Demons of the Past — Ryk E. Spoor

One Against an EmpireOnly a psionic can survive battle with another psionic. And human psionics become megalomaniacal monsters. These two truths were drilled into everyone in the Reborn Empire. But...Commander Sasham Varan had survived a Zchoradan psionic attack... and because of this, Prime Monitor Shagrath brought him into a top-secret project to create a stable human psi. Then a chance flaw in the treatment shows Varan that Shagrath is no hero, but a malevolent, inhuman being bent on the destruction of the Empire. With the help of Vick, the alien scientist who invented the psionic treatment, Varan manages to escape, and send a single, cryptic message to Taelin Mel'Tasne, one of the Five Families and Varan's best friend.Now on the run, branded a rebel and a murderous psi, Varan's hope to save the Empire - and perhaps the Galaxy - rests on his own determination and still-untested powers, two alien scientists with their own agendas, the mysterious trader named The Eonwyl... and Taelin Mel'Tasne's faith in his friend.