by John O'Riley
“I’ve been cataloguing the psychics in our network. We have a couple of people with very powerful offensive capabilities. One member is a strong electrokinetic and another is a telekinetic like Jeremy. That’s already the potential for three security personnel with the natural ability to fend off attackers,” Julie said.
“It’s very risky,” Emily said. “If we all worked in an organization, that would be great but what about when we go home after work? We’d be walking targets.”
“We’d have to buy a large complex with enough room for living quarters,” Julie said.
“That’s crazy,” Skylar said. “Who’d want to do that?”
“People who want to be safe,” Julie said emphatically.
Her husband walked into the room and gauged everyone’s expressions before taking a seat next to her.
“Psi-Tech will continue to hunt down and kill any telepaths who aren’t protected,” Julie said. “It’s the only solution. I didn’t want to tell you about it until you saw the reality.”
“What do you mean?” Emily asked.
“Sooner or later, we’ll be the next telepaths on the Psi-Tech hit list. You have already been hunted but the others don’t really know what if feels like,” Julie said. “I’ve already got my business plan approved at the bank.”
“That’s unbelievable. How did you do that?” Jeremy asked.
“I demonstrated my ability and told them how it had the potential to make large sums of money,” Julie said crisply. “I know how to do business. The next step in my plan is to find a large building. Now that you know about this new organization, I’m going to propose it to members of our network. That way I’ll have a good idea how many employees I’ll have to start with.”
“Once you do this, you’ll be an instant target for Psi-Tech,” Emily said.
“I know. Unfortunately, it’s the only good solution.”
“We should continue to lay low and allow our network to grow first,” Skylar said.
“Our network will grow by leaps and bounds once we get media exposure,” Julie said confidently. She abruptly stood up from the couch and smiled encouragingly at them. “I need to get to work on this. I suggest you give my proposal due consideration. You are all welcome to be part of my company.”
She and her husband left the house and the three of them alone to contemplate their situation.
“I really don’t like this,” Emily said. “I’m tired of feeling trapped and in danger.”
“You and Jeremy should look ahead and see what’s in store for Julie’s company,” Skylar suggested.
Jeremy nodded in agreement with his friend. It was exactly what he’d been thinking. Emily consented with this and they settled into comfortable positions on the couches. Skylar was the only one in the threesome who couldn’t contribute to their future analysis of Julie’s company. It didn’t take long for Emily and Jeremy to do their work.
“Julie’s company will be called Phoenix Enterprises,” Jeremy said wryly. “She likes to think of our telepathic network as a metaphor for rising from the ashes. I looked at any specific information I could and saw that they will be mentioned in the newspapers frequently and that the company will be very successful. From all indications, Julie will have a very tight and competent security detail and there will be no successful attacks from Psi-Tech in the near future. However, Psi-Tech is also going public and will become very powerful as well. It’s hard to say whether they will allow Phoenix Enterprises to remain competitive.”
“That’s pretty much what I saw,” Emily said. “I don’t have any other details except that I saw mysterious deaths occurring throughout the U.S. which I believe are telepaths whom Psi-Tech will continue to eliminate as future competition.”
“Well, I don’t like to live in an apartment but it’s better than being killed,” Skylar said. “And you know the network will continue to grow when we’ve gained media exposure. Once we’re large enough, I don’t think it will be necessary for us to remain there.”
“When it comes right down to it, it’s a matter of survival,” Jeremy said grimly. “I think we don’t really have much of a choice.”
“That settles it then. We’ll tell Julie we’re in,” Skylar said.
“As long as she doesn’t make you a part of security,” Emily said to Jeremy.
“Agreed,” he said.
Skylar telepathically broadcasted the information to Julie who briefly acknowledged it to all three of them.
“She must have known we’d agree. She didn’t seem surprised at all,” Jeremy said.
“Well, she’s a powerful intuitive,” Emily pointed out. “That probably allowed her to predict how we would respond to her proposal.”
“I wonder how soon she’ll have her center up and running,” Skylar said.
“She’ll find the building today. It’s going to be an old hotel building. She’ll have the bottom two floors fixed up within a week. The rest of the upper floors will be remodeled on a longer-term basis. She wants the basic necessities done quickly because she knows Psi-Tech will attack once they find out what’s going on if protection isn’t set in place,” Jeremy said.
“It must be nice being a precognitive,” Skylar said.
“It has its moments,” Emily agreed.
Chapter 10
Sharon stiffened in her plush, cushioned chair and her hands froze above the keyboard of her computer as the door to her office opened to reveal the scrawny form of Kevin wearing his typical, ridiculously over-sized black pants and blue dress shirt. He grinned knowingly as he stepped uninvited inside the room.
“Do you understand the concept of knocking?” Sharon bit out.
She’d suffered with his annoying peculiarities for a couple of days now. At first, she’d wondered why George had assigned his most powerful psychic to Sharon’s facility but now she understood completely. It was George’s intention to drive Sharon insane. Of course, Kevin completely ignored her barb and continued to cross the room toward her desk in his customary insolent manner. He could still intimidate her but he was so obnoxious that her anger tended to win out over fear.
“Shut the door,” Sharon said authoritatively.
Kevin reached her desk and stared down at her.
“I said shut the damn door,” Sharon bit out.
Kevin stared at her with his smug grin in place and allowed several uncomfortable seconds to tick by before slowly crossing the room and shutting the door.
“We’re supposed to go to Evergreen Terrace Center,” Kevin said.
“I know that but I was finishing up on some important work,” Sharon said.
She quickly saved and closed out the document she had been working on before logging out. Evergreen Terrace Center was a mental institution in Tukwila which was almost an hour drive. Sharon wasn’t looking forward to being cooped up in the car with Kevin for such a lengthy period of time; however, it couldn’t be helped. George had given her an assignment and provided phony identification to allow her to visit what he considered to be a very special patient, Rose LePont, who suffered from severe disassociative schizophrenia. George believed her to be a multipath and theorized that the reason so many mental patients had died following the world-wide electrical storms was that they’d transformed into multipaths. Unfortunately, Sharon had the unpleasant task of visiting the mental institution and to assess Rose’s condition which involved trying to bring her into their empathic network.
Even if Rose did indeed possess these psychic gifts, Sharon believed she would destabilize the network rather than strengthen it. George had carelessly dismissed her concerns so Sharon would simply go through the motions.
“You’re thinking about being dishonest,” Kevin said as the two of them strode down the hall.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Sharon said smoothly.
“You’re lying to me,” Kevin said telepathically.
Sharon flinched but quickly hid her surprise. It took careful and deliberate concentr
ation to broadcast thoughts to other empaths but Kevin seemed to do so with alarming ease.
“I sometimes have orders that require me to make my underlings unhappy,” Sharon said as she quickly blanketed her deceitful thoughts and projected a false aura of honesty. “You probably wouldn’t understand but sometimes you need to sugarcoat your orders to keep your staff loyal.”
“Of course, I understand,” Kevin said.
“And you shouldn’t eavesdrop on people’s emotions,” Sharon said.
“George told me I could monitor people’s emotions and thoughts as much as I needed and to report anything suspicious to him,” Kevin said.
Sharon stepped into the elevator and pushed the button for the main floor without visibly reacting to Kevin’s statement. She had suspected Greg had placed him here as a spy and now it was confirmed.
“You don’t seem surprised,” Kevin remarked.
“I’m not,” Sharon said in flat tone.
“Interesting,” Kevin said.
Sharon snorted in derision and wished they didn’t have to make this trip together. It would have been so much better if she’d been allowed to assign one of her empaths to accompany Kevin to the mental institution; however, Greg had insisted that the mission stood a greater chance of success if it was her. Sharon reluctantly slid behind the wheel of her sedan as Kevin settled in beside her.
“Do you think Rose really is a multipath?” Kevin asked.
“Of course not. I’ve already told you that. This is a complete waste of time,” Sharon said.
She was grateful when Kevin allowed the silence to drag on. She would be relieved to get this entire ordeal over with. Kevin refrained from speaking for the rest of the trip. Sharon felt a sudden chill permeate the car as she slowed to a halt near the psychiatric hospital. Power rippled along the empathic network and Sharon turned to regard Kevin whose eyes were jet black.
“What are you doing?” Sharon asked with annoyance.
Kevin didn’t deign to respond but Sharon noticed nearby pedestrians stumbling. One individual fell flat on his face. She quickly realized he was sending out a wide-range dissonance field. Nausea and a lightheadedness assailed her senses as she became caught in the edge of the field. Kevin abruptly halted the sick manipulations of his healing ability.
“I was experimenting,” Kevin said.
“Don’t do that around me,” Sharon snapped. “Especially when I’m driving. You hit me with that damn thing.”
“I didn’t mean to make it that big,” Kevin said.
The driver behind her honked his horn and Sharon realized the light had turned green. She moodily stomped down on the gas and the car lurched forward. She’d like to throttle Kevin’s scrawny neck but he was part of her network and a valuable asset to the company. Sharon didn’t bother to check on the pedestrians because she knew they would recover. A sick knot twisted in her gut as she parked at the Evergreen Terrace Center. She wasn’t looking forward to meeting Rose. There was always the possibility that she really was a multipath even though it was a ludicrous theory. Sharon and Kevin entered the building and she submitted her fake ID which indicated her name was Sharon LePont, a cousin of Rose’s.
“She doesn’t receive very many visitors,” the man said as he checked her phony driver’s license. He was middle-aged and wore a turquoise uniform that fit loosely. His name badge identified him as Bradley. “Please sign your name in the guest book.”
“Sure.” Sharon scrawled her fake name in the book and Kevin did the same.
Bradley escorted them down a long corridor to Rose’s room.
“She can be unpredictable and sometimes violent so I’m going to stay with you,” Bradley said.
“That won’t be necessary,” Sharon said.
“I’m afraid there is no choice,” Bradley said.
Sharon decided this was the perfect opportunity to try out the more offensive aspect of her empathy. She fully opened her senses to Bradley’s emotions and began locking onto them. She had practiced this first stage on some of her staff at Psi-Tech but hadn’t proceeded to the second stage which was psychic coercion.
“I’m afraid that staring at me won’t make me change my mind. The rules are the rules,” Bradley said.
Sharon was now acutely tuned into his emotional state. She sent out a burst of overpowering psychic waves laden with cooperation. Bradley blinked at her as he was hit by the assault.
“I really need to speak to my cousin alone,” Sharon said.
“I really can’t allow that,” Bradley said regretfully.
Sharon focused and sent a continuous stream of psychic waves at him. She waited several seconds before speaking.
“I really need to speak to my cousin alone,” Sharon said.
An ache welled up behind her eyes and a sense of cooperation and obedience gripped her mind like a vise. She realized it was the backlash of her empathic assault on the staff member. She forced herself to continue even as she tamped down on her own emotional state.
“I understand how you must feel. I can allow you to visit her for a short time but I can’t risk doing this ever again. I’ll be back here in a little bit. If anyone asks, I had an emergency to attend to,” Bradley said.
“Thank you, Bradley,” Sharon said.
He smiled nervously as he unlocked the door and ushered her inside the room. He announced to Rose that her cousin was here then closed the door behind them and walked away. Sharon finally stopped barraging him with empathic psychic waves as he left. A dull ache pounded her skull and her mind felt fragile and compliant. Nausea welled up inside her as she sensed powerful psychic waves emanating from Rose who was seated in the opposite corner of the room gazing out the window. She didn’t seem to notice their presence.
“Do you feel that?” Kevin asked with excitement.
“Yes,” Sharon said reluctantly.
“She’s empathic,” he said.
“It’s strong enough for us to feel so she’s off the charts,” Sharon said.
“She’s probably a multipath,” Kevin said.
Sharon could sense his mind reaching out for her. Rose continued to seem oblivious to them. It made Sharon extremely uneasy and reluctant to work with this patient. She could sense a coiled tension waiting to strike and didn’t wish to be the recipient of any attacks.
“We should leave,” Sharon said nervously.
“Sit down on the bed,” Kevin said.
Sharon mindlessly sat down on the bed before realizing she’d obeyed him because her mind was still in a state of cooperation and obedience from the backlash of her control over Bradley. She would need to practice insulating her own mind from the negative side-effects of psychic manipulation in the future or risk people taking advantage of her. Sharon decided to stay perched on the bed safely out of harm’s way as Kevin slowly walked towards the patient. Rose wore the standard white uniform of the patients in the institution and she sat rigidly in her chair as she continued to gaze out the window. She looked to be in her late twenties with frizzy brown hair and a medium frame. As soon as Kevin reached out empathically, Rose shifted position and turned to gaze at him. She had green eyes, a pinched nose and thin eyebrows. Her empty gaze passed right through Kevin as though seeing something farther across the room but she was definitely aware of his presence now.
A flare of psychic awareness passed between them and the strange sense of power emanating from Rose rapidly built. Sharon warily regarded them and wondered what was about to happen. Her intuition screamed at her to prevent the link. Fear screamed through her body and she opened her mouth to speak but discovered she’d lost her voice. Her throat was so tight that nothing would issue from her lips but a few unintelligible sounds. An instant later, it was too late. A link between Kevin, Sharon, and Rose snapped into place and unbelievable power rocketed through the empathic network. It was the most thrilling sensation that Sharon had ever experienced in her entire life. After several moments, the giddy euphoria dropped to a manageable level and she rea
lized she was lying down facing the ceiling. Sharon slowly sat up and saw Kevin standing beside Rose.
“Kevin, you did it,” Sharon said.
“Something amazing has happened,” Kevin said.
“Yes, we now have two multipaths in the network,” Sharon said.
“No, there’s more,” Kevin said.
Spittle was dribbling down the left side of Rose’s mouth as her distant gaze continued to fix on something no one could see but her.
“What do you mean?” Sharon asked.
“When I linked with Rose, she somehow drew five other multipaths into the network with us. I think they’re all patients at the hospital but I can’t be entirely sure until I scope them out,” Kevin said.
Sharon’s gaze sharpened as she mulled this over. “She doesn’t seem to be aware of anyone else. Why would she draw them into the network like that?”
Kevin shrugged without due concern. Rose’s eyes cleared and honed in on Sharon. Adrenaline pumped through her veins at being the center of this powerful and insane woman’s attention.
“Can you see me?” Sharon asked.
“Of course.” Rose smiled widely. “Everything is going according to plan.”
“What plan?” Sharon said nervously.
Rose continued to smile.
“What plan?” Sharon snapped.
Rose’s smile dropped away and her gaze turned distant. Sharon leapt to her feet and stalked toward the patient.
“Tell me what you’re talking about,” Sharon snapped.
“It’s no good. She can’t hear you anymore,” Kevin said. “It’s like her mind is living somewhere else and only a small fraction of it perceives what’s real.”
“How can she do what she does and be so completely out of it?” Sharon demanded.
“You can’t predict the mind of a crazy person.” Kevin shrugged carelessly.
Sharon wanted to slap his snotty-nosed, acne ridden face but instead merely glared at him. The door to the room swung open to reveal Bradley who peered anxiously inside.