escape when ’Topia was under bombardment, but then we discovered he was a Xeno. It was the Xeno Consortium that destroyed our planet! We feared he might have been leading us into a trap, so I had to verify he was telling the truth. He paused. The other time, I performed a limited mind wipe to avoid detainment.
He may have obeyed the letter of the Code of Honor, but he’d come close to violating its spirit.
I don’t understand.
When we arrived on Earth, we needed money, so we created some in our replicator. We didn’t know only the government could print money. I passed a bad bill and got arrested. To get the officer to release me, I erased about ten minutes of his memory.
You can erase memories? Her eyes widened, but the emotion attached to her thoughts was fascination and not fear or censure.
Or implant them, he added because she needed to know what he and his species were capable of. He had never, ever planted a false ideation. It would be the worst violation of the Code of Honor. A person would have absolute belief in something that never happened.
It would be like false memory syndrome.
He nodded.
Wouldn’t someone realize you were messing around in their head? I feel your presence.
Because I allow you to.
She ate for a while, her expression growing thoughtful. You mentioned that a person might ask you to join with their mind. Why would someone who can speak request it?
Because they need help identifying and removing mental blockages.
Oh, like a form of therapy.
Yes. He’d been able to help alleviate Wingman’s post-traumatic stress resulting from the bombardment.
Mostly he sought to block thought waves—a constant battle since his abilities were powerful, and some individuals were strong emitters. Fortunately, most ideations were mundane and harmless, although he had intercepted lies, grievances, malfeasance, and malice.
Ignorance—his ignorance—was bliss.
Do all your people have these abilities?
To varying degrees. Some are more powerful telepaths than others.
Can you tell what I’m thinking right now?
He got a picture of a cat with orange fur and could feel her affection for the animal. As a child, you had a cat named Whiskers.
That’s amazing! She canted her head. Am I easy or hard to read?
Easy. You’re what we call a strong emitter. However, our attraction enables me to communicate with you far easier than I can with anyone else. It can be painful to do a reading if memories are locked or if we enter a person’s head without their permission. He’d often wondered if the Xenos had given Veritals mind-reading ability to stir dissension on ’Topia but then feared what would happen if they could pick their brains, so they built in a pain hazard.
Curiosity sparked in her gaze. How can memories be locked?
He hadn’t anticipated such a detailed discussion—hadn’t had to describe his mental powers before. There was no need with Veritals, and other ’Topians never asked, perhaps unwilling to discover how vulnerable they were.
A locked memory becomes inaccessible to the individual himself. To understand it, you need to know something about memory processing. There is conscious thought—for instance, what you’re thinking right now. There is short-term memory—like the conversation we had a few minutes ago, or the taste of the cheese you ate. You may or may not remember those things later.
I’ll remember our conversation. She grinned. And the cheese, too. It was delicious!
Do you remember the squirrel?
What squirrel?
The one that ran across our path as we were walking to the gazebo.
Her gaze shifted to the left. Uh, no. I guess I don’t. Is that memory locked?
More like a memory that failed to be saved because it was unimportant. Normally, when you place a thought in long-term memory, it’s accessible for later. You can recall it at will. However, some memories can’t be recalled. A trauma can cause a person to bury the experience deep in their psyche. So much pain is associated with the event that they resist any effort to dredge it to the surface.
Cassie leaned on the table, her expression rapt.
It doesn’t scare you what I am, what I can do? He’d shared way more than he’d intended.
Why should it? I have nothing to hide, and I enjoy the mental connection. It, um, feels intimate. She blushed.
It’s that way for me, too. His erection proved it.
He pushed back from the table. Are you ready for dessert? I ordered chocolate cream pie.
I’m always ready for chocolate anything.
He pulled two individual chocolate cream tarts from the cooler and set one before her and one