by Elana Brooks
“It’s not, which is why I didn’t call your attention to it sooner. But I won’t risk letting you attempt full separation while the tie to your body remains so weak.”
“I can make it stronger.” The glowing line obediently grew thicker as she concentrated on it.
“Yes, but the moment your attention is diverted it will revert to the form your subconscious mind gives it. Its weakness is an indication of how tenuous the connection between your mind and body is. The very intensity with which you long to leave your body shows how dangerous it would be for you to do so.”
He gave her a grave, compassionate look. “It’s clear to me you have a problematic relationship with your physical self. Your feelings about it have formed over many years and won’t be easily changed. I hope your physical training will allow you to develop a more positive attitude about your body. But until that happens, and your tether becomes thick and strong even when you’re giving it no thought whatsoever, I can’t allow you to travel outside your body.”
That wasn’t fair! He wasn’t going to let her leave her body because she wanted to so much? What kind of crap was that? The one thing she’d thought would make this whole rigmarole bearable was going to be denied her. She wanted to weep.
Instead, she plastered a fake smile on her astral face. “No biggie. I’m sure we’ll get there soon.”
Now that she knew how to make the separation herself, he couldn’t stop her. As soon as she got home she’d lie down in bed and do some serious flying. The thought transformed her artificial smile into a real one.
Rabbi Sensei’s voice was very soft and gentle. “I regret the necessity of this, but your deception is obvious, and I won’t let you risk your safety.” Before she could look away, his eyes caught hers. She cringed at the memory of the last time someone had done that.
But this time all she felt was a slight pressure and a vague sense of absence, as if she’d lost a word from the tip of her tongue. She blinked.
“I’ve blocked your knowledge of how to achieve separation. I’ll remove the block during our sessions and restore it when we’re finished, until such time as I’m confident you can be trusted not to endanger yourself unnecessarily.”
She opened her mouth, then clamped it shut again, furious. How dare he treat her like a child! What business was it of his if she chose to do something he considered risky? She was an independent adult. His employee, not his slave. He had no right.
He replied to her thoughts as if he’d heard them. He probably had. “I have the right because my primary goal is to save humanity from the Seraphim. There is nothing I won’t do in pursuit of that end.”
Though his astral form still looked like a frail, gentle old man, Beverly cowered before his suddenly dominating presence. His voice was steel. His eyes were ice. His will was an implacable force of nature. “You’re vital to the purpose of the Covenant, Beverly Jones, and I will not allow you to be lost. No matter what that entails.”
He inclined his head, all his intimidating power once again veiled. “So I suggest you make things easy on yourself and cooperate. First by fully rejoining your astral form to your body, and then by following my instructions.”
“Whatever,” Beverly muttered. She flopped down and shoved her mind back into her brain.
The disorientation he’d warned her about lasted for a while. When her head finally cleared, she got up and stalked out of the alcove toward the elevator without a backward glance.
He’d made his point. She was just a pawn in his game. He might seem like a nice guy, but really he was a power-tripping dictator, getting off on dominating this little world he’d created. Who knew if the aliens were actually real, or if they were just the product of a sick mind, warped by its supernatural gifts into paranoid delusions.
She ought to buy a plane ticket back to Cleveland. But she knew she wouldn’t. Not until she’d persuaded him to remove the block from her mind. She could play along that far.
She’d tasted freedom once. She wasn’t going to give up until it was fully hers.
Chapter 8
Adrian exchanged mechanical chit-chat with the participants in his late session as they mobbed out the door. The day had been a wash. Not even one prospect from this bunch. And who knew what he’d missed from the earlier interrupted class—by the time he’d persuaded the paramedics he was fine and refused to be taken to the hospital, it had been much too late to resume.
Just the rest of this week and one more, and he’d be back at Headquarters. Working with Beverly might not be any better, but at least it would be different. And he’d know for sure that the work he was doing would make a difference to the Covenant’s mission.
The last few participants shuffled out. He walked over to the table and gave Anne and Joyce the bad news.
Without warning, a heavy hand clapped him on the back, and a hearty voice rang in his ear. “Adrian! Long time no see!”
Adrian’s spirits leapt, and he enthusiastically turned to hug the newcomer and thump him on the back in return. “Steve! What are you doing here? I thought you were stuck in Los Angeles for a while yet.”
“Change of plans. Which I understand is your fault.” The big man pointed at Adrian, then gestured to the attractive Latina woman beside him. “This is Rosalia. She’s your replacement.”
“Nice to meet you, Rosalia.” Adrian shook her hand. “I guess Steve’s filled you in on how the recruiting program works?”
“Yes, but I want to hear what you’ve learned from running it, too.” She glanced at Steve, then turned back to Adrian with a wry expression. “I know you were both on the team that designed it, but in my experience these things never work out in practice exactly the way they look on paper.”
“You could say that.” Adrian shook his head, ruefully considering just how big an understatement it was.
Rosalia’s brow creased. “I understand your leaving the program isn’t exactly voluntary. I hope I’m not stepping on any toes by taking your position.”
At least he could reassure her on that point. “Not at all. Actually, you’re a lifesaver. We’re lucky there was someone in the Covenant prepared to take over so quickly.”
She shrugged, looking relieved. “I’ve taught yoga for years, since long before I joined the Covenant. But I’ve never taught astral projection before. I’m glad Steve will be backing me up while I get the hang of it.”
“I won’t leave until we’re both sure she can handle anything that comes up,” Steve added.
“That’s good to hear.” If the Covenant had assigned the woman to the job, Adrian was sure she was competent to handle it, but a beginner shouldn’t have to deal on her own with something like what happened with Beverly. With Steve assisting, she’d be fine.
He grinned at his friend. Steve Miller was a recent member of the Eight; the position had been turned over to him when his mentor had died a few years ago. He had the streaked blond hair of a surfer and the broad shoulders and heavy build of a football player—he’d been a second string offensive lineman at UCLA. Adrian had gotten to know him when they’d served on the long-range planning team together. Steve’s precognitive gifts were the strongest in the Covenant. His visions had guided their preparations. “Have you two eaten? Where are you staying?”
“Yep, our flight got in a couple of hours ago. I think we’re in the same hotel as you—whatever the travel department set up. How about we get some drinks so we can catch up and talk shop before we call it a night?”
“Good idea. The bar in the lobby should still be open.” Adrian pulled his jacket on over his yoga gear, said goodnight to Anne and Joyce, and headed out of the convention center next to Steve and Rosalia.
A short time later the three of them were settled around a table in the hotel bar. Adrian sipped his beer and smiled at Rosalia, who’d stayed mostly quiet while he and Steve yakked it up. “So how’d you get mixed up with a bunch of crazy psychics like us?”
She grinned and shook her head ruefully. “I’ve a
lways had visions of the future. My grandmother does, too; when I was little she taught me not to fear my powers. But she didn’t know about the Covenant.”
“Rosalia was one of my test subjects,” Steve put in. “Back when I was trying to prove that mental powers were nothing but slight-of-hand and wishful thinking.”
“I was telling Beverly about that.” Adrian thought how nice it would be if Beverly were there, filling the empty fourth chair. Would she be able to kick back and relax, loosened up by music and alcohol and good company? It would do her good to see that Covenant folks were just like everybody else.
“I’m looking forward to meeting this prodigy of yours. Good work, by the way. Solomon told me what happened. Sounds like you narrowly averted disaster.”
“I was lucky.” The compliment made him uncomfortable. If he’d been doing his job right and paying better attention, disaster would never have threatened.
“Still.” Thankfully Steve let the matter drop. “Anyway, Rosalia was one of the people who answered my ad when I was looking for self-proclaimed psychics to test. Showed up at the lab raring to show the skeptical scientists a thing or two.”
Rosalia made a face. “It was awful. The test should have been easy—just reading what picture someone was looking at and sketching a matching one. I’d been doing harder stuff since I was five. But it was hopeless. Like trying to read a tree. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. For a while I wondered if I really had been imagining my abilities.” She glared at Steve. “Now I know it was all your fault. I’m still not sure I believe you weren’t doing it on purpose.”
“I swear, it was totally subconscious. I never even realized I was blocking my subjects.” He shrugged, not looking terribly apologetic. “Anyway, after I had my come-to-Jesus, scales fell from my eyes, blah, blah, blah, I searched out the most promising of the people I’d tested and invited them to join the Covenant. Rosalia’s the best of the bunch.”
He grinned and elbowed her, making her drink slosh. She neatly transferred it to her other hand without spilling a drop and gave him a solid punch in the upper arm. He winced exaggeratedly and rubbed at it, laughing all the while. Rosalia kept a straight face for a long moment before she broke into chuckles.
Adrian laughed with them. He’d missed this kind of easy companionability so much. It sucked to have secrets. On the rare occasions his demanding travel schedule let him hang out and socialize with other people, he had to guard his words carefully. He couldn’t even tell a friendly stranger what he did for a living without severely editing the truth.
Rosalia sobered first. “So, Adrian. Let’s get down to business. Tell me everything you think I should know about what I’m going to be doing.”
“Sure.” Adrian went into as much detail as he could about the routine he’d established. Rosalia listened intently and asked insightful questions. Her sharp eyes studied him with more interest than Adrian thought his words alone warranted.
She was just the type that had always appealed to him. Athletic, confident, her dark beauty proclaiming their shared experience outside the majority American culture. And she was a member of the Covenant, too. Not long ago Adrian would have been eyeing her back with equal interest.
Now—she left him cold. Happy to be her coworker, her friend, but that was it. His gaze kept straying to the empty chair. When Steve cracked a joke that sent Adrian and Rosalia into gales of laughter, he found himself storing it away to share with Beverly when next he saw her. When Rosalia spoke softly of her wonder upon discovering the true extent of her abilities, he thought how much Beverly would enjoy having another woman to share her experiences with and started plotting ways to bring the two of them together. Maybe once Rabbi Sensei had Beverly well versed in astral travel, he could introduce them.
When the conversation turned to problems Rosalia could anticipate arising during the workshops, Adrian realized he was reluctant to talk about his difficulties with Beverly. It felt too private. He shouldn’t be gossiping about Beverly’s inner demons. She ought to be able to trust him to protect the secrets she’d never wanted to reveal. He tried to keep his description of what happened to bland generalities, but he could tell neither of the others was satisfied.
Finally Steve said bluntly, “Look, Adrian. I know you’re tangled up with this woman, but that’s no excuse. I respect confidentiality as much as the next guy, but Rosalia needs to know what she might have to deal with. Give her the details.”
Adrian flushed. “I won’t go blabbing about Beverly’s personal business, especially not to people she’s probably going to have to work with eventually. There’s no way the same sort of thing’s going to come up again. Even if Rosalia runs across someone else as strong, it’s highly unlikely they’ll have the kind of issues Beverly does.”
He turned to Rosalia. “You just need to be careful, is all. Don’t get sloppy like I did. During the induction, stick to imagery of only the extremities floating, not the whole body. If someone does manage to separate completely, catch it quick. If I’d bothered to look around, instead of being so sure there was nothing to see that I got tunnel vision, I would have caught her before—”
Before she had a chance to soar into the heavens and be wonderstruck by the magnificence of what she saw…
Steve chuckled and tapped Adrian’s hand. “Earth to Adrian. All right, I get your point. But I still think Rosalia needs to—”
Steve froze. His eyes unfocused and his lips parted. His body went rigid, and his hands braced against the surface of the table so hard it trembled.
Rosalia caught her empty glass before it rattled off the edge. She shot a worried glance at Adrian.
Adrian licked his lips and prepared to catch Steve if necessary, while being careful not to touch him. “He’s having a precognitive episode.”
“I know. I told you, I have them, too.” She shivered and scooted closer to Adrian. “He said his visions are always of the Seraphim. About their plans to conquer Earth.”
Adrian put his arm around her shoulders for comfort. “Steve’s the only one we know of who’s ever had a vision of them. We think they have some way to shield their future actions from most people’s precognition. The Covenant is incredibly lucky to have someone who’s strong enough to break through and foresee what they’re going to do. We’ve based our whole defensive strategy on his visions.”
She nodded, but the crease on her forehead didn’t smooth out. Adrian knew how she felt. Steve’s insight into their enemy’s activities was invaluable, but also unnerving. There was always the chance he might come out of a trance with some terrifying new information that would spell the Covenant’s doom.
Adrian glanced around to make sure they hadn’t drawn attention. Luckily the bar was almost empty, and the few other patrons across the room were too absorbed in their own conversation to notice anything. He had ready the excuse he’d used a few times before, about how it was only a minor epileptic seizure and Steve was already on medication to control them. But it was always better not to have to pull it out.
Around twenty seconds later Steve closed his eyes and sagged back in his chair, breathing hard. He rubbed his hands on his thighs. A slight smile touched his lips, broadening as he blinked a few times, then focused on Adrian. “Hey. Good news for a change.”
A weight lifted from Adrian’s chest. “What did you see?”
Steve blinked again and rubbed his forehead. “The Seraphim colony ship, like always. The commander and navigator were on the bridge. The navigator said ‘I’ve completed the calculations for the modified deceleration schedule you requested. It will indeed prove far more efficient than our original plan, but it will take longer. I estimate we’ll arrive at the planet approximately three of its years later than we’d previously hoped.’”
Adrian sat up straight. “No way.”
Steve grinned but raised his hand. “The commander was quiet for a minute, then said, ‘My choice is clear. Better to arrive later but with ample reserves to carry us through di
sembarkation than to risk running low on supplies before the planet is ready for us due to ill-considered haste. After all this time, a little longer will make no difference. Implement the revised schedule.’”
Adrian shook his head in wonder. “This is just the break we needed.”
“I know. It’s huge.” Steve drained his drink and sighed. “The rest of the Eight will want to hear the good news as soon as possible. I’m going to my room to contact them. See you two in the morning.” With a quick wave he strode away.
Rosalia watched him go, her eyes big. When he was out of sight, she turned to Adrian. “Three more years. That’s not very long. Will it really make much difference?”
Adrian realized his arm was still around her and pulled away. “The screening programs have been turning up fewer potential recruits than we’d expected.” He took a swig of his drink. “Before we learned about Steve’s visions, all we had to go on was the information in the third Memory. Our researchers managed to translate the alien astronomical coordinates and calculated a pretty narrow window for their arrival—roughly thirty years, starting around now. But since no one was having precognitive visions of their arrival, everyone thought it would be toward the later end of the estimate.” He shivered. “Then Steve showed up, and suddenly we had a hard deadline. We threw all our preparations into high gear, but we’ve always worried it wouldn’t be enough. Three years isn’t much of a reprieve, but it will give us time to improve our recruiting methods, find more gifted people, and train them better. It could easily make the difference between victory and defeat.”
Rosalia nodded slowly. “Can we be sure Steve’s visions are accurate? If the Seraphim really are using some kind of shielding, it seems strange that one person wouldn’t be affected.”