13
Drake sat in his cabin, eyes closed and concentrating on building the layers of his mental defences. It was two days since they’d left Shalkstar station, two days during which he’d focused all his spare time on this practice.
He was having mixed results. Each time he started it went well, but over time it slipped unless he kept concentrating. And as soon as he slept his barriers dropped and the Azimuth started forcing its way into not only his dreams but those of anyone else who was asleep.
The only positive side to it was that the Azimuth didn’t seem to be able to influence those who were awake while Drake slept, not in any major way. But he still found himself sleeping for only a few hours at a time to protect his crew.
That combination of having to focus so hard and the lack
