by Pam Uphoff
"A large species of deer. Sometimes called a red deer. Is it extinct on the One World?"
Lala nodded, her voice was barely a whisper. "They have them on Castle Peak." She paled as everyone looked at her.
"Oh, right. Eight worlds in the Empire, is it? Grab the big table."
"Thirteen, you barbarian. Not to mention all the Target Worlds." Diuc batted her eyelashes at Master Xen.
Ewww!
Master Xen ignored her and flashed a grin at the rest of them. "How many of you are from the other worlds? Or are you all from the One World?"
Diuc sniffed. "We are all of the One, so we started on the One World. A small percentage of us have colonized the worlds we've found, but most of us just move temporarily. It feels odd to us, to be cut off from the One."
Master Xen nodded.
Jay leaned forward. "I've heard that you felt like One to us. How did you do that?"
"Two things. I adjusted my mental shields so they covered the frequencies that the One cover, and leaked a tiny bit at the frequencies that the Oners allow to show, for bragging rights. But it . . . wasn't quite satisfactory. So I changed the . . . Umm, do you all know that I'm a Medgician, specializing in genetics, and genetic engineering?"
Ryol wasn’t the only one shaking her head.
"Well, we can use micro-telekinesis, very much like your micro-manufacturing methods, to make genetic changes. I changed a patch of skin on my forearm, switching one of my power genes to an exact copy of the One power gene. They are very close, so it was an easy thing to change. And then I could feel the One, and everyone recognized that in me, and relaxed, accepted me at face value. Later, I also changed the lining of my mouth, because that's where they collect DNA samples for testing."
Ryol shifted uneasily. A bunch of the kids swapped looks.
"And yes, after I realized I might be able to discredit the men pushing the War Bill, I decided to minimize the genes I was spreading around." He leaned back as Vero plopped a big bowl full of salad onto the table.
"Again, just the power genes, so most of you got normal One power genes. Any of you who didn't, I can change them. If you want me to. In as much as those might be some of the genes that enable dimensional abilities, I suspect your government wants you to keep them, and you may find yourself with a career making corridors, possibly gates. If any of you lack the One gene, I can do what I did to myself, and just change a patch of skin. Again, if you want. This is something you control."
Kyle brought baskets that smelled like fresh hot bread, and crocks of butter. "So, who wants elk, and who wants chicken?"
They went around the table chiming in with preferences. No one wanted tofu. Only two wimped out and asked for vat meat.
"Drinks? We've got apple and orange juice, milk, iced tea, hot tea, coffee, wine, and beer."
A third girl popped out of the kitchen with salad bowls and silverware. And either they were magic, or signaling, because Vero brought out a tray of drinks almost as soon as they finished ordering.
The salad was crunchy and fresh, all natural veggies, nothing vat grown.
Ryol dunked a tea bag, and inhaled steam. I want to sleep for a year. I hope there's no caffeine in it.
They all quieted while they ate. The elk was incredible. Better than any beef steak she'd ever eaten. The sauce was amazing. Death-by-chocolate was worthy of the name, five layers of dense chocolate cake, with alternating layers of chocolate mousse, chocolate icing, chocolate whipped cream and chocolate syrup.
They staggered back to the school.
"I'll see you all in the morning, just go eat breakfast whenever you want it. You'll burn the calories tomorrow." Wolfson looked down at Lala. "Are you feeling all right?"
She blushed red, nodded.
"Good night, then." He stepped back through the doors and was gone.
They all looked around at each other.
"Whew!" Gior staggered over to a chair in the classroom side. "That was incredible! How many kilometers did we walk today! I'm beat!"
Yrno grinned. “I still feel weird after seeing that bear coming at me.”
“I’m still cold from getting tossed in that freezing cold lake!” Utry hunched his shoulders and shivered.
“I wonder what we’ll do tomorrow?” Ryol looked out the dark windows. I’m a long way from home, and I don’t mean physically.
***
Xen sped up a bubble—slept for eight hours, and stepped back out a few minutes after he'd entered the bubble. The little girl distressed him. He'd listen to her surface thoughts all night long. He wasn't going to lose a daughter for lack of vigilance. What kind of life did she have, to want to kill herself? I understand her wanting to hurt me. I didn't intend to, but I've hurt all of them.
He sank into a meditative state and listened to the youngsters' mental chatter. Exhaustion and excitement mingled. Tomorrow he'd start with some limbering up exercises, a bit of beginning martial arts, a bit of lecture.
Because I need to figure out how to keep them safe, while making them very dangerous.
Chapter Thirteen
A Day At The Beach
“We do a lot of our training on the beach.” Xen looked at the kids spread out in a line. The priests of both sexes were sitting on the top of the first dune. Q was with them. “In case the children gang up on you.” She’d been laughing, but she was sitting where she had all six priests under her gaze.
Xen got his attention back on the children. “Partly because any unusually strong power accumulations can be thrown out into the water or absorbed by the sand. Nothing flammable in sight, except ourselves.”
Good. An uneasy shift. They’ll be at least a little careful to not harm each other.
“This probably won’t be a concern today. I need to see how strong you are and how much training you each have. And what sort of training, as I’m not familiar with how training is done on the One World.
“Then I can split you up according to training level.
“So have a seat, and make yourselves comfortable. Do you learn meditation? Good. We’ll start there.” He dropped his shields to incoming impressions . . . and felt the hungry priests.
:: Can you shield to outgoing please? I need to listen to the kids. ::
Their aggressive curiosity faded as they shielded. Except for the sexual allure one was sending out. Q’s head turned and that distraction cut off suddenly.
Xen had let the kids randomly sort themselves out. Which had resulted in girls heading one way and boys the other, with just a bit of mixing in the middle. Give them a couple of years, and heaven help their . . . parents. Sigh. Me. Although Lala’s the only one I need to worry about right now. The rest of them seem to have parents they love.
Lala was down at the girl’s end. A solid privacy shield. Leaking a bit in the high frequencies. Despair and loss. Grief, sidelined behind current problems.
:: What happened? ::
She looked up in surprise, then closed her eyes and answered mentally. :: A car crash. They both died . . . not quite instantly. Mom’s relatives didn’t want me. Bastard Half Native. The district had to sue the Clan to get them to take responsibility. They paid Orma to take me. His wife . . . accepted because they needed the money. ::
He sent a mental hug. :: I’m sorry. You’re a good strong telepath, with good early training. Your parents did a good job raising you. ::
She nodded, tears flowing.
He stepped to the next girl. Gior. “Good solid privacy shield. Have you ever made a physical shield?”
“No.” She eyed him, softened her shield enough for communication. :: Are you going to teach me? ::
:: Not today. I’ll get all eight of you very strong dimensional workers back for lessons . . . as soon as your people will allow. ::
Voyr, sitting next to her had heard that.
:: Can you harden your shields enough to block out others? ::
Fumbling and uncertain.
:: Picture a two sided mirror keeping your thoughts in, and other people�
��s thoughts out. Meditate and work on that. ::
Ryol was watching, and tightened her shields before he said anything. All the way up and all the way down the frequencies. An energy shield at two frequencies common to their laser weapons.
“Very nice. Did Rael train you?” A bob of her head. “What’s your telepath range? Can you talk to Princess Diuc from here?” Only a hundred feet . . . he felt her shields soften, and a sudden grin.
“Yep.”
“Excellent.” That was all four of the girls with the Fallen Genes. Now the more standard Oners.
Rain was wiggly. :: Yes I can telepath. WITH HORSES! :: A mental squeal of delight.
:: But can you shield? :: Xen grinned, as she raised a shaky shield, and repeated his advice about mental mirrors.
The next three were pretty standard teenagers. Not trained, their shields instinctive.
Xen glanced up at the priests. Do all Oner kids have to figure out shields on their own?
Xen stepped over to the first boy .
Yrno was bubbling power all over.
A thought from Q, :: This one especially needs training! He’s very strong. Collecting power with no idea what to do with it. ::
:: Yrno, put your hands down on the sand and imagine power oozing out of them, and into the sand. ::
The big muscular boy scowled and put his hands down . . . and relaxed, suddenly. “Oh!”
“Yeah.” :: I’ll get you back here to teach you how to use that power, and how to not collect power when you don’t need it. Pull a bit more. Yes, now disburse it into the sand. Good. Now don’t collect power . . . think of a wall between you and all that power. Now imagine a spigot in the wall. Turn it on, and collect power, shut it off when you have a comfortable amount. ::
Yrno grinned. :: Can I put it back? ::
:: Just let it go. You know how it feels when it seeps away into the sand. Now let it seep away into the air. It will warm the air, and can be collected again. :: Xen looked at the kid, trembling a little. “Stop now, and have some boost.” He fished one out of a bubble, and handed it over. “With experience, you’ll learn when to quit before you overdo.”
Then two more girls who needed basic shield exercises. Two boys, ditto.
Three girls. Shield exercises.
Two girls and a boy who hadn’t grasped power. Meditation and visualization.
One of the Arnos. Sitting quietly, a low level of power, holding a shield. A disciplined mind, paying attention, absorbing the sounds and feeling of the beach in something rather shockingly close to recognition.
:: Can you hear me? ::
Surprise. “Yes.”
:: Say it mentally. ::
:: But I haven’t blossomed yet. ::
:: I think you have. You’re just being quiet and controlled about it. :: Xen looked at the scrawny boy . . . a slow grower, like me. He swallowed a lump in his throat. I think I could love all of these kids. But I must not push! They don’t know me.
:: I don’t feel the kinds of things other kids feel. I thought I hadn’t . . . is it because I don’t have the One gene? ::
:: Yes. And no one else noticed because you are quiet. ::
:: Well, my voice was getting loud. One Izmo gave me a few pointers about shields. It seems to work, or at least other people’s thought aren’t getting in. ::
:: Yours aren’t getting out. Good job. ::
Orny was leaking both ways, and had a lot of disorganized strength. :: Hideous name. I prefer Or What. And you aren’t my father! :: Embarrassment as he realized he’d sent that, and a stubborn refusal to back off.
:: Those codes can be infuriating. And yes. For most of you, I’ll never be more than a teacher you are somewhat related to. And a potential resource when all else fails, but hopefully never needed. I regret that, but I have to accept it. :: Xen set him to shield practice and moved on to the next boy . . .
Two others were collecting dangerous levels of power and needed grounding exercises. Then three medium strong and moderately trained. One last boy who hadn’t blossomed.
And finally he was at the end of the line.
“All right! Up and at them! While I write down my notes, you may all run amok on the beach, and yes, get wet. Please don’t go any further out than you can get back from. There are drinks and sandwiches here, whenever you want them.” He pulled the two boxes out of a bubble, then retreated to the sand dune.
He flopped down between Q and the Priests. “That’s an impressive bunch of kids. A couple are downright scary. Can you arrange training for the more advanced ones before they do something dangerous because of power overload?”
Diuc nodded. “Indeed, I had no idea Yrno could pull power like that.”
Xen shrugged. “At this stage they acquire abilities in a series of steps. I didn’t notice it yesterday. Maybe getting almost-lost in the Maze was good for him. Although I doubt he was scared enough to jump a threshold.”
He pulled a comp out of a bubble and started typing notes. And back to the Priests. “The kids with Fallen power genes probably ought to come back soon, for specific pointers. The kids with the One gene will probably do fine with standard Oner training and occasional trips here for dimensional training. I’ll work some more with all of them over the next few days.”
Q snickered. “That’ll keep you hopping.”
“No kidding.” He eyed Q. “All I have to do is rope in some people to work with some of them tomorrow while I take a few at a time.” He stood up . . . someone . . . He reached out mentally with a bit of levitation and hauled Ogri out of the surf and dropped him on the sand. :: Good wipeout. Next time, bring your board. ::
Ogri stood up, and glared at the waves. :: I’ve body surfed before! :: And headed back out.
“My, my. I wonder where my nephew got that stubbornness from?” Q snickered. “Yes, Xen. I will help. Perhaps I’ll pull in some other witches and take all the girls off to the hotsprings.” Q leaned and eyed the Priests. “And perhaps you six, between you, could work with whichever boys Xen isn’t working with.”
Diuc looked offended. “I’m supposed to be tracking the children’s abilities and progress with occasional tests.”
Ytry cackled. “Hands on. It’ll be good for you. I’ll bet training has changed since I was a sprout. But I’ll see if I can remember that far back into the Paleozoic.”
Xen looked out to sea and pulled Ogri back to the surface and dumped him on the sand. He put his computer away and strolled down to the boy. “Tell you what. You collect the right volume of drift wood and I’ll demonstrate how the Fallen work with wood as I form it all into a surfboard.”
“Oh yeah?” The boy eyed him dubiously, but got to work fetching driftwood.
Once he had a pile Xen started straightening the pieces, pressing the water out of them and melding them together.
Ogri’s eyes widened. “Two meters long, eighty centimeters wide. Five cems thick, and it’ll need a bottom fin . . .” He ran off for more wood.
Eight surfboards later . . .
Xen stayed ashore and tried to keep track of everyone.
Ogri was more determined than good, Ryol quite good, and Arno quietly expert.
“We live across the street from the beach. We surf all the time.” Arno handed his board off to another suicidal wannabe surfer.
No one drowned, most of the food got eaten.
Xen finally herded the exhausted kids back to the school.
“Shower, change clothes, and then we’ll act like a real school, with a lecture.”
Chapter Fourteen
A Quick Interim Report
Rael gawped. "One of them hit him?"
Oh One! I ought to have gone with them!
Diuc smiled. "Yes. Then Laar pulled out a pistol . . ."
Choke. And searched their luggage!
Izmo nodded. "Even if she'd managed to switch off the safety, Wolfson was so fast she wouldn't have harmed anything but the road. I'm just as glad to not have found out about ricochets, though
."
Rael stifled a whimper. She wasn't the only one. Although Teal looked amused.
Unvu sniffed. "Pity she didn't kill him. It would have strengthened our position."
Six glares hit him. Diuc looked especially fierce. “What they'll learn over the next two weeks is invaluable. Let's not kill him until all the children are trained."
Rael glowered. That had better have been a joke!
"Don't be a fool. I had no idea those children were capable of what they did today.”
"And having brought you this mixed bag of news, we need to return.." Izmo nodded to the room as a whole and headed out.
"Wait, where's the girl?" Rael frowned out the door. No sign of a murderous child under arrest.
Diuc smirked. "That man just took the gun away from her, talked about how they were bearing the burden of him stopping a war. That he knew how unfair it was. Then he showed them to their dorm rooms, neutralized the overdose of sleeping pills the girl took, then hauled them all out for a tour. He didn't seem to be the least bit put out by either attack."
Diuc rose to follow Izmo, but glanced back over her shoulder. "And I had no idea a man could be so incredibly attractive. I no longer wonder what possessed those women." She was smirking as she walked out.
Rael glared. Mine! One Damn it!
Jaum sighed. “Indeed. Not that I was ever maternally inclined, but . . .”
"I can't believe Wolfson didn’t send the two miscreants back. At least the girl with the gun. One!" Ytry shook his head.
"The scandal." Teal rolled her eyes. “If she’d even just wounded him! Murdering him . . . would have had interesting diplomatic repercussions.”
"Not to mention what Q might do. Or, perhaps, not do, in retaliation. Do you know her well, Rael? What do you think she would have done?" Jaum was beginning to show some age, which meant she was probably close to two hundred years old. Rael had never met her before this project.
Rael could only shrug. "I haven't a clue. It’s dangerous when anyone extremely powerful gets very emotional. And she is very powerful."