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in his use of his power, had used it on a naïve young woman, not just to vanquish an unseen enemy, but then in search of greater sexual satisfaction.
    He lowered the drying towel and stared at himself in the mirror. He’d enjoyed every moment of it too. Had known a savage delight in coaxing her to submit, to allow him to explore the hot, confused but delighted currents of her response. Had indeed, found his own pleasure increased twofold by her trusting surrender. And the realization she’d enjoyed it every bit as much as he.
    Just as he’d reveled in their unspoken communication. He’d never dreamed such explicit conversation was possible. How strange the two of them should be so attuned.
    He wanted to explore their ability to communicate on all levels. And he wanted more of it—much more.
    He turned away from the mirror and its uncomfortable truth. Casting one brooding look at the woman sleeping in his bed, he strode from the room.
    In the corridor, he activated his com-link.
    “Captain, Navos here. I’m on my way.”
     
    The body still lay there, outside the core reactor. And to Navos’s shock, it was a young Indigon who stared sightlessly into the bright lights. Of course—who else but another Indigon could have been broadcasting in such a manner to both him and Nelah?
    Navos stared back into the pale face, blue eyes flat with death. The dull knife of angry sorrow twisted deep in his gut. He’d been forced to kill one of his own people. It was all he could do to pull calm around him like a cloak.
    “Who is he?”
    Craig cast him a quick look of sympathy.
    “His name is Elan Bluet. One of a group of students on break from your university. Bound for the beaches on Aquarius.”
    “I remember him now,” Navos said, as the name clicked into a mental slot in the passenger list. “His profile—it was completely normal.”
    “Look at this,” said Halix, who knelt by the body, a small device blinking in his hand. “He has some sort of a tiny chip implanted behind his ear.”
    He pulled the youth’s uppermost ear forward and pointed to a tiny incision. “It shows up clearly on the reader. I believe it’s the type that is used on petty criminals to control their actions.”
    “He had no criminal record,” Navos said, uneasiness stirring in him. “Have Dr. Tentaclar autopsy him as soon as possible.”
    Craig nodded. “Yes. Call the med techs to come and get the body, will you, Izard?”
    He scowled at the alarms on the wall above them, still blinking silently.
    “Why did he want into the reactor area? Enough to keep at it even after he set off the sirens? They went off just as you found him, Daron.”
    “Not to mention after he did that.” Izard, a lean Serpentian with a shock of improbable green-gold hair who was acting guard commander, nodded grimly at the hatch leading into the reactor.
    The white cerametal was spattered and streaked with blood. Looking at the body, it was easy to see the source. His hands were torn and bloody, as was his forehead. Blood stained his clothing and the floor on which he lay.
    “Used himself like a human battering ram,” Craig muttered. “Damn it, it just doesn’t make sense! No one could break in there with their bare hands—why even try?”
    “He’d gone insane,” Navos said wearily. “Why, I can’t say.”
    Craig scowled fiercely, looking every inch the warrior he was.
    “Well, we’ll get to the bottom of this. It doesn’t make sense, but after our last three voyages, we’re not taking any damned chances. Slyde and Sirena are on a fast shuttle right now. They should reach us soon. We’ll meet at 0800 hours in the command center.”
    He gestured to the techs who waited in the background, a stretcher at the ready. “All right, guys, take the body to Tentaclar.”
    Then he turned to Navos. “Commander,” he said. “Go get some rest. I don’t want to see you again until you’ve slept, understood?”
    Navos acquiesced with a curt nod. He knew Craig was