Anothr excerpt from THE WEBS OF VAROK--encounter with the villain

(Newly arrived on Varok, the human Tandra meets a varok who does not play by the rules of common decency.)

Like the slicing of cold steel, I felt the invasion of Mahntik's probe into my thought. I fought to keep my mind blank, but her attention leapt from image to image like an electric shock, dredging up related thoughts and flashes of memory as it went along, quickly giving Mahntik a clearer vision of our suspicions.

Back off, I demanded in thought. She did. Then she pressed deeper, beyond my natural shields. She tore at the core of my emotions, until it took great effort to protect sensitive roots. Gradually, one by one, my poorly developed human defenses fell—the anger at being badly treated on Earth, the frustration that no one would listen, then the guilt at leaving Earth's crises behind for a better life. And Orram. Fear of being too dependent on him. All was raw and exposed.