Out of Touch

by Leia Howard

  Ranger Pallaton jumped in. “To add to Detective Tamez’ discoveries, the call center agent provided more details. The specifics are included in the written analysis. Ultimately, he worked backwards for the end goal to be creation of the secondary case and had to assign Psycepts and mark something as urgent to do so. So, he apologized for not recognizing the urgency of this case from the call. From a military perspective, we can take this as a learning opportunity and a chance to refine the Psycept database system and revisit package sorting and call center protocol.”

  “Thank you Detective Tamez and Ranger Pallaton for the information updates and recommendations. Lowell, can you please take point on process review? Thank you for everyone’s hard work. Is there anything else to add?” Sheriff Helki asked.

  “I just received an email from the RCMP contact. He said the Canadian Coast Guard would like to pass along their thanks. Gregory Sammons was sighted and has been taken aboard a vessel and is now receiving medical treatment onboard. Apparently, the Coast Guard left two assets near the search area from the weekend, so both were nearby and able to quickly arrive at the new search grid and locate Mr. Sammons. He has an infection from the gouges on his leg, and he is dehydrated and delirious as you indicated, Gray. But, everyone is grateful he survived so long without fresh water. His girlfriend and family have been notified and the girlfriend will be at the dock to accompany him to the hospital.”

  “Well, I’m glad this was not a fatal lesson, but learn from it we shall. Thank you for the news, Tamez. If nothing further, this concludes the meeting,” Sheriff Helki replied.

  Nothing new to report, so the call ended. I was thankful that my mistake did not cost someone their life. Unfortunately, most of my missing persons cases ended in death, not survival. It was nice when I could count a case as a win, rather than just completed. Helping to bring a murderer to justice after the fact was a cold comfort and I would much rather have an outright positive outcome.

  Even though the circumstances of the case were unusual and urgent, I still managed to conclude this case close to the three hours I allotted for consultations. Time to return to the job that I earned money from.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Thursday morning was routine, thank goodness. I arrived to updated information from Mark and O’ke. All prior month’s information is now completed, and we are mid-way through this month, which will be included as the final month on the presentation. The SWACon Police meeting was four weeks away, but I should have everything in by then.

  Just before lunch, I receive an email from the event coordinator at the hotel confirming receipt of all the expected packages for my client’s conference tomorrow. I received tracking updates showing the packages delivered. I trust others to do their job, and on the phone call yesterday, the coordinator said she would send me an email. I like working with competent people. Having said that, I would have called after lunch if the hotel had not contacted me. What is the saying, trust but verify?

  I appreciate you letting me know. The conference room set up will take place tonight after 7 pm, correct? Can you please have photos of the room provided to me after the set up as well as a picture of the equipment, so I can check it off the list? I replied to the email.

  The room should be completed no later than 7 pm. Today’s meeting is scheduled to conclude at 5 pm, and it’ll take a little over an hour to set it up for tomorrow. Yes, I can have our conferences majordomo send you pictures after the set up. Anything else I can help you with?

  My client should arrive this evening, around 5:30pm. He indicated that he would like to look over the materials. Can you please leave the packages at the front desk rather than take them to the conference room? Or, if possible, can the packages be taken up to his reserved room?

  I can have the packages taken to his room and will leave a note with the front desk, so they can let him know upon check-in.

  Thank you for all your help. We’ve used your hotel for our meeting place the past few years and have received nothing but excellent service. I will be sure to provide your praise to the appropriate parties. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day.

  I sent off the customer survey regarding the scheduling and coordination of the room. My client and the attendees will be asked to rate the actual service provided tomorrow. With the two-hour time difference between Toronto and Albuquerque, I expect photos in the four o’clock hour. I dashed a quick email to my client, apprising him of the status of the packages and the conference room. I’ll also send him the photos when they arrive, or he may request to see the conference room himself. Glad that this event was nearing completion, I went to lunch.

  I have one hour between returning from lunch and my teleconference with Sheriff Helki. I put that time to good use by surfing ridiculous Reddit threads. Whatever, I am feeling horribly lazy and I’m the boss, dang it. Fifteen minutes before the teleconference was to start, I received an instant message from Dani.

  Chica, Sheriff Helki just walked in the office with me. He would like to have the meeting with you in person, and not in the conference room.

  UGH, he couldn’t have requested this earlier? I could have meet with him in his office. Glare at him for me, you know my scary stare. Tell him to give me ten minutes to get my office in order. He can sit on a chair and wait, and don’t offer him anything to drink. He doesn’t deserve it.

  I will do none of what you said. I just took him the conference room to wait and he is drinking a glass of ice water. I told him you’ll get him in about 10 minutes. UR welcome.

  Dani, just know that you’re not getting any thanks from me. Is your dad with him?

  Good thing you pay me in money, not gratitude. And no, Dad isn’t with him. I just returned from lunch with him and he was going to wait for you to bring him on the call.

  Good to know, but still no thanks for you.

  My office is usually off-limits, but Sheriff Helki is not someone I can easily turn down. He could make life on the conservatorship very uncomfortable. Well, I am about to return the favor. I place a disposable ream on my visitor’s chair. The ream is similar to what a doctor’s office drapes the exam bench with. I then pull the background curtain down to separate my consultation area from the rest of the office and I unhook a wooden beaded curtain that Wendy designed to cover my bathroom hallway entrance. I brought my office chair to sit beside the visitor’s chair, which was as far away from my desk and the consultative area as I could get. Finally, I pulled on my gloves as I left my office, made a quick stop in the hallway closet to grab a bundle, then headed to the conference room.

  Pulling open one of the sliding panels after knocking a brief alert, I take stock of the occupant. Sheriff Helki is tall, a little over 6 feet. His black hair is parted down the middle with two small braids on either side of his face, leaving the rest to fall free midway past his shoulders. His face is slightly broad with wonderfully prominent cheekbones below his dark grey eyes. His choker necklace is made of bison bones, beads, turquoise, and silver which flows down to join his chest plate. Jeans are tucked into tall deer-skin moccasins with wraparound leather strings and a woven shirt completed his look. Like all able-bodied GT citizens, Sheriff Helki did two years of military service, but this was before I moved to Bosque. The compulsory military service also served as a time for him to obtain an associate degree in criminal justice. He knew that he wanted to be with the police, so after completing his two years military service, he became an officer of SWACon and worked on getting his bachelor’s degree. Sheriff Helki has since acquired two master’s degrees, good on him. He is in his mid-to-late-thirties yet looks like he was twenty-five. A good-looking twenty-five at that, but don’t tell him I said so.

  “Sheriff. I thought this was going to be a teleconference. If I’d known you wanted to meet in person, I would’ve joined you at the police station. Do you still wish to have the meeting here, or would you like to reschedule for later today, so I can meet you at your office?”

  His eyes seemed to sm
irk at my mildly miffed tone. “I am being bombarded at work today, so I thought it would be best for me to leave the office for a bit. I have an open-door policy, but sometimes I just need to not be readily available or within reach. Here is fine.”

  “I hope Lowell knows you’re here in person. He just dropped Dani off from lunch and she mentioned you walked in with her. I don’t want him to think I arranged an in-person meeting behind his back and that’s why I didn’t want him to join until after I spoke with you. He has the authority to designate me as a priority Psycept for casework. That will overwhelm my consideration queue and then I’ll be forced to kill him. Which is illegal. Also, morally wrong, though I think I’d be justified.”

  I feel he was holding a smile back, though as usual, his face does not even hint at a grin. “Yes, I let him know before he left for lunch. Dani let you know I would prefer not to have the meeting in here, correct?”

  “Yes, which leaves us with meeting in my office. So, you have no one to blame but yourself for how the next thirty minutes will go. First, please wipe down your tablet with the equipment wipes on the conference table. Then, put this PPE on, and yes, I’m serious. I suggest you tie your air back first, then booties, coverall, mask, pull up the coverall hood, and finally gloves. Gloves are last because I don’t want your gloves to come in contact with your skin or hair. I won’t make you wear eye protection today, but if you try this again, the goggles are coming out. You can stay in here to don everything. This is a sign listing the order in which put on the PPE, in case you forget. It also provides visual aid if the PPE we use is unfamiliar. After your PPE is on, please wipe down your tablet again with a fresh wipe. Use a wipe to open the conference room doors, please. I’ll bring you a fresh glass of ice water to my office and wait for you outside my door, it’s to the right of the main room. Fair warning, I think something died under my window, so there is an odor. It is on my list of things to look into on Saturday.”

  The neutral expression that he habitually wears is now slightly incredulous. Mission accomplished. I put the PPE on the table, grabbed the used glass with a latex glove, then left him to it. I first go to our kitchen to get a pitcher of ice water and a new cup. Both the pitcher and the cup are plastic, which is less susceptible to absorbing psychic energy. Glass, being a slowly flowing substance, is much better at capturing psychic emissions, even fleeting ones. Quartz and other crystals are similarly efficient. Clay, natural fibers, and the noble metals are also capable of capturing sensations but require longer exposure time. Thus, while I like jewelry, I don’t wear it but am delighted to read jewelry. Synthetic materials, like plastic, required longer and more direct handling to absorb emanations. Wood and bone, while natural, are set in their ways. They come from once living material and know their own, not mind, but will maybe. Wood and bone also require repeated handling or exposure to a person for an imprint to set in their intrinsic nature, but once in place, they kept impressions well. The resistance to store memories is the reason my furniture is either new wood or plastic.

  I unlock my office door, place the pitcher and the cup on the wooden table between the chairs, check my RAMI in its holster, then waited briefly for Sheriff Helki to appear. My office door is locked when I leave my gun strapped to my desk holster. I try to be a responsible gun owner and limit easy access to my office, or I bring the RAMI with me outside my office. At lunch, I leave my RAMI in my desk holster and lock my office but carry my mouse gun on me. For a meeting with known peace enforcement, I felt it was prudent to leave my RAMI in its desk holster and not bother carrying my Bobcat. I stepped outside my office and pulled my door most of the way closed, then waited for the sheriff to arrive.

  Sheriff Helki walked down the short hall, reading the sign on my door. Even through his mask, I could tell he wanted to grin. Instead of a nameplate at eye level, the sign read, “NOT AN ENTRANCE. PLEASE USE OTHER DOOR.” Those seeing the sign wondered what other door?, and their confusion stopped them from entering. This was a highly effective, but little used tactic, as everyone I knew was aware of the no visitor policy for my office. I grasp the edge of my door and push it fully open, step into the room, then usher the sheriff into my office.

  “Please have a seat on the draped chair. The pitcher and the cup are for your use. I ask that you carry them out with you when you leave my office. Our meeting is to be the two of us first, then I will dial in Liaison Lowell. Is this still acceptable?”

  I could see Sheriff Helki discreetly looking around my office. I notice his slight pause and the widening of his eyes when he saw my breech-loading shotgun secured to the wall beside my desk. It was out of view of my monitor mounted webcam, so he has not seen it on any of the video conferences we’ve had over the years. The pictures on the walls are impersonal and I have no photos of family or friends displayed. I perform my consultations here and I don’t want any of the impressions I read to taint my personal life, or leach into any bonds I have with my friends and family.

  “Yes, bringing Liaison Lowell in after our discussion is good. So, why did you want to keep him out of the full meeting?” he asked, taking his seat and swiping his tablet.

  I grab my own tablet and sit in my desk chair. “I just sent you an email with an attachment. According to next month’s agenda for the semi-annual SWACon Police meeting, Chief Quanah will be attendance. This is the first time in the eight years I’ve been handling this task that I recall that our military leader will be present. Considering this, I wanted to discuss the layout of the presentation material. I think that I should either carve out or drill down to information that will also pertain to the military. For instance, information regarding our joint entry point monitoring. Also, the Psycepts that are linked to the military, like PsyKinetics or PsyPorters. The attachment has a couple of samples of how I can separate or highlight police information that the military might be interested in. Feedback?”

  The sheriff looked up from his tablet, eyes smirking at me, again. “Always so efficient. And good job spotting the new attendee. Regarding the presentation material, I prefer the drill-down information route. It keeps the main numbers consistent with previous year’s reports but allows us to highlight sub-categories. Let me know if you need specific information. Each SWACon region has its own military contact. So, if you need more detailed information than what O’ke can provide, we can reach out to our contact. Anything else?”

  “Nope. I’ve been able to extract the military data from the information O’ke sent. You don’t want to include any further info than what I provided in the sample, correct? I say with the understanding that the only possible answer to that is ‘no’.”

  “Yes, Gray. I do not have anything I wish to add to the second sample, which I fully approve to be used. Now, on to something I wish to address. The consultation that you are doing Saturday for Plateau Conservatorship, can that be moved to tomorrow afternoon? Chief Quanah and Chief Yanaba wish to attend the reading. If they’re present, then Lowell and I will also be there. Objections?”

  My mind raced. I’m reluctant to do body touch readings to begin with. I only agreed because it appeared that PlateauCon tried alternatives before contacting me. By permitting the Plateau representatives to be nearby for the reading, I can’t see a reason to deny leaders of my own conservatorship. However, it begs the question, why do the chiefs want to attend? I’ve never met them in person before, though I know their name and likeness. “Has Chief Yanaba every personally observed a Psycept during a consultation? Has Chief Quanah met Psycepts other than PsyPorters and PsyKinetics? Why do they wish to attend?”

  “My belief is that the representatives are drawing the chiefs to the session. They are a little higher up than a mere detective or ranger. Wakiza oversees a small number of PlateauCon officers that interact with Canadian petitioners on behalf of the Greater Tribe. Plateau is the second smallest conservatorship and both their regions have Pallaton as the military contact. Yes, Chief Yanaba has been present during consultation readings. She’s observed
various PsySapients as well as several PsyChometrists. Chief Quanah has met other Psycepts but has never directly observed a reading, he’s only viewed video recordings.”

  “No one is to observe my reading, no exception. This means that there can’t be anyone outside the room, either. This isn’t my wish or a request. It’s a binding stipulation set forth in my residency contract. I will not perform a reading under observation. If there are problems agreeing to this, then the petitioners can contact a sage. I hope that the PlateauCon reps don’t assume the presence of the chiefs can change my mind. Nor should the chiefs consider themselves able to order me to bypass the caveat.”

  My residency contract took over six months to negotiate. The GT sent me a standard residency contract to sign, but I sent it back with several lines crossed out, words inserted in, even whole sections added or removed. One of my hard lines was absolutely no direct observation of my abilities, I agreed to a camera recording my object touching, but I controlled the camera. Another absolute was that I could not be compelled to directly touch a person, either physically or through legal channels. In exchange, my residency contract terms are longer than most other Psycepts.

  “I’ll make your irrevocable terms abundantly clear. So, you’re able to do the reading tomorrow instead?”

  “Yes. The reading will tire me out and I’ll be unable to return to work. So, it’ll have to be at the end of my workday, say 3:30 pm. And I’ll carry my Bobcat on me.”

  “No problem. I can have a vehicle pick you up from work and drop you off at home afterwards. Thank you for accommodating the requests, Gray.”

  “Just know, this will not continue. Whatever information you and everybody else is looking for, I don’t care. This is a one-shot deal. And my bike comes with me. I don’t want to be stranded at the hospital in case a ride becomes unwanted.”