by Jim Mohr
I chuckle at Funnel Web as he glares at me with a palpable hatred. Gabrielle covers her blushing face. “You see, Timere, even the humans respect me. Even they know how superior the Psychokinetics are.” I smile at Funnel Web. I can see he doesn’t understand my joke and isn’t in the mood to try to.
Chapter 14
Cougar—Resistance Installation: Prague, Czech Republic
The walk to Timere class is quiet. Gabrielle doesn’t speak. I sense that after my Math II class she had been informed of something, some bad news perhaps. As much as I want to read her mind, I won’t. I love and respect her too much for that.
Gerdt waits outside the door to his class. He speaks as soon as he sees us. “Well, Cougar, you missed class yesterday. You caused a delay in the curriculum, get in your seat!” he yells as he opens the door.
Gabrielle lowers her head in sorrow as I enter the room. I walk toward my seat and I hear the door close.
“That’s not your seat. Your chair is here, at the front of the class.” He points at the blood chair. Its smell, like rusty metal, or iron, fills my nose. If the Timere smell it, they enjoy it. I, on the other hand, prefer the smell of gunpowder or apple strudel.
I slowly walk to the black chair. I can feel its evil; I can sense every tear, every drop of blood that had fallen on its surface. Under it all lay its varnish, its wood lovingly sanded and cared for. Not now, now it is an instrument of restraint.
I sit in it. A burning fear arises in my chest as Gerdt straps my arms down. He pulls the leather so it bites into my skin. I look at the man as tears form in my eyes. He smiles as he works.
I look at the class of Timere standing and getting into line. Nada is white with terror, she knows what they are about to do.
Gerdt finishes strapping me down, turns to the class, and speaks. “On Monday, we named the snake family. Today, we will recite the spider family. I want you to focus your harm power on his genitals; his balls, for those of you who haven’t had reproduction class. We don’t want him breeding when he comes of age, so make it hurt. Do not, I repeat, do not, go beyond his genitals. I don’t want somebody accidentally opening up his femoral artery.” He turns and smiles. “Are you ready for this?” I cry as they begin to chant.
“Saint Andrews Cross, Wolf, Tarantula, Brown Recluse, Redback, Funnel Web, Black Widow,” they chant in unison.
Like two days prior, they each step up, do their worst and sit. Unlike the torture of my eyes, my fear makes this torture a psychologically abusive event. I can feel my sanity slipping as Nada steps up. Tears run down her cheeks as she looks at me. I can see she is ashamed of her Timere brothers and sisters.
“Well!” Yells Gerdt.
Nada looks at him, her shoulders sag. “This isn’t right Mister Gerdt. This is wrong,” she sobs. Giggles ring out through the classroom followed by calls of “traitor, psycho lover, and whore.”
Gerdt motions to Nada to proceed with the harm power. She stands there, looking at me, while I look at her. Both of us are crying, for our own pain, and the pain of our friend.
“Nada, do it,” I say to her.
She shakes her head as she says. “No! This is wrong!”
Piranha then grabs Nada, she screams in pain as the cracking of bones echo through the room. At the same time, Funnel Web pushes through the line of children. He runs and grabs between my legs and releases his full harm power. I see red and feel a pain that I have never felt before.
I think that I have wet my pants until I spell the blood. Blood pours from my scrotum and penis. My high-pitched shriek causes the children to jump.
I cannot think and cannot move. I watch the blood spread out from my groin. My head bobs as my defensive power rises, my healing power exhausts itself slowing the bleeding.
“Cougar, if you can hear me,” Funnel Web says, “my friends and I went to the zoo yesterday.”
In front of my face, he holds a paper. It reads, “Last night tragedy struck the Prague zoo’s North American exhibit. The only North American mountain lion in Europe was discovered with both its front legs broken. Apparently, it had struck the glass with its front paws. This had caused both legs to break. Zookeepers were forced to put the animal down.”
I feel I am slipping, my mind has no escape from what I am enduring. I look at Funnel Web and in a high-pitched voice, I squeak. “I will kill you. I am Mountain Lion and you will pay.”
He smiles at me as the world goes black.
Chapter 15
Cougar—Resistance Installation: Prague, Czech Republic
I awaken in the medical ward; I do not know what day it is. Nada is standing over me; both of her arms are in casts. Nada stands silent as her tears rain down on me. I feel as though my world is slipping into a dark hole. I am changing and not for the good.
“Cougar, I am so sorry,” she sobs.
I do not speak as I motion her to lean closer. She leans forward slightly, not having the use of her arms, she is careful not to lose her balance. I softly touch her hand and I release a little healing into her. I feel love like I have never known before, love for her as a person. Her eyes light up as the healing of bones hurts her. She tries to pull back from my touch. I grab her wrist and unleash my healing power. She wails at the pain of being healed. I smile as my power drains, it is gone for the day. My friend is healed. For now, I will remain injured. My private area hurts with a pain that I have never known existed, but it will remind me of what I need to do… How I must escape this hell.
Nada’s fingers move as she looks at her casts and then at me. She smiles as fresh tears escape her eyes. “Thank you, Cougar,” she says as she kisses my cheek softly, and my world goes black yet again.
***
I regain consciousness sometime later. The room is barely lit. Nurse Andrev sits in a chair by my bed. She is reading a book written by Doctor Victor Popov entitled: “Harnessing the Powers of the Mind.”
I slowly place my hands over my groin and release my healing power. The pain causes me to gasp, which startles nurse Andrev.
I look at the nurse. “I’m thirsty,” I say. She hands me a glass of water. She places a marker in the book and sets it down. Her look conveys someone who was present at the book’s writing, or at least knowledge beyond what the book says.
“Do you see now why you have to flee? Do you understand now what the Timere are?” Her voice is filled with hot anger and regret.
“I knew what they were. I can sense them. I hated them from the moment that I first sensed them. Nada is the only one who is nice to me. It’s okay, I have names.”
“Names? Names?!” She exclaims. “They will kill you like they did my poor, dear, Doctor Popov.”
I close my eyes slowly and enter her mind. “You worked for him, but you were close to him. He’s dead now, killed by Taipan.”
She gasps in a choking sob. “We fled, Tiger and I fled. Oh God, he’s coming for me!”
I open my eyes and look at her. I release my power of empathy. It is an odd feeling which makes me feel vulnerable. The empathy power isn’t like healing. I can control where the healing goes, the empathy power seems to go everywhere… and nowhere.
Nurse Andrev smiles. “Your empathy power is a mess, you know that?”
“Yes, but my healing power is good.”
“Cougar, when you get a chance, escape from them. Leave the Resistance. Find others like yourself. I know of one in America, Atlanta. He is Lion, the most powerful Psychokinetic.”
“What is the other Timere family? I know the snakes and spiders. What is the other one?” I say as I ignore her warning to flee.
She looks at me curiously. “The fish and insect family. They are Moray Eel, Scorpion, Piranha, Barracuda, Payara, Asian Hornet, and Shark.”
“Okay, what are the dog and bird families?”
“They are Beagle, Collie, Labrador, Malamute, Fox, Coyote, Hyena
, St. Bernard, German Shepherd, and Wolf. The birds are Finch, Pigeon, Dove, Owl, Osprey, Hawk, Falcon, and Eagle,” Nurse Andrev smiles. The thoughts of the Psychokinetic families temporarily replace her fear of Taipan.
I look at the book she had been reading. “So, what is your book about?”
“Doctor Popov wrote it. It’s about our research into the human mind. Our research into the hormone and the gland that we created. We created the Psychokinetics and the Timere.”
“So, we are experiments?”
“It isn’t like that, you are a person. Closer to perfection is all.”
“Perfection?” I ask.
“Yes, we wanted to tap into the powers of the mind that people don’t use. We were successful with the Psychokinetics. I don’t know what happened with the Timere.”
“Earlier you said Tiger fled with you. Where is Tiger?”
She looks at me, fear is in her eyes. “I won’t say, and don’t read my mind.”
“Okay, I won’t. Where is Taipan now?”
“I don’t know.” She gazes around the room and speaks softly. “I haven’t seen him in a while since he was expelled from the Centre.”
I look at the book as it sits on the table. “Is that where Popov did the work with you, the research?”
“Yes, the Centre of Genetic Research in Moscow. It’s destroyed now. We destroyed it to keep Taipan from getting any more hormone.”
“Nurse Andrev, how do I find my mom?”
She gazes at me; her fear temporarily gives way to sorrow. “Is she human, or Psychokinetic?”
“I’m not sure. Psychokinetic I think.”
“If she is Psychokinetic, one of the family heads should be able to locate her. Lion, Eagle, or Wolf will know.” I gaze up at the dark ceiling and think of my mom. I miss her so much, it hurts.
“Nurse Andrev, I want to talk about Taipan.” Her eyes grow large with fear at the mention of his name.
“What do you want to know?”
“Nurse, can he be beaten? If he can, how?”
She leans forward, her face is inches from mine. “Of course, he can be beaten. Timere do not have the defensive power that Psychokinetics have.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Well, Mountain Lion, bullets work really well in ending lives.” Her calling me by my Psychokinetic name, Mountain Lion, causes a stir in my soul as if my power was reassured.
“Well then nurse, I will have to keep practicing my marksmanship. I would like to meet this Taipan jerk, pay him back for hurting you.”
Nurse Andrev touches my shoulder and smiles. “You cats are truly amazing, thank you, young man. Dr. Popov would have loved you.”
Chapter 16
Cougar—Resistance Installation: Prague, Czech Republic
Several Days Later
While sleeping back in my apartment, I dream. I am in an open prairie, shrubs and trees are sparse. The sun is high in the sky and the air is clean and warm. I am a mountain lion and around me are animals of all sorts: foxes, wolves, and various kinds of dogs and cats; both great and small. Birds of different kinds are perched on top of the larger animals, or they stand on the ground. The animals are facing a large, white marble throne which sits atop a stairway.
On one side of the throne, a falcon sits. The bird looks side to side as it watches the other animals. On the other side of the throne, a hyena sits. It is barking; the sound is an annoying laughter.
Suddenly, the falcon and hyena speak aloud in unison. “All bow to the King!” Every animal but me bows as the lion approaches the throne from behind. The falcon looks at me and yells, “You there! Mountain Lion! Bow to your King!”
The hyena speaks next. “If he does not bow, then we shall break him. Haha!”
From behind me, I hear a woman’s voice. “You can try to break him, but you will fail. We will kill you if you harm him.”
I turn to see a cheetah walking up to me. On her shoulders sit a dove and an owl. While I look at the cheetah, and the birds, several other animals look up from their bows.
The lion then speaks. “You dare disrespect me! You dare stand against me! You will all die for this dishonorable behavior. You will all die!”
I yell, so all the animals can hear. “How many times have the Timere hurt you, lion? How many times have you vomited from their sickness power? You are a coward. You sit there and expect people to bow to you, but you have done nothing!”
The prairie dissolves into a field of burning carcasses. The stench of burnt flesh and bone fill my nose. I am still a mountain lion.
“You are brave, cat. You are strong for a mountain lion.” I look behind me and standing there is a giant black spider. It is a female and on her back is a bright red hourglass.
“Who are you?” I ask.
“I am Black Widow, and you should never judge all Timere as evil. You will need us one day, and you may be closer to Taipan than you think.”
***
A buzzing noise wakes me from the animal dream. “Enter,” I callout. The voice-recognition software recognizes my voice, regardless of the language I speak. The door unlocks and Gabrielle enters my small room.
“Cougar, get up and get dressed. Mikhailov wants to see you.”
I jump out of bed. I am still in my sleeping shorts. My groin still aches from the damage I had sustained. The healing power hadn’t cured everything, some bruising remains.
“Why me? Isn’t it Sunday?” I ask, not sure what day it is.
“Yes. It is Sunday. Put your uniform on, not your regular clothes. This is a formal request. You have to report to him. Remember, snap to attention in front of his desk, salute, and say “Colonel Mikhailov, Cougar Reed reporting sir!”
I look at Gabrielle. “I’m not in trouble, am I? Or, are they changing my schedule again?”
“You are not in trouble, just hurry up and get dressed.”
I hurry to get dressed in the small room of an apartment. Without time for breakfast, I will have this meeting on an empty stomach.
***
“Sir! Cougar Reed reporting, sir!” Immediately I know that I screwed up the report. I didn’t address his rank.
Mikhailov looks up from his desk. He is wearing civilian clothes and looks as if he is heading off base for the day. “At ease, Cougar.” I relax my stance. In front of Mikhailov sits a dark red box. He pushes it toward me. “I hear that you are quite the marksman. Open it, it’s a preproduction model.”
I open the box. In it lay an absolutely beautiful stainless-steel pistol. It is huge compared to my small hands. I stand there with my mouth agape as Mikhailov laughs.
“I see that we share a love of firearms. It’s a Kalashnikov PL 22. It’s a 44 Magnum, though I’ll use the smaller rounds in it if I fire it.”
“Wow, Colonel, it is lovely.”
Mikhailov’s scar-covered face has an unusual look on it. I can’t place it. It is as if he were pretending to be someone he isn’t. I think he is the one pushing me into the Timere class. Maybe he isn’t a friend.
He pulls the red box back. “Cougar, this will be the final change to your schooling. I am enrolling you in the recruit program. Because you are a ward of this base, the twelve-year-old age requirement is waived. Your day will consist of six days a week of physical training, three of those are hand-to-hand combat. I’m advancing you in math and science. So, your schooling day will be: German Language Level I, Math Level III (which is junior high math), and Russian Language Level III. You will get a half hour lunch because the military classes for recruits start early. Gabrielle will escort you to the beginning military classes instead of the Timere class. Afterward, you will have Science Level III. Your afternoon will either be on the range or the second part of recruit training.”
I smile at Mikhailov. “Thank you, sir, that is what I wanted. Though if I can get into an art
and literature class, that would be nice.”
He leans forward toward me. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you, you behave yourself and good things will come your way.” He pauses as he sits back. “Why so much concern about art and literature?”
“Sir, all of the best Generals have a love of art and literature. I love it too. I want to be a Commander someday.”
Mikhailov squints skeptically as he places his right index finger over his mouth. “That is interesting son, very interesting. Do you think the war will still be going on when you are an adult?”
“Yes sir, I do. This peace treaty will not be there forever.” He nods in agreement. “Sir, may I still see Nada?”
“Yes. I think it would be a good thing for you to spend some time with her. I think she can help you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“One more thing, son, I’ll tell you once, and I won’t repeat it. Pay attention to your Tactics and Planning course. It is the best training in the world and will aid you throughout your life, especially if you want to be a Commander.”
I snap to attention. “I will, sir! Thank you again, Colonel Sir.”
He smiles. “Dismissed recruit Reed, go get ‘em.”
I salute the man as I say, “I will sir.” I will succeed and live, or, if this kills me, I will take a few people with me, but these Resistance assholes will pay.
Part II
Prologue
Nine Years Later
For nine years the Resistance (Euro-Asian Militaristic Society) and the American/English Alliance’s hatred for one another simmers. The countries who support the Resistance view the Alliance as an ultra-militaristic wing of the now disbanded NATO. The Alliance supporting countries view the Resistance as the most powerful terrorist organization the world has ever seen.
The continued escalation of quantity and quality of the military hardware is becoming a machine in itself. Atlanta base alone is more powerful than 80 percent of the countries in the world. Wisconsin Illinois base has been rebuilt to mirror Atlanta base, though slightly smaller.