tems of the engaged opponents. To fight with the mind, the body had to be fit.

"Your nose isn't bleeding," he noted.

"I didn't lose either," she answered.

He chuckled ruefully. "Point," he said, feeling the pounding in his head ease somewhat. "Alright, teacher, what did I do wrong?"

"Just about everything," she answered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You panicked, love. You did alright up until then, you did what I taught you to do, but once you panicked, it was over."

"ItI was just overwhelmed," he said in a quiet tone. "I couldn't hold you back, and it was like the fear just locked me."

"Well, we can work on that," she told him reassuringly. "You were nervous about this, and that basically doomed you from the start."

"I was definitely nervous. I never dreamed you could, that you were capable" he said, looking away from her. "I didn't"

"It's alright, love, you can say it," she told him gently, kneeling down and putting her hands on his shoulders, then putting her forehead against his. That contact caused the walls between their minds to weaken, and he knew she could feel his anger at himself, his humiliation at being so thoroughly beaten, and a measure of his indignation at her raking her claws through his mind and touching on places that no one had any business touching. "You had no idea I could do something like that to you, or that I _would_ do something like that to you."

He flushed guiltily.

"Love, I took no pleasure in it," she told him with utter seriousness, pulling away so she could look at him. "But you had to see it, face it at its worst. That was about the worst I'm willing to do to you. I could have done something even worse than that, but that could cause permanent damage, or cause you to never forgive me. Trust me, love, there are ways to violate someone with talent that would make you never speak to me again. We won't go quite that far here, because I love you, and I'd never do that to you."

"I'm sorry, about, you know."

"You had every right to be angry," she told him dismissively. "I just hope you'll forgive me."

"Forgive you for doing what I asked you to do? Please."

"That doesn't mean anything," she snorted.

_You know me better than that,_ Jason sent, feeling the last of the pain fade.

_Feeling better, I see. Good,_ she sent in reply. This was the norm for them. Ever since she had come, they spoke less and less, until they simply stopped speaking altogether. Unless they were in mixed company or wished to include others in their conversation, they did not speak aloud to each other. They always sent, either openly or privately. He had jokingly told her that he was starting to forget the sound of her voice just yesterday. _I didn't want to send until you got over the headache._

_I've still got a bit of it, but not enough to stop me,_ he answered. _I think I can stand up now._

_Alright. We're done for today._

_But_

_Hush,_ she cut him off. _Love, you're in no condition to train any more. We can pick this up again tomorrow, after you have some time to recover. Talent's not like other things, love. If you push it too far, it can cause permanent harm._

_Alright,_ he acquiesced.

They returned to the mansion, passing several people. Some waved or greeted them, some did not. Not everyone was quite happy about Jyslin's arrival, or the other Faey, but at least no one had left the city. Jason's speech about asking for trust had at least kept people from deserting, though there were some rumors that a few people might leave. If they left, then so be it as far as he was concerned. But it was Kate more than anything else that had people unnerved. They felt a little betrayed by the fact that Symone had seemingly lied to them to make them vote her in, that and the fact that Kiaari wasn't assuming Kate's demure personality anymore. She was acting like a different person now, and that was a bit much for most people to handle.

Kumi's presence didn't bother most of them as much as Jason would have thought, at least not after they got an idea of just how dreadfully injured she'd been... which was all thanks to the doctors who showed them holopics of her wounds. It made quite a few people physically sick, and made Jason's stomach heave. A hole had been blown in her back big enough to put a volleyball into without any of it sticking out. It was only because of highly advanced Faey medical techniques and equipment that Kumi had survived that injury, and the fact that there was a medical facility literally one building over from where she'd been shot. According to Doc Songa, if she'd have gone just two or three more minutes without emergency treatment, she would have died. They'd put her back together using bio-accelerated cloned replacement tissue and bone, transplant tissue and materials created from her own body, and then used to fill the holes. Just as they had regrown Symone's arm, lost in a past injury, they regrew what Kumi had lost.

The prognosis for Kumi was good, which was a relief to Jason. She was out of her medically induced coma now, taken out of it four days ago, and was strong enough to send... just not very far, her sendings unable to extend past the mansion in which she was kept. With the accelerated healing treatments they were using on her, she would be well enough to leave in about three weeks. Since she woke up, she was surprisingly quiet and thoughtful. She didn't even joke that much when Jason went to see her. That wasn't too much of a surprise to Jason, since she'd nearly been killed by her own noble house. She had some serious issues to sort out.

The trouble was coming not from Kumi, or the doctors, or even Fure, but from Meya and Myra. The twins were everywhere and getting into everything, and Jason had to keep a constant eye on them to keep them from stealing one of his railguns. And Lord above, did they _try_. It was almost a kind of twisted game to them, seeing if they could manage to filch one of those much-sought after prizes to add to their collection of weapons. When they weren't doing that, they were talking to everyone, looking around, and learning _entirely_ too much about what they were planning to do than Jason felt comfortable with, assurances from Miaari notwithstanding. He knew they'd never talk, and if they were ever interrogated in a way that would give up that information it would already be too late anyway, but it still worried him.

_So, how's your first day in the armor?_ Jason asked as they entered the mansion.

_It feels wonderful,_ she gushed girlishly. _I've never had armor this good, even when I was assigned to other posts. Imperial-issue armor isn't quite this fancy. Once I break in the gel, it'll be perfect._

_It's going to be protecting the most important thing in this world,_ he sent seriously. _It's the best I could get, and it's still not good enough._

She gave him a sincerely adoring look, putting her gauntleted hand on his shoulder. _I love you too._

_Typical,_ Kumi's acerbic sending, weak but understandable, touched them. _Sometimes you two make me sick._

_Be nice,_ Jason chided.

_She's being jealous,_ Meya sent, her thoughts tinged with amusement.

_That certainly sounded like jealousy to me,_ Tim agreed.

_Aww, keep out of it, Tim,_ Kumi huffed. _There's no reason for me to be jealous._

That was probably one of the bigger surprises. The Faey visiting them seemed to be quite at a loss as to what to do about Jason, Temika, and Tim. The fact that there were three human telepaths was a shock to them, because just _knowing_ they had talent wasn't the same as _experiencing_ it. They seemed quite comfortable with the idea that humans might have talent... until those humans started sending around them. They were even more unsettled when they found out that Jason and Temika were _stronger _talents than all of them but Jyslin. Jason's strength wasn't much of a surprise to Kumi and the ones who knew him, but Temika was a surprise to them. Jason they could write off as a fluke concerning the strength of his talent, but Temika was the proof that humans could be just as strong as Faey, or even stronger, when it came to telepathy. It was as if the humans had intruded themselves into a realm that was meant for the Faey alone, and all of them, to one degree or another, seemed uncomfortable with the idea of humans hearing open sending. The only ones that seemed more amenable were Kumi and Meya, but even they occasionally seemed reticent, and it bled through in their sendings. Kumi seemed to be the most active in trying to engage the human telepaths, but Jason felt that it was boredom more than anything else. She was confined to her bed, and she was willing to do almost anything to pass the time.

Of course, the humans too were a bit uncomfortable with the idea of eight unknown Faey suddenly being privy to what had always been a nice quiet private little clique of Jason, Temika, Tim, and Symone. Just as the Faey seemed taken aback that humans had invaded their private world, the three humans were discomfited by the idea of strangers hearing what, to them, was a very personal realm of comfortable familiarity. Even now, some ten days after they had all arrived, Jason still felt a bit... weird, sending and knowing that Faey he didn't know very well could hear it. Of the three of them, Tim was the only one actively trying to engage the Faey telepathically. Temika barely sent at all anymore, and even then it was usually privately, or showing off her training by sending so that only those in the same room could hear her, something Jason could do as well, but did not because he was trying to force himself into getting used to the idea of being a "public" telepath.

Symone had taught her students well, but her days as teacher were now over, because Jyslin was there. Tim and Temika seemed reluctant to take lessons from Jyslin on that first day, but she smacked that right out of them almost immediately. After they got a taste of the kind of power Jyslin had, and what was more, her extensive training, they became _very_ willing students. She could teach them things that Symone could not, and since Temika was such a strong telepath, Jyslin could teach her how to use her powers in ways Symone could not, because they were techniques she either never learned, or was incapable of using.

_No reason at all,_ Fure's sending reached them, almost dripping with sarcasm.

_Fure! Don't make me cut your pay!_

_As I recall, Mistress Eleri, we're currently not being paid,_ he sent dryly. _So be my guest and cut my pay. Half of nothing is still nothing._

_I hate you,_ she sent growlingly.

_Obviously, Kumi still has designs on getting her revenge,_ Symone sent, her thoughts bubbling with vast amusement.

_You bet your ass, woman,_ she seethed. _You just wait 'til I get out of this bed, babe, and it'll be time for the video equipment. And I have a little something special planned for you too, Symone. You had a hand in that._

_Well, I had a hand _on_ it. I didn't get a chance to put a hand _in_ it. There wasn't enough time._

Jason blushed furiously, which made Jyslin laugh aloud.

"Stop!" a voice cracked from the door behind them. Jason winced and then did so, then turned around just enough to look at Doc Songa. _I've told you four times to come down here,_ she sent commandingly. _You're not going to dodge us forever, Jason._

_I haven't been dodging you, Doc,_ he protested.

_Maybe not, but you sure as hell make sure you're always busy when I come looking for you,_ she retorted. _You're not busy right now, so inside!_ She pointed imperiously past herself, into the clinic she and Rann ran on the first floor.

This was something he had, in fact, been avoiding. After succumbing to the physical the doctors wanted, she'd been after him for some follow-up tests. Since he was a human telepath, she'd been wanting to run a few tests she didn't perform the first time around, both to make sure he was healthy and to investigate his condition as a telepath. Like most Faey that knew some humans had talent, she was wildly curious as to why Jason and other humans had talent, but unlike most other Faey, Songa had the training and determination to actually try to find out. This wasn't something to which Jason objected, because Kiaari had told him that understanding _why_ humans had talent would help him greatly in what was coming, but he just wasn't looking forward to the idea of being a guinea pig. He needed to find the why of it, but he wasn't too thrilled with the idea of being the test subject that would help solve that mystery.

_That woman can certainly lay down the law,_ Myra giggled.

_I've never met a doctor that couldn't,_ Fure sent sagely.

Jason looked to Jyslin, almost hoping she would extricate him, but she put her hand on his back and pushed him towards Songa. _You'd better treat him right,_ she warned. _That's my fiance, and I want him in one piece when we marry._

_I won't hurt him at all,_ Songa protested demurely. _The worst he'll get is a couple of needle sticks, I promise. Rann, come to the clinic please. We can't let him get away this time._

_I'll be right there,_ Rann responded.

_I'd like to attend as well, if that's alright,_ Yohne asked. _With Lady Eleri's permission, of course._

_I don't need a doctor in here to babysit me now, Yohne,_ Kumi told her. _Go on ahead, I'm fine. If I need you, I can just send._

_We could always use an extra pair of eyes,_ Songa sent pleasantly, getting behind Jason and pushing him bodily towards the door with a hand on each shoulder blade.

_I'll go take off my armor and come down,_ Jyslin sent openly, directing it at Jason. _That way I can hold your hand while the evil doctors stick needles in you._

From upstairs in the kitchen, Jason clearly heard Temika break out into loud peals of laughter.

_Woman, after that line, you'd better leave it on,_ Jason sent ominously.

_Children, play nice,_ Songa commanded as she herded Jason into the clinic.

And how the needles came. Jason endured the indignity of being a human pin cushion for nearly an hour, as they gave him a thorough physical exam, then ran several tests that he knew had nothing to do with his physical health. Rann and Yohne took several vials of blood, and they worked on a small console connected to one of the devices they'd brought along with them while Songa had him wear a featureless black helmet that reminded Jason of the helmets from that old cult classic movie _Spaceballs_.

"Why do I feel like Dark Helmet," Jason growled as Jyslin came back down, wearing a ragged pair of jeans and a scavenged tee shirt that had the logo of the band Nine Inch Nails, one of Tim's favorites.

"It's an alpha wave monitor," Songa told him aloud. "There's no machine or technology that can pick up telepathic activity, but this one's the closest thing we have. The baseline alpha patterns of a telepath are slightly different than they are on a non-telepath. Now just relax for a minute, and no sending."

"But we're different races," Jason said. "Our brains are different."

_Actually, they're not,_ Rann sent, his sending absent, distracted, because his focus was on his work. _Humans and Faey are physiologically identical. There's a slight difference in our DNA patterns, but that's about it. I'd almost say that we're the same species, or we're two sub-species descended from a common ancestor, but that would be nearly impossible._

"It's Gora's Law," Yohne said aloud. "And no sending, Rann."

"Sorry."

"Who?" Jason asked.

"Gora Karinne, one of the greatest biomedical scientists of all time," Yohne answered. "He lived about a thousand years ago, and he posed a theory that planets with similar conditions would produce living creatures with similar evolutionary traits. The more the two different planets were similar, the more similar the life upon them. Well, Draconis is amazingly similar to Earth. It has the same climate, very close to the same atmospheric makeup, and so on and so on. If you ever went there, Jason, you'd wonder if you left Earth for a few minutes, until you saw that our trees and plants and animals look different than yours. Well, since our two planets are so similar, it's no stretch to think that evolution would produce very similar creatures on each planet."

"But you said that Draconis has different plants and animals, so that means that this Gora's law was wrong."

"Gora's Law isn't absolute," she told him. "But it does hold up under some circumstances. For example, humans and Faey look almost identical, and their DNA is similar enough for cross-combinations."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that humans are Faey are genetically compatible, that we can have children," she answered. "Well, we have creatures on Draconis called vulpars. Well, they're almost exactly similar to a species of animal on Terra called a _fox_. We have truki, you have _horses_. We have feyalla, you have _chimpanzees_. We have siksuni, you have _whales_," she told him, using the English words for the names of the animals from Earth. "Animals with similar appearancesmostlyand similar DNA patterns, that hold the same position in the planetary ecology. A vulpar and a _fox_ could crossbreed, as could a feyalla and a _chimp_, or a siksuni and a _whale_. And if we brought a vulpar here and released it in the wild in the same habitation range of a _fox_, it would probably survive, maybe even thrive. That's the basic gist of Gora's Law."

"Oh, so this Gora woman"

"Man. Gora Karinne was a man."

"Odd. Most short names that end in an _A _like that seem to be women's names, like Maya, Meya, and Myra. I didn't think a man would have a woman's name."

Yohne chuckled. "Well, Gora was a Faey ahead of his time. A brilliant doctor, scientist, and he was almost executed for heresy on more than one occasion. He went to prison rather than retract his theories."

"Shame what happened to him," Songa mused.

"I take it they executed him?" Jason asked.

"No, dear, he died on Sigma Proximus," she answered. "He was killed by one of the animals he was studying. I think our understanding of medicine would be five hundred years ahead of where we are now if he'd have lived. He was only thirty when he died."

"That young?"

"He was brilliant, ahead of his time," she nodded.

"A savant," Yohne agreed.

"Like Einstein," Jyslin told him as she reached them, sitting on the edge of the examination table across from him. "You look silly."

He gave her a face, which made her laugh.

"Well, he wouldn't have lived much longer," Yohne said, a bit sadly. "If I remember my history right, all the Karinnes were killed in the Third Civil War. The entire house was destroyed. That was about ten years after Gora died."

"Them and seven other houses," Songa said. "There was a great deal of literature about that era, and that was my minor in medical school. The Karinnes, the Odarres, the Shuvennes, the Poyalles, the Sendarres, the Makati house of Ovi, the Brannes, and the Wurennes were all destroyed in that war."

"Sounds like it was pretty nasty."

"It was our version of your second world war," Songa told him. "It shaped our modern history, because that was the war that brought the Empress' noble house into power."

"Sounds ugly."

"It was the most destructive and costliest war in our history," she answered. "It lasted fifteen years and killed nearly a _billion _Faey and Makati. It also permanently damaged four planets and made them unable to support life."

"Damn," Jason grunted.

"Yeah, damn," she nodded. "Well, Jason, your alpha patterns are almost textbook with a Faey's," she announced. "And different from non-telepathic humans. That's more or less what I expected, because that's mainstream among telepaths of nearly any species. It just proves that you're not really different from other telepaths."

"Well, if you want something unexpected, come over here," Rann told her.

"What is it?" _Oh, you can take that off now,_ Songa said, then sent to him pointedly. "What?"

_Okay, here's Jason's DNA,_ Rann sent, pointing. _Let me bring up Tim and Temika's. Alright, look here. Here, here, and here._

"What's wrong? Jason asked aloud, taking the helmet off. _Am I a mutant or something?_

Songa laughed aloud, then gave him a grin. _No, Jason, but there's something interesting in your DNA. The sequenced pairs that deal with your talent are different from Tim and Temika's. We expected yours to look like theirs. That was actually surprising._

_Tim and Temika share a common ancestor,_ Rann added. _Their DNA is descended from a common line._

_What? They're relatives?_

Rann nodded. _It must have been a very, very long time ago, but they definitely share a common ancestor. We thought that you might as well, you know, explain why some humans have talent, but from the looks of it, you don't. But there is something very, curious, about your base pairs. Tim and Temika's DNA in the areas that involve talent are amazingly similar to Faey DNA. It's almost a 90% match, and that's _very_ strange._

_It's Gora's Law, Rann, I'm telling you,_ Yohne pressed. _Human telepaths developed talent just like we did, and since human and Faey are so genetically similar, it _should_ be identical when it comes to talent._

_Be that as it may, what's interesting about you, Jason, is that the parts of your DNA that would deal with telepathic ability are _different_ from Tim and Temika, and from us, for that matter. Tim and Temika are 90% identical to Faey in that segment of their DNA, but you are only 82% identical to Faey, and only 88% identical to Tim and Temika. Parts of your sequence are similar to Tim and Temika's, parts are similar to ours, and some parts of your sequence aren't similar to either us or them, it's unique. And that blows Gora's Law off the lawn,_ he sent with a smirk at Yohne.

_I don't understand. What does that mean?_ Jason sent, his thoughts tinged with concern.

_It means, my dear fearless leader,_ Songa sent with a sly grin, _that you may have talent, but the way you developed it is different from how the other humans did. We really need to find other human telepaths and compare. If more have Jason's DNA sequence, maybe it will show that two different genetic groups of humans developed talent through evolution at the same time, but using a different genetic footprint. It would be very provocative research to publish. It would certainly shake up the genetics field._

_I don't understand._

_Well, look at it this way,_ Songa sent, looking at him. _You and Tim are white, but Temika is black. You three are different genetic sub-types of the same species, but all three of you are still human. Alright, now, you three are telepaths, while other humans are not. That too is a slight genetic variation, just enough to classify you as a sub-species within your species. Like breeds of vulpar. They're all vulpar, but they have very slight genetic variations, shared through each breed. Similar to each other, but different from everyone else. That's how you three are compared to other humans. You're all _human_,_ _but you're a different breed of human within the race. The genetic commonality you share is what gives you your talent, something that other humans lack. Well, _you_ are slightly different from Tim and Temika. You are also a slightly different genetic sub-type within the species compared to others. So, you're a different breed of telepath compared to the other two._

_It's really nothing to worry over, Jason,_ Rann assured him. _It really would only interest a doctor or geneticist. It's not a disease or condition, it's just a curious little thing that really doesn't matter at all._

In actuality, Jason found it to be very interesting, because of the Kimdori. Jason could sense them, could detect their unique power, and this difference in his own DNA could very well be the reason. If he was just a tiny bit different from other telepaths, well, that would explain why he was sensitive to some things that other telepaths were not. It was entirely possible.

But there was one thing that he could see from this examination, and from how they were talking, and that was the doctors would not be able to answer the question of _why_ some humans had talent. The task Miaari had set upon him was still on his mind. They too had discovered the what, the how, but it still didn't answer why.

Humans had talent, and they had it because they had the genetic footprint for it. Fine, that was a given.

But _why_? Why did they have it?

It was a frustrating question.

Okay, okay... telepathy was a genetic ability, like a person with blue eyes. That was the how. Now, why would a human spontaneously develop telepathic power? Or, more to the point, why would a certain block of humanity start showing this ability after telepathic aliens conquered and occupied the planet?

Heredity, clearly. Rann had said that Tim and Temika were related, that they had a common ancestor. So, logically, everyone in the genetic tree of their family would carry the genes for telepathic potential. That would be the segment of DNA that the Faey would be testing humans to find, so they could weed out the potential telepaths and either isolate them or eliminate them. But that also didn't completely explain Jason, since they told him that his own telepathic ability was slightly different, that he was outside of their genetic tree. What was it Songa said? Some of his DNA was similar to Tim and Temika's, some of it was similar to a Faey's, and some of it was

Hold it.

"Rann," he said aloud, coming over to them. "You said that Tim and Temika were what, 90% identical to a Faey in that part of their DNA that governed talent, right?"

_That's right._

"Okay then. Here's the question. If we developed telepathic ability spontaneously, _why_ would it be so identical to a Faey? I mean, we might be genetically similar, but our environments are different. And if my own telepathic genes are different, then why would Tim and Temika be so similar to a Faey?"

_Gora's Law,_ Rann sent, giving Yohne a look, who returned an overly smug one. _Since we're so genetically identical, virtually branches of the same race, it's not only feasible, but entirely expected that humans who possess the genetic footprint for telepathy would be closely identical to ours. We have the same brain structure and evolved in similar environments. Since our brains are identical, it's no stretch to see that we'd develop the same genetic process for expressing telepathy._

"Okay, that's a reasonable argument, at least until you look at _me_," he said forcefully. "If it's so expected for humans to develop the same genetic footprint for talent, then _why_ am I different?"

Rann looked to respond, even raising a hand to gesture, but no sending ensued. He opened his mouth, and then closed it, and then furrowed his brow. He looked at Yohne, who shrugged, then he looked to Songa, who returned his puzzled look. _A mutation maybe?_ Rann finally proposed. _Or a case of parallel development?_

_I think Jason is making a point. His footprint should be identical to Tim and Temika's, but it's not. So, what would cause it?_ Songa sent thoughtfully.

"It's not the _what_, it's the _why_," Jason said to himself, leaning over Rann and looking at the helix of his DNA, though he didn't understand what it meant. "_Why_ does a human have talent? That's a question that someone asked me, and it's a question that I need to find an answer for."

_Why? Genetics,_ Yohne sent.

"No, that's _how_. The question is _why_."

_I don't think he's asking a scientific question,_ Jyslin interjected. _It sounds more like philosophy to me._

_Why would any species develop telepathic power? Maybe there was a need for it. Faey have always been telepathic, it's been hypothesized that we developed telepathy as a defense mechanism, or maybe to give us an advantage over different sub-species of Faey that existed on Draconis millions of years ago. The telepathic branch became dominant, was able to out-hunt the other strains and survived when they died out._

_I think you're going a bit too deep here Yohne,_ Rann chided. _It's a matter of evolution. Humans are simply taking the next step. That's why humans are developing talent._

_No, that's too general,_ Songa sent. _It's simple logic, guys. Why do humans have talent? Because they have the genes for it. Why do they have the genes for it? Because their parents did. Tim and Temika are related, so their genetic footprint for telepathy is the same, with some minor variations between them because their genetic lines diverged somewhat. But Jason's not in their family tree, and that means that his powers are a little different, because his genes are different. His family line might have had a similar footprint to them, but the introduction of other DNA into his line caused his family's genetic footprint to change over time. Somewhere back through their family trees, there has to be an alpha ancestor that was the first to develop the telepathic footprint. And that alpha ancestor passed it down to everyone beneath her in the tree. Tim and Temika's alpha ancestor is the same one, but Jason may have had a _different_ alpha ancestor, one that also developed telepathic ability. And just like Tim and Temika's ancestor, Jason's ancestor passed this trait down through her line. Or maybe he too shares that same alpha ancestor, but his footprint was altered much more significantly through the introduction of genetic traits that weren't introduced into Tim and Temika's genetic lines._

And _that_ was the why! Jason almost felt his brain light up, it hit him so hard. It was so simple! No wonder the Faey couldn't answer the question! They were no doubt throwing all their science at it, all their technology, trying to find an explanation that was staring them in the face!

Humans had talent _because they had the genetic footprint for it._

Why? _Because they were part of a block of humans that shared common ancestry!_

And the biggest question of all... why did humans have talent? Because somewhere, some time in the past, some "alpha ancestor" developed the genetic footprint for talent, then passed it down to his or her descendents. It wasn't the complete answer, but Jason just _knew_ that the answer he was looking for was going to be found somewhere back through the development of his genetic line. It wasn't a 