Indigo Incite (The Indigo Trilogy) (12 page)

“I did
for a little while, but now, for the most part, I stay here and work with the
people they bring in.”

“Like
me.”

“Yeah,
like you.”

“So,
there are others, here, like me? How many?”

“Right
now…there are ten.”

“Were
they all kidnapped, too?”

“No, not
all of them. Some were recruited, but yes, a few were…brought here
unwillingly.”

“Kidnapped.”

“If
that’s how you want to look at it, yes. But eventually they all come around
when they realize how their gifts can be used to help others. So many of them
have never even understood why they have special abilities. They’ve always felt
alone, and that’s where I come in. I help them recognize their true potential
and help them to see that they aren’t alone, that there are others like them.
We become like a family. It’s our hope that you’ll come to feel that way, too.
Besides your brother, you have no family. We can offer you a home.”

A home.
A family. It was a tantalizing idea, but he still couldn’t get over the fact
that he had been kidnapped and drugged for the past two weeks. That wasn’t the
way family treated each other. Jesse made the whole thing sound like a fairy
tale. According to him, he had been whisked away from a life of poverty and had
lived happily ever after. Was it really that simple? Toby had his doubts.

“I sense
that you still have your doubts,” Jesse said, reading his mind.

Toby was
taken aback. Other than his brother, he wasn’t used to having anyone else inside
of his head.

“Well,
you’d better get used to it,” Jesse said. “There’s no such thing as a personal
thought, anymore.”
And just remember, they hear every word you say, too
.
Jesse’s thoughts invaded his mind while his eyes glanced nonchalantly to the camera
anchored high on the wall in a far corner.

Toby
retorted with a silent reply,
So basically, the moral of the story is, if
you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Is that it?

You’re
a smart one, no doubt about that
, Jesse thought. He stepped toward Toby, patted him on the
shoulder, and then said out loud, “I’ll give you time to think about what I’ve
said. I’ll come back later this evening.” He took his bottle of water from the
desk, swiped his ID badge, and stepped out.  The door automatically slid shut
upon his departure, and then Toby was alone in the windowless room.

*****

Toby
paced the room and then did a few push-ups. It felt good to move. His muscles
were stiff, no doubt from the effects of the drugs and lying prone, on a thin
mattress. Considering the fact that he had essentially slept for the past two
weeks, he was surprised to discover that he was exhausted, and it wasn’t long
before he decided to lie down.

As he
lay on his back and stared at the black dots of the ceiling tiles, he wondered
how long he would have to stay in his prison cell.

Unsure
of the amount of time that had passed, Toby opened his eyes when the thoughts
of a girl invaded his mind.
Wake up… Come on, wake up
.

Am I
sleeping
? he
wondered.

Wake
up already!

His eyes
shot open and he stared at the ceiling once more.

I’m
over here.

Toby sat
up and looked around. There was no one by the door or at the foot of the bed.
He shook his head. Was he delusional?

Behind
you.

There
she was, over his left shoulder, flush against the corner, beneath the camera
mounted on the wall. She had light, mocha-colored skin, dark brown, curly hair
that hung in ringlets past her shoulders, and brilliant golden brown eyes. He
was struck by her beauty and wondered for a moment if she was some sort of
angel or guardian spirit, come to rescue him. He rubbed his eyes, blinked once,
and looked again. She was still there.

Don’t
say anything
. She
placed a finger over her lips and then pointed toward the camera above her
head.

Toby
nodded slightly. He understood. His right hand wandered to his disheveled hair,
and he wondered about his appearance. Suddenly cognizant of the fact that he
hadn’t showered or shaved in two weeks, he imagined that he must be quite the
sight.

She
smiled and her thoughts floated into his mind, once again.
Don’t worry about
it. It could be worse.

Who
are you?
he asked,
silently.

My
name’s Rebecka.

You’re
one of them?

No,
they’re keeping me here, just like you.

If
you’re not one of them, then how did you get in here?

Are
you familiar with the term, teleportation? I can transport myself short
distances.

You’re
serious? People can really do that? Do they know you can do that?

Yeah.
That’s one of the reasons they’ve kept me here. They think I could be useful.

How
long have you been here?
Toby wondered.

About
six months.

Six
months? Why don’t you just teleport yourself right out of this place?

Because
I can only send myself short distances. They’ve taken me outside and have made
it perfectly clear that I have nowhere to go. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Even
if I did get out, I’d be wandering around in the wilderness and wouldn’t have a
clue which way to go.

What’s
keeping you from just agreeing to work with them and going to their side? Jesse
said that a lot of the people here have agreed to work with them.

Oh,
they have,
Rebecka
thought.
That’s why I came to see you, because I heard your thoughts. You
have no interest in joining them either, do you?

Hell
no!
Tyler thought
back
. I just want to get out of here.

You’re
smart. Don’t let them convince you to join their side. They’ll try. They’ll be
all ready to persuade you with money and images of adventure. They’ll try to
convince you that they are the ‘good guys,' that they’re doing important
research to learn more about Indigo Children. But the truth is, they’re not.
They use us to spy on other government agencies, including the CIA, the group
who is supposedly funding their research, and then they use the information they
gain and sell it to the highest bidder, regardless of what company or country
they’re from.

How
did you get here to begin with? How did they find you?

It
was silly,
Rebecka
thought
. I went onto a social networking site, trying to find other people
who were like me. I met this guy, who I became friends with.

I
take it this guy wasn’t quite as honest as you thought? What happened? Did he
turn out to be a balding, forty-year-old, CIA agent?

Rebecka
smiled.
Not exactly. But you’re right, he wasn’t entirely forthcoming about
his true identity. I wasn’t stupid. I had always heard about the dangers of
online chat rooms and all of the warnings—never give too much information to
strangers, blah, blah, blah. This guy really seemed sincere, though. He told me
all about his high school and debate team. He even sent a picture of his dog!
She laughed and rolled her eyes.

I
can’t believe how stupid I was. Everyone always says, ‘It can’t happen to me.'
That’s what I thought. I knew there was no way that it could happen to me. I
had been so careful!

Wait
a minute,
Toby
interrupted her thoughts.
You make an interesting point. This guy who
tricked you...How come you didn’t hear his thoughts? How come you didn’t know
that he was lying?

Because
these guys are good. They’ve practiced their gifts, and they’ve learned how to
block their thoughts if they don’t want someone else to hear them.

Did
you ever see him again?

No.
Rebecka rolled her eyes and shook
her head
. I imagine he’s already off in pursuit of his next victim.
So,
here I am,
she continued
. Until I can figure out a plan, it looks like
I’m here to stay. But that’s why I wanted to meet you. You know the saying—two
heads are better than one. Maybe between the two of us, we can figure a way
out.

Well…I
sort of have a plan,
Toby began.
The beginning of one at least. I’ve been in contact with my
brother, and he’s in the process of locating some other people who are also of
special interest to the agency. As soon as he locates them, they’re going to
try to find me.

Really?
You’ve been drugged for the past two weeks, and you were still able to contact
your brother?

We’ve
always had a mental connection. I discovered that distance doesn’t matter.
There were a few times, over the past few weeks, when I was allowed to wake up.
Any info I learned, I passed on to him.

Wow.
That’s impressive.
With her back still pressed against the wall, she slid to a sitting position,
tucked her knees up to her chest, and sat in quiet contemplation.

He
smiled and tried to focus on blocking his thoughts from her as it occurred to
him how beautiful she was, even in a pair of grungy shorts and a t-shirt. He
assumed that he'd successfully hid his feelings because her expression appeared
unaffected.

So
what’s your plan?
Rebecka queried
. I mean, once your brother finds everyone? How is he
supposed to find you, cuz…we don’t even know where we are.

I know.
Toby shook his head
. I’ve been
trying to figure it out, but I’m kind of at a loss. Maybe now that we’ve got
each other, we can figure it out, together.

Yeah,
at least we’ve got each other.

Toby
realized that he very much liked the sound of that. They had only just met, but
he already liked her a lot.

Rebecka
looked at him then and grinned. He realized that he had forgotten to block his
thoughts from her.

If she
had heard his private thoughts, she didn’t mention it. Instead she thought,
Wait
a minute, if you have someone on the outside, we might have a chance.

We
might have a chance? How so?

I
heard rumors that a tracker bailed on the agency about a year before I got
here. They say he went into hiding, and they’ve been unable to locate him. If
your brother can find him, he can find out where we are.

That
all sounds well and good,
Toby thought,
but if the professionals can’t find him, how is my
untrained brother supposed to?

There’s
an author, some lady with a doctorate in something or other, who wrote a book
about Indigo Children. In the book, she wrote about the tracker. I think she
had interviewed him and spent some time with him and his family. The agency
went to see her after his disappearance to see if she had information on his
whereabouts, but of course, if she knew anything, she wasn’t going to give it
up. They’ve had someone watching her, but so far there’s been no sign of him.

Toby
smiled
. It’s a long shot
, he thought.

But
it’s worth a try
,
she concluded with a smile.

Do
you know the author’s name?

I
can’t remember, but I saw a copy of her book when I was in Henry’s office last
month. That’s when I heard him and Jesse talking about keeping an eye on her.

Who’s
Henry?

He’s
the head honcho around here.

Will
you be able to get into his office? You said there are cameras, everywhere.

Yep,
everywhere except for Henry’s office. I guess he wants a little privacy.

Well,
isn’t that convenient
?
Toby grinned.
I think maybe, we might just have a plan, after all. These
guys want to know more about Indigo insight and how we can tell the future and
stuff. We’ll give them incite—just not the kind that they have in mind.

What
do you mean?

Incite.
I-N-C-I-T-E
Toby
spelled it out slowly
. We’ll start a rebellion and they won’t even see it
coming.

Rebecka
grinned.
Clever play on words.

A noise
at the door caught Toby’s attention, and a moment later, Jesse entered.

“How’s
it goin’?" Jesse asked. “You have some time to think about what we talked
about?”

Toby
nodded. “A little bit.”

“Well,
good. The boss has invited you to have dinner with him. He’d like to have a
chance to talk and get to know you a little better.”

“The
boss?”