"And that is power-the power to be strong and invincible." Rita shook her head at me. "Don't you get it? You're too nice to be on this wo rld. These people want 171

anything that will give them the edge over others-and a young, healthy, sexy body will do exactly that."

I saw her point. A new body and a psychopathic personality might indeed be a lethal combination.

After an hour or so, people finally stopped coming through. H.C. used hi s stentorian voice to quiet them down, and I spoke to them from the balcony.

"Welcome to Nexus Six. This is a world in an alternate universe, far from Earth."

That simple announcement set them off again. There were shouts and catcalls, but I simply waited, my hands resting on the railing, until they settled down.

"You are here because when you entered the gate on Earth you vanished.

Your essence was stored in crystals on a Nexus world. We believe the gate masters intended for you to remain stored until a way was found to cure your men tal disorder. However, because the gates found so many incurables on Earth, the storage crystals became full, and we were forced to begin a release. All of you on this world are psychopaths." I paused for breath and eyed the crowd b elow me. Theyhad fallen silent, but their faces showed their unhappiness. "I'm a Seconder. Some of you vanished before Seconders came into being. We have the ability to go through the gates more than once, due to certain special powers we posse ss. I intend to use those powers to try and cure you of your psychopathic tend encies.

H.C. has divided you into groups. You will proceed to assigned towers wh ere you will live until your turn comes. If treatment is successful, you will be able to create a new world here. In addition, we hope someday to find a way to return you to Earth.

That's it for now."

A low grumble rose up from below, but I wasn't about to stand there and listen to their complaints. They were psychopaths. They were damned lucky I had n't let them vanish when the crystals reached capacity. Taking Rita's arm, I led her off the balcony and into the tower that was ours alone. H.C. would keep us safe there while he allowed the psychopaths to approach and enter for treatment. To succeed we had to find something that would help them en masse, but until we did we would experiment with various techniques one-on-one.

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I gave them most of the day to get settled in their quarters and adjust to their new bodies before I contacted H.C. and told him to send the first one in to us. As distasteful as I found these people, I was eager to see if my new mental abilities would allow me to explore their cunning minds and find a way to cure their distorted thinking.

"What are our chances?" I asked Rita, as we waited for the subject H.C. had selected to appear.

We were relaxing in a garden room with a sunroof overhead, and a gently cascading fountain behind us. Lush greenery surrounded the small table where we shared coffee together. Rita sat across from me, wearing a sexy little red dress, with her long dark hair loose and cascading across her shoulders. I traced th e path of one luxuriant lock with my glance. It curled to an end on the soft swell of one lovely breast.

"Your chances are pretty good."

Her eyes sparkled as she sensed my sexual arousal. We'd passed throug h the gates several times on our journey to Nexus Five and I was horny as hell. But the thousands of psychopaths outside our tower demanded our attention. I eyedher luscious lips and cursed my duty.

"I mean with the psychopaths."

Her face sobered. "Not so good. I'm not sure if what they have can be treated."

"What do you mean?"

She toyed with her hair and looked uncertain, which wasn't like Rita. "I had a professor who worked with these people. He spent years trying to understand why they did the heartless and violent things they do. In the end, he concluded that they lack a soul."

"What?" I snorted. "That doesn't sound very scientific."

"Maybe not." She shot me a worried look. "But what if the gates can't replace whatever it is they are missing? What if it is a soul-for lack of a better word?"

I waved a hand, refusing to be depressed when we were together again and she looked so gorgeous. "If it comes to that, we'll leave them on this world. They 173

can't get off and H.C. can keep them supplied with food and water until the end of time, if need be."

Rita shuddered. "Can you imagine the horror of living in any society they would create?"

"Not my problem."

"It wouldn't be humane to leave them here to prey on one another."

She looked so stricken that I was touched, despite my attempt to stay co ld- hearted about these scum. Rita always managed to see the good, even in people I.

considered evil. I often disagreed with her, but I treasured her loving heart.

I didn't want her to change.

"We're going to do our best to help them," I promised.

The light brightened as H.C. entered, leading a young woman. She was healthy and athletic looking, with the innocent face of an angel. That innocence was accented by curly golden hair that hung in a flowing mane down her back and enormous blue eyes. I had to remind myself that until the release she'

d been a male, and a dangerous one at that.

"This is Joseph Hendricks," H.C. announced. "He's chosen to go by the name of Josie as a woman."

"Have a seat, Josie." I gestured to the third chair at our table, and poured some coffee into a delicate china cup.

Josie sat down, flouncing her skirt to reveal a bit of thigh as she did so, and batted her eyelashes at me. "I'm so flattered to be the first ofour-um-exclusive group to get to talk to you."

"We've called you in here today, because we need your help in find ing a cure," I said.

Her hands twisted in the hem of her skirt, hiking it higher. I caught a glimpse of lace panties. "A cure? What do you mean by that?"

"Try to relax. We intend to try and eliminate your criminal tendencies. As Seconders, Rita and I have the ability to read your mind, but I wanted to get to know you a little by more conventional methods first."

She stiffened and I saw that far from relaxing, my attempt at a chat was only 174

upsetting her. "I heard rumors that the Seconders could read minds before I went through the Gate." She tilted her head to one side, and frowned up at me. "But what if I don't want you poking around in my head."

"We're doing it for your own good," I assured her. She really d id have a sweet young face.

"Well, maybe I wouldn't object to having you in my head." She b roke into a charming smile, and leaned toward me. "But do I really need two of yo u in there?"

"Rita's the expert. She's a trained psychologist."

"Really?" Her smile deepened as she crossed her legs. I couldn'

t help but admire her shapely calves. "What if I told you that I dislike the idea of having a woman in my head?"

"You are a woman now," I pointed out.

"Pardon me, sir," H.C. interrupted. "There's a minor emergency. One of the psychopaths on the third floor of Tower Two seems to be suffering some s ort of breakdown."

The computer was monitoring the towers through sensors located in the walls.

"What's going on?"

"The subject woke up this morning apparently all right, but became increasingly withdrawn. About three hours ago she started to cry, and she seems unable to stop."

"Sounds like a severe reaction to stress," Rita said, half rising to her feet.

"You'd better go take a look at her," I agreed. "H.C., see that she's moved to a room by herself."

I didn't want Rita to have to go into the tower among the other inmat es. They were too dangerous. H.C. vanished to do my biding.

"Be careful," I warned Rita. "Remember if she makes any move, y ou can gothrough the wall, and she can't."

Rita laughed. "I'm not likely to forget that trick." She threw a last measuring glance at Josie. "Are you going to go ahead without me?"

I waved a hand. "I may start exploring her mind, just to get a head start.

But 175

I'll wait for you to come back before attempting to make any changes in her thought patterns."

Josie giggled. Something about her giggle made me uneasy. I remembered Rita telling me that psychopaths were often social charmers. They knew how to manipulate people to get their way. I glanced at Rita and caught a look of approval in her eye as she followed my thoughts.

"I'll try to be quick," she promised, bending over me for a farewell kiss.

"Watch out for this one."

I could tell that she didn't like Josie, which was unusual for Rita.

I wondered if having a baby had made her more protective of me. It was a sweet thought , but I was the one who was supposed to be doing the protecting. Call me old-fashioned, but I wanted Rita safe back at the original Nexus, not here fussing over me. I decided I'd try to see what I could do with Josie and show her that everything was under control.

"Are you going to take away my dark side?" Josie asked, as Rita di sappeared down the hallway.

"Do you have a dark side?" I raised my eyebrows.

Josie shrugged. "The gate put me here. But how do we know this alien device is always right? Used to be a person was innocent until proven guilty."

I shook my head. "I doubt the sex gates made a mistake. The race that created them is far superior to ours."

Josie made a face. "But they're not human. Maybe they don't know everything about how humans tick."

I was a bit taken aback by that. She was here because the gates had declared her a psychopath, yet the gate masters had made mistakes. The gates had some unexpected effects on humanity. We Seconders were one result of that. I scratched my head.

"If there's nothing wrong with you, you should be happy to let me explore your mind and prove it."

"Right here?" Josie wiggled nervously in her chair. "Is that dratted computer watching, too? I feel like I'm on exhibit." She made a cute pout with her lips.

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I decided to give a little to encourage her cooperation. "H.C., turn off all the monitors on this floor," I ordered. "I'll try not to embarrass you," I added, "even though my mental probe might have to go deep into your mind."

"Oh, good. I like things that go deep." Josie licked her lips and crossed her legs. I caught a glimpse of even more luscious thigh.

"You have a problem that defies conventional treatment. That's why we feel justified in trying this approach."

Josie slid a flirtatious glance my way. "Oh, I'm starting to think letting you mess around in my psyche will be fun. How deep do you like to go?"

The garden room was getting hot. I'd have to speak to H.C. later abou t temperature control. I wiped the palms of my hands on my thighs and concentrated on sticking to the subject.

"My plan is to attempt to insert some new postulates within your mental processes that might change rigid or self-centered concepts."

She lowered her lashes, veiling her eyes. "I guess I don't have a choice, do I?

If you're going to do it, let's get it done."

"Fine." I was nervous about probing the mind of a psychopath, but we had to try, or abandon them to this world, a world they would swiftly turn into a living hell.

Josie jumped to her feet and started pacing. "Do I have to be sitting down for this to work? Ever since I came through the gate, I've been full of e nergy. I can hardly hold still."

"It would help. Reading your mind requires a lot of concentration."

She smiled and flounced the skirt of her dress, drawing attention to her slim, shapely legs. "You know, I've thought of something."

"What's that?"

"I have a woman's mind now. Isn't that going to change the way I think?"

"Eventually, but it takes a while for the hormones to kick in." I'

d had personal experience with that.