Empire's Son: An Epic Science Fiction Novel Series

As soon as I stepped out of my treatment the fourth day, they were waiting for me. Admiral Vang stood in the middle of my room, and another Zahnian I hadn’t met yet was standing just behind him. Caretaker Benite was in his usual spot close to the panel that worked the Remaker off to the right. With my room being so small, the extra people made it feel microscopic. For some reason I was finding it hard to breath, even though I had just stepped out of a usually relaxing and refreshing experience.

“This is Lieutenant Danton, he will be doing a test on you today,” the Admiral informed me with his ever present gruffness.

“What sort of test?” I asked already not liking where this was going. I eyed the man Vang had introduced, but he was as hard to read as every other Zahnian I had encountered.

“He’s a Mind Bender, and he’s here to determine the extent of the damage Aragon Remeer caused.”

Oh yeah, the memory block dad put into place that erased all my knowledge of Ethia. I had to admit I was curious if it could be removed. Somehow I thought it might be easier to get used to Ethia if I had at least some of my early childhood memories back.

Vang turned to the Lieutenant and nodded his head toward me. The Lieutenant stepped around the Admiral and moved close. Before I could even say wait a minute, the Lieutenant placed an index finger to my forehead.

A white light exploded in my head where the finger touched. It rapidly engulfed all my senses, and for a moment, it felt like I was floating in an etherial world of light. It seemed like I was suspended in time for whole lifetimes, and then just as sudden, the light turned to darkness like a switch was thrown and I could once again feel myself in my body.

I opened my eyes to find the Admiral and Lieutenant conversing, but I couldn’t understand them because it sounded muffled like we were all underwater. I felt a steadying hand on my forearm. I turned to find Benite standing next to me and he was saying something I couldn’t make out. I concentrated on his mouth until my hearing finally decided to kick in.

“… a minute to adjust. Take deep breaths. It helps.”

I nodded my understanding as I took the Caretaker’s advice. He was right, after a few deep breaths in and out, I was feeling much more grounded and centered. I then nodded that I was alright, and the Caretaker released me. I turned to Vang who now stood alone, the Lieutenant had already left the room.

“You could have given me a warning,” I replied, and I didn’t even try to mask my anger.

“The test works better if the person doesn’t put up any mental guards, and your Perception Dome-ni can do this automatically as a defense mechanism. It was the best way to ensure an accurate reading.”

I couldn’t help but notice that there was no real apology attached to that explanation. I was beginning to think that was just how the great Admiral Vang worked. He did what he did, and damn the consequences. It was getting under my skin, and I wasn’t sure how much of Vang bull-in-the-china-shop routine I could take.

I blew out a breath to release some of my anger, knowing that yelling at Vang would just cause him to walk out of the room, and then I would get no answers at all.

“What did he discover?” I said in a more reasonable tone. I silently congratulated myself with my restraint, because I still felt a powerful urge to knock this guy’s teeth out. I could, dad taught me how. But something also told me that Admiral Vang could hold his own in pretty much every kind of fight.

The Admiral stood there for a long moment, and my heart started to drop with every second, because I knew he was evaluating how much he would say, if anything at all. After a long uncomfortable moment, Vang had made his decision.

“You have three locks. None of them are open locks, which means another Mind Bender can’t release them. However, two are adaptable, so they could release on their own under the right circumstances.”

“What about the third?”

“That is a closed lock. It cannot be removed.”

That sent a startling jolt through me. “Not at all?”

“Possibly the Mind Bender who put it there could release it with some effort, but that could cause damage. Usually once in place, closed locks are left alone.”

That news settled over me as I tried to comprehend all it meant. Dad had purposefully locked something away in my mind with the intent that it never be released. Why would he do such a thing? If he cared about me, why would he lock away a part of me? Unless it was something he thought I would be better off not remembering at all.

“It’s my memories of my brothers’ attack. I bet anything that’s what’s there,” I said.

The Admiral puckered up his lips like he had tasted something sour. “Perhaps.”

Had the attack been that bad? It must have. Dad had said it had affected me to the point where I wasn’t really communicating with anyone––that my physical wounds had healed, but my mind had not. Perhaps this was the only way dad could think to heal that. I did not know, and I wouldn’t until I spoke to him.

That sent a whole wave of unpleasant thoughts and emotions through me, because who knew if I would ever see him again, or that whatever happened to him before I left was only temporary.

I decided to move on from that and focus on the conversation, dwelling on what I couldn’t change wasn’t helpful.

“You said the other two could be released on their own.”

The Admiral nodded. “Typically, a Mind Bender will set up certain circumstances that need to be met before an adaptable lock will release. This way the Mind Bender doesn’t have to be present when the person who has the lock is ready for the information to be released. This sort of thing is done for those who suffered through traumatic experiences, or who have gone through an identity change for whatever reason.”

I gave a heavy sigh, “Which, of course, I’ve been through both. Is there any way to know how close these locks could be to releasing?” I felt a sliver of hope. If what the Admiral was saying was true, then I could get my memories from my childhood back. On the other hand, if they were only set to release under certain circumstances, who was to say I would ever meet those.

“No, not to my knowledge, but I am no expert at such things. This will be something you will discuss more with your father.”

Another thought came to me. “Wait, that’s why you’ve been asking at the beginning of our meetings if I’ve remembered anything. You thought I might have had a release after being surrounded by all things Ethian?”

The Admiral nodded.

Great, that made me feel like an ass for my annoyance at him for asking it.

“Why didn’t you just tell me all of this in our first meeting? Why not do that lock test right away? You obviously thought I had them.”

“It was painfully obvious you had them as soon as you set foot on my ship. The fact that you did not even understand Enic was a huge indicator of how much you had truly been altered. But we had to be sure that Remeer hadn’t set any traps for when a Mind Bender other than himself who might try to access your mind.

“We didn’t think he had the kind of skill to set traps, but then we didn’t think he had enough skill to completely erase your Ethian heritage either.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Mental traps? Like what kind and how would you have known?”

“Like I said. I am not an expert at what Mind Benders can do. I do know that if you had shown any signs of mental decline, major change in behavior, or even falling asleep and not being able to wake back up, we would have had to quarantine you until a Master Mind Bender could have accessed you more completely.”

I shuddered at the explanations. “My dad would never do any of that to me, even if he knew how.”

A dark look crossed the chiseled face of the Admiral, and then he abruptly stepped in close to me, so close I could feel the heat of his breath on my face.

“I understand that you do not have your Ethian memories and you do not remember your true father, but I would caution you against referring to the traitor in that way, especially once we arrive in Ethia. You must adjust to your new reality, and act and speak accordingly. Is that clear?”

My heart pounded in my chest at the danger in his eyes and I knew there was only one word he wanted to hear from me right then. “Yes.”

The Admiral looked me dead in the eyes to make sure I really did understand before he stepped away. He kept walking toward the exit.

“You have had a few full days and a lot to think about. There will be no lecture today. You are free to do as you wish.”

I blinked at the empty space the Admiral once occupied as my heart started to go back to the normal pace. I won’t lie, that guy scared me more than a little. I certainly didn’t envy anyone under his command.

I looked over to the Caretaker who, as always, had his head buried deep in this hand-held device. I began to wonder if maybe that was his coping mechanism for dealing with being around a bunch of hard asses. I had to admit, I wish I had something to distract me from my reality right now.

“Tell me the truth now. He has a warm and fuzzy side that comes out when you least expect it, right?” I asked.

The Caretaker looked over the top of his device at me with a raised eyebrow. He then slipped his device in his coat pocket and promptly followed the Admiral’s example, leaving me alone.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said to the empty room.