Free Mind Storm by K.M. Ruiz

of Strykers tagged for government termination was never discovered. The Sercas only took the best when they deigned to retrieve Strykers at all. Which was why Ciari had these conversations with Nathan on his terms. The survival of her people was worth the humiliation of begging.
    Sometimes it simply wasn’t enough.
    â€œGive me a little more time to save my people,” Ciari asked.
    Nathan looked her straight in the eye. “You and your predecessors have had more than enough since the Border Wars. I am through being generous. Now leave. I’ve got a schedule to keep.”
    Ciari turned to look at Keiko. “Take us back to headquarters.”
    Keiko wrapped her telekinesis around the both of them, visualized the office they had left barely an hour ago, and stretched her power halfway across the planet. A long-distance teleport required more power than one that simply took a person across a city. She was traveling across continents. No one else in the Stryker ranks could bridge that distance in a single teleport, and Keiko only did it when it was necessary.
    The world shifted in a way it wasn’t meant to as they left Nathan’s shuttle under psion power. Keiko’s teleport brought them to Toronto, Canada, their sudden arrival in Ciari’s spacious executive office met by two Strykers. Keiko sucked in a deep breath once her feet hit the floor, a pinched expression of pain crossing her face briefly. She’d need a few hours of downtime to settle her mind and recover from two straight teleports of such long distances. She didn’t really want her brain to start hemorrhaging or her heart to burst anytime soon. Recovery was something all psions needed, it just wasn’t something all psions got.
    â€œKeiko?” Ciari asked.
    â€œI’m fine. Just a bit of a headache.”
    â€œLooks like Erik had fun with you,” Jael Dawson said, hazel eyes assessing their damage with a critical look. “What did you say to him this time?”
    â€œWould it matter?” Ciari asked as she walked behind her desk and activated the biometric log-in. “I was breathing. What do you want?”
    The Class III telepath and chief medical officer (CMO) set two thin hyposprays filled with painkillers on the desk as Ciari activated the office’s jamming defenses. The government liked to listen in on their conversations, and the Strykers Syndicate officers had long ago learned to work around that intrusion for very short periods.
    â€œOne for each of you,” Jael said as Keiko reached for the closest hypospray and put it to use. “Though you need something more than medication to fix what I can feel past your shields, Ciari.”
    Ciari ignored the hypospray for the moment, knowing her mind would eventually compensate for the trauma she had just experienced. “It can wait. The World Court is granting Nathan’s request to retain the Serca Syndicate’s anonymity, at least when it comes to the newest Act they got the government to pass. Which means no one is going to have any sort of clearance to see just who the hell they’re choosing for the colony lists. The government won’t share that information with us.”
    â€œThey still don’t know?” Jael’s expression was one of disgust. “About the Serca Syndicate?”
    â€œWe’re just as much to blame for their ignorance as they are. Our Silence Law still holds when it comes to the Warhounds.”
    â€œNathan’s as charming as always,” Keiko added.
    â€œYou saw Nathan?” Jael pointed her finger warningly at Ciari. “You need a scan and psi surgery. No telling what that bastard did to you.”
    â€œHe didn’t do anything,” Ciari said as she waved off that demand for the mental procedure that telepaths were uniquely capable of administering on wounded or subverted psions. Psi surgery had grown out of instinct and into a field of medicine that only psions were