Discovery (Science of Psionics Book #1) (10 page)

My head seemed to be getting slowly better,
but I felt cold and weak. After hearing of my complaints, Linda
immediately began bringing deadwood over for a fire. Sara, seeing
what Linda was doing, made a crude fire pit in front of me and
began breaking up small branches for kindling. Within five minutes
they had a small fire going and plenty of wood ready to add as
needed.

“Thank you,” I said gratefully as I began to
warm up a bit. “Don’t make it too big though. We don’t want some
forest ranger thinking that there’s a wildfire in the area.”

Sid and Carl finished their inspection of the
blast site and came over to join us at the fire.

“How’s it going, eh?” Carl asked me.

“I’m fine, you hoser.” I replied, making fun
of his use of ‘eh’. “But for a while there, I thought my head was
going to explode.”

“Speaking of explosions, you did it. Or you
mostly did it, anyway. It appears that the explosion itself was
contained, but the rock below the explosives busted through your
shield. If I had to make a guess, I would say that it was the
destructive failure of your shield that caused the backlash you
felt.”

“What about you?” I asked Linda. “Did you
feel anything?”

“Nothing,” she replied. “Your shield stopped
it all.”

Sid looked me over carefully and commented,
“You look like hammered dog shit. There was a whole pile of stuff
that I wanted to try, but I don’t think it’s a good idea now.”

I nodded my agreement vehemently and
immediately regretted it as a sharp pain shot through my skull,
causing me to wince.

“Mark might have broken his brain, but that’s
not a big loss really. We could do some stuff with Linda still. I’m
sure her brain is much better than his,” Carl said hopefully.

“That might be an exceptionally bad idea,”
Sara opined. “Linda’s brain might be bigger and better than Marks,
but if we put her out of commission, then we’re all stuck in this
valley until they heal.”

I raised both of my middle fingers toward
them, and stuck out my tongue for good measure. “Bad comedy aside,”
I said to Linda, “The two retards have a point, and I don’t just
mean the ones on the top of their heads. It’s going to be tough
getting out of here now, so we shouldn’t take any risks that can be
avoided.”

After a bit more teasing and insulting banter
everyone was in agreement, so we settled down to allow me some time
to recover. Linda handed out the sandwiches that she had packed for
lunch, and I forced myself to eat mine even though I had no
appetite whatsoever. I was a little nauseous at first, but soon
started to feel a bit better.

The sun was starting to go down when I
finally decided that we couldn’t put things off for much longer.
“We need to leave. It’s going to be dark by the time we get back
home, and I want at least some light to navigate by so we can get
out of this valley without worrying about flying into a tree or
something.” Everyone quickly agreed.

We didn’t have much to pack, so everyone was
ready within a few minutes. Linda, in a stroke of genius, made a
spherical shield under the surface of the lake and floated a ball
of water over to douse the fire. Carl looked almost as impressed at
that idea as he did at my explosive retention sphere.

Linda took control of Sid, Carl, and the gear
for the flight back, allowing me to only carry Sara. Still feeling
a bit out of sorts, I agreed and started retracing our flight up
toward the pass. We went slowly, with Linda ordering several rest
stops along the way. It was fully dark by the time we made it back
home, and I was glad that the patio light was left on, as it gave
me a target to aim for.

Arriving back at the house, Linda immediately
escorted me to the bedroom and ordered me to get some rest. She
helped me undress, got me under the covers, and then held me for
the three or four milliseconds that it took for me to fall
asleep.

Linda: Violent Disagreements

Once I got Mark into bed, he fell asleep
almost immediately. I carefully disengaged from him and floated
myself toward the door, trying to stay as quiet as possible. The
patio door was still open, and I paused at the corner before it as
I heard what sounded like an argument coming from outside.

“Bullshit!” I heard Sid say. “I tell you,
they’re holding back.”

“I doubt it,” Carl countered. “I swear I
almost had a heart attack myself when Mark collapsed out there. I
was looking right at him and could see the blood drain from his
face.”

“If they had any intentions of sharing their
powers, they would have done so by now. Every single task we’ve put
to them, they’ve done without much difficulty. Every single task
that is, except for the one that truly matters.”

“It’s not that simple,” Carl began.

“Yes it is!” Sid interrupted. “Even if I
believed them, which I don’t, they could go and get experts to
figure it out. Between your scummy money making schemes, and their
insistence on secrecy, I’m starting to suspect a threat to national
security in the works.”

“What?” Carl snorted. “Do you think we’re the
psychic arm of the Taliban here or something? You’re paranoid,
delusional, and an asshole to boot!”

“Fuck you, Carl. I’m right and you know it.
If you can’t see it, then you’re either blind or stupid.”

“That really hurts, coming from someone with
a shoe size larger than his IQ”

Fearing that the argument might soon turn
physical, I lowered myself to the ground and made some noise before
rounding the corner and stepping outside. “Keep it down guys, Mark
is exhausted and needs some sleep.” I admonished.

“Screw you, sister,” he replied angrily. “I’m
tired of the runaround. I had plenty of time to think about things
on our way back tonight, and I figured out that you’re both
sandbagging.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, hurt. “Mark
almost killed himself today, and you think we’re just playing
around?”

“I think there’s a reason that you’re keeping
this for yourselves, and I don’t like it. I don’t trust you, and I
want to bring all this to Major Matt Hatter. He’ll know what to
do,” he said with finality.

Stunned at his intensity, I replied slowly,
“You gave us your word that you would keep this a secret until we
decided otherwise. Are you going to break your sworn word?”

His face turning purple, he emphatically
replied, “My word is my bond. I won’t betray any trust that I have
given, but I will warn you. There will be consequences.”

Sara stood suddenly and said, “Let me see
what I can scrounge up for dinner. It’s been a long day, and
emotions are running high. Let’s all just calm down for a bit and
lay off the threats, accusations, and insults. Come give me a
hand,” she said, grabbing my arm and steering me into the
kitchen.

“Don’t pay any attention to Sid. He’s just
frustrated and blowing off steam,” she soothed. “The combination of
hunger and frustration has him in butthead mode, but he’ll calm
down.”

“I think he’s a few steps beyond ‘butthead
mode’ as you call it, but I’m all for calming things down. The
nerve of him, saying that we’re sandbagging…”

“I think you need to sit down and relax,” she
interrupted. “He’s got you worked up, and I can see that you’re
tired from the day’s excursion. I can handle dinner by myself, so
don’t worry. I only asked you to join me in order to stop y’all
from fighting. So just chill for a while and let me take care of
things.”

Not wanting to start an argument with Sara as
well, I complied and sat down on the stool at the end of the
kitchen island. She opened a bottle of wine and filled me a glass,
taking a smaller one for herself in the process. Sipping
gratefully, I tried to relax my tense muscles.

“Do you think he’s going to blab?” I asked
after a while.

“Not a chance. He may yell and scream for a
while, but he takes his oaths very seriously. Don’t worry about it.
By tomorrow, things will have sorted themselves out. Just remember,
I’ll always be on your side.” With a note of finality, she turned
away and got busy with making dinner.

***

Dinner was a tense affair. The brusque
glances exchanged between Sid and Carl was a silent testament to
the argument that had continued in my absence. I was grateful for
the fact that Sid had stopped yelling threats and accusations for
now. Sara tried to make small talk, but gave up after getting only
monosyllable responses from the boys. Sara had made spaghetti with
marinara meat sauce. It could have been cardboard for all that I
tasted. I ate as much as I could stomach and then silently went to
curl up on the living room sofa.

When finished eating, Sara left the boys to
do the cleanup and joined me on the sofa. “I put together a plate
for Mark. All he has to do is nuke it if he wakes up hungry.”

“Thanks,” I nodded.

“I’m sorry, but Sid is still going on about
it,” she said sympathetically.

I just shrugged, knowing that confronting him
would just get the argument going full tilt again. “If I knew how
it worked, I would have shown you by now. Honest.”

“I believe you,” she soothed. “What’s the
worst that he could do? I already guaranteed you that he won’t go
shooting his mouth off to anyone.”

“I know. His belligerence was just one more
thing to wear me down after a long and stressful day.”

Carl, finished with his rudimentary cleaning
efforts, brought us our wine glasses and the remainder of the
bottle. “Have a drink. You deserve it.”

I gave him a nod of thanks and a weak little
smile. I took a sip.

“Mind if I use your office for a bit? Sid’s
being a jerk, and I want some peace and quiet before going to
bed.”

“Go ahead,” I waved him on.

Nodding me his thanks, he disappeared around
the corner into the office. Sara topped off our glasses and shifted
closer to me on the sofa.

Looking speculatively toward where Carl had
gone, she said “Between Carl and Mark, they have a lot of
experience figuring complex stuff out. I think we’re doing right,
and Sid just has no patience. If the geeks here can’t figure it
out, nobody can.”

She went on in that vein for a while, and it
helped to boost my flagging spirit. Feeling a bit better, I decided
that it was a good time to go to bed. I also wanted to make sure
that Mark was ok. Standing, I was about to say goodnight to Sara
when I was interrupted by the sound of a car starting outside. I
shuffled over to the window and got there in time to see the
taillights of a truck heading down my driveway. “What the …” I
began. Despite Sara’s reassurances, Sid was gone.

“Was that Sid?” Sara asked, rushing to the
patio to check if her husband was there.

“I think so.”

“The stubborn old idiot,” she replied when
she came back. “He should have waited for morning. Nothing good
ever comes from running off halfcocked.”

“What do you think he is going to do?” I
asked nervously.

“Nothing,” she replied after a moment. “He’ll
go off and stew somewhere, but he’ll be back.”

I hoped she was right. If not, things were
about to become ugly.

Sid: First Interlude

“Idiots,” I muttered to myself as I turned
off the county road and onto the highway. “They’re all idiots. They
all think
I’m
an idiot.” Gunning the engine, I swerved to
the right and waved my fist at the car driving slow in the left
lane. “Idiot,” I shouted out the window as I passed him.

Stupid eggheads actually expect me to believe
them. They think I’m too dumb to take a piss without trajectory
instructions from them. Hatter will know what to do. I can get
enough advice from him without telling him the specifics. They make
a good show out of their little tricks, but I can see through them
now. There’s no way they could have done some of those things on
the fly.

That’s where they slipped up. It’s obvious
that they know more than they’re willing to ever share, but they
were good. They had me fooled for quite a while. They still have
Sara fooled. The way she was sucking up to Linda on the couch was
enough to make me sick.

Let’s see now. It’s too late tonight to visit
Hatter, so maybe I’ll drive until Charlotte and then head out to
Fort Bragg in the morning. I should have just spent the night at
Linda’s house, but by tomorrow they might have brainwashed me into
believing them again.
Maybe they really can brainwash me
, I
thought with chilling fear. I’m glad I got out when I did. There’s
no telling what those freaks are capable of.

I drove in silence for a while, letting my
truck eat up the miles on the road to Charlotte. Finally arriving,
I turned into the parking lot of the first hotel that I saw with a
vacancy sign. I grabbed my bag out of the back of the truck and
made sure that it was securely locked. I didn’t want some two bit
thief getting hold of my toys from back there.

I sat in my mostly dark hotel room thinking.
I would have to be very careful with what I told Matt, and how I
said it. Why did I give those bastards my word of silence, I cursed
myself. Grimly, I thought that if I hadn’t given my word, they
might have killed me before I got away. Deciding that it might be a
good idea to have an insurance policy, I turned on the light above
the room desk and grabbed pen and paper.

Taking a few minutes, I composed my thoughts
before writing my letter. Finished, I reread it carefully and
decided that it was good enough. I got my gun from my bag, stuck it
into the waistband of my pants, and headed down to the front desk.
I got an envelope from them and headed back up after making sure my
truck was safe. Folding my letter, I stuck it in the envelope,
sealed it, and then wrote on it: