The mindscape is a powerful thing, although dangerous. Certain minds are too alien, too different to create a coherent mindscape with current technology. However, any mind that can handle a Key can handle the creation and exploration of a mindscape, although the subject may experience some discomfort.

  -S’il Vala Reshka’i, Head of Research, Silva Prime

  Maggie eyed the device as she sat down, the crystal screen lighting up but showing nothing. She couldn’t trust this person, she knew that. But what other choice did she have? Run? To where? Her parents were here, and she couldn’t just leave her family or Robin behind. Not to mention she was only barely learning how to navigate a ship! How much of the navigation Te’chik was teaching her would even work for a ship like The Bard of Avon, or her father’s ship?

  “Now, try your best to relax.” Reshka’i pulled a roll of wires from the case, each one tipped with a tiny bead. “There may be some discomfort but this will not cause permanent harm.”

  “The last time someone told me that something would cause some discomfort it hurt like hell.” Maggie tensed as Reshka’i approached her with the cords, watching suspiciously. “What are you going to do with those things?”

  “These are sensors, I am going to attach them to you. There may be a slight sting but you are perfectly safe. Do I need the boy to hold you, or will you stay still?”

  “Doesn’t he have a name? You could at least call him his name.” Maggie gripped the arms of the chair, holding herself still as Reshka’i pressed the first bead against her skin. There was a moment of cool pressure, and then the feeling of something biting into her. She yelped, looking down at the bead as it turned red. “Ow!”

  “I told you to relax. If you must know the boys name, it’s Kevin.” Reshka’i said dismissively, and pressed another bead against Maggie’s skin. “These sensors will help us build a mindscape for us to work in, don’t worry, I will be wearing some as well, and depending on how this session goes we won’t have to keep using them. Part of it depends on how honest you are with me.”

  Maggie grit her teeth as the Silvarian attached more sensors to her, most on her head, but also on her arms, hands and feet. By the time she was done, Maggie’s headache had gotten worse, and the little sensors felt like they were on fire. “Can’t imagine why I wouldn’t be honest.” She said sarcastically, her knuckles white on the arms of the chair.

  “Indeed, and yet people still try to lie.” Reshka’i shook her head, starting to apply the sensors to herself. “Do you want something to help with the pain?”

  Could she trust anything that came from this woman? But the burning felt almost as bad as when she first got the Key, her eyes blurring with tears. How the hell was Rishka’i not in pain? “This is a lot more than discomfort!”

  “I told you to relax.” Reshka’i sighed as if this whole thing was an inconvenience to her, and pulled a tube from a small drawer in the side of the machine. “Of course it will be more than discomfort if you don’t relax.”

  How was she supposed to relax when it felt like angry fire bees stabbing at her arms? She shot a glare at the Silvarian, but held her tongue. She had to trust that her father at least wouldn’t let this woman near her if she was going to hurt her. Right? Although she had only just met the man, her momma seemed to like him well enough.

  “This will help relax you, and ease the pain.” There was a small smile on Reshka’i’s face as she pressed one end of the tube against Maggie’s skin. With a soft hiss a cooling sensation started to spread through her body from the sight, numbing the pain and almost immediately making her head fuzzy. Maggie leaned back in the chair with a sigh of relief. Kevin watched anxiously from next to the machine, taking the used tube from Reshka’i.

  The Silvarian moved to perch on a chair that looked more like a nest than an actual chair, curling her long body comfortably on the cushion. “We will begin. Kevin, turn on the machine.”

  “Yes S’il Vala.” Kevin said, worry obvious in his voice. He reached over, turning one of the crystal dials all the way to the left. A high-pitched hum filled the room, washing against the plain walls and ceiling and increasing in volume until it was all Maggie could hear, all she could feel. She closed her eyes against the force of it, gripping the chair tightly, she might have screamed.

  But suddenly the sound was gone. Maggie stumbled in the deep snow that surrounded her, falling to her hands and knees in it. “What the hell?” She gasped, looking around in the bright sunlight.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Interesting.” Reshka’i said from behind her, floating about a foot above the snow. She looked down at it in distaste, the cold wind ruffling her thin fur. “An ice planet, or planetoid perhaps. It certainly doesn’t narrow things down.”

  Maggie pushed herself to her feet unsteadily and looked back at Reshka’i. “What did you do? What is that thing you plugged us into?”

  “A machine which helps manifest and share mindscapes. I am sure you’ve seen this place? Perhaps in your dreams? Are there others here as well?” Without waiting for answers, Reshka’i floated towards the massive ship half buried in the snow, her opalescent eyes lighting up as she studied it.

  “Yes I’ve seen it in my dreams.” The answer came out before Maggie could even think to lie. She hesitated a moment before trudging through the snow after Reshka’i, determined not to tell her anything more. She didn’t need to know about Te’chik or Nee’la. She didn’t need to know anything about this place or the ship! “There’s two others I’ve talked to.”

  What the hell? Maggie put a hand over her mouth, eyes widening slightly.

  “Two others?” Reshka’i looked at Maggie in surprise, her head tendrils floating up in interest. “Tell me about them.”

  “One is a former Key Holder, she was a convict, being a Key Holder was her sentence. The other is a little girl called Nee’la.” The answer spilled out even as Maggie tried to hold it in, and she clenched her fists. She was not going to answer questions about this place! What was wrong with her?

  “A little girl? That’s interesting. You’ve talked with them a lot? Surely enough to find out such things about them.”

  “A bit.” Maggie had to concentrate to force herself not to disclose any further information, the strain of it making her shake. Reshka’i smiled, sharp teeth glinting in the sun in a predators smile.

  “Tell me more about them. What have they told you about the ship? About where it is?”

  “Te’chik is teaching me navigation so that I can find it. They’re not sure where exactly it is except towards the edge of the galaxy. They couldn’t make it to an actual planet so they crash-landed here. Nee’la says there’s a weapon on the ship that we need to use against the Star Eaters. What the hell?!” The words came out in a rush that was almost painful, and Maggie clasped both hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. She definitely didn’t want to tell this woman about the weapon!

  “Don’t worry, the drugs to help with the pain also help with honesty. As does the connection between us. But on a positive note, we shouldn’t need to use the mindscape machine often at this rate. Take me inside.”

  “Not a chance you furry little bitch.” Oh if her aunt or mother heard Maggie’s language she’d get in so much trouble!

  “I insist.” Reshka’i smiled wider, and her voice echoed weirdly as she spoke. “Kevin, she needs some convincing.”

  Maggie looked around for Kevin, but didn’t see him anywhere. At least that was one less person in this mindscape as Reshka’i called it. “Who are you talking to, he isn’t eve-” Maggie’s voice caught in her throat as pain cascaded through her, and she dropped to her knees with a scream, wrapping her arms around herself. The pain lasted only a few minutes before it stopped, but it left her shaking and gasping for breath.

  “Now, take me inside the ship.” Reshka’i said, smiling wide. “Or do we have to repeat the lesson?”

  Maggie glared at the sadistic little Silvarian, pushing herself to her feet. She had never felt so angry at someone before. Robin had told her not to trust her, but she wasn’t even trying to be trusted, she just wanted to be obeyed. And Maggie wasn’t even sure what she could do about it.

  “You fight of course.” Te’chik said, suddenly standing on the other side of Reshka’i. She grinned ferally, tossing a dagger up and down in her hand. “If I’m memories, then you have them, you know how to hold a blade even if your body doesn’t.”

  “You must be the convict.” Reshka’i turned in the air, looking at Te’chik with disdain. “You’re not quite human, but I’m not sure what you are. One of the Ancient’s?”

  “Nope.” Te’chik tossed her dagger to Maggie, who grabbed it out of the air with an ease that felt unreal.

  For a moment she just stared at the dagger in her hand, shocked that she had caught it. Not only had she caught it, but she had caught it without cutting herself!

  “You cannot harm me in the mindscape.” Reshka’i said, letting out a sigh. “Don’t even try.”

  “Let’s find out how true that is.” Te’chik said, another dagger materializing in her hand. “Maggie?”

  “R-right.” Maggie lunged forward clumsily, her dagger breezing by Reshka’i without a scratch. Te’chik looked at her in disappointment, and shook her head.

  “You can do better than that. You just need to let the memories guide you.”

  “Tell me about these memories.” Reshka’i said, her whiskers perking up slightly. “You seem to think that she’ll be able to access yours?”

  Let the memories guide her? Maggie shifted her grip on the dagger, not sure what Te’chik meant either. Nee’la had said Te’chik was just stored memories, but she seemed much more real than that. She was a friend, a guide.

  Maybe she should let Te’chik guide her then. She swung the dagger again, this time slicing through one of Reshka’i’s head tendrils, earning a look of shock from the Silvarian as silver blood dripped into the snow. “Kevin, another lesson.”

  Pain coursed through Maggie again, her body arching before falling to the ground. She let out a groan, tears running down her cheeks to freeze in the snow. Somewhere nearby, she heard Te’chik yell. “Stand up! This is your mindscape, not hers, so stand up!”

  “You are more trouble than you’re worth.” Reshka’i said in disdain. “Dismiss her Maggie, all you have to do is focus.”

  She had no intention of dismissing Te’chik. If she could dismiss anyone, it would be Reshka’i. Maggie renewed her grip on the dagger, and pushed herself to her feet. This time she launched herself at the Silvarian with a rage that didn’t seem quite her own.

  The dagger buried itself in the Silvarian’s chest, a look of shock spreading over her furry face before she exploded in tiny motes of light.