“Listen up. Attempting to take mental control of another person, someone outside of training, be they military or civilian, is a potentially lethal offense. Right? Just so you understand. You will learn how to take control of someone simply by default as part of learning to defend against it, but if you use it except against the enemy, there is a very good chance you will be taken out and shot. Understand?” He waited till they all nodded before continuing. “The powers that be are scared to death of people like us, and the jap wankers have only made the situation worse with the things they do. So keep that in mind, all right?””Now, we will go through the same procedure again, and I will throw a mental spell at you, and no, I won’t tell you what it is, but the result should be obvious if you can’t defend against it.” This last was said with a grin, although Andrew didn’t think it was a friendly grin in any way, shape, or form. 

Chapter 6

Shields and weapons

 Corporal Sanchez was a methodical man, Andrew decided. He could tell because he now worked through the men in the same order that he had originally.”Can you form a mental shield, Lancaster?” He asked.”Yes, Corporal. I don’t know how strong it is, though, Corporal, because no one has ever tried to do anything to me mentally.””Well, put it up as hard as you can, Lancaster, because I’m about to do stuff to you mentally in ways you probably never imagined.” This last was said in an evil theatrical tone of voice, and the other men couldn’t help themselves from snickering a little at the Corporal’s obvious enjoyment of the situation.There was a moment of silence that stretched into two moments or even three, Andrew couldn’t decide what you would call it, and then Sanchez threw a spell that got through, and Lancaster began barking like a dog.”You actually had a reasonable shield, Lancaster. However, as you can see, I got through it fairly quickly. Don’t worry about it, though, as we’ll be working on hardening up your shield.”He made a gesture, and Lancaster stopped barking and merely stood there looking sheepish instead. Ciccone was up next, and Andrew could tell he was trying to project as strong a mental shield as possible by the way he was screwing up his face like he was desperate to head for the latrines. It took a bit longer this time, but suddenly Ciccone started laughing and couldn’t stop. The Corporal let him laugh several seconds before waving a hand, and the now embarrassed-looking soldier subsided.”Better than Lancaster’s, but still needing work. Let’s see. Nguyen, can you do mental shields?””Yes, Corporal, but not as good as I am with physical shields, I’m sorry.”The Corporal nodded. “Well, it’s good that you understand your limitations. Let’s see how strong they are anyway.”Nguyen lasted barely half the time Ciccone had before he started laughing.