by John O'Riley
“Emily, it’s time we practiced our more offensive capability,” Julie said.
“We’ve never even tried,” Emily said.
“Now is the time,” Julie said telepathically. “I’m focusing on one of the men deeper in the house. Concentrate on overloading him.”
“This isn’t going to work,” Emily protested.
“Just do it. We need to help your brother,” Julie said.
Emily bit back a sharp retort as she recognized the manipulative ploy and didn’t appreciate it. Instead, she focused her telepathic senses on the man that Julie had pointed out and sent a powerful dissonant stream of thoughts into his consciousness. After several seconds, Emily felt a pressure in her head which quickly built. After a moment, she sensed the man pass out under the assault. By then, a terrible throbbing pain wracked her temples and she could barely concentrate.
“Great work, Emily! Now, we need to focus on this other guy,” Julie instructed.
“It’s too much. I don’t think I can do it,” Emily said weakly.
“We have to try,” Julie said sharply.
Emily focused and shot a powerful, dissonant, telepathic stream at the target but after several seconds her psychic senses fizzled out and she almost lost consciousness. Julie gasped sharply and paled as she too burned out.
“Are you all right?” Ryan asked sharply.
“I’m fine,” Julie bit out. “But I’ve got one hell of a headache.”
The sound of shots firing from within the house reached their ears. Unfortunately, both Julie and Emily were unable to communicate telepathically at this time to determine if their guards and Jeremy were safe. Ryan took out his own gun and vigilantly peered at the house as he waited. Soon, Jeremy and the two guards stepped through the front door with Wendy, a short plump middle-aged woman with graying brown hair and blue eyes. She ran over to the car and profusely thanked them for saving her life.
“The police will be here soon. I called them before we left,” Ryan said.
“This may solve all of our problems. Once the operatives are arrested, Psi-Tech’s involvement will be determined and they’ll be forced to stop killing telepaths,” Julie said.
“Maybe,” Emily said doubtfully.
“What do you see?” Julie asked.
“Nothing. It’s just hard to believe it could be this easy to get them to stop,” Emily said. “I’m still burned out from knocking that Psi-Tech operative out. I’m not sure how useful this offensive telepathic ability is when it is so incapacitating for the user.”
“If there were more of us, we wouldn’t suffer the same symptoms. If we had about ten of us working together, we could knock out a couple of people without suffering from psychic burnout,” Julie said.
“I’d like to join Phoenix Enterprises,” Wendy said shakily.
“Are you sure?” Julie asked shrewdly. “You didn’t hesitate to turn me down before.”
“I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe again. I’m sure I want to do this,” Wendy said.
“All right,” Julie said. “I’ll always welcome any telepath into the Center.”
“You should have seen it!” one of the guards blurted out with excitement as he pointed at Jeremy. “This guy yanked the gun out of the attackers’ hands and shoved them across the room like rag dolls! It was unbelievable!”
“It was fucking amazing!” the other guard said.
Emily took a closer look at her brother and noted the calm and collected expression on his face. His eyes looked almost black with very little color showing. Even as she watched, the pupils were slowly shrinking back to their normal size.
“Are you all right, Jeremy?” Emily asked.
“I’m fine.” He grinned widely at her. “Thanks for taking out one of those thugs.”
“You’re welcome,” Emily said.
When the police arrived, they spent over an hour answering questions before they were all released. When they arrived at the hotel, Emily wanted to be alone so she immediately retired to her room. For now, they all lived in regular hotel rooms on the second floor. Julie had hired a construction company to renovate the third floor so that they would all have spacious, living quarters comprised of two bedrooms, living room, and kitchen. It would take a couple of months before the third floor would be finished. Not that Emily intended to make this place a permanent home. It reminded her too much of her life at Psi-Tech. Besides, Julie was probably right that Psi-Tech would stop slaughtering telepaths now that they were publicly exposed.
Emily went to bed and restlessly tossed and turned as she struggled to sleep. Her mind wouldn’t allow her to drift off until late in the night. When that happened, precognitive visions intruded on her troubled dreams. She awoke to the sound of screaming and bolted out of bed. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest as the darkness loomed threateningly around her. She stumbled to the light switched and flicked it on. A penetrating silence surrounded her as she stood in her empty room straining to hear any telltale signs of something wrong. She abruptly realized her telepathic awareness had returned and used her ability to assess the emotional condition of those around her. Everyone nearby was asleep and there were no signs of intruders. She sensed the night guards and realized everything was just as it should be. Emily must have dreamed about the scream. She perched on the edge of the bed as fragments of her dreams came back to her. They had been visions of the future. She could remember there had been violence and massive changes. The future was too uncertain for clear, precise images but the possibility of many deaths loomed over her.
Emily abruptly rose from the bed as she remembered her mother’s blood-splattered body lying on the living room floor of her house. She was in terrible danger. Emily telepathically reached out to her brother.
“Emily?” he said with confusion.
“I saw Mom die in a vision. I don’t know how or when but we need to do something,” Emily said.
“I’ll tell her to come here,” Jeremy said.
“Will she agree to stay with us?” Emily asked.
“I don’t know,” Jeremy said.
He abruptly ended their telepathic communication as she sensed his intention to call Kate Winters immediately. Emily decided that she would have to get a cell phone as soon as possible. She made her way to Jeremy’s room and reached out to knock on the door which opened abruptly, causing her hand to pass through the threshold. Jeremy was talking to their mother and ushering her inside. Emily frowned with annoyance as she stepped inside and he closed the door behind her with a telekinetic burst.
“Emily definitely saw you dead in the kitchen,” Jeremy said emphatically.
She eyed him with impatience as he continued the conversation. Emily wished she would have just went to the main floor of the center and made the call herself. She hoped Jeremy would argue passionately enough to convince Kate of the danger. Finally, Jeremy hung up and smiled shakily at her.
“She’s coming here right away. She’s going to get a flight as soon as possible,” Jeremy said.
“I don’t have any idea when this is going to happen. How will I know she’ll be safe?” Emily asked.
“She can live here,” Jeremy said.
“Will Julie allow that?” Emily asked.
“Yes because Mom is family. Besides, she’s a precognitive like you,” Jeremy said. “That’s the most profitable psychic ability.”
“She’s not nearly as strong as I am.”
“But she’ll be a lot stronger when she’s part of our network,” Jeremy said.
“What do you mean?” Emily asked.
“I know I can bring her in. It’s an ability I haven’t experimented with but this will be the first test.”
“Will Mom want to do that?”
“I think she will.”
“I don’t know. She’s always been very independent. Self-reliance is very important to her. I don’t think she’ll agree to live here,” Emily said skeptically.
“You’d be surprised. There have been deaths
in our family,” Jeremy pointed out.
“I didn’t really die. I was kidnapped,” Emily argued.
“And then there’s Dad,” he said gently.
Emily nodded in silent acceptance. Maybe he was right and she was worrying too much. Emily was starting to wonder if her precognitive ability would drive her mad with the unrelenting terror and anxiety that it invoked.
“Everything will be all right,” Jeremy said confidently.
Emily smiled at him, gave him a hug, and went back to her room. She couldn’t get to sleep and gave up when daylight finally peeked through the curtains of her window. She took a quick shower, changed into a pair of black pants with a blue blouse, and headed for the dining area on the first floor. Julie and a couple of Emily’s colleagues were already munching on breakfast. Emily helped herself to some yogurt and an apple and joined Julie since she motioned her over. Julie was positioned on one side of the room near the corner.
“Good morning,” Julie said. “What’s on your mind?”
“Nothing,” Emily responded automatically.
“You’ve got a headache and you’re worried about something. Is it the vision you had of your Mom?”
“How do you know about that?” Emily’s back stiffened defensively. She wondered if she was broadcasting her emotions and thoughts so loudly that privacy had become an issue.
“Jeremy told me. I’m sorry that you had such a stressful night. Phones have been ringing off the hook because of your press coverage last night. You’re welcome to take the day off today,” Julie said. “Kate called back about an hour ago and said she’s got a flight that will arrive at two this afternoon. It goes without saying that you and Jeremy can go pick her up at the airport.”
“Thanks.” Guilt washed over Emily at the critical thoughts that had dominated her mind lately regarding Julie’s apparent manipulations and bossiness. Emily knew she would have to get used to taking orders from her. After all, Julie was now her boss.
“You’re welcome,” Julie said.
“I’m going to work today until it’s time to pick up Mom. I don’t think I’ll be able to get back to sleep. I appreciate the offer though,” Emily said gratefully.
“Anytime,” Julie said.
“I do have a question about Mom. If she wants a job here, are you going to let her work?”
“Of course. Jeremy will try to bring her into our psychic network but if it turns out that he isn’t capable of doing so, I’m not going to require that every member be a telepath or linked with us,” Julie said.
A sense of relief permeated through Emily even though her temples were aching.
“Are you still feeling any side-effects from the burnout yesterday?” Emily asked.
“I’m really tired but other than that, I’m fine. I slept all right and the headache was gone before I went to sleep,” Julie said. “I suspect everyone will have different recovery times from psychic burnout. Of course, you won’t need to participate in offensive telepathic ventures anymore. Yesterday was just an emergency.”
“Of course. Thanks,” Emily said.
Chapter 13
Julie stepped into Jeremy’s office just as he and Emily were preparing to leave. She wore a black business suit that augmented the severe, hawk-like features of her face. She conveyed a sense of grimness that wasn’t completely uncharacteristic.
“I have some bad news that I wanted to tell you before you left,” Julie said to them.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.
“The four Psi-Tech operatives that the police arrested yesterday were found murdered in their jail cell last night,” she said.
Disappointment and disgust crashed through Emily in a heavy wave. She should have anticipated something like this.
“I knew it wouldn’t be so easy to pin anything on Psi-Tech,” Emily said stiffly.
“Don’t worry. Our center is perfectly safe. We have plenty of guards,” Julie said. “One of them is a telepath. His name is Alex and his secondary ability is electrokinesis. A very rare talent that we’re lucky to have. He’s the one I assigned to escort you both to the airport.”
“Great,” Jeremy said. “Thank you.”
Alex arrived a short time later. He was a young man in his early twenties with black hair and brown eyes wearing a black tee shirt with jeans and tennis shoes. He, Emily, and Jeremy took Jeremy’s SUV to the airport. When Kate finally showed up, Emily hugged her effusively and was overcome with the joy of seeing her mother after all these years.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” Kate said.
She hugged Jeremy and they went over to pick up her luggage. As they headed out to Jeremy’s car, Emily sensed a remote-viewer which she easily blocked. Jeremy’s gaze cut to hers with a look of concern.
“It’s been weeks since they tried to track you,” Jeremy said.
“I know,” Emily said.
“What is it?” Kate asked nervously.
“Someone’s trying to find me again,” Emily said.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jeremy said emphatically.
They climbed in his SUV and headed for the center. They had only driven about a mile when they could sense the presence of Psi-Tech operatives following them. The pursuers drove a blue sedan and there were five of them.
“Don’t sweat it. I can handle them,” Alex said confidently.
His gaze stared off into space for several seconds and the blue sedan suddenly fell back rapidly and turned off to the side of the road. Soon, they were out of sight.
“What did you do?” Emily asked.
“I killed their engine,” Alex said.
“That’s amazing! What ability do you have?” Kate asked.
“I can manipulate electricity.”
“That’s incredible! I wish I could do something like that!” Kate regarded him with envy and awe.
“You have an impressive ability of your own,” Emily said. “Seeing the future is very important.”
“I saw the news about Phoenix Enterprises and read the company FAQ online. I would like to apply for work there and live at the center,” Kate said.
Emily was flabbergasted to hear these words from her mother. She would have thought it would have taken a lot of persuading but Kate had come up with the idea all on her own.
“I anticipated you might be interested and spoke to the president of the company on your behalf. I can offer you a job as a precognitive specialist,” Jeremy said.
Kate chuckled at him. “I accept. Our family has turned into a group of forecasters.”
“Yes, indeed,” Jeremy said.
They provided Kate more information about Phoenix Enterprises and current events. The mood turned more grave as Jeremy got to the four Psi-Tech operatives who were murdered in their jail cells. Obviously, Psi-Tech had a ruthless quest for money and power. Phoenix Enterprises was the only safe haven for telepaths. Unfortunately, Julie couldn’t advertise that fact publicly but hopefully enough members would join them. Once most of the telepaths became part of the network, Psi-Tech would no longer be able to risk killing any more of them. At least, that was the plan.
When they reached the center, Emily returned to her office while Jeremy showed his mother to her room. Julie appeared at the threshold with a grave expression on her face. Emily felt her stomach knot up with anxiety but she smiled teasingly.
“More bad news?” she said.
“In a manner of speaking. It may turn out to be good,” Julie said. “I have Sharon from Psi-Tech and one of her associates in the conference room. There are two guards watching over them. Sharon wants to meet with you, me, and Jeremy.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re the management team for Phoenix Enterprises,” Julie said.
“I see.” Emily reluctantly rose from her desk. “We should wait for Jeremy.”
“I already told him and he’ll be here in a second.”
Sure enough, Jeremy arrived a moment later. The three of them made their way to Julie’s spaci
ous conference room. Sharon and a skinny teenager sat on one end of the table. Emily sensed a disquieting energy emanating from him. She sat down between Julie and her brother at the table.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” Sharon said pleasantly. “This is my associate, Kevin. He’s a specialist for Psi-Tech.”
“What kind of specialist?” Jeremy inquired.
“One such as yourself,” Kevin said.
“A multipath?” Emily asked.
Kevin’s disturbing brown eyes shifted to her. “That’s right.”
“I want to start out by apologizing for the misunderstanding with the Psi-Tech operatives. They went rogue on us and were going to kill Wendy,” Sharon said.
“So you’re saying that they weren’t acting under your orders or those of Psi-Tech?” Julie said briskly.
“That’s correct.”
“We both know that Psi-Tech is trying to kill as many telepaths as possible to avoid creating a powerful psychic network that you feel is a threat,” Julie said. “It would be best to just speak honestly.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sharon said with a convincing look of puzzlement on her face.
“We can all sense the deceit from you right now. We can only read your surface thoughts but you just betrayed yourself by reviewing your agenda just now. For some reason, it’s human nature to repeat the truth to yourself as you lie,” Julie said crisply. “Why have you come here?”
Sharon adopted a stoic mask on her face. “We came as a gesture of goodwill to reassure you that we don’t wish to compete. There is plenty of business for the both of us.”
“You want to be the sole company to provide psychic services,” Julie said. “You broadcasted that information very clearly to all of us. It would be best to just be honest.”
“All right,” Sharon said slowly. “Telepaths are considered a threat However, we are going to cease hostilities against you. There is nothing to fear from us.”
“Is that so?” Julie said.
“Honestly. We will make no move against Phoenix Enterprises. I promise,” Sharon said bluntly.