.

Then the two
were One.

“Wake up!” Deryl nudged
Joshua with his foot. “Time to get you home.”

“All right!” Joshua bounded out of the covers, whooping, and hurried to throw on his Earth clothes. “You're sure you can do this right?” He demanded as he slipped on his dress shoes. He shoved the softer leathery shoes the Kanaan had given him into
a satchel.

“If I don't, we'll be the first to know,” Der
yl teased.

“What? Don't even make t
hat joke!”

Deryl laughed, then smacked him on the shoulder. “Come on. Folks want to say
good-bye.”

They shared one last meal with Terry, Ocapo, and Tasmae—and Salgoud and Leinad. Joshua raised his brows when he saw the Remembrance Keeper, though he was relieved to see the older man looking relaxed and friendly
for once.

“Tasmae's talked to him,” D
eryl said.

“Hope so, for y
our sake.”

As they ate, people came to wish him farewell. Some gave him gifts: The parents of the girl he'd helped gave him a tooth and bone-bead necklace; Ocapo, the flute he'd been learning; and Terry, the vest he'd embroidered. Tasmae gave him one of the elaborately decorated punch daggers she wore in
her hair.

“I want to visit your world,” Terry said. “I want to learn more about human
healing.”

Ocapo said, “Spot and I, too
. Please?”

“Let me get my life settled first.” Joshua laughed. “I'm going to need to come up with an orientation
program!”

Then it was time to leave. Tasmae gave Joshua a friendly kiss on the cheek, and shared a far more intimate one with Deryl. Joshua rolled his eyes. “Save it for when you get back. I need him to have a clear head, t
hank you.”

She backed away with a mocking bow. Deryl set his hand on Joshua's shoulder. “Practice run first, to the unicor
n fields.”

“Sounds good.” Joshua took a breath—then they were near th
e stables.

Deryl smirked. “I think someone's going to b
e missed.”

The entire herd had surrounded them, and as one, they lowered their heads in a bow. Grinning and touched, Joshua returned the gesture. Glory had pulled out nine of her tail hairs, and held them ou
t for him.

“Aw, thanks, baby.” He took them, wrapped his arms around her neck, and accepted a horsey kiss. He waved as the
y ran off.

“You know, despite all the danger and stress, this was a pretty cool adventure,” he said as he braided the hairs together. “Not that I want to r
epeat it.”

“No promises. How are you going to explain that stuff?” De
ryl asked.

“I'm not,” Joshua replied as he tied a final knot and slipped it into his pocket. “If you really get us back to my apartment, I'm going to hide it, first thing. You sure you can get
us back?”

“Of course I can. I not only learned how to teleport from the Bondfriends, but I know it first hand throug
h Tasmae.”

Joshua shook his head in disgust. “Yeah, right. You should see the grin on your face. I'm sure you spent a quiet evening talking about telep
ortation.”

Deryl's grin got bigger. “Mating on Kanaan is of the psyche as well as the body,” he told him mys
teriously.

Joshua shrugged. “Really? Guess that's why they mate for life, then. Well, I'm ready! What do you need
me to do?”

Over breakfast, they had decided to take Joshua back to his Rhode Island flat, aiming for Tuesday morning, less than a day after they'd left. Joshua's cover story would be that Deryl had knocked him out, and he'd awakened there. Already, he had shared his memories of the apartment with Deryl, much the same way that he had shared his memories of his grandfathe
r's razor.

Was that really only a week ago?
Deryl “heard” His friend wonder, and grinned. So much had happened since then, so many wonders. He actually felt a little sad abou
t leaving.

“Close your eyes and think about your apartment. Picture it in as much detail as possible. Don't think about Sachiko, though, or any
one else—”

“Yeah, you had to say that!” Joshua huffed. “Now why don't you
not
think about a blu
e monkey?”

“Sorry. Think of your apartment as you left it, empty, the sun streaming in the
windows…”

As Deryl led Joshua through the visualization, the picture became clearer and clearer in his mind. When he saw even the dust playing in the sunlight, he concentrated on being there. He felt a stir of wind, a sudden, but more gentle wrenching, then no
thingness.

*

A breathless moment later, they stood in Joshua's
apartment.

“Oh, yes!” Joshua breathed, and then dashed to his laptop on the side table. “What's the day?” He flipped up the monitor and turned it on. While it went through the boot-up sequence, he dashed to the closet, burying the satchel under his dirty laundry, then made a beeline for the fridge. He cheered to find the soda cool and the brownies still good. He shoved an entire brownie into his mouth, moaning with pleasure, tossed Deryl a can of Coke, grabbed a D.C. for himself, and headed back. He logged in and whooped when he saw the date and time. “Tuesday a
fternoon!”

Deryl glanced at the apartment and noted the sun coming in from the west. “Wrong windows,” he commented wryly, then laughed as Joshua pulled him into a tight
bear hug.

Joshua released him, thinking aloud. “Mrs. Radcliffe usually shops on Tuesday afternoons, so we may have some time before anyone notices we're here. Is there anything you want from Earth befor
e you go?”

“A book on orbital m
echanics.”

Joshua laughed. “You're kiddin
g, right?”

“No, I…I don't know why I said that. I…” Deryl shook his head. “You know my stuffed bear, Descartes? Grab it. Keep it safe. If I return, I'll need it
. Got it?”

“What's your bear got to do with
anything?”

Deryl cocked a brow. “You think I didn't have an alternate esc
ape plan?”

“What? What's in
the bear?”

“Someone's coming!” Deryl interrupted. His eyes pinpointed as he concentrated on an outside psyche. “It's
Malachai!”

They heard wheels crunching on the rock driveway. There was a familiar knocking in the engine after it shut off. “Why's he drivin
g my car?”

“Your parents are with him—and
Sachiko.”

“Really? Oh, man! You've got to get out of here. I'll go stall.” He turned
to leave.

“Josh!”

Joshua turned to lo
ok at him.

Outside car doors wer
e opening.

“Tell Sachiko and your parents I'm sorry. And thanks—” Deryl paused, mashing his lips together against his
emotions.

Joshua pulled him into another quick hug. “That's what friends are for, right? Besides, that was definitely the adventure of a lifetime!” He held him at arm's length and regarded him earnestly. “You ever need
anything—”

“I know who to come to. And if you need me, just think of
me, hard.”

“You got it. I'd better go!” Footsteps crunched on the gravel and the car trunk creaked open. Joshua gave his friend a quick squeeze on the shoulder and dashed out
the door.

*

Deryl heard him pounding down the steps, calling out Sachiko's name, then shouts of joy. He looked again around Joshua's small apartment: the wardrobe of clothes, the laptop computer with a dozen messages—he noted with surprise that he could look at the screen now—the paperback lying open, facedown, on the table, the synthesizer on its stand between two window fans. He thought of Joshua outside, surrounded by his family, his boss, and the woman
he loved.

So this is a normal Earth life?
It felt so wrong. Even the sounds of traffic seemed ali
en to him.

He thought about a world with mandrakes-on-steroids and everyn and unicorns that could “talk” to you, and about a woman who could change the world with the power of
her mind.

He grinned, closed his eyes, and
went home.

*

“Joshua!” Even though Joshua had bounded out of the house calling his fiancée's name, his mother saw him first. She dropped her travel bag and ran, Sachiko and his father looking up and following with shouts of
their own.

Joshua jumped the last six steps and threw himself into his mother's arms. “Mom! What are you do
ing here?”

“What do you mean, what am I doing? You were
kidnapped
!” But she was laughing and crying too hard to scold him properly, and she only released him when he twisted to reach Sachiko. As he kissed his fiancée enthusiastically, his mother leaned against his dad, who held her close, both smiling through th
eir tears.

Malachai, however, was unmoved. “Where's Deryl
Stephens?”

Just then, the windows of Joshua's apartmen
t rattled.

“Gone,” Joshua pulled away from Sachiko's lips enou
gh to say.

The chief psychiatrist gave him a murderous look and ran up the stairs. They heard him shouting Deryl's name as he searched the
tiny flat.

Joshua laughed as he reached out to his parents and tried to hug them and Sachiko all at once. He was going to be in for it when Dr. Malachai came back down, he knew, but for the moment, he di
dn't care.

He
was home.

In the Temple of Eternal Guidance, government headquarters of God's Republic of Barinnin, a robed and bespectacled bishop spoke to the frazzled scientist on the other side of the telephone line. Although frazzled himself after the trying conversation, he nonetheless kept his voice serene as he spoke. “I am very sorry, Exalted Intellect Revluc, but as I have said repeatedly, the Great Prophet can see no one right now. Yes, yes, I understand the urgency of your findings, but he is in even more urgen
t prayer.”

When the annoying man continued to protest—as he had off and on for days now—Bishop Anglin pulled out his la
st weapon.

“Surely you understand the importance of Alugiac's prayers? Surely you agree that it is only the cooperation of your science with God's will, given to us through him, that we will ever fulfill God's destiny for our people and make the pilgrimage to the next world? I thought so. No, no, I never doubted you, and I do promise to make speaking to you his top priority when he returns to us from his sacred raptures. Of course. God guide
you, too.”

He felt like a tasmae for what he had just done. He'd all but accused one of the most promising scientists of the Fifth Age of blasphemy and treason—both of which were punishable by the most horrible of public deaths. Had he not seen the Prophet call on the power of the Ydrel to fling a man across a room in punishment for his continued insolence? The congregation had watched in awe and horror as the wrath of God the Conqueror made itself known upon Counselor Kusel, but stopped before the death blow. Alugiac said it was God's warning, and anyone seeing Kusel's misshapen face should certainl
y heed it.

Still, I should not have threatened Revluc so, but it was the only way I could think of to get him to leave me alone. Perni
cious man!

Bishop Anglin sighed as he rifled through the pile of requests Alugiac had entrusted to him. Such trivialities! Could no one in the entire nation could make a decision without the approval of their Supre
me Leader?

What was taking Alugiac so long? Could he truly bring the Ydrel to them? Ydrel, Path Forger. Ydrel, Sacred Weapon. Anglin felt a thrill that such holy events would come to pass in his lifetime—but when? Too much, he did not understand, but he knew one thing: Alugiac must return, and soon. For two weeks now, two long weeks of silence and growing unrest among the order, Alugiac had been locked in his room with the command that no one di
sturb him.

God help me. I will disobey those orders if he does not return to us soon. Forgive me, Lord Conqueror of All, if that be a lack of faith,
he prayed as he turned to the endless
paperwork.

*

Locked in his room, Alugiac, too, prayed. “Oh, God, what have I done? What hav
e I done?”