Det låter som Joe Haldeman's Mindbridge
Härärdenutomjordiskatelepatiskacritteren(titularen"mind-bridge"), från ch.11 Bridge-1
One remarkable property of the ESP-inducing creature Tania Jeeves’s team brought back from Groombridge 1618 is that the creature “tunes” itself to individuals. It seems to be most sensitive, or most efficient, with the first person who comes into contact with it, and less sensitive with each subsequent contact. Further, the sensitivity does not seem to decrease with time.
Här är den fientliga alien, från 49-kapitel femton:
“I am an ethical and . . . the closest you say is ‘courteous’ . . . organism. My first act when I meet a new organism is to do what it expects me to do. As well as I can divine its wishes.”
“I can not believe this,” said Chin (L., Bellcomm). “These people, you claim, wanted you to kill them?”
“Not precisely. They expected me to try. Physically. Simply to kill them, with no danger to my own parts, would have been easy enough.”
Boken är skriven i en kombination av epistolärstil (som en samling bokstäver eller utklipp, som i Bram Stokers Dracula eller Lovecrafts Call of Cthuhlu) samt de första och andra personstilarna som vanligtvis ses i romaner.