by John O'Riley
“Our kind?” Jeremy asked. “You mean telepaths?”
“Yes,” Emily said in a subdued tone as she realized she had categorized herself and wondered when she’d done it. “I know I’m not a true telepath but my secondary gift is strong enough that I’m part of a network.”
“I wouldn’t call a two person connection a network,” Jeremy said.
“I didn’t realize how the years would change you,” Emily teased. “You’ve become argumentative.”
Jeremy smiled and shrugged. “I admit I’ve gotten just a tad bitter in my old age.”
Emily and Jeremy used to make jokes about getting old. It was comforting to her how easily they slipped back into their normal bantering. Unfortunately, the presence of the remote-viewers returned. Emily let Jeremy know and blocked them.
“Can you help with this?” she asked.
“I’ve never intentionally activated my telepathy before,” Jeremy said. “I’m not sure if I can.”
“Please try,” Emily said.
She turned into the right lane and watched for a place she could pull over. Her head pounded with the strain as she continued to block the remote-viewers. She wasn’t strong enough to keep them out for long. Emily’s knuckles bulged as her grip tightened on the steering wheel. She pulled off the highway and the SUV rolled to a stop. She closed her eyes and devoted all of her attention on blocking the trackers but could feel them starting to slip through. A moment later, they locked onto her and she could feel them watching.
“I couldn’t keep them out,” Emily bit out with frustration.
“I’m sorry. I can’t control my telepathy. It turns on and off randomly,” Jeremy apologized.
Emily leaned her head back against the seat and fervently wished that her connection with Julie had strengthened her considerably more. They were sitting ducks now. Emily took deep breaths as the pain in her skull made it difficult to think. She needed some painkiller.
“Did you pack anything for headaches?” Emily asked.
“Yes, I did.”
Jeremy got out of the truck and opened the back. He returned with a couple bottles of water and a bottle of Excedrin. Emily quickly swallowed several pills down and continued driving. She could sense the remote-viewers continuing to observe but they would soon be gone.
“Are you still going to Julie’s house?” Jeremy asked.
“Yes,” Emily said uncertainly. She was silently debating the wisdom of visiting Julie.
“She’s willing to take the risk,” Jeremy pointed out.
“I thought you didn’t have control of your telepathy,” Emily said accusingly.
“It doesn’t take a mind-reader to tell you’ve got a guilty conscience.”
Emily frowned thoughtfully as she considered this. She sensed the remote-viewers retreat and relaxed a little. Skylar awakened by the time they reached Julie’s house which had four cars parked in the street around it.
“What’s going on here?” Skylar asked.
“I don’t know,” Emily said.
“Don’t panic. We have some visitors. They’re all telepaths,” Julie’s voice drifted into Emily’s mind.
“What are they doing here?” Emily asked disapprovingly.
“I contacted Tim yesterday. He leads a meditation group and three of them have become telepaths. We were planning on connecting earlier but we’re waiting for you to join us with Skylar.”
“Do they realize the danger they’re in?” Emily demanded.
“Oh, please. We’ve got four telepaths here. We’ll easily block any remote-viewers,” Julie said scornfully. “You need to stop being such a Debbie Downer.”
“It’s okay, Emily,” Skylar said. “They’re willing to help us and we could really use the help.”
“You heard that?” she asked.
“Loud and clear,” Skylar replied.
Emily sighed and threw open her door. She, Jeremy, and Skylar strode to the house where Julie and the others were waiting. Tim was a middle-aged man with thinning blond hair and blue eyes. He introduced the members of his meditation group which were Eileen, Frank, and Lily. Eileen and Frank wore casual clothes and were Tim’s age while Lily was in her late twenties.
“It’s amazing how fast everything is happening,” Tim said. “We’ve only just received our psychic gifts and have learned a great deal about the future.”
“Yes, it’s overwhelming,” Eileen said.
“Are you okay with all of this?” Emily asked her.
“No, I’m not but we aren’t going to survive if we don’t develop our full potential as quickly as possible,” Eileen said.
Emily nodded in agreement and realized that she was being a bit stubborn and short-sighted by separating herself from other telepaths.
“We should get started as quickly as possible,” Tim said smoothly. “If everyone would please take a seat.”
They all made themselves comfortable in the living room. Soothing music flowed from the stereo. Ryan shut off the lights before taking up a position beside his wife. She patted him affectionately on the leg before Tim guided everyone into a deep meditation. His smooth voice drifted over them and Emily marveled at how quickly and easily she approached a deep, relaxed state of consciousness. Tim must have intuitively known when everyone was ready to proceed to the next step because he began telepathically conversing with the group.
“It’s time to visualize the link between us and to feel it,” Tim said directly into their minds.
He gave an easy but detailed construct for them to visualize and Emily followed his instructions. He was utilizing her process as she had performed it with Julie but made a few modifications. Emily expected a long period of time to ensue but she felt a connection snap into place very quickly. It was much sooner than she’d anticipated and her eyes snapped open. Euphoria rushed through her as their minds linked together. Memories from the others danced through her consciousness and she recognized some of them as Skylar’s. Emily smiled with relief over the fact that he’d succeeded in joining with them.
“We did it!” Julie exclaimed telepathically.
“This feels amazing,” Eileen said.
“Skylar, how are you feeling?” Emily regarded him with concern.
Skylar smiled at her and his skin was no longer pallid.
“I feel great,” he responded.
Emily’s attention fixed on her brother and she could tell he wasn’t linked with the rest of them. She couldn’t feel him in the network.
“It’s okay,” Jeremy said. “We knew it probably wouldn’t work for me.”
“It will work for you,” Julie said firmly. “We’ll just have to keep trying.”
“In the meantime, we should be going,” Tim said to Frank, Eileen, and Lily who slowly stood up from the couch.
“There’s no need to rush off,” Julie protested.
“We have a lot of work to do. We need to identify as many telepaths as we can so we can extend our network,” Tim said. “That was the plan if you’ll recall.”
“Of course,” Julie said.
She escorted them to the front door and wished them well. When she turned to face the others, she smiled brightly.
“That was a huge step in our plan,” Julie said.
“What plan?” Jeremy asked.
“Our plan to make this world a safe place for telepaths,” Julie said.
“You make it sound feasible,” Skylar said.
“It’s a very realistic goal,” Julie said.
“I disagree,” Emily interjected with a dour frown. “There are literally thousands of telepaths that we would need to find if we want to bring them into our network.”
“I’ve been modifying my plan and will continue to develop it as we continue to achieve our goals,” Julie said confidently. “Things will happen faster than you think.”
“How can you possibly hope to create a network of thousands before Psi Tech finds us?” Emily asked. “You realize that you’re on the list to be terminated.”
“It won’t take so long,” Julie said. “Quit being so pessimistic.”
“Okay,” Emily said slowly. “I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting that we’d have a small network like this within just a couple of days.”
“That’s my girl,” Julie said approvingly.
“I can’t believe this,” Skylar said with awe.
“What is it?” Julie asked.
“My energy is returning. I’m feeling like I’m returning to normal. I don’t think I’m dying anymore.”
“Of course you’re not dying. You’ll be fine now that you’re part of a psychic network,” Julie said confidently. “Didn’t Emily tell you?”
“Yes, but it didn’t really sink in,” Skylar said. “I’ve felt so awful the last four days that I had kind of lost hope.”
“We’ll need to work on Jeremy later this evening,” Julie said briskly.
“I still don’t understand why being linked telepathically to other people has healed me. If my telepathy was so strong that it was giving me brain damage, wouldn’t it be worse now that it’s even stronger?” Skylar asked.
“Your ability is stronger but you’re also in greater control of your ability. I don’t understand all of the benefits of being part of a psychic network. I only saw glimpses of the distant future when it was newly discovered,” Emily replied.
The dark presence of Psi-Tech’s remote-viewers approached. Emily and Julie immediately created mental barricades and easily prevented the intruders from locking onto their position.
“Our abilities have exponentially increased,” Julie said. “I’m barely exerting any effort at all. This is child’s play.”
“We won’t have any trouble hiding from them now,” Emily said with relief.
Soon, the remote-viewers were forced to leave. Emily smiled triumphantly and exchanged a victorious high-five with Julie.
Chapter 8
The humid, Florida heat bore down on Sharon as she climbed out of her blue rental sedan. She briefly fingered the name badge clipped to the upper right-hand portion of her crisp, blue business suit as she nervously gazed at the large building that mirrored the one where she worked. She still couldn’t believe George Hendricks, CEO of Psi-Tech Research & Development Industries, had demanded her presence here at the Sarasota facility. It had been a strange and disturbing telephone call that had brought her to this location which was the company headquarters and consequently, where most of the top secret clearance projects were performed. When Sharon had answered her phone, George had tersely asked her to verify her new psychic post-transformation abilities as a level six intuitive and a secondary level four empath. After she verified the accuracy of this information, George had ordered her to take the quickest flight to the Sarasota branch location to meet with him over an important discovery.
Before the electrical storms, Sharon hadn’t possessed one iota of empathic talent which was extremely beneficial. Unfortunately, it also came with nerve-wracking side effects. Empathy and telepathy were two of the worst high maintenance gifts that individuals could possess. Two of the most useful tools provided to empaths were the ability to detect lies and the ability to manipulate the emotions of others. She swallowed nervously as she approached the building. Sharon was relieved to step into the cool interior and leave the hot outdoors behind her. The lobby was spacious and sported a long, oak desk where the receptionist sat. She was a medium-set, middle-aged brunette wearing a blue blouse with a name badge that identified her as Pamela. She was typing swiftly at her computer with an intent frown on her face. She looked up sharply and offered a cool, detached smile.
“Hello, can I help you?” Pamela said.
“I’m Sharon Richardson from the Seattle branch with an appointment to see Mr. Hendricks.”
Pamela nodded curtly. “He’s been expecting you. I’ll let him know you’re here. Please, have a seat, Ms. Richardson.”
“Thanks,” Sharon murmured.
She sat down on one of the forest-green, cushioned chairs in the waiting area. Pamela tapped briefly into her computer then looked up with surprise.
“Ms. Richardson, Mr. Hendricks will be here in just a moment,” she announced.
“Thank you.” Sharon smiled confidently in spite of the nerves jangling within her.
Normally, George didn’t bother with personally greeting and escorting guests because he considered such tasks beneath him and therefore a waste of time. Sharon couldn’t help but notice this deviation in his routine and wondered if her new ability of empathy was an asset that had caught his attention. Her intuition was stronger now but currently not telling her anything. Soon, the door to the lobby opened and George entered the room. He was a short, thin man with piercing green eyes, tiny lips and thinning brown hair that left a sizeable bald spot on the top of his head. He wore a green dress shirt and black slacks with black Italian loafers.
“Sharon, I’m glad you could make it,” he said crisply.
As she stood up, an almost tangible wave of terror struck her and she almost lost her balance. Sharon gripped the armrest of her chair as her knees threatened to buckle. She quickly covered her emotional lapse by adopting a confident expression on her face and blocking the emotional psychic transmission that pummeled against her. Unfortunately, she could only keep a small fraction of the empathic attack from striking against her mind. Sharon knew George was a moderately powerful empath as a result of the transformation brought on by the electrical storms but hadn’t realized it was such an effective weapon. Adrenaline pumped through Sharon’s bloodstream and her heart raced as she fought the instinct to run. The impulse to flee was so powerful that she could barely restrain herself. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold out.
“Is something troubling you, Sharon?” George asked.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Sharon bit out savagely.
“You hide your fear very well but a toddler could construct a better empathic block than that,” George said coolly.
His empathic attack abruptly halted and Sharon wanted to sag with relief but retained her false, confident composure. She wouldn’t show weakness to either him or the receptionist.
“I’m curious as to why you demanded my immediate arrival here,” Sharon said.
“I’ll bet you are,” George said arrogantly. “Let’s proceed to business then.”
He opened the door for her in a blatant display of false chivalry. She sailed past him without comment then followed him down the hall to the elevator.
“We’re about to meet someone very special,” George said.
“Oh?” Sharon said.
“We have a lot to discuss,” he said evasively.
She sensed his satisfaction over making her wait for answers. He enjoyed the power and control he exerted over others. The elevator doors slid open and the two of them traversed down the hall to his office. Sharon shot him a questioning look before stepping inside. He closed the door and sank into his black leather chair behind his massive, polished mahogany desk. He steepled his fingers and smiled coolly at her.
“This company has theorized that empaths have a greater potential than was once believed due to similarities to telepathy. As you already know, telepathy and empathy can both be used as a weapon but at the same time, the side-effects counter balance the effectiveness of any psychic attacks. That isn’t to say we can’t utilize them as such but the potential is directly limited to your emotional discipline and control,” George lectured her. He paused to smirk in an obnoxious, patronizing manner before continuing. “Anytime empathy is used to cause negative emotions in a target, the empath suffers the same impact but it can be diluted with the proper shielding and emotional control.”
“In other words, you felt the same fear that you were using against me in the lobby?” Sharon asked innocently.
“Precisely,” George said although his green eyes flashed with displeasure over her thinly disguised barb. “My mental block prevented me from feeling the full effects. I
only felt a very minor amount of what I was inflicting on you. Your pitiful attempts to stop me offered you no real protection, by the way.”
“I’ve read the instructions for learning to control my new empathic abilities but haven’t had the chance to practice much.”
“You’ll need to make the time to practice. It’s imperative that you strengthen this skill.”
“Yes, sir. I will make it a priority.”
“One of the main reasons I called you here was the new discovery we’ve made here with empathic abilities. As soon as we found out about the serious threat that telepaths posed, many theories over developing our own power base surfaced. One theory to increase our abilities and level the playing field between ourselves and the telepaths is to create a psychic network of our own. Empaths are more common than telepaths and it was hypothesized that they could connect in the same way that telepaths do. We haven’t been able to put this theory to the test until now. There are four empaths employed in the Sarasota branch of Psi-Tech and I am one of them. We followed the same technique that telepaths use for creating a psychic connection and prepared weeks in advance. I am pleased to announce that we succeeded as of yesterday. I am part of this network and my empathic ability has jumped to that of a level nine. Unfortunately, none of the empaths’ secondary abilities have increased; only the empathic ability itself grows stronger so the telepaths still have a greater advantage.”
Sharon was shocked to hear this news because it hadn’t occurred to her. This theory hadn’t been hinted to her at all. Trust George to keep all of this valuable information to himself.
“This will certainly strengthen our position but everything is going according to plan. Most telepaths will be executed before they can even discover their full potential. They are no longer a threat,” Sharon said.
“You’re wrong. My precognitives have seen disturbing changes in the future timeline which is continuously shifting. It looks like the telepaths are still going to be a threat but things are still uncertain. They’re going to create a psychic network sooner than was originally foreseen and the key element involved in this change is Emily Winters. You were supposed to execute her at your facility along with the other prisoners but instead, you allowed her to escape due to sloppy security work,” George said in a disapproving tone.