Power of Lightning

Chapter 1 I swiped my finger across the screen to access the next question. How long have you known about your Talent? I frowned. I’d only managed to use my Talent to initiate a telepathic conversation for the first time a couple of days ago, so I typed in my answer. Our records indicate that you did not declare a Recognised Talent when you applied for the position of Navigational Computer Operator with Katoa Intergalactic Mining and Exploration. Can you tell us why you did not declare your abilities? I didn’t know I had any psychic abilities when I’d started working for the biggest mining company in the Known Universe five months ago. “This is stupid,” I said to no one. The answer to the previous question kind of negated this one. How many more questions like this would I have to answer? This was getting ridiculous. The investigators from Katoa that were going to question me about the events surrounding the tunnel collapse down on the planet, Kronos, were probably going to ask me the same questions anyway. I sighed and felt a twinge of pain from my broken ribs. I needed some more painkillers. After a few more stupid questions, I wanted to throw the Palm-pad across the room. A bright light had me shielding my eyes as my heartbeat picked up. Once my eyes adjusted, I could make out the rough shape of a man made of coloured light floating before me. I smiled. “Allador!” I was so relieved to see my alien friend, but worried that someone could walk in and cause a panic. Allador inclined his head and answered me telepathically. I wasn’t sure what to say. “What are you doing up here on the station?” I sat with my mouth hanging open. He would risk being seen so he could heal my broken ribs? “Oh, um, yes… Thank you.” He moved forward slowly and reached out his hand. Once it made contact with my right side, warmth stretched out across my entire body. Closing my eyes, I relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. I trusted Allador after I’d seen him heal my work partner, Daniel Javolo, who’d had multiple injuries after the tunnel he was working in down on the planet had collapsed. I felt one rib knit back together and it made me queasy. I’d felt the same thing when Allador had healed Daniel, through our weird connection that caused me to feel Daniel’s pain, but this was different. This time I knew it was my bones. The door swished open and a nurse walked in wheeling a cart. She screamed and Allador backed away from me. “It’s okay!” I told her. “He’s not hurting me. He won’t hurt you.” Her big brown eyes were wide and she was shaking. “What is that thing?” How could I stop her from freaking out and calling security? “It’s an alien from Kronos. His name is Allador.” “Wh-what’s it doing here?” “He was healing me.” She looked at me. “What?” “He was healing my broken ribs.” And you interrupted. Allador fluttered around in the corner. Before I could say anything, he vanished. “Where did it go?” I crossed my arms. “He left because you were freaking out. He didn’t get to finish healing me.” “Oh.” “Why are you here?” “Oh, I came to give you a blood test. They said they told you about it.” I sighed. Might as well get it over with. “Yeah. So, where do you want me to sit?” “Just on the edge of the bed. I’ll position the cart to suit.” “Okay.” I sat and tried not to look as she took five vials of blood from my arm. That seemed like an excessive amount. “Why so many vials?” “Oh, there are so many things we need to test, and each one requires a different treatment of the sample.” “Oh.” What else could I say to that? It wasn’t like I could demand that she put it back. After fiddling around with the vials and asking me to check my name and date of birth on the labels, she packed up her equipment and left me with a wish that I have a nice day. Considering who I’d be talking to next, I highly doubted it. Sure enough, I didn’t have to wait long for the two investigators to be ushered in to see me. Dr Rowen said she’d leave us to it and left with a fake smile on her face, and the two well-dressed men stepped further into the room. They too, had fake smiles and I gave them one in return. I had nothing to smile about. They introduced themselves as Mr Deunan and Mr Kessik, saying that I needn’t worry as they just wanted to ask me some questions about what had happened on the day of the tunnel collapse. It was their job to interview everyone involved and try to piece together what had taken place and why, and blah, blah, blah. I relaxed a little. They hadn’t mentioned anything about a possible breach of regulations or any relationship with Daniel. I knew I was still in a lot of trouble, though. Sonrisa had already blasted me for my slow reactions after it all happened, so I expected them to be asking about that too. I waited and tried not to fidget. The first questions were pretty standard. How long had I worked for The Company and where was I from and so on. Then they asked about my first Digger, Arkena Rogan, which made me wonder why. Why would they ask about that? Did they think I had something to do with him seeing a “Ghost” in the tunnels and being taken off active duty to go to counselling? And what did that have to do with the tunnel collapse? Nothing. The simple answer was: nothing. I took a deep breath. Maybe they were trying to intimidate me. It was possible. Or make it seem like I couldn’t do my job properly. Both of my Diggers had “gone crazy,” which is Katoa’s explanation when anyone claims they’ve seen bright lights or a Ghost down on the planet. The Ghosts were real, though. They were Allador’s people — a race of beings made out of light and energy. The official word was that the planet was uninhabited. The Company couldn’t let the people know that there was sentient life on the planet we were mining, because then they would have to get the inhabitants’ permission to be able to continue mining. I decided not to let them intimidate me. I had other, bigger things to worry about. I tried to answer the questions as best I could. Then they finally decided to ask me about the events leading up to the collapse. “Everything had been normal and the morning went ahead as usual,” I said. My mind kept wandering back to when I wanted to talk to Daniel and tell him how I felt about him, so I had to make sure I didn’t say anything that would give any of that away. I just stuck to the facts surrounding the other events. “Daniel had dumped a load of Amakio back at the shuttle and had finished digging out the next vein when he saw a bright light.” There was no point in denying the Ghost sighting. It was all recorded. When they looked at me questioningly, I sighed. “You would have heard what happened by listening to our recorded conversation.” “Never mind that,” Kessik said calmly. “We want to hear your version of events.” I sighed again. “The recording is my version of events.” “Now, Miss Callista, there’s no need for the sarcasm. Just tell us what happened.” I groaned. “That wasn’t sarcasm...” He exhaled heavily through his nose. “Just tell us what happened,” he repeated. I told them what I could remember, but as for the four minutes and twenty seven seconds before I made the first call, I didn’t know what had happened to me. “I found myself on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. So I think that means I must have blacked out somehow.” They didn’t look convinced. “I’ve had several blackouts since then.” They simply nodded and Kessik typed something on his Palm-pad. There was no hope of coming out of this unscathed, so I tried to be as truthful as possible. I’d have to leave some things out about Daniel and I. They kept asking more and more questions and it reminded me of Malvolio when he was convinced I was already seeing Daniel and wouldn’t even listen to me. It was upsetting to think about him. Those wounds were still raw. I’d forgotten about him for a while, even with the pain in my ribs to remind me every time I moved. I’d been so focused on Daniel. The memories flashed before me and the tears threatened to start. The pain in my chest flared and I couldn’t think straight. I tried to focus on the current situation, with no success. “Why didn’t you report to your supervisor right away that your Digger was in trouble?” I tried to hold back my rising frustration. “I told you. I fainted. Play back the recording and you’ll probably hear me fall to the floor. And you could probably hear me get back up again after the four minutes and whatever seconds...” Kessik turned toward me. “Do you know the correct procedures to be followed in an emergency situation?” I stared at him incredulously. “Yes, of course I do!” He c****d a bushy eyebrow. “You seem to have had trouble carrying them out. Can you tell me why that is?” “I told you…” I’d had enough. He was another Malvolio. I wanted them to go away and leave me alone. “Look, I’m not feeling—” “What is the status of your relationship with Daniel Javolo?” Deunan interjected.