A Found Beginning (Osprey Chronicles Book 5) by Ramy Vance & Michael Anderle

Author:Ramy Vance & Michael Anderle [Vance, Ramy & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2022-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Living Dream has many uses for those familiar with its secrets.

Jaeger sat cross-legged on the bunk in her tiny ensign’s quarters and focused on her breathing. Baby lay on the floor beside her bed, filling the air with body heat and the rumbling of her contented purr. Jaeger was shocked the big tardigrade could still squeeze herself through the hatch to get into the room, but Baby had stuck to her side like glue from the moment Jaeger returned to the Osprey from her meeting with Tsuan.

Like any good companion, she could sense a friend’s upset, and wanted to help in the only way she knew how—by crushing Jaeger into her bed and threatening to eviscerate anyone who got too close. She’d sent poor, startled Sergeant Bufo springing away in impressive, ten-meter hops down the corridor.

Now Baby lay wedged on the floor, cradling her little petri dish between her claws, the world’s least efficient space-heater. Her continuous rumble reminded Jaeger of Kwin’s atonal humming, months ago when they’d met in secret to explore Jaeger’s closeted memories.

The Living Dream has many uses…

Jaeger shivered. She’d thought of the Overseer’s humming like the music of a Tibetan singing bowl or some kind of new-age music beat to induce an altered state of consciousness. The thought had never occurred to her that the strange sounds could be weaponized and used to usurp command of someone else’s very will, at least for a short time.

Jaeger told herself that it was a simple intimidation tactic, no more or less threatening than Toner cracking his knuckles and bearing his teeth. Her reassurances wouldn’t stick.

Kwin was right. There was more power here than she’d appreciated. Tsuan had used it to put her in her place like a misbehaving toddler, but Kwin had used the Dream to unlock memories that no other tool in the Osprey’s medical or psychiatric arsenal would allow her to reach.

“What do you think?” she asked softly, reaching out to scratch the stubbly skin-flaps around Baby’s front orifice. The tardigrade shifted, pressing into Jaeger’s hand. “Did the wormhole scramble whatever it is you have for a brain, too?” Her voice fell to something barely audible. “Do you remember before, babydoll? Do you remember Sim?”

Baby purred.

Taking it for an answer, Jaeger reached for her computer and dug through old audio files until she found what she was looking for. Months ago, Kwin had given her recordings of his meditation-inducing hum so she could practice without him.

Jaeger pressed "Play."

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