Free Star Hunters by Jo Clayton

irresistibly to his need. She closed her eyes and tapped into the power river, letting the black water pour strength into him. It wouldn’t stay long, seemed to wash off. When she’d done as much as she could, fighting against a resistance that negated much of what she tried, she opened her eyes and saw him looking down at her, startled and repelled. Hastily she stepped away.
    She walked back in spite of Grey’s disapproval, smiling ruefully.
    Manoreh leaned against Faiseh’s shoulder. “Come then,” he told Kitosime. With Faiseh’s patient assistance he stumbled into the groundcar and lay back against the seat. Grey brushed past Aleytys and sat down next to him. Wearily amused, Aleytys settled in the remaining corner and took the small boy on her lap so that Kitosime could slip in and seat herself on the floor by the Hunter’s feet.
    When they were all in, Faiseh twisted back over the seat. “Once we’re out of the compound I’m moving fast. Kitosime, keep your head down. Folks out there aren’t going to like a groundcar going out of Kiwanji. But they won’t stop at disapproval if they see you. You got that?”
    â€œYes.”
    Faiseh drove slowly through the shadowed streets passing only a few boy gangs running furtively. “Starting already,” he muttered. There were, men sleeping in the narrow lanes between the temporary shelters. Some woke and cursed him but he ignored them and threaded through the staggered buildings until he reached the perimeter of the psi screen and the low stone wall that marked it. There was a gap in that wall where the road went out of the city. He stopped. The car rocked in place, humming raggedly. He was sweating, muscles tense. He shifted in the seat and looked at the silent figures in the back. “You see them?”
    Aleytys leaned forward. The hares were a restless white blanket bobbing up and down in spots, the far edge beyond view. The force driving out from them sent bright ripples like heat waves shivering up and down the force dome.
    Faiseh gripped the back of the seat. “Hunter.” The tip of his tongue traced the clean-cut curves of his greenish lips. “You backed Haribu off at the landing field. Think you could hold us till we’re through them?”
    â€œI can try.” She settled in her corner as comfortably as she could, wincing as her feet struck Kitosime’s crouched form. “Is there any reason Kitosime needs to stay hidden now?” She pulled her feet back. “I’m kicking her every time I take a breath. That can’t be very comfortable.”
    Faiseh frowned at the emptiness around the car. “All right. Be quick. Climb over the seat, woman.” He leaned forward over the control stick. “Hurry.”
    As Kitosime clambered awkwardly over the seat back, then fished Hodarzu up and settled him in her lap, Aleytys began the breathing exercises Vajd, her Dreamsinger lover, had taught her. She relaxed until her heart was beating slowly, until her breathing was deep and slow. The black water flowed around her; her symbolic image gave her access to the great pool of power winding between the stars. “Go,” she breathed.
    The car skimmed through the wall-gap and popped through the psi-screen. The harepower struck like a hammer and rebounded from the bubble she held around the car. Force rammed into the bubble, punching like fists at her. Again and again the ram came, driving great dents into her silver bubble, dents she smoothed out with sheets of black water. If the mind behind the ram had been able to shift the point of pressure more fluidly, it might have crushed her. As it was, she had just enough time to counter each of the probes.
    She held the bubble until a hand touched her shoulder and Grey’s voice came to her from a long way off. “Relax, Lee. You can relax.”
    She sighed and let the bubble collapse. The black water melted away. Shifting to