All in a rush a vision appeared to Kate. Her pupils dilated wide. She spoke with a shocked expression on her face. “The murders…Nate and the client outside the café…Justine being hit by the bus…that was all your doing. My God, Stuart. Why?”
Stuart looked defiant and continued, “Nate was going to leave us, Katie, and take our clients with him. That was what he was doing at Café Luc; he was betraying us all. Believe me when I say that I didn’t follow him with the intent to kill him. It just made me so angry that when I noticed that the Alliance was spying on the two of them with one of their goons, I…influenced him to do what he did…to pull the trigger.”
“What about Justine?” Kate spat out, “What did she ever do to you?”
Stuart actually looked a bit guilty about that one. “Justine finally discovered what I did and confronted me about it. She was going to turn me in to the Alliance. I couldn’t let that happen.”
As he spoke, Tracy and the others gathered behind Kate. Tracy spoke out, “Kate’s right, Stu, your actions are appalling, but,we don’t have time to discuss it right now. We have to get out of here before…”
Clack-clack
They all turned to find more than a dozen assault rifles aimed at them by the now awake guardsmen.
“GET DOWN! DOWN ON THE GROUND WITH YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEADS! DO IT NOW!!! DOWN DOWN DOWN DOWN!!!!!!!”
Travis and Ashley laid flat quickly and put their hands over their heads, with Kate and Tracy doing the same, but more carefully. Stuart stood his ground and laughed.
“Really? Am I supposed to be frightened? I descend from the Homo Illuminati! Your kind used to worship mine as if we were gods! How about you point those weapons somewhere more interesting, lets say…at the person next to you. How about that?”
The shaking gun barrels began to turn, and just as Stuart had commanded, each of them ended up pointed at a fellow guardsman.
Stuart continued, “You are now my soldiers and answer only to me. On my command, you will move out into the rest of the compound and kill any Alliance employee you find. Scientists, other guardsmen, even secretaries will be treated the same.”
He watched as their eyes suddenly moved up to gaze at something above his head. In his mind Stuart saw through their eyes what they were gawking at, then whirled around to see for himself. My bloodied form levitated high above him, halfway to the center of the domed ceiling, arms extended to the sides, with palms extended. There was a wrongness about my body that was difficult to pinpoint at first glance, until you saw his eyes: Talon’s cold eyes in my head. The entire surface of each eye was solid black, yet reflective, like polished obsidian, and the impassive expression on my face gave me an otherworldly and inhuman quality. Then out of nowhere, hundreds of shining pinpoints of light manifested in a perfect sphere around my body, orbiting it like a shield of stars. I watched it all as a spirit. Detached.
Stuart’s heart pounded and he screamed, “Shoot him!!! All of you!!! Kill him!!!!”
The eruption of gunfire echoed off the concrete walls and ceiling with deafening intensity, and each bullet that struck the shield of light exploded in a shower of sparks and molten lead. Then the shield began to expand, and the gaps in the orbiting lights revealed the form of me, who was not me.
Then a piercing ringing sound emitted from my body and everyone fell to their knees, holding their hands over their ears. In the center of their minds, all present heard these words:
Guardsmen, drop your weapons, then be still.
The assault rifles all clattered to the ground noisily. The alien-looking face then aimed its fearful gaze to Stuart’s trembling form, lips unmoving.
Stuart Allen, you betrayed my host and attempted to slay him. I have seen your future and the depths of your soul, you miserable creature. You are a bane to all of your kind and are hereby banished to the Void.
On the center of Stuart’s forehead a shining pinpoint of light sprang forth, followed by one on his shoulder, then another on his ear. Then he cried out as they erupted over every surface of his body. The room stared in shocked silence as the lights flashed, then winked out. Stuart was gone.
Erika ran up to Harrison’s unconscious form and checked for vitals. “He’s alive!” she called out, and two other guardsmen ran up to help with a wary eye turned toward the Prophesier.
The shield of starlight dissipated, and the Prophesier descended to the ground. He walked oddly, like a sailor unaccustomed to dry land after a long voyage. Tracy felt a sharp temperature drop as he passed her, enough to turn her breath to water vapor and form frost on her long eyelashes.
He stopped before Kate, who crossed her arms to defend against the sudden chill. Then the voice returned, this time in Kate’s mind alone. And mine.
Katherine Scott, my host desires you and your allies to be freed from captivity. However, I see what your future holds. There will come a day when you will wish that you had not survived this day. You will find happiness for a time, but will lose everything in the end. Knowing this, do you still wish to be saved?
Her eyes wet with tears, she whispered, “Yes, please save me.” The Prophesier just stared for a moment, then Kate, Tracy, Travis and Ashley became engulfed in starlight, and when the light was gone, so were they.
When Harrison opened his eyes a few moments later he looked confused, but rose to his feet quickly enough. He touched his temple and asked, “What…did you do to me? Adam…my…my thoughts, my mind…something is very wrong.” Then he looked Talon in the eyes and recoiled as if slapped.
“You aren’t Adam. Who…What are you?”
My name is Talon. I am a Prophesier: an oracle who wields the power to change fate. As for your other questions, Adam wishes to answer you himself. He awakens now. You will do him no harm.
The shiny blackness faded from my eyes, and as it did darkness covered my vision and I felt like I was falling from a great height.
I awoke on my feet with my eyes open and staring at Harrison. At first I could not say anything, immobilized by guilt and self-loathing, but my eyes remained locked with his.
My voice trembled as I explained, “Harrison, I did to you exactly what you planned to do with Kate and Stuart once your researchers were done poking and prodding them. I tore out your Mandellian threads. All of them, except for one thin one, the one you use to maintain consciousness.”
“Stupid boy,” Harrison chuckled, “I still have the correlates of consciousness in my brain which built up the threads to begin with. My abilities will return, in time.”
Looking down, my cheeks flushed red, I replied, “I’m sorry. They aren’t coming back.”
Harrison scowled and drew up to his full height. As big as I may be, I still look like a cupcake next to him. He narrowed his eyes and said, “Lets see about that.” I could feel him trying to connect with his former abilities, and his shock at what resulted.
“My…my throat…so dry.” Then he looked down at me in alarm, “Thirst! You replaced all of my powers with…intense…thirst! You…you. How? Why?” His last word came out in little more than a gasp as the big man began to look around for a source of water. The look of shocked betrayal in his eyes will haunt me forever.
I tried to explain, “What choice did I have? Would you rather I had killed you? Besides, the parts of your brain where your power resides are still fully intact, I just cut them off from your conscious mind. When you try to use power, something like a mental short-circuit will happen, transferring your thought into a need for…”
“Water!” Harrison interrupted and stormed out of the room, Ericka following behind him. What a terrible waste.
What had I done? I felt sick.
New footsteps echoed in the corridor, and the petite frame of Dr. Grauer entered the room, followed by an entourage of fresh guards and a few of her colleagues. She approached me without fear, displaying her usual confidence. Indeed, there was even an excitement about her that was almost unsettling.
“My, my, Mr. Sharpe. How busy you
have been since our little talk.” She looked at my ruined shirt and frowned. “How badly are you hurt?”
I lifted my shirt to find freshly healed pink slashes where the stab wounds should have been.
“I’ll be okay, doc.” I replied, then looked at her a moment before asking, “How much did you see?”
Grauer’s lip barely curled up on one side, but her eyes sparkled. “I saw everything from the control room. There are cameras all over this facility. We have a very clear recording of Director Kirkwood admitting to a mass murder. Between that and the loss of his psionic talents, there’s no question that his relationship with the Alliance will be terminated.”
She seemed a little too pleased about that. I suppose with Harrison out of the way, a mighty big power vacuum was left for her to fill.
She continued, “I also have some astonishing footage of you performing psionic feats for which we have no explanation. I expect you to thoroughly debrief me on the matter once you return to full-time employment.”
My jaw dropped open stupidly, then I stammered, “Return? Are you serious? Harrison is getting fired and I’m not? You know that his job was just a cover-up to get me in the building so that I could free Kate, right? You saw the video, so that should be no surprise to you. Why are you still interested in keeping me around? Better yet, why would I stay?”
Dr. Grauer took a half step toward me and whispered softly enough so that I had to lean down to hear her.
“We need you, Adam. That’s why we’ll overlook your duplicity this one time, so long as you swear absolute loyalty from this moment forward. And you will do it because you’re better than the two-bit hustler that you have allowed yourself to be. It’s time that you actualized some of that potential of yours for the good of humanity.”
We stood like that for a time, then I finally answered, “What the hell, why not? I will make a deal with you. I will agree to work for the Alliance as a resource, maybe even an agent, but I’m going back to Detroit. Whatever I do for you, you will have to find a way for me to do it from there. Otherwise…no deal.”
The shrewd woman shook her head, “Adam, I’m sorry but that could never work. We need you here. This is the only place with the facilities to…study you.”
“Hmm,” I replied, “…and I bet it’s also the only place that can contain me. Sorry Doc, the deal’s off. Maybe some other time.”
I cast my gaze around the room at the remaining guardsmen and scientists, and for the first time they responded to me with a wave of positive regard that left me overcome with emotion. I saved them. I saved them all, and they knew it.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
More dreams.
The white sands almost looked blue under the starry sky, save for those surrounding a small fire pit, where the flames flickered and sputtered. A slender man in early middle-age wearing a cotton oxford with linen slacks reclined comfortably in a hammock stretched between two palm trees, having no trouble reading his book in the dark because the beach, fire and stars were all in his mind. However, not everything present was of his making. A shadowy figure stood silently near the water, his silhouette blocking the reflection of the stars behind him.
Curious, but not alarmed, the man in the hammock called out, “Hello there? Who are you? Step forward so that I can see you. After all, this is my sanctuary that you have intruded upon uninvited.”
At first the dark figure did not move, then it slowly approached, gliding over the sand unnaturally, like a specter. Gus slid off the hammock and stood, now afraid, until the dark form entered the circle of light created by the fire. The pale white skin and black eyes were framed by thick black hair that resembled raven feathers more than it did human hair.
“Oh! Adam. You startled me coming in here like that, in the trappings of your former alter ego. What’s the meaning of all this?”
The specter opened its pale lips as if it had never done so before and spoke using my voice.
“Not Adam,” it replied, “The human you know as Adam Sharpe is merely my vessel in this bizarre world of yours. You may call me Talon. I am a Prophesier, though you should remember that from our first meeting years ago.”
Gus looked at him with a sad expression and said, “So be it, boy, I will play along for now. Talon. What can I do for you?”
“The boy knows everything, Augustus. He fell asleep tonight wanting to confront you about it. That must explain why I was summoned here.” Inhuman menace subtly played across the being’s features. “To confront you.”
Not giving any reaction in his face or voice, Gus evenly replied, “Confront me about what?”
“You lied about everything,” accused the Prophesier, “I can read it from your mind as easily as you read that imaginary book. Your name is Dr. Augustus Mandel, the child prodigy who is the only known psionically gifted person not bred by the program. . Abducted by the government as a child, you were studied at the Fortress. However, it was not long before you mastered all the known theories and began developing your own. The work you did revolutionized their understanding of the core principles of psionics. Your work was ground-breaking, so much so that your species named the energy flow between the consciousness and the brain after you. The Mandellian thread. You taught the older students of the academy, who were roughly your age. That’s when caught the eye of a tall beauty with long dark hair named Clare. You had an affair with the girl and she became pregnant with your child. Since he was the first child of the seventh generation, she named him Adam.”
Gus answered that with a chuckle, “Is that your theory? Well, I must say I’m flattered and touched that you would believe me to be your…I mean Adam’s father. Don’t you find it strange that of all the hospitals for me to be laid up in a coma, somehow Adam ended up being brought here as well? A little far-fetched, wouldn’t you say?”
Talon replied with no emotion whatsoever, “You arranged it all, Augustus. As a comatose patient you do not belong in this kind of hospital, but you made it happen to be with your son. While you can not speak or eat on your own, you psionic arsenal remains fully functional. Through the minds of others and remote viewing you watched over your son’s development, and manipulated events so that you would be brought together here, where he could grow under your tutelage and protection.” The black, alien eyes peered into his, “You love him. He’s your son. Admit the truth.”
Finally the facade worn by Dr. Augustus Mandel began to crack, and with a resigned sigh, he said quietly, “It’s true, Adam. All of it. I didn’t want to lie to you, but if I were to tell you the truth you would have sought out your mother, the act of which would have exposed you to that maniac, Harrison. That was not a risk I was willing to take. You were fragile and broken, and I did my best to help you to heal and grow strong, but despite your great power your psyche is dangerously unstable. Even now your trauma has brought back your childhood fantasy self. This is precisely what I had feared…that the strain would be too much for you.”
The dark form stirred, for the first time appearing uncomfortable. He said, “I must go. Adam approaches.” As smoothly as he first appeared, the Prophesier withdrew into the gloom and vanished.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Even though I should be used to dreaming of myself as Talon the Prophesier, lately it has gotten worse. The dreams come every night, and have become so incredibly vivid that I remember them upon waking.
However, this is the first time that I have woken up inside someone else’s head.
Gus stood next to his hammock on the beach in his mind. The first hints of sunrise cast long shadows across the dream landscape.
“Adam,” he said.
“Dr. Mandel,” I replied.
Silence filled the space between us. I was the first to speak again. “Since we first met you were like a father to me. It should be like a dream come true that, in fact, you really are my dad…if not for the lies.”
Gus took a step toward me, “Son, I wanted to tell you, but I was trying to protect you. Please t
ry to understand.”
“What I understand is that you didn’t trust me with the truth. That is what hurts the most. The lack of faith in me.”
“No, please,” my father replied, “I believe in you. I’ve always believed in you.”
All grew silent for a moment, save for the gentle rolling crash of the waves.
I broke the silence. “Tell me about my mother.”
Gus looked down at the sand when he answered, “How do I begin to describe Clare? Even at her young age she looked like a Greek goddess, like Athena. She was the real rising star of the Program, not Stuart, but all anybody noticed about her was her brazenly flirtatious ways. Officially, Harrison was her boyfriend, but even then the young man was consumed by his work. He traveled for weeks at a time, and then upon his return would work 15 hours a day, every day. That is why she tried so hard to make him jealous. One day Harrison stumbled into the room while Stuart and she were kissing, and that finally caught his attention. However, it did not have the desired effect. Harrison became consumed with jealousy, and from that point forward they were bitter rivals. Clare grew tired of it all, and was privately ashamed of her tarnished reputation. She showed up at my door one evening with eyes red from tears and told me everything. Then we…well. We were together that night.”
“Please spare me the details,” I said. “How could you? You were her teacher! She was just a teenager, and she trusted you! She came to you in a moment of weakness and you took advantage of her like a lecherous dog!”
Gus seemed to have trouble looking me in the eyes as he replied, “Please, son, it wasn’t like that at all. Clare was only a few years younger than me! Besides, I never took the teaching seriously. It was just a waste of time that kept me from my research. So there I was, a brainy kid who had never kissed a girl, when out of nowhere the most beautiful girl whom I have ever met suddenly wants me. It wasn’t just her looks, Adam. Her mind was like nothing else I had ever experienced. I could no more have turned her down than I could have gone without air. But…I was her teacher; that is true. What you said to me just now were almost her exact words to me the next day. She stopped speaking to me, not even in class. You are both right, by the way. I was wrong in what I did, but I do not regret it. Just look at you! You are a miracle child. Not only are you the only Program child of your generation to survive into adulthood, but more importantly you have grown into a good man. Of that I’m proud.”
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