by Saxon Andrew
Britt stared at his parents in shock and Funny Man said, “I told you that you’re wealthy.”
“But I had no idea about this!”
Grady looked at Taffy, “We need to start bringing Britt up to speed on our finances. He’s old enough now to start preparing.”
“Preparing for what?” Britt demanded.
“You have been designated as the executor of our wills. If you’re not available, Candy will do it.”
Britt fell back in his chair, “I’m speechless.”
Funny Man responded, “I just heard you.” Taffy and Grady burst out laughing and Britt finally joined them.
• • •
The hotel ended occupancy and many of the hotel staff decided to retire. Fleet support personnel replaced them and operated the seven restaurants. Funny Man was given the first room and he turned to Britt, “I can live here! It’s not the luxury in the bedroom I used in your house, but it’s quite comfortable.”
“You’re welcome to stay with us.”
Funny Man put a hand on Britt’s shoulder, “It’s time I found my own way.”
Britt nodded, “You’re welcome any time you want to visit.”
Funny Man smiled softly, “It’s from you allowing me to see your thoughts that first day that led to me being here. You are much more than you think you are, brother.”
Britt smiled, “Thank you for that. You’ve made my life better for knowing you.”
• • •
The next day, military shuttles lifted from the bases on New Britannia and moved out to the cities. They were directed by one of the four telepaths to the sites where they were to pick up the telepaths and it went off without a hitch. Even Grim participated in the operation, even though it was clear she didn’t want to.
Chapter Seven
Linda Kay and Sweets stood inside the restaurant and didn’t hear a sound, but nearly everyone in the room was standing up shaking fists or grabbing someone and shaking them. Sweets sighed and lifted her communicator, “Grady, you need to get down here to the hotel; things are getting out of control!”
“What’s going on?!”
“It appears there’s a major confrontation among the telepaths and an all-out brawl is about to happen.”
“I’m on my way.”
Taffy looked at him, “What’s going on?”
“The telepaths are at each other again and Sweets says it’s about to turn deadly.”
“I’m going with you!”
“So am I!” Cami added. They looked at her and she said, “You need me to find out what’s going on and to talk with them.” Grady glanced at Taffy and nodded. They sprinted to the roof and Grady lifted a shuttle and took off at the best speed possible to get through aerial traffic above the city. They landed outside the hotel’s entrance and rushed in to the front restaurant that was serving the early meal. He rushed in ahead of Taffy and Cami and arrived next to Sweets and Linda Kay. Sweets yelled, “ATTENTION ON DECK, ADMIRAL IS PRESENT!!”
Everyone in the restaurant saw Grady Henricks and immediately came to attention and stepped back from the person they were confronting. Grady stared at them and said, “Take a seat!” Everyone sat down and Grady looked around the restaurant and saw numerous people were getting up from the floor where a fight had broken out. He glared at them and they immediately went to their chairs.
Grady continued to stare at them in silence as Taffy and Cami walked in and stood beside him. He turned to them and said, “Find a chair.” Cami looked around and saw Phil and his wife sitting at a table near the entrance; she walked over and raised her eyebrows. Phil smiled and pointed to a chair next to him. Cami sat down and turned to watch her father. Taffy remained where she was, and Grady saw she wasn’t going anywhere.
He blew out a breath and turned to the room. “The behavior you’re exhibiting is unbecoming of Naval Officers! I want to deliver a punishment fitting for what’s happened, but I know that it’s not your fault.” The hundreds of telepaths sitting in the restaurant were surprised by his comment and looked at each other wondering where this was headed. Grady walked out into the center of the restaurant and looked around at the telepaths closest to him. He took a breath and said, “Our species has existed for more than a million years. Over that time, humans have learned, sometimes the hard way, how to exist together peacefully. We’ve learned what to say to each other, what not to say, and a combination of both. Wars broke out in mankind’s primitive civilizations at words that shouldn’t have been spoken between the leaders of various communities. But over the millennia, humans learned how to conduct themselves when living among others. All of our acceptable behaviors have been learned at the price of lives lost until those behaviors were internalized and followed. Even today, misunderstandings happen that lead to conflict…but not near as frequently as they once did. You are something different and our rules of conduct are just not useful for you.”
Grady paused and looked around the room. He shook his head slightly, “People without your telepathic talent can’t hear what people around them are thinking and quite frankly, that’s a good thing.” Grady waved a hand around the room, “But now, here you are, and you’ve had no time to develop the rules you need to live together. Almost all of you have been isolated and alone, now you’ve been thrown together and expected to know how to live together peacefully.” Grady paused and shook his head, “I just don’t know how that can happen and the unfortunate thing is I have no idea how to lead you. My trying to give you the rules on how to communicate with each other would be like a blind man trying to tell someone with sight how to go to the nearest grocery store. I’m just not capable of truly understanding what all of you are going through and it bothers me greatly. You’ve not had the opportunity over thousands of years to find out the rules and expectations that would allow you to live peacefully.”
Cami looked at Phil, “May I use your napkin?” Phil smiled and handed it to her. Cami took a pen out of her small purse and started writing.
Grady sighed, “I wish I had the answer; I don’t. But I can clearly see that you aren’t prepared to live together. The confrontation I witnessed when I entered here was clear that all of you just aren’t prepared to live together. I pray that you will quickly find the right norms and morays that will bring you peace. I’m sorry that I just wasn’t prepared to bring you together.”
A telepath sitting close to Grady said, “It’s not your fault Sir.” The telepath looked around and said, “We aren’t prepared either.”
Grady nodded, “I know. I wish you could tell me how to make it happen.” Cami raised her arm and Grady saw her. He started to look away and she shook her arm vigorously. Grady nodded toward her and said to the room, “This is my adopted daughter, Cami. Like you, she is a telepath. What do you want Cami?”
“I have some rules!”
Grady’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean by rules?”
“I have some rules that will help us live together.”
Grady smiled, “You can share them with me tonight when we’re at home.”
A telepath said, “Sir, I’d like to hear what she has.” Several other telepaths voiced agreement with him.
Grady looked around the room and raised his shoulders, “Do you want to hear them?”
A resounding yes filled the room. Grady looked at Cami and said, “Tell us your rules, Cami. When did you come up with these rules?”
“I thought of them while you were talking, Daddy.”
Grady smiled and Taffy went over and sat down beside Cami. Cami stood up and said, “I’ve sort of listed them with the most important first.”
“How many rules do you have?” Grady asked.
Cami smiled, “Four!”
The room was filled with laughter and Grady smiled, “Go ahead; tell us what you have.”
Cami lifted the napkin, “Rule number one! Everyone’s thoughts are their own and should not be invaded without their permission.”
Grady shook his head slightly, �
�Go on.”
“Rule number two! If you have something bad to say to someone, you tell them face to face verbally or not at all.”
Grady’s head tilted, “Why did you come up with that?”
Cami raised her shoulders, “It’s easy to send a thought from far away without having to confront the person. If you have to say it to their face, most people will just forget it.”
Grady shrugged and nodded for her to continue. “Rule number three! If you have something nice to say to someone, tell them any way you can as quickly as possible, telepathically or verbally.” Cami looked around and smiled, “Everyone should hear something nice about them every day. It makes their day better.”
Cami looked at Grady and he nodded with a soft smile on his face. “Rule number four! Treat everyone around you like you would like to be treated.”
“Where did you come up with that one?” Grady asked.
“Dad, that’s just common sense.”
Phil stood up and looked around the room, “From the mouths of babes comes great wisdom. These rules are what we need to live together, not only with ourselves but with those without telepathy as well. Can everyone here agree to follow these four rules? I believe they should be rules we use.” No one in the room spoke and Phil smiled, “I need a better answer than that. Everyone who will promise to follow these four rules, please stand up.” The entire room came to their feet. Phil’s smile was huge, “This won’t be easy. Looking at other’s thoughts is almost second nature but given enough time, I believe we would all learn that it’s not the acceptable thing to do and eventually come up with this rule on our own. Agreeing to it now, shortens the time we need to adopt it. Thank all of you for this, and I hope you will share this meeting with those who aren’t present.”
Grady looked around the room and said, “Being angry with those around you is just not right. All of you have something in common that billions don’t possess; you should treasure each other. Thank you for hearing me out and trying to come together.”
A woman started clapping slowly and soon the entire restaurant joined her. Grady nodded and led Cami and Taffy out to the shuttle.
Linda Kay shook her head slightly, “He is so amazing!” Sweets smiled and nodded toward the entrance, “They need some time alone to discuss this.” Linda Kay turned and followed her out of the restaurant.
• • •
Phil heard Martha say, “He’s right.” Phil nodded. “Did they really agree to do this?”
“How would I know?” Martha’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve promised not to look at their thoughts and that’s a promise I will keep.” Phil saw someone out of the corner of his eye standing next to their table and he turned to see who it was; it was Grim. Martha looked at her but didn’t respond. Grim looked at them and asked, “May I speak to you for a moment?”
Phil nodded to the chair across the table from them. “What’s on your mind?”
“I just don’t understand how you’ve been able to hide for more than fifty years.”
Phil stared at her and shrugged, “It’s not as difficult as you think.” Grim’s eyes narrowed and Phil sighed and leaned back, “All you need to do is deny your talent.”
Grim’s head tilted, “I don’t understand.”
“Just refuse to use it. Lock your mind and never use your telepathy. Live like any normal person and you’ll never be discovered.”
“That’s what you did?” Phil nodded. “How could you not look at other’s thoughts around you?”
“Billions of humans have been doing that for more than a million years and they’ve done perfectly fine,” Phil replied.
Grim stared at him and said in a snarky tone, “It’s easy for a man to do that.”
“Why do you say that?” Martha asked.
“I’ve looked at the thoughts of men and see they are inherently evil. I would have been abused numerous times if I didn’t look at their thoughts and escape.” Martha looked up and rolled her eyes. Grim’s expression turned angry, “It’s so easy for you to sit there after living a life of safety. You’ve never been abused and have no idea what I’ve endured. Rolling your eyes tells me what sort of simpleton you are.”
Martha’s eyes narrowed and Phil said, “Martha was viciously abused by her father and you owe her an apology!!”
Grim jerked her head to Martha and said, “Is he right?”
“He is!”
“How did you survive that?”
“I didn’t! I still have thoughts about that time in my life!” Grim sat back and slightly shook her head. “You must have had the same thing happen to you.” Grim stared at her and then nodded. “It shows,” Martha commented. Grim’s expression turned angry again and Martha waved a hand at her, “Your sour expression along with that ridiculous makeup you’re wearing makes it clear you don’t want any one near you. Oh, it shows alright!”
“You obviously don’t understand what I went through!”
“Oh?”
“You’re married and how you could ever do that, I’ll never understand. How can you endure having a man touch you?”
Martha stared at her and Phil said, “It took me three years to convince her to allow me into her life.” Grim turned to him. “I met her at a function the company I worked for put on for schools in our city. I saw her and saw she was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I introduced myself and immediately saw she had a tender heart for all the students she was teaching. I decided that I wanted to know her better.”
Grim was silent and Martha looked at Phil before saying, “I turned him down flat. I told him to buzz off and not bother me.” She looked at Grim, “I was like you at that time.”
“What made you change?” Grim asked.
Martha turned back to Phil, “A loving heart. He kept trying and one day I decided, ‘why not’. I went out with him to a restaurant and saw that he was sincere in wanting me in his life. It took another year, but I finally agreed to a monogamous relationship. A year after that, we were married, and my life of suffering ended.”
Grim shook her head and turned to Phil, “What did you say to make her change her mind?”
Phil shook his head slightly and Martha said, “I told him that I was abused by my father and that I could never allow myself to be close to a man.” She looked at Phil and asked, “Do you remember that night?”
“Like it was yesterday. You stood up and left me in the restaurant alone.”
Phil and Martha stared into each other’s eyes and Grim interrupted them, “What happened?”
“Phil met me after class a week later and told me he would leave me alone and disappear if I would just answer one question; I agreed.”
“What did you ask her?” Grim asked Phil.
“I told her that her father was just one person in her life. I asked if every other person she knew was like him. I asked her if anyone in her entire life had ever loved her.”
Martha smiled slightly, “My daily thoughts were filled with the horror of my father. I never thought about my sister and brothers…or my mother. I know they loved me deeply, but I kept my distance even from them. Phil looked at me and said that he loved me more than everyone else in my life combined.” Martha stared at Phil and smiled, “That broke through my resistance and I spent a week thinking about all the ones that loved me and I refused to acknowledge.” Martha turned to Grim, “A week after that, I went to Phil and asked him to give me another chance. I thank God every day he did.”
Grim stared at Martha and shook her head slightly, “If you could hear the thoughts of men you encountered, you would have remained alone.”
“What do you mean?” Phil asked.
Grim’s expression showed disgust, “I hear what they truly think of me and what they want to do to me. Men are disgusting!!”
Martha waved a hand at her, “You’re being silly.” Grim’s face turned red in anger and Martha laughed, “You poor thing. You’ve been given a talent that is a curse and gift in equal amount.”
G
rim glared at her, “What do you mean by that?”
“Men and women are attracted to each other; that’s what insures the species survival. The thing that initially attracts a man to a woman is physical attraction. He sees a pretty woman and his imagination runs away with him. He fanaticizes about what it would be like to hold her and he does it without thought; it’s the way he’s made. If he’s really attracted to her, he’ll find a way to meet her and then he might be attracted to her personality and the attraction will grow stronger.”
“Get real, I’ve seen the lechery on their faces!”
“No you haven’t.” Grim’s eyes narrowed and Martha added, “You didn’t look at their faces because you didn’t want to make face contact with them. You just assumed it was on their facial expressions.”
Grim was silent and didn’t disagree with her. “And if he’s only attracted to her physically?” Grim asked curtly.
“Most women will see that early on and send him packing. Your telepathy allows you to see men’s thoughts during the fantasy stage. Of course it would be disgusting! But do you know what would happen if you walked up to most men whose thoughts you heard and told them what they were thinking?” Grim didn’t respond. “They would be totally embarrassed and try to get away from you. Men may have fantasies, but they would never act on them without developing a relationship with the woman.” Grim glared at her, “I know what you’re thinking,” Martha said. “It doesn’t take a telepath to see it.”
“And just what am I thinking?!”
“Your father acted on his thoughts.” Grim’s eyes widened and Martha raised a shoulder, “I used to think the same way. There are some men out there that are sick. But they represent such a small number of men that the percent is miniscule. Most men have learned the proper way to woo a woman and act appropriately. You just haven’t allowed yourself to see it.” Grim’s eyes were narrow and Martha smiled, “The fact that most men fantasize about you just tells you that you are quite attractive.”
“You must be blind!”
Martha laughed and waved her hand at her, “I can see through that ridiculous makeup that you have a pretty face. Your body is something most women would die for.” Martha turned to Phil, “Tell her, Phil.”