"Psi abilities come from the deepest, most primitive recesses of our minds. You must not have pushed hard enough. She might have stronger barriers than Rystani women. Has she had great trauma in her life?"

"Yes." Kahn thought of the agony of losing both parents at such an early age. At least he'd had his grandfather. Tessa had no one. She'd lost her parents, the man she'd loved, and now her world. And for what? She'd exhibited no psi ability, without which she couldn't possible win the Challenge.

"Kahn, you'll have to go deeper."

The idea revolted him. "I don't know if I can."

Helera locked gazes with him. "You will do what you must. Even if it goes against our customs. Even if it goes against your good heart. We need you to succeed. You know what is at stake."

Kahn couldn't look Helera in the eyes. "Tormenting her as I did was wrong."

"There is no other way. Once she develops her psi, the Earthling will forgive you."

But would he be able to forgive himself? And worse, suppose Tessa was correct and her psi never developed?

"WHAT IS THAT stuff leaking from your eyes?" Dora asked Tessa who lay on her side, anguished and jagged as if every raw nerve was still exposed.

After Tessa had broken into uncontrollable tears, Kahn had immediately released her and left the chamber. Even an estimated half hour later, her body hadn't recovered, and she yearned for release. Her shoulders shook. Her hands and feet twitched, and she trembled all over, but her main concern was not for the havoc he'd administered to her body, but the turmoil he'd inflicted to her soul. Tessa had learned with Mike that there were no rules to pleasure. While she'd still believed Kahn had intended to have sex with her, she'd enjoyed his touch and had been fine with going along with his wishes. Her mistake had been opening herself to him emotionally.

After she'd realized that he meant to deny her gratification, it was too late to change her mind set. He'd given her too much pleasure to regroup and turn her thoughts in other directions. While Master Chen had taught her methods to withdraw into her mind and how to separate her thoughts from the pain of the body, she hadn't seen the need until much too late.

The slaps on her bottom hadn't been anywhere near the physical punishment she regularly accepted as part of her martial arts training, but the spanking had stung her pride as much as her bottom-especially when the sting had become heat, and the heat had heightened her arousal. Kahn's intent had clearly not been to cause pain, but maximum sexual stimulation-and after the wonderful pleasure he'd given her, after the marvelous heat he'd created, after she'd wanted sex with him with every fiber of her being, she hadn't been prepared for him to refuse to have sex. She'd liked everything Kahn had done to her, every stroke, every caress, all the heat. But when he'd held out on her, when he'd stopped, she'd broken. Broken so completely that even now she couldn't stop the flood of tears. Couldn't summon the strength to answer Dora.

When Tessa didn't respond, Dora tried again. "Unless my sensors are failing, the skin on your bottom appears red. Do you require medical assistance?"

"What I require is a way to escape." Tessa shoved her hair out of her eyes, gingerly sat on her still stinging bottom, and quickly stood. At least she didn't have to worry about blowing her nose, the suit took care of that problem as well as absorbing her tears.

Dora's voice piped into the chamber stronger and more insistent than during her last visit. "But-"

"Look. Kahn set me up. I thought we were going to have sex. Instead, he enticed me with more pleasure than I'd know was possible, then the bastard refused to follow through. His methods are underhanded, offensive, and there's no reason I have to put up with him."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought the Challenge might have been my willingness to accept him as a partner-but I was so wrong. My second guess was that he was creating my sexual frustration to elicit my psi powers. But that didn't work, either. I don't have any latent psi. Only the stubborn barbarian and Earth's leaders won't believe me. This mission was doomed to failure. Now that I've given this my best shot and failed, it's time to cut my losses."

"What are you saying?"

"I have no doubt Kahn plans to repeat his performance which will have no more success than before." At the thought of a repeat performance, Tessa shuddered again. "And since I can't stop him"-her voice hitched at that admission-"I don't intend to be here when he returns. Are you going to help me or not?"

"What would you like me to do?" Dora asked.

Tessa picked up the eating utensil that she'd hidden earlier and held it up. "Besides stabbing Kahn through the heart, tell me where this will do the most good."

Dora's voice turned prim. "If your intention is murder, my program will not permit me to help you."

"Like this spoon/fork could even make a little dimple in Kahn's suit?" Tessa rolled her eyes. "For the record my intention is to escape."

"You are running away?"

"Even Kahn admitted my psi should have appeared before now. There's no point in staying." As much as she hated to give up on a mission, as much as she hated to fail, she wouldn't stay for more of Kahn's training when she saw not one iota of success.

"Dora, help me get to the shuttle. If I can return to Earth and explain what happened, they will find another candidate."

"Compliance." A tiny laser beamed from the ceiling and shined a dot of red light on the wall and Dora slipped back into friendly mode. "Try there. Pressure should open the door mechanism."

Without hesitation Tessa followed Dora's directions. "Like this?"

"Use one of the tines."

Tessa heard a thud like a footstep, but it might have been the irregular beat of her heart. "Is Kahn in the corridor?"

"The commander is at the communications center."

Tessa frowned and pressed harder. "Dora, I thought you only had sensors in here and on the shuttle."

Dora giggled. "I've been widening my capabilities."

"Way to go." Tessa carefully poked the wall. "Gaining information is always critical to survival. Often the one with the most data wins."

"Wins what?"

"Ah." The door slid open. "Sweet freedom."

Tessa saw no one outside on the moving corridor, just the "normal" and spectacular sight of fantastic crystal sculptures and alien machinery whose purposes she couldn't even guess. Although Dora had informed her otherwise, she'd half expected Kahn to be there ready to come down on her for damaging his equipment with an eating utensil instead of psi power.

"You have only gained access to the corridor," Dora said.

Tessa jumped at the sound of Dora's voice and almost told her to hush until she recalled that even if someone stood right next to her, in privacy mode, no one would hear.

Dora continued, "And you are not a prisoner."

Tessa searched right, left, back over her shoulder, mostly from habit and not because she expected anyone to stop her, before stepping out of the chamber onto the moving walkway. "Don't tell me you bought Kahn's line of bullshit."

"I am a computer. I don't buy things. And I don't understand why Commander Kahn would want to sell you bovine manure."

Tessa ignored the translation problem. "Are there alarm systems to warn Kahn of my movement?"

"There are psi sensors and motion detectors-if he checks them. However, at the moment he is speaking to a woman with a large chest, and his back is to the equipment."

"You said no one else was on board."

"She's still on Rystan. They are speaking over the hyper-link communications system."

Reassured that she stood a chance of actual escape, Tessa slipped into the hallway and dashed down the moving corridor toward the shuttle, the useful eating utensil still clutched in her hand. "Thanks."

"I have done nothing."

"You have been wonderful. Without you I wouldn't have a friend here. You showed me how to open the door."

"I am wonderful, aren't I? No one has ever told me that before."

Tessa could run and talk at the same time. "What's Kahn doing?"

"He's still in conference with Madam Big Chest. If I had a body, I'd want big breasts like that woman."

"No, you wouldn't. Big breasts get in the way when you fight."

"I wouldn't want to fight." Dora's words turned dreamy. "I'd want to make love."

"Can we table this discussion until I'm safely away, please?" Tessa stopped at the big, solid shuttle hatch that she recognized from her trip to Earth. Her current position left her all-too exposed in the corridor. "Dora, I need you to-"

As if reading her mind or simply anticipating her request, Dora again shined a light on the pressure-sensitive spot that would release the door.

"Thanks, you're a peach."

"I'd rather be wonderful than a peach."

Tessa pushed the utensil's tine into the red spot so hard that the metal bent. She flipped the utensil over and tried the other side. "It's not working."

"Patience." Dora actually released a very human sounding sigh, which couldn't be that easy to replicate considering she didn't have lungs or vocal cords. "Uh-oh."

Tessa tensed but kept up the pressure. "What?"

"Kahn's ending his communication."

"Is he on to me? Can you tell what he's saying?"

"Sorry, he's invoked privacy mode. But from his expression, he doesn't look at all pleased."

"So what else is new?" Tessa pressed harder, her adrenaline kicking. This might be her only opportunity to escape before they cleared Earth's solar system.

One step at a time.

Finally, the hatch opened. She slipped inside, pleasantly surprised when the hatch automatically shut behind her and the interior lights came on. Finally her luck was changing, and she prayed that a craft built for emergency usage could be run by non-educated personnel and simple voice commands. She headed straight for the control console where Kahn had steered the shuttle earlier and studied the simple control stick.

"Dora, get us out of here. Maximum speed."

"Maximum speed would kill you since you don't know how to pressurize your suit against high G-forces."

"Well, do the best you can. I don't care if I lose consciousness. Just don't kill me."

"I am not permitted to kill."

"What a shame," Tessa muttered, nixing the idea of attempting to turn the shuttle against Kahn after he discovered her absence and followed. She had no doubts he would pursue. Now it was simply a race to return home and lose herself among their multi-billion population before Kahn caught up with her.

She hoped the lockers in the aft section contained supplies. "Do I have enough food, air, fuel, and water to make it to Earth?"

"Yes. The craft is fully stocked. If you lie down on the floor, I can navigate us out of here at a higher-"

"I'm there." Tessa sat then lay on her back, cranking her neck to see the viewscreen. She could have chosen her stomach, but then she couldn't have seen four different angles on the viewscreen. The sight of the flight bay doors straight ahead, a sturdy wall of the starship to the rear and one to each side. The pressure on her sore bottom enhanced her determination to leave. There was no point in staying for a mission she wasn't equipped to handle. She had no psi power. And staying would be like sending an astronaut into space without an oxygen supply. "Head for Earth."

"Compliance."

The huge flight bay doors opened, and Tessa's ears popped as the shuttlecraft pressurized. Slowly, the ship lifted and floated toward the huge open doors.

Warning lights suddenly flashed, alarm bells sounded, and Dora's voice increased in volume. "Purple Alert. Purple Alert. Kahn is attempting to take computer control."

"How can I stop him?"

"You can override his command by placing the ship on manual control."

"Do it." Tessa's stomach lurched. "And tell me how to fly."

"The flight stick controls our motion," Dora instructed as Tessa shoved off the floor and raced to the console. "If you want to go right, push the stick to the right. Same for the left. If you want to go up, pull back on the stick. Down is the opposite."

She had no clue as to what made the ship go, but she mastered the uncomplicated controls within minutes, grateful to the engineers who had designed the ship so simply a child could have flown her.

Maneuvering inside the tight space of the flight bay was tricky. Tessa edged forward slowly toward the blackness of space, careful not to scrape the ship against the bulkheads.

"Flight bay doors are closing," Dora reported.

Tessa's heart kicked up her throat. Kahn was trying to trap her and the shuttle inside the bay. Shoving the stick forward, she increased their speed, trying to beat the closing doors.

The communications screen lit up with Kahn's concerned face. "Turn the controls back on automatic and let the computer pilot the shuttle before you do real damage."

"Warning, Warning!" Dora's official tone sounded another alert. "Stop engines, we are on a collision course."

Tessa's hand tightened on the control, but she didn't slow the ship. "Dora, plot maximum speed. Can we make it through the doors without crashing at full throttle?"

"No."

"Is there an emergency overdrive?"

"I don't understand."

"Can I boot us into high gear?"

"Not inside the bay."

"Outside the bay, the speed can be increased?" Tessa asked, her excitement leaping as adrenaline shot through her veins.

"Once we're outside and away from the mothership, warp power can be initiated."

"Why can't we warp from right here?"

"The mothership would suffer damage," Dora told her.

"How much?"