Olento Research Series Boxed Set: A Paranormal Science Fiction Thriller

by Sarah Noffke

  “You!” she said. “You stopped time didn’t you?”

  Kaleb only gave a proud smirk, which Adelaide returned, looking relieved. She then swiveled her eyes to Connor, who rushed forward, throwing his arms around Adelaide.

  “You’re safe,” he said, lifting her off her feet.

  Her eyes grew large over Connor’s shoulder, but she squeezed him back. When he released her, he kept his hand on Adelaide. “Hurry, we’ve got to rescue Rox.”

  “Where is she?” Adelaide said, allowing herself to be dragged forward. “Oh, she’s in the room where I previously was. And Mika has her!” she said, all the information coming to her instantly, like she was reading it from Connor’s mind.

  “Yeah, and I think I know how to save her,” Connor said.

  “I think that will work,” she said, pulling her hand from his and then changing direction. “Come on, Kaleb. Let’s go be a distraction.”

  Kaleb, not understanding the conversation that seemed to have happened silently, spun around and followed Adelaide as Connor continued in the opposite direction.

  Adelaide was too overwhelmed by what was happening to appreciate the first time she ever had a telepathic conversation with someone and actually enjoyed it. She and Connor communicated through touch so effortlessly. She wasn’t even bothered by being in his mind, but that was probably because his thoughts all related to the current mission.

  She didn’t stop until at the corner of the hallway, Kaleb on her heels. Stepping into the other hallway, Adelaide focused her eyes on the man who now had Rox suspended in the air, his hand held high, probably to strengthen his telekensis. The girl appeared frozen, her limbs like marble.

  “Hey, asshole,” Adelaide said, earning Mika’s attention. He turned his head over his shoulder, looking at her. “I quit!”

  He set Rox down, but kept her close. Again she didn’t move.

  “Well, well, well,” he said, his eyes on her and then skipping to Kaleb. “It appears it’s my lucky day.”

  Connor stepped into the hallway, his focus on the man in the silver suit, his back to him. Rox was too close to Mika. He’d have to be careful, but thought his plan could work, if Rox moved at the right time.

  “Actually it’s not your lucky day,” Connor said, pointing one finger at Mika’s heels and firing off a single bolt of fire. It flew down the hallway, shooting at his loafers. Mika spun around, his eyes jerking to his feet before pulling them up to look at Connor.

  “You,” he said, a conviction in the one word. Behind him, Rox, who had appeared frozen before, backed up in the direction of Adelaide and Kaleb at the end of the hallway. It was because of Adelaide’s telepathic link that the two were able to communicate so efficiently. She instantly understood what to do, all because of that connection. Connor had been overwhelmed with relief when Kaleb had gotten Drake off her. He hadn’t meant to hug her, but now he was glad he had.

  “Yes, me, you fucker. Ready to pay for what you did to us?” Connor said, raising a hand in the air and shooting a fireball at Mika.

  The other man pulled his own hand up at lightning speed and a blast of water shot out, blocking the fire, extinguishing it. This was followed by a laugh. “Why do you think you have elemental magic? Who do you think you inherited that from?” Mika said.

  “What, now you think you’re our father?” Connor said, wondering how he was going to trap Mika now. The three behind him disappeared, probably headed in his direction.

  “I’m your creator and there is power in that,” Mika said.

  Connor pointed his hand down as he heard the footsteps at his back. He’d never tried anything like this, but he hoped it would work. With a preciseness to impress he swiped his hand across the space, creating a line of fire in front of him that instantly made a wall of flames between Mika and him. Then he spun in the opposite direction, joining the others at the stairwell. They nodded with relief at Connor when they met and then the four dashed down the stairs and out of the building. By the time Mika had washed away the fire, they would be out of Parantaa Research and safely dream traveling back to the Institute.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “If you call one wolf, you invite the pack.”

  - Bulgarian Proverb

  “Mutterficker,” Mika heard Drake curse from down the hallway. The old German man came around the corner, rubbing his wrists as Mika extinguished the last of the flames.

  Drake’s distracted eyes shot up as he drew near. “Did they get away?” he said.

  “What do you think?” Mika said, turning for the room where he was supposed to have found Adelaide according to Isha’s clairvoyant vision. Shattered glass littered the floor in several places. “Someone was here, though. And then Rox and a few of the others showed up. Kaleb, Adelaide, and Connor.”

  “I only saw Adelaide. I absolutely had her and was dragging her to you,” Drake said, still rubbing his wrist.

  “Then what happened? How did she get away?” Mika said.

  “I don’t know. One moment I was bringing her to you and then an instant later I was in lab room AB-26 with my wrists bound. I can’t account for the time in between,” Drake said.

  “Sounds like they knocked you out. Stunned you somehow,” Mika said, pulling his badge from the inside of his breast pocket.

  “I don’t think so. There’s no pain. I have my suspicions based on how things happened and my inability to account for the time,” Drake said and then nothing else.

  Mika twisted around. “Don’t tell me you have a hypothesis and not tell me what it is. I shouldn’t have to drag information out of you. Need I remind you that you do work for me,” Mika said, his voice filled with hisses.

  “Well, based on the fact that I have no injury and Adelaide’s skills wouldn’t work on me, I think it’s possible that time was frozen. I can confirm this by conducting some experiments on the space. When time is messed with, it leaves behind remnants of relativity, which is one theory of how wormholes get created. I can test the space for signs of this,” Drake said.

  Mika didn’t commend Drake, as he was probably hoping. He’d just admitted that he knew how wormholes were created but was going to get zero accolades for such a feat. This was simply because compliments were foolish and Drake had admitted something else. “Why is it that Adelaide’s skill wouldn’t work on you?”

  Drake sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, his small eyes dropping. “I’ve been testing certain protocols on myself. As you know—”

  “You can shield me from your mind, making my telepathy useless on you. Yes, I knew about that. The others from the Lucidites appear to have a similar shield,” Mika said, appraising Drake. “And now you’ve figured out other skills you can implement in order to resist mind control and hypnosis, is that correct?”

  “Yes, sir,” Drake said, pulling his eyes up with a weighty breath.

  “Anything else you’d like to tell me?” Mika said.

  Drake shook his head. It was obvious that he was hiding something. Maybe he was performing the Dream Traveler protocol on himself. Maybe he was creating powers for himself so that he could overpower Mika one day. It didn’t matter because the old scientist was nothing compared to his boss.

  “So you think someone messed with time? Who? And how?” Mika said.

  “I’m not sure, but I’ll also be able to pull the footage from room AB-26. Although we don’t have surveillance in the hallways, it is active in some of the lab rooms. That will fill in gaps,” Drake said.

  “Yes, do this. I want answers,” Mika said.

  “Do you think anyone saw what’s in the storage room?” Drake said.

  “I don’t know,” Mika said. “This just means that we need to have it moved ahead of schedule.” He lifted the badge and swiped it across the reader. It glowed green just before he pulled the door back all the way. The storage room was mostly empty, save for some boxes, and then there was one clear container filled with clear fluid. Suspended in the upright, glass container stood a figure that
was more unknown than anything Mika had ever acquired on the black market. He’d paid an ungodly sum in order to obtain this item. And he just knew that with the proper research he could create something incredible using the genes of the specimen.

  Mika stepped forward, running his hand over the large clear box. The alien’s eyes were closed because it had been dead for many decades. Still, its blood was valuable and he suspected it could be used for something extraordinary. Mika had spent many years studying this alien race and thought he knew how they operated and what their blood could be used to create.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “I think we all have to fight the werewolf within us somehow.”

  - William Kempe

  Adelaide sucked in a sudden breath when her body generated on the GAD-C. She bolted to a sitting position, clapping her hand to her chest. Blinking her eyes, she stared around the room. Only Connor stood, leaning casually against the far wall.

  “Where are the others?” she said, brushing her hair back behind her shoulder. She’d been the last one to dream travel, sending back Rox, Connor, and Kaleb first. That was an agent rule her father taught her. The most powerful agent always traveled back last. She wanted to believe that was her, but everyone had been so strong at Parantaa Research in their own way, even Rox. She’d stopped Connor and Kaleb from being discovered when she ran into Mika, according to their quick debriefing.

  “They went to update Trent and then Zephyr. Both will be relieved to know that you’re back safe,” Connor said, a coy look on his face, his eyes resting to the left of Adelaide.

  She brought her gaze down to where her legs were stretched out in front of her, the pencil skirt tugged up, revealing most of her thigh. Swinging her legs around the side of the GAD-C, she pulled the lavender skirt down, covering herself the best she could.

  “I had guessed that you had telepathy linked to touch before,” Connor said, pushing off the wall.

  “Well, now you know,” Adelaide said. The only thing in the room was the GAD-C. It was the main one the Lucidites used for transport, but the room suddenly felt too small.

  “When you said you had most of your father’s skills, I assumed that was one of them,” Connor said.

  “What do you want, a pat on the head? His skills are detailed in the Dream Traveler Codex, which also states that there’s a genetic component to Dream Traveler gifts. Don’t make yourself out to be Sherlock Holmes,” Adelaide said, sliding off the bed of the GAD-C.

  He didn’t say anything, only regarded her with a stare that seemed to seek to dissect her. She instinctively felt that he could do many things with that stare. Maybe even put her back together. She shook her head at that absurd thought. It was just that at Parantaa Research, when they touched, communicated, it had been so easy. Not an invasion, like it always felt before. For once her gift didn’t feel like a curse.

  “I’m not sorry that I hugged you,” Connor said, pressing his hands into his jean pockets. He was always doing that, she observed. It was like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

  “Next time you might be sorry you hugged me,” Adelaide said. “I’ve been known to clock people for touching me.”

  “You have the ability of mind control and you resort to lowly violence,” Connor said, clicking his tongue at her and shaking his head.

  “I didn’t always know that I had mind control. I just thought that people strangely did the things I wanted. I didn’t even understand my telepathy linked to touch until I met Ren,” she said, again wondering why she was sharing so much with Connor. How did she find herself in these conversations with him?

  “That must have been confusing,” he said.

  She went to shrug and stopped herself. In the book that morning she’d read,

  “Only losers shrug. If you know yourself and your situation then you shouldn’t resort to a gesture that means ‘I don’t know.’ Always know. Know yourself. Know your situation.”

  “It was pretty impressive how seamlessly we were able to work together at Parantaa Research,” Connor said.

  “I didn’t notice,” Adelaide said, walking past him for the exit.

  “I think you did,” Connor said, making her turn back to him. “I think you’re used to shoving people away because your gift makes intimacy difficult. But it doesn’t—”

  “Don’t pretend you can understand what it’s like to have my bloody gift,” she said, cutting him off. “I don’t need your false observations. Just because I heard your thoughts and acted off of them doesn’t mean we work together. And don’t you fucking tell the others that I have telepathy linked to touch.”

  “Because that’s how you gain advantages over others?” Connor said, not looking deterred.

  Adelaide’s insides squirmed with awkwardness when she looked directly at Connor, his green eyes bright with curiosity. She tried to forget what she’d heard in his thoughts when he hugged her, but it seemed to be written across his face now.

  “I just prefer to keep my gifts private. It’s bad enough that most of the Lucidites know I’m Ren’s daughter,” she said.

  He nodded. “I think I’d be proud if he was my father. I’d be wearing that association like a badge.”

  “You wouldn’t if you knew some of the things he did. His power came with a price. He murdered, stole, and cheated. Not to mention he broke every universal law when he died,” she said.

  “But he didn’t really die, didn’t you say?”

  “Right, yeah, it’s complicated,” she said.

  “I’d like to learn more about this complicated thing that was a big part of your past. I’d just like to know more in general about you…” Connor said, stepping forward as Adelaide took a step backward toward the exit. “And I’ll add, I’ve never cared to learn about anyone.”

  Adelaide shook her head. “I’ve never wanted to share anything about myself with anyone and with you that’s no different,” she lied, turning and leaving as fast as her flats would carry her.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “A hungry wolf at all the herd will run, in hopes, through many, to make sure of one.”

  - William Congreve

  The low bluish light of the strategic department filled Adelaide’s chest with gross sentimentality. She hadn’t realized how much she missed the space, which was designed by her father. While at Parantaa Research she found herself squinting from the bright lights and stark white walls and floors. Now she had a new respect for the Lucidite Institute with its stainless steel walls and iridescent blue carpet.

  “Where’s the suit, Little Red?” Kaleb said, pointing at her cargo pants.

  “I put it in your room. The skirt will look much better on you, Runt,” she said. He was sitting in a conference room off the main one, a case opened in front of him. Adelaide glanced over her shoulder where the other strategic agents could be heard conversing nearby.

  “You know, you really need to go through training,” she said to Kaleb, who had bypassed the required training due to his skill.

  “Trent says I don’t have to,” Kaleb said, threading his fingers together behind his head and leaning back.

  “Yeah, well, I think that it will go a long way to integrate you into the department,” she said, tucking the file under her arm.

  “Oh, now I’m getting social advice from the red sheep?” Kaleb said with a laugh.

  “There’s choosing to be separate and then there’s being ostracized because you’ve been given special treatment. And that’s not even the main reason I think you should complete training. It was required for a reason. I even had to go through it,” she said, remembering how irritated it made her when her father didn’t make exceptions for her. Later Adelaide realized that was because he wanted her to stay alive and an untrained agent is a dead one.

  “Look, if I get into trouble then I’ll stop time and fix things to my advantage. I realize that lowly agents such as yourself have to resort to combat training and whatnot, but God just made me special,” Kaleb sa
id, that usual wolfish grin on his face.

  “God made you an idiot,” Adelaide said. “Now I want you to take off your shirt and run into the main conference room, jump up on the table, and beat your chest like a monkey. Then return here and apologize for being a bloody git.”

  At the conclusion of Adelaide’s words, laced with strong intention, Kaleb rose automatically from the table. He pulled up his shirt as he ran for the conference room. Through the glass walls she watched him do just as she’d commanded. And because she was trying to teach him an important lesson she had made the mind control blatant, not a mere suggestion. Mind control done with suggestions was discreet and usually not traceable. That was how her father had taught her how to hide the fact that she’d taken over someone.

  The agents around the table doubled over in laughter that didn’t stop when Kaleb hopped down from the table and ran from the room. Kaleb returned, bare-chested and brow sweating, a moment later. “I’m sorry,” he said, and then his glassed over expression faded. “Wait… what just happened?” Shaking his head, he put his shirt back on.

  “You just learned that you’re not so special. I can control most people in the field, but even I can be caught, hence the whole Parantaa Research thing. My mind control didn’t work on Drake and something similar could prevent you from relying on your ability to stop time. I heavily suggest you complete training,” she said, thumping a file down on the table.

  “Dang, mind control. That’s wicked cool,” Kaleb said.

  “Would you get a fucking dictionary and expand your vocabulary with proper words?” Adelaide said.

  “Hey,” Kaleb said, his eyes moving back and forth but not seeming to see. “At Parantaa Research you seemed to communicate with Connor without saying anything. Are you telepathic as well?”