Stolen Dreams Read Online Free PDF

quite
pleasant, and actually fun to be around. He really seemed anxious to
get along with you."
     
Shara gave a noncommittal shrug,
realizing she
had been hoping for some negative information and wound up talking to
the professor's one-woman support team instead.
     
"Listen,"
Ferrine
said, leaning closer and lowering her voice. "He wouldn't want me to
tell you this, but it's not as much of a secret as he likes to believe,
and it might help you to give him a little more leeway, as far as his
behavior is concerned."
     
Shara tilted her head expectantly. A
secret about the professor could be just what she needed.
     
"He
was born in Parson's Colony."
     
That
simple sentence told Shara more than enough to fill her with panic. She
thanked Ferrine for her time and returned to her lab, but her mind was
occupied with thoughts of the experiment that had taken place at
Parson's.
     
Although it was not widely publicized, as a
geneticist she
had studied the few details recorded. Six couples with exceptionally
developed mental abilities had formed a group family in which no one
spoke aloud. All communication was by thought and all minds were always
open to the others, the theory being that together they would form a
dynamic mental union.
     
Most Noronians were trained to
communicate
mentally by pressing two fingers to another's temple and concentrating.
Despite having a Terran mother, Shara had been born with a few
exceptional mental abilities. Though she couldn't discern another's
thoughts without making physical contact, she could send specific
thoughts or simple instructions, usually without the receiver being
aware of it.
     
She had several other extraordinary skills
besides
that, but only her immediate family knew about them. The curious
attention she drew by being a mixed-breed was bad enough; she didn't
want her special skills being talked about as well.
     
However,
those
abilities could be useless against someone from Parson's. The professor
could have the power to manipulate her to do whatever he wanted.
Although she had no problem blocking an
     
average
intrusion, such as her brother had occasionally attempted, she had no
way of knowing if her mind was strong enough to hold off a more
talented trespasser. She would just have to keep her guard up around
the professor at all times.
     
Her reasons for making sure he did
not
accompany her had now doubled. But she thought it would be best to let
him think she was being cooperative while staying a step ahead of him.
     
The
next morning she arrived in the dining room precisely at 0800 prepared
to pretend she was open-minded. By 0900 she headed to her lab, more
annoyed with the self-centered boor than before. He had not shown up,
nor canceled their appointment.
     
Her morning took another
downward
turn when she received notice that a highly skilled research assistant
had chosen to work in another department rather than accept her more
generous offer. This had happened before during the years she ran the
genetics research lab in Innerworld, but only once did the prospective
employee let it be known that Shara's questionable breeding had
affected his decision. After that, she always wondered about the true
reasons when she lost a qualified employee or when a choice assignment
was passed on to a geneticist on Norona.
     
Three hours later,
Gabriel finally appeared in the lab. This time he stood quietly beside
her until she looked up at him.
     
The
explicitly graphic directions she had intended to deliver if she ever
saw him again slipped away. It was impossible to curse at an angel. The
only thing missing was his halo. She decided to let him have the first
word, because she fully intended to have the last.
     
Rather than
speak, he handed her a brown leather pouch. Shara glanced suspiciously
at the small bag, then back at him.
     
"It's for you," he said,
loosening the drawstring at the top of the pouch.
     
Turning
the bag upside down, Shara shook the contents onto her