Double Drabble (21/22): All in the Mind

[john_amend_all]

I let this one grow to double length, because in the original drabble Susan simply couldn't get a word in edgeways.

"All our people are telepaths," Susan said. "Some stronger than others, of course."

Jo's eyes widened. "You can read minds? Can you read mine?"

"Yes... but I've got to touch you."

"Just like on Star Trek!"

Slowly, Susan reached out and touched Jo's cheek.

Jo could sense herself as a tiny thing, clutched in the grasp of something huge and alien, something whose power was flooding towards her. It reminded Jo of when she'd been small, paddling at the seaside, and a wave had knocked her down. But this wave was hot and colossal and it swept through her from head to toe...

Jo opened her eyes, and found she was on the floor, gasping for breath, her hair and clothes damp with sweat. Susan was kneeling beside her.

"Did we just..." she began, then nodded to herself. "Yes, I think we just."

She tried to get up, and succeeded after a couple of goes.

"I think I need to change," she said. "Gosh, it's a good thing we didn't try that on a bus or something, isn't it?"

Susan watched Jo stagger away, then directed a baffled look at her own hand.

It's never done that before, she thought.