Hiding Laran - The Latest Terranan Game!
It used to be that Terranan were discovering they had laran and eagerly jumping over the wall and "going native". Now, they hide out in the Terranan Sector, petrified at being caught, documenting their knowledge in diaries and trusting young, stubborn teenagers. It is an interesting change, but as all Comyn know, an untrained laran talent is a danger to the holder of said talent. Patrols of Comyn will soon be needed to police the Spaceport and "check" new arrivals for laran potential. Otherwise a new Ages of Chaos could evolve from the Spaceport itself - a most unlikely source!
Kay was reading the latest issue of the DI when she came across this item. It never occurred to her that SHE might be the subject of it.
Although she'd heard (and read) many tales of Terran servicepeople who'd gone missing (and not all were ever located again). Some had later turned out to have "gone native" and given up their Empire citizenship. But sometimes the investigations turned up only dead ends that resulted in the initial Records entry of "AWOL personnel -- whereabouts unknown" being updated to "missing and presumed dead".
But surely that happenned to SOME degree on EVERY world that Terran servicepeople were stationed -- especially the frontier worlds where there were alot of unfamiliar dangers as well as unexpected temptations.
Due to working in the Records section, Kay had also heard of the occasional tourist who'd dissapeared Sector while on vacation -- some clearly by their own choice, but others where it remained an unsolved case.
She pictured the chaos that would occur if any of the locals even SUGGESTED flexing their political might over the Spaceport troops in such a way.
There would be a huge uproar over such mass invasions of the privacy of Terran Empire citizens by agents of a foreign government -- even if it was claimed to be "neccessary for maintaining national security". And especially when it was over something that official Empire policy did NOT offially even recognize to exist. All it would take is for one short-tempered newcomer to tell some equally short-tempered local to mind his own damn business -- and the whole thing'd blow up into a "diplomatic incident".
As far as Kay knew, there was no Darkovan law forbidding any non-Comyn individual (including transient off-worlders) to possess such talents -- even if they did NOT belong to a group (like the Wiccans) who regularly worked with the flow of their their own personal chi energy as part of their religious worship.
At least her own diary was safe from prying eyes, tucked away in its locked case with her Book of Light and Shadows.
Those teenagers could be almost ANY of the many young people (whether Darkovan or Terran) who could be seen going about their business each day. Perhaps Anwyn knew some of them (or perhaps WAS one of them).
Kay sighed, then entered Anwyn's call number into her comm, intending to inquire if the girl had read the same article in the DI. But there was no answer.
<* Where IS that girl anyways ?*>, Kay wondered nervously, frowning as she checked the time-display on her watch. She then queried the computer system, requesting Anwyn's current location. She was NOT at all pleased when the display informed her that Anwyn's ID number had been logged as she exited the Complex not very long ago, but that it had not yet been logged to indicate her return.
For a moment, she considered asking Oberon and Mairead if either of them had seen Anwyn in their wanderings. But then she decided that she was likely worrying too much, and that Anwyn would protest about being treated like a lost child.