Her Royal Madness

Her Royal Madness Part 21

Juna took the rest of the afternoon to introduce me to the other things I would be taught. There was so much to learn. Telepathy, to communicate, to locate, and to have privacy; psychokinesis, to manipulate matter and energy, even the cells of my own body; and worst of all, pure mental attacks that would ultimately someone's brain, leaving them an empty shell. Some of this was pretty serious stuff. 

Juna showed me basic exercises to develop each of these skills. I was exhausted when the afternoon finally ended. 

It wasn't like I was physically tired. My brain was numb. I ate supper in silence, not really hearing Henry and his friends chattering away about nothing. I don't even remember what I ate, which is saying something. Alvonis is the best cook in the galaxy. 

"Hey! Space Cadet! Wake up. Did you hear me?" 

"Huh? Uh, what? OW! Henry don't poke me like that." Well, at least I was back to my smooth, articulate self. 

"I said did you hear what Nick said? He figures no one will believe us when we tell them about all this back home. Ha! As if I'm going to tell anyone about this." 

"Well, yeah Hank, that's what I meant." Nicholas said. "We'd be nuts to tell anyone. I'm not even going to tell my parents the truth. I'll just tell Mom I've been with Dad, and Dad that I've been with Mom. They won't check with each other. They don't even talk to each other anymore and ... yeah. Well, I guess that's a little better than when they were yelling at each other and ..." 

Even though it had been two and a half years since the divorce, it still bothered Nicholas a lot. Martin quickly changed the subject. "Oh man, my folks! They're gonna kill me. What am I going to tell them when we get home? Uh, when are we going home, Juna?" 

"Oh, you won't be going back to Earth," she said. "It's much too dangerous. Your whole solar system is full of bounty hunters. The word spread quickly that Maddie had been found on Earth. They're all trying to pick up the trail again." 

"Whoa, whoa! Time out. What are you talking about?" Henry said. "If I'm not back on Earth by the middle of August, I'll miss the start of football practice. If that happens, it doesn't matter how awesome I am. Coach is strict about that. If you're not at practice and working your tail off, you don't play. No exceptions. Not even for me. You gotta take me back. Look, if you want to drop her Mad-jesty off and stash her away, all safe and sound, go ahead. But you have to take me and the guys home after that." 

I don't know why Henry still surprises me, but he does. I couldn't believe his priorities and apparently, Juna couldn't either. She rolled her eyes and said, "Do you see Maddie? Do you see why planets that have the males in charge are so backward? They think trivial things are important. It's all a moot point, anyway. There won't be any football practice. And you don't have to tell your parents anything. They're dead." 

I'm not sure if Juna is a little cruel or just desensitized from a violent life, but she just blurted it out like that. There was a brief silence while we were figuring out what to say to that. 

Henry spoke first. "What do you mean they're dead? Who's dead? What happened?" 

"Dead means that they are no longer breathing. It's the whole town, everybody. There's nothing left but a crater covering half the county. When the little bombs failed to get Maddie, one of the other bounty hunters decided to try something bigger. It was launched from orbit as we were boarding. If we had taken two minutes longer, we would be part of that crater right now. The local authorities think it was a meteorite. So we got away clean with only minor collateral damage." 

"MINOR COLLATERAL DAMAGE?!?" Henry shouted. "Look Lady, maybe you're used to this sort of thing where you come from, but on Earth we don't lose a whole town everyday. That wasn't just any old town -it was our home! All our friends are gone, our families, our team mates, even our teachers, everyone we know - GONE! It's all your fault! Everything was perfect before you came along. You've turned it all upside down. I'm not going to take it anymore! What are you going to --" 

Henry slumped to the floor, out like a light. Nicholas and Martin too! They had been in a state of shock at first. Henry's words had jolted them back to life. The shock gave way to anger. Then all three of them passed out. 

Juna saw my puzzled face and said, "Males are so fragile. They can't handle their own emotions. Don't worry, they're unconscious, that's all. For the next ten hours, they will sleep sounder than they ever have, not even remembering their dreams, and wake up refreshed and ready to act rationally again. As close to rational as males can get. Excuse me. Alvonis! Take these males to their quarters please." 

"Okay Chief, right away." Henry, Martin, and Nicholas floated up and out the door as it opened. 

Juna turned to me and said, "Okay, Maddie, now that the males are taken care of, we can continue with your training. Relax your mind please and let down your shield." 

"Juna, nnooo, I can't." I hate it when I start whining like that, but it did kind of emphasize that I needed some sleep. "I'm too tired. It was a hard day. This is all so new. And then you tell me that my whole town is destroyed. Over twenty thousand innocent people gone, just like that. Juna, that was my home too. I'll never see any of them again. And you don't even care. I'm sorry but I can't do anything more tonight. My brain is fried." 

"But Maddie, this is exactly the state of mind that you might find yourself in when you need to defend yourself the most. Your enemies aren't going to wait for you to get a good night's sleep before they attack." 

"I know that, Juna, but I'm still adjusting to the fact that I even have enemies. Give me some more time please." 

"I'll allow this breakdown in discipline this time, but we can't make a habit of it. You've got so much to learn and there's very little time. You have to get stronger." 

Stronger? What did this woman expect from me? I had already stood up to more than I had ever imagined. Wasn't that strong enough? But right then I didn't feel strong. I didn't feel anything except a dull ache inside. So I just mumbled, "Okay, I'll try. But tomorrow, all right." 

"All right. I have one more lesson for you tonight. You need to tune into your T'Pauch and let it feed you energy, mental and physical. That, and some self-hypnosis, will help you to rest." 

Juna took a few minutes to show me what to do and that was that. I was dead to the world for six hours. I was amazed at how re-energized I was in such a short time. Juna really knew her stuff. 

We settled into a routine for the next few days. I had mental training one on one with Juna, alternating with physical training with all of us. It was hard. But I was growing rapidly stronger and wasn't tired very often. Things were going almost too good.