• She sat up and looked around her not quite knowing what had awakened her, just as she was about to lay back down she saw them towering over her. There were four of them, strong burly looking daerkin.
    One of them spoke, ‘We are Vormog and we are taking you into protective custody.” She gasped as the four picked her up unexpectedly and carried her to the waiting Vormog hovercraft.
    “What is this about?” She asked telepathically to the one who had spoken.
    “You will know soon enough, vaermin.” He replied in the same manner.
    She sighed as she thought back trying to make sense of her apparent capture, she knew that she wasn’t under arrest as the Vormog had already indicated that they only wanted to protect her Protect her from what she wondered almost loud enough to hear. She sighed again and leaned back in her seat, there was no sense worrying about anything now, she knew that once they got her to the Vormog station they would answer her questions She decided that she should just watch out her window for the time being. She watched as blue, lavender, and green trees flashed by in a multi-colored haze along with the occasional rock adobe house that the surface dwelling Ashtok lived in. She lived in an expansive city that still had technology. Most Ashtok had given up technology after Maerum was destroyed by technological warfare, they now chose to live in an agricultural society free from technology, but it still existed in many places through Aceriahan. They had to keep some technology in order to help preserve the other races. They had been watching homo sapiens since the Dark Ages and they had quickly become very technologically oriented, even so far as being able to explore space much sooner than even the Ashtok had anticipated They had grown up fast learning about hyper space in a mere two centuries from the first space exploration, when it had taken the Ashtok nearly five and some of the other races up to four times that.
    The hovercraft lurched to a gentle halt and Enika was shaken awake by one of the Vormog, then led inside the station The station was rather large with wooden tiles underfoot, high ceilings, and many cubicles with beeping vid phones. Ashtok were running every which way bringing in suspects, typing up paperwork, talking to supervisors, and an array of other duties. To the outside observer it was pure chaos but to those who worked within the station it was highly organized and efficient for such a busy place. Enika was led down a short hallway to an interview room and led inside. The Vormog entered two ahead of her and two behind, the one who had originally spoken motioned for her to sit in the chair across the table as he sat down across from her. The others stood uniformly with arms folded across their massive chests, scrutinizing her with their large teardrop shaped black eyes They appeared relaxed while remaining on guard.
    “I’m Vormosser Keki,” he began, “you were brought in under protective code R1-572, you will remain with us as long as necessary. Any questions?”
    “Yes,” she replied without hesitation, “what exactly am I being protected from?”
    “I believe you had mentioned seeing a homo sapiens near your neighborhood, correct?” he asked tersely.
    She nodded.
    “We don”t want this information getting out, until we know how to deal with it.. Until then you will remain here. Is that clear?”
    She nodded again, “I see so you’re just protecting yourselves from a liability, right”
    “Your words, but I won’t disagree with you.”
    “But where will I stay?” She asked hoping that she wasn’t under arrest after all. As she knew that the prisoners weren’t treated well.
    “We have rooms for those such as yourself, you won’t be with other prisoners and not treated as one, you are a guest not a prisoner. You won’t be allowed outside until the potential threat has been dealt with.” With that he stood, obviously signaling the end of their discussion as he motioned for Enika to do the same, then he led her down several hallways until they reached a door requiring Keki’s finger print and a key card. Once the door was opened he motioned Enika inside, “This room is under constant surveillance if you need anything just use the vid phone and someone will bring it to you. You will not be permitted to leave this room.” with that said he closed the door and left. Enika surveyed her new surroundings quietly pleased that the small room offered all the comforts of home plus some that she couldn’t afford elsewhere. She walked over to a wall and noticed that she could change the décor by the push of a button, changing the entire room to whatever motif she wanted. She flipped through them and finally found a scene of the galaxy that she liked and left it on She decided that she could sleep, so she lay down under the covers on the bed and promptly left the conscious world sliding easily into oblivion.
    “Did you deal with the threat?” the Vormosser Captain asked Keki as he returned from Enika’s room.
    Keki nodded, “She’s in her room now.”
    The captain looked pleased, “Good carry on then.” He turned to walk away but Keki grabbed his shoulder and turned him back.
    “Wait, why is she such a threat, sir?” He asked , “She’s a telepath.” He added almost as an afterthought in answer to his own question.
    “Keki, there are many telepaths, but the vaerkin knows something that the rest of the Aceriahan world doesn’t and that indicates to me that she’s a threat to planetary security.”
    “Planetary security, sir?” Keki asked, clearly puzzled.
    “Keki, think about how the overall populace of Aceriahan would react if they knew that after all the precautions that were taken to ensure the secrecy of our projects using homo sapiens for experiments, they show up here to perhaps turn the tables on us.”
    “With all due respect sir, don’t you think that, that’s just a bit farfetched”
    “Farfetched?”
    “Yes sir, I mean the stories of us doing experiments on homo sapiens, they’re just that, stories, aren’t they?”
    The captain shook his head, “Keki, I was on one of the teams of scientists conducting those experiments back during the Myrian Incident.”
    “Sir?”
    “Keki, this conversation is confidential and over, keep this information under your hat.” With that the captain turned on his heel and went back down the hall.
    “Yes, sir.” Keki replied quietly to the captain’s retreating back, he had read the implied threat in his boss’s voice and knew that his boss intended to keep his previous missions secret even if it cost him his second in command. Keki stood there for several minutes watching his boss return to his office, then shook himself out of his thoughts, turned, and headed back towards his cubicle Just as he was approaching his desk a voice behind him arrested his attention, “You know, you really should get that door fixed.” Enika told him walking up behind him. He turned around and stared at her in surprise for a moment
    “How did you..”
    “How did I get past security” She finished for him, “Well, it was simple really, I fell asleep.”
    “Pardon me”
    “Ahh, so you’re not familiar with my kind?” She shook her head, “And you’re one of those I would have suspected were like me.”
    “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to explain yourself a bit better.”
    “Well, I guess you don’t try locking up the Oskind do you?”
    “The Oskind?”
    “Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them?”
    “Them?”
    “Oh, my you don’t get around much do you?”
    “Uh, no not really.” Keki replied shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m more of a “special agent” I only deal with local stuff.”
    She nodded, “That much is obvious Well, I guess I’ll have to make it real simple for you The Oskind are known for emitting high frequency brain waves that act like electrical pulses which fries most security features and technological equipment, including the door to my room.”
    “But you’re Ashtok!”
    “Only half, my mother was Oskind. My father met her while visiting her planet during his term in the military. He served as a technological engineer before Maerum was destroyed He was researching the abilities of the Oskind and their effect on the equipment used by the military. His experiments were carried out on my mother who eventually married my father, but only after I had been conceived.”
    Keki let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, “Well, since you’re not locked in your room anymore I’m going to have to figure out something else to do with you.” He thought a moment, and an idea occurred to him, “ In the meantime, I want to speak to you privately.” Keki stopped talking verbally and continued telepathically, “In other words away from others who may hear us technologically or organically.”
    Enika nodded her head in understanding but remained perplexed as to what he had in mind for conversation. “Alright,” she thought in return, “I know of a place we can go. Anyway you could make it look like you’re escorting me somewhere?”
    “Yah, I suppose.” He thought back, “Where do you have in mind”
    “Not here, there could be other telepaths.”
    He nodded and grabbed her arm steering her towards an interrogation room. He pushed her roughly inside and told her to wait for him. She did, rubbing her arm where he had grabbed her. When he returned a few minutes later, he was holding a piece of paper.
    “I’m going to fill out this form to make it look like I’m taking you to another facility,” he thought, “then you and I will go where you want and you can check into a motel under another name. The catch is, you must stay there and only contact me if necessary. Are we clear?”
    She nodded silently wondering what he wanted with her.
    He knew he was taking a chance, but it was a risk that he thought was necessary. She was somehow linked to something much more than a mere sighting of homo sapiens and he wanted to find out what that something more was.
    “Alright, let’s go.” He said aloud after completing the paperwork He led her out the door and into the hall, then decided to cuff her in order to make it more realistic. He grabbed her arms unexpectedly and put the metal bar across them, with a low hum the bar shot out two bands, which twined themselves tightly over Enika’s wrists. She hadn’t been expecting it but by the look Keki gave her, she knew better than to question his judgment on necessary precautions.
    Once they were in the hovercraft, he took them off “Sorry about that,” he told her telepathically, “I thought it would look a bit odd if I were taking you to another facility and you weren’t cuffed. Please don’t speak aloud in the “craft as it’s wired to record everything in case a suspect confesses enroute to the station. Now where is it that you want me to take you.”
    “Home.” She thought instinctively.
    “I never thought of that.” He thought back, “that actually may be a good idea because no one’s going to expect you to be there.”
    “I guess it works, it wasn’t what I had in mind originally.”
    “Let me run by my home real quick so I can change, and we’ll take my personal “craft. My wife will be home, so I’ll probably have to tell her what I’m up to, or at least an abridged version.”
    “Wish you’d let me in on it.” She thought ruefully.
    “Sorry, Enika, all in good time.” He replied.
    They drove the rest of the way in silence, neither wanting to communicate further.