The Thought Readers

by Dima Zales

  “No, Darren, thank you for offering, but I’m not asking you to fight Caleb,” she says, still having a hard time keeping a straight face. I’m insulted. How does she know I’m not secretly some Kung Fu master?

  “You have an amazing Reading Depth,” she continues. “You can offer to take him into the mind of some famous fighters. I suspect he would find the idea intriguing.”

  Eugene looks from me to her uncomfortably. “But—”

  “Eugene, please, I’m trying to help save your sister,” Julia interrupts, and Eugene falls silent, his expression smoothing out.

  “Can someone actually do that? Bring another person into someone else’s mind?” I ask, wondering what Eugene had been about to say. He’d seemed worried about something for a moment.

  “Yes,” she says, “absolutely. It depletes your power even faster than pulling someone in, but from what I saw, you won’t have a problem with that.”

  “Why can’t Caleb do this himself?” I ask. “Why can’t he Read some fighter’s mind on his own?”

  “For all his fighting prowess, Caleb isn’t very powerful when it comes to matters of the Mind Dimension,” Julia explains. “He can’t go back very far at all with his Reading, and he can’t do it very often, which is exactly why such an opportunity might appeal to him.”

  I consider questioning her further to figure out what made Eugene uncomfortable, but then I decide against it. “Fine, I’ll do it,” I say instead. I can’t see any other way to help Mira at the moment, and I find the idea of doing this fighter Reading thing rather intriguing. If Caleb is doing it to get better at fighting, does it mean that by joining him, I could get better, too? Or, more accurately, will I actually learn how to fight as a result of this?

  “Great, Eugene, let’s go so they can have some privacy,” Julia says, grabbing his arm and pulling him back toward their frozen bodies.

  “I don’t know how to thank you for this, Darren,” Eugene says on his way to his frozen body, and I shrug in response, still unsure what the big deal is.

  As soon as they phase out, I walk up to Caleb and pull him in.

  “Darren,” he says with a smirk. “To what do I owe the honor of being pulled into your own personal Mind Dimension?”

  “Julia said you might be able to help us, for a price,” I begin, and Caleb laughs.

  “Did she now? And what did Julia think would be my price?” His grin reminds me of a hungry shark.

  “She said you like fighting, in all its forms,” I say, hoping I don’t sound crazy. “She said I can take you into the mind of a couple of fighters as payment.”

  “Interesting,” he says, crossing his arms. “And did she say anything else?”

  “No, just that.”

  “You really did just learn how to Read yesterday, didn’t you, Darren?” he says, still grinning. “What Julia ‘forgot’ to mention to you is that very few Readers would agree to offer me this kind of deal.”

  “Why?” I ask, wondering if I’m about to learn the reason for Eugene’s concern.

  “Because it’s considered a private, almost intimate experience to pull someone else into a Reading,” Caleb says, his grin fading. “You get glimpses of the other Reader’s mind, and vice versa.”

  “Oh.” I try to keep my jaw from dropping. “What does that feel like?”

  “I only did it once,” he says, completely serious now. “But that time, it was incredible.”

  I stare at him for a moment, then shrug. “I don’t care,” I say. “To save Mira, I’ll do it. I’ll let you get inside the heads of a couple of people of your choice.”

  Caleb looks like a happy shark again. “We have a deal then,” he says, smiling widely. “I’ll let you know whose minds I choose.”

  Why do I feel like I did something reckless just now?

  “Oh, don’t make the long face,” he says, apparently sensing my sudden unease. “I promise not to deplete your Depth. We both know you can go back very far, so getting to see a few fights shouldn’t be a problem at all. We won’t see how these men began their careers, only something fairly recent.”

  “Okay, sure.” I decide to worry about it later.

  “Good. Now pull Eugene and Julia back in.”

  I do as he says.

  “Here’s the plan, people,” Caleb barks, taking control of the situation. “Eugene and Darren will leave, looking exceedingly disappointed. Julia, I’ll meet you in the parking lot after I get the supplies I’m going to need. We’ll pick you gentlemen up on Emmons Avenue.”

  “Who else is coming with us?” Julia asks. “Not Sam, I presume?”

  “You presume correctly,” Caleb says. “It will be just me.”

  “Just you?” Julia frowns.

  “Oh, ye of little faith.” Caleb smirks at her. “One of me is probably overkill for this mission.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she says. “I don’t doubt your machismo, Caleb; I just want the girl to survive the rescue.”

  “She will,” Caleb assures her. “You have my word on that.”

  “Okay, then let’s get back to our real lives,” Julia says.

  “Hold up. Darren, there’s something you should know,” Caleb says, turning toward me. “I’ve known Mira for a while. She’s a good kid. I was going to offer to help Eugene anyway—especially since I knew Julia would do something reckless, and Jacob would hold me liable for her actions regardless of my involvement. Not to mention, I like a good skirmish.”

  “So I didn’t need to agree to this deal?” I say dryly, and he shakes his head.

  “Nope. You didn’t. But a deal is a deal.” He winks at me. “I’m really looking forward to all this.”

  * * *

  Leaving the community with apparent dejection, Eugene and I make our way to Emmons Avenue, to the exact place where we caused the last car crash. There are still bits of plastic and glass on the asphalt, but the broken cars have apparently been towed.

  I’m deep in thought, trying to understand how I got involved in all this craziness.

  “Darren, about taking Caleb into someone’s mind,” Eugene breaks the silence.

  “He already told me; you see into each other’s minds,” I tell him.

  “Oh, good. I’m surprised Caleb was so honest,” Eugene says with relief. “Julia should’ve warned you. She can be kind of ruthless when it comes to getting what she wants.”

  Before I can reply, we’re interrupted by a loud car honk. It’s a Hummer—occupied by Caleb and Julia.

  Of course Caleb drives a Hummer, I think as I get in.

  “Give me that address, Darren. We have a damsel in distress,” Caleb says.

  I give him the address, and he sets his GPS to the location. With a roar, the Hummer is off, moving through the streets of Brooklyn like a tank.

  Chapter 21

  We park in a Costco lot in Sunset Park.

  According to Google Maps, the place where they’re keeping Mira is an industrial warehouse. What these guys are doing so far from Brighton Beach, none of us have a clue. Brighton Beach is where the Russian Mafia is supposed to be headquartered, according to Eugene. I hope that this actually plays to our advantage. If they do call for reinforcements, it’s a twenty-minute drive without traffic, according to Julia’s phone. Of course, that assumes the reinforcements are on Brighton Beach, and—this is a big one—that they’re going to need reinforcements against the four of us.

  Caleb jumps out of his seat and starts rummaging through the trunk of the Hummer.

  “Are we shopping for supplies?” I ask, looking in the direction of the huge store. I’m only half-joking.

  “I have everything I need,” Julia says, hanging a messenger bag over her shoulder.

  “They don’t sell the type of stuff I need in Costco,” Caleb responds, putting what has to be a rifle in a special carry case over his shoulder. “At least not in New York.”

  He puts on a vest with special pockets and straps the huge knife I saw previously to it, along with a couple of handgun
s.

  “This is for you,” Caleb says, handing me a gun.

  The seriousness of the situation hits me again. We’re going against armed criminals. Just the four of us. A scientist, a girl whose toughness I haven’t fully determined yet, and, let’s face it, a financial analyst. Caleb is the only person even remotely qualified for this rescue. Despite his unshakable confidence, the odds don’t seem right to me.

  Not to mention, the people holding Mira have an ace up their sleeve: a hostage.

  All we have is our unusual skill set.

  Caleb clearly has a plan, though. He leads us to an abandoned warehouse located a short distance from where we parked.

  We walk up to the top floor, and Caleb methodically unzips his gun case and starts setting up. The gun is huge and looks very professional—complete with scope and silencer. I wonder if this is what he used to gun down our pursuers earlier. Eugene and Julia, who have been silent for some time, exchange impressed looks. Eugene seems grimly determined, while Julia looks thoughtful.

  I gaze around the room we’ve found ourselves in. It’s dusty and dark, despite large, floor-to-ceiling windows—probably because said windows are yellow and covered with grime. Caleb opens one of those windows, lies down on the floor, and aims the huge gun at the industrial warehouse across the street. Then he says curtly, “All right, Darren, pull us in.”

  I leverage my natural anxiety over what’s about to happen and quickly phase into the Quiet. Then I touch everyone in turn, pulling them in.

  Once we’re all in, we walk down the stairs and cross the road. This part of Brooklyn is so abandoned that being in the Quiet doesn’t seem like much of a change. At least not until we cross the road, and Caleb breaks the door with a series of kicks. Even in a scarcely populated area like this, such bold breaking and entering might’ve gotten us noticed and reported, if it took place in the real world.

  “You know, I could’ve picked that lock,” Julia says, looking at what’s left of the door on the ground.

  “You’ll get your chance,” Caleb tells her as he walks into the building.

  We walk through the door and find ourselves in a large open space. There are a bunch of guys frozen in the process of walking around. They all have guns. Caleb walks between the guys and the windows, looking intently at the building we came from.

  His plan is beginning to dawn on me.

  He’s figuring out how to shoot them from our location across the street. He’s triangulating his shots; as soon as we phase back out, he’ll shoot.

  I’ll have to remember to never piss off Caleb.

  “Where’s Mira?” Eugene asks after examining the hangar.

  “Try Reading them,” Caleb says without turning. “We need to figure that out, because once we get back to the real world, the information will be lost.”

  Right. Because you can’t Read dead men. A chill skitters across my spine. Caleb is too calm about it. Too poised. His coldness makes me uneasy. I wonder if I, personally, am capable of killing. Even if it’s an enemy. Even in self-defense. I don’t know, and I hope I don’t find out today.

  For my Reading target, I choose a big guy near one of the columns. He must be on steroids or growth hormones—or both. Though he’s my height, he must be at least two hundred pounds heavier than I am. Being that he’s Russian, I wonder if he’s trying to look like a bear. He’s closer to a gorilla. I catch myself hoping that Caleb doesn’t miss this specific dude with his rifle. We wouldn’t want to face him in anything but a gunfight.

  Putting my hand on his gigantic forehead, I jump in a few hours ago.

  * * *

  We see Mira playing cards with Vasiliy. There is one other guy in the room with her.

  “Na huy ti s ney igrayesh?” we say. As usual I, Darren, marvel at understanding this. He, Lenya, was asking a question about why his idiot bro is playing cards with the hostage. Playing cards with a girl who is a renowned card cheat.

  He, Lenya, is picturing what he would do with the hostage. We see images of Mira tied up and abused. I, Darren, distance myself almost instantly and nearly puke—though this is not easy to do in my current position. Can you vomit mentally? This almost makes me want to jump out of this asshole’s head, it’s so sick. I also feel an instinctive need to protect Mira from ever coming near this guy. I feel dirty. The best way to describe the experience is it’s as if I’m dreaming of being this scumbag. I am rethinking my earlier squeamishness toward killing.

  I shouldn’t jump out, however, as he’s about to give me key information. I try to focus on what the guy’s body is experiencing—an ache from yesterday’s workout, soreness in the knuckles from punching someone, anything except those sick rape fantasies. This approach is flawed, though, because focusing on his body makes me realize he’s getting turned on from these disgusting thoughts. Thankfully, before I’m forced out of his head from sheer horror, he refocuses on what he should be doing. And that is locking the door in front of him from the outside.

  We lock the door, mentally praising Tolik, who is also in the room. At least he has his gun next to him, and isn’t letting the bitch distract him. He also forbade untying her legs from the chair. Tolik will keep Vasiliy in check.

  We walk out into the corridor and through a maze of concrete hallways until we reach the stairs. Then we go down to the main hall, where the rest of the guards are.

  I, Darren, now know where Mira is being held.

  I almost jump out, but I decide to try to go even deeper. I want to know who told this guy to lock the door from the outside. That’s very specific. Whoever came up with that could’ve been trying to limit Mira’s range of motion in the Quiet—and thus might be the Pusher fuck behind all this.

  I jump further.

  We’re sitting in a banya. I, Darren, learn that a banya is a Russian spa—a bit like a sauna, but much hotter. Given how we, I mean he, feels when in there, it sounds like something I should check out.

  I go further still, jumping around scenes from this goon’s life.

  Aha.

  “Keep those doors closed,” Piotr says. We look at Piotr and wonder who the fuck he is to be giving orders around here.

  I, Darren, realize with disappointment that Piotr is another Russian I saw in the very room we’re in now.

  I jump out of Lenya’s head.

  * * *

  “Darren, let’s go,” Caleb says as soon as I’m conscious of being myself again.

  “Give me a minute,” I respond. “I need to check that guy.” I point at Piotr, sitting at a desk.

  “Hurry,” Caleb says.

  I walk up to the guy. He looks a tiny bit more intelligent than the one whose mind I was in a moment ago. I place my hand on his forehead.

  * * *

  I’m in, but I don’t know where to start. Intuitively I jump around scenes from this guy’s life until I find it.

  We’re watching boxing on TV when another mind enters. Time stops; now there are more of us in his head.

  I understand that the guy himself wouldn’t have felt the Pusher enter his mind. Apparently people don’t consciously notice either us or them when we do our thing. But I am very much aware of it. It’s like a ghostly presence. And as I keep Reading, the Pusher begins to give instructions.

  ‘Instructions’ is a poor word for it, but I can’t think of a better one. In reality, they’re almost like experiences the Pusher inserts into the guy’s mind. Like the reverse of Reading. The Pusher inserts experiences and reactions to them. How this will ensure the guy does what he’s supposed to, I don’t know, but it must work. To me, it feels a little bit like a very detailed story of what Piotr should experience when the time is right.

  The experience in this case is pretty simple. ‘Pick up the phone’ is the first step. The Pusher seems to almost play out a fake memory for his target. Every detail of how it would be to pick up the phone is considered: which hand, the weight of the phone in his hand, and so on.

  Next comes the instruction: ‘Text all the t
rusted people with a request to meet at Tatyana Restaurant in an hour.’

  Finally, Piotr is instructed to get up and go there himself.

  After that, the Pusher’s presence disappears. Based purely on the person’s presence in this mind, I can’t tell whether it was male or female. To my disappointment, whoever it was never came into physical contact with Piotr.

  I Read Piotr’s mind a little longer. I’m curious what he’ll recall of the Pusher influence. As I expected, he remembers nothing. He arrives at the restaurant, slightly amused. Isn’t it strange how sometimes you drive someplace, but don’t even remember the driving process? he thinks.

  It seems like the Pusher’s influence has caused a mild memory lapse in the target’s mind, but overall Piotr acts as though of his own volition. It’s interesting to watch how he rationalizes his actions as happening of his own choosing and his memory lapse as one of those times when the conscious mind goes on autopilot and the subconscious takes over. The illusion of free will at its finest. It comes to me all over again how dangerous these Pushers are. Whatever they need done, all they need to do is plant the seed in someone’s mind.

  Mind-rape, Eugene called it. Now I understand why.

  Knowing I won’t get any more than this, I decide to jump out of Piotr’s mind. People are waiting for me.

  * * *

  When I’m conscious again, Caleb is standing next to me looking like he’s about to say something snide. I just head for the exit, explaining where Mira is as I move. The group follows.

  “That’s perfect,” Caleb says when I finish my explanation. “If they’re that far inside the building, they definitely won’t hear my shots.”

  “Did any one of you Read a guy whose name was Arkady in there?” I ask. No one responds, so I assume they haven’t.

  We return to the room across the street, on the top floor near the window. Our frozen bodies are hunched near Caleb, who’s lying on the floor with his eye to the scope of his rifle. I touch my forehead.