Caleb 35 - Maharishi Guptal Pah

I had to agree, despite the fact that Seven-of-Nine had an amazing ass, which that jumpsuit had done great justice. On the other hand, early Kes, when she'd still been pixie-like, hadn't been too shabby either. I also had to admit that Jules was my voice of reason; she was definitely smarter than me.

Next Monday, Gregory recognized me as I arrived. There was already a line outside the hall, which was thirty minutes' drive in the other direction from my house than the venue from last week. He beckoned me forward. "Go straight in," he said.

There were some grumbles from those already in line, but he ignored it.

Jeevan was sitting on the edge of the stage. "Welcome bhaiya," he said smiling. "How are you feeling tonight?"

"I'm feeling good." I replied.

"Excellent," he said, "because I am going to want you to do something tonight."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Every once in a while, I do a mass healing," he said. "Now, I only do it when my numbers start to drop. If I didn't, my particular brand of charlatanism would run out of steam. Every so often I have to do something that keeps people interested."

"Mass Healing?" I queried.

"Not really Healing," he said. "What I will be doing is working the room up. What you will be doing is blocking most, but not all, of everyone's pain."

I looked at him, puzzled.

"I'll be doing some Healing while this is going on," he said, "but consider this: you have been told about some Indian faker." He smiled at his own play on words. "And have come to see him a few times, but seen nothing of note. Then, all of a sudden, the majority of the audience, you included, find themselves almost pain free. There has to be something to this, right? So, you come back. That gives me more opportunity to Heal those who really need it."

"So, why not remove all their pain?" I asked. "Why just most?"

"Because if you remove it all, it is almost definitive proof that I am a real Healer. Reducing it, especially when I get them all riled up, can be put down to hysteria, adrenaline - some natural phenomenon. It can be explained away. I want to rekindle belief - nurture hope, not provide proof."

That kind of made sense, in a warped kind of way.

"Okay then," I said.

"Start searching them out as they come in," he said. "You'll know when to start blocking."

"How long do I block their pain for?" I asked.

"What?" he asked.

"How long do I block their pain for. Hours, days, what?"

He looked at me strangely. "You can put a time limit on it?" he asked.

He had obviously not noticed that when he'd seen my memories of blocking Jules and Ness's pain. I nodded.

He shook his head. "Does it make a difference to how much power you use?" he asked.

"It doesn't seem to," I said.

"Twelve hours then," he said. "Let's give them a decent night's sleep for a change."

I watched people coming into the hall, investigating them as they entered. A few of them weren't unwell or in pain at all. Some had come with relatives, and some were just fascinated by the thought of someone with healing powers. There was one guy who had been at the last meeting too. He was surreptitiously filming proceedings and was making an internet documentary proving that the Maharishi Guptal Pah was a fake and a fraudster. He was frustrated, though - not because he thought that Jeevan was actually healing people, but with the fact that he couldn't find out how Jeevan was defrauding anyone. As far as he could tell, the only money that people were parting with was the entry fee, and most of that went to the venue rental. He couldn't figure out the motivation, and it was eating him up.

He was also grumpy because he had a toothache. I determined to throw a real spanner into his works tonight. I was going to completely remove all of his pain during the mass healing, despite what Jeevan had said.

The show started pretty much like the one the previous week, and after a few minutes Jeevan had invited a plant up on stage.

"There is an older lady, three rows in front of you," he said. "She has a small malignant lump in her breast. I am going to remove that. Look at her before I begin. Look at her aura. Determine the colors that indicate disease, and look closer at her. Notice how I saw where her problem was." He sent me his memory of his 'examination' of the woman, and I could see what he had seen.

I examined the woman in question. She had only just found out about the lump in a mammogram result she had received a few days ago. She had an appointment to see her oncologist the next week. Her friend had dragged her along to Jeevan's meeting, but she had no real expectations of any healing. She had decided that she wasn't even going to raise her hand when Jeevan called for volunteers.

I watched as Jeevan placed his hands on the plant and began to concentrate. I saw him attack and destroy the cancerous cells, and arrange for the remains to be transported away using the body's own mechanisms. I watched as he protected the kidneys from damage from the sudden onrush of proteins released by the death of the cells. I realized once again that he wasn't actually doing it in real time, but was setting it up to happen over a period of a few days. When he was done, he showed me his energy bar, and it was almost fully depleted. A single Healing had wiped him out. His plant did the 'hallelujah' dance and left the stage healed.

"And now, my friends," he exclaimed from the stage, "for those of you who I have not managed to help, I am going to at least give you some respite from your pain."

People sat up and paid attention as he started to work the crowd up. He was masterful at it. I certainly couldn't work a room in such a way. Once I was Healing on my own, I didn't think I'd be using a similar shtick.

He gave me a nudge, and I began. The investigator was the first. I blocked his pain completely and locked it off for twelve hours. Then there was an old man who was riddled with arthritis. He had constant chronic pain, and I blocked most of that. I felt really sorry for him, and so I gave him a full week of reduced pain. There was a woman who wasn't there for healing, but had come with a friend. She, however, had period pains. I blocked those for three days. I went from person to person like so. Everyone who had pain, I blocked most of it, each for a different period of time depending on the pain and how I felt. There were nearly one hundred people in the hall, and nearly all of them had some level of discomfort, even if it was just from sitting on a hard wooden chair for an hour. The man with the prolapsed hemorrhoids got a day's respite. The girl who had had her nipples pierced just that day got a few hours, and so on.

I checked on my energy bar and found that blocking pain didn't really have much of a cost. I had gone through almost the entire room and only lost a single graduation. Finally, I was done, and there was nobody I had not looked at. I gave Jeevan a prod, and he stopped his routine.

"Now," he said. "Examine your pain. Tell me, have I been successful?"

I saw a few people stop and consider, and then smiles broke out on their faces. Even the fraud hunter was looking stunned, realizing that his pain, too, was gone. The room erupted in cheering, led by those planted in the audience.

The session ended soon after. One more plant was 'healed,' but Jeevan had no energy to Heal anyone for real, so that was just filling time. Everyone was chattering loudly as they left the hall.

"That was perfect," he said. "I saw that you gave each person a different pain-free period. I should have suggested that. It will keep people guessing. If they all suddenly got their pain back at exactly the same time, there would be more evidence. You did well. How many of them did you ask for consent? "

I chuckled. "I think you know the answer to that. I stopped their pain; I caused no harm. I am content that what I did was good."

He embraced me.

"Well done, bhaiya," he said. "This was an easy one. Others will be more difficult, but you are learning."

Tuesday morning was Krav Maga training. I enjoyed it immensely. After the rigid discipline of Karate, I found it refreshing and interesting to have so many different styles to draw on.

My ethics lecture was interesting too - not so much the class, but the contest. Since I wasn't in a bad mood, the arguments I made, I thought, were balanced. For some reason, Dana Reed chose to oppose me each and every time. No matter my position or my argument in support, she would come in with a counter argument that was both reasoned and persuasive. Toward the end of the lesson, it had almost become a moot between her and I.

"That was fun," I said as we filed out of the lecture theatre together. "But wasn't your position on the application of First amendment rights completely contrary to the one you took last week?"

She rolled her eyes theatrically. "Can't a girl change her mind?" she asked. I laughed, conceding the point.

I went into the cafeteria. The girls were already seated, and had grabbed me some lunch, so I got to skip the lines. The place was packed, and after a few minutes, I saw that Dana was looking around for somewhere to sit, tray in hand.

"Dana," I shouted, and she looked across. I pulled out a chair next to me. She smiled gratefully and headed in our direction.

"Hey," she said, setting her tray down. "It's way too busy in here today."

"Dana," I said, "this is Mary, Amanda and Jules. Ladies, this is Dana, from my ethics class."

They nodded and smiled at each other as Dana applied herself to her lunch.

"So," asked Amanda, "what's your major?"

"Criminal Justice," said Dana. "I want to go to law school and become an attorney in the Department of Justice's Civil Right's Division."

"Ah," said Mary. "Making the world safe, putting all the bad guys away?"

"I want to work against the injustice of the system," said Dana. "There are too many people who are put away for crimes that they didn't commit because their basic rights were violated by either cops, lawyers, or judges. I want to stop that."

"Wouldn't you be better as a defense attorney then?" I asked.

"I did think about that," she said. "But as a defense attorney I could only work on behalf of the clients. To really invoke change in a system, you have to work from the inside. At least, that's my view. How about you guys?"

"I'm going to be one of those lazy and corrupt upholders of the law," I grinned at her. "FBI, hopefully."

She looked at me and shook her head. "I've no doubt that you will be one of the good guys," she said. "There are lots of those. Just don't get beaten down by the system." She looked across the table at the twins and Jules. "You all going into law enforcement too?" she asked with a grin. "Are you three the new Charlie's Angels?"

Mary laughed. "No," she said. "I'm majoring in journalism. Amanda wants to be a teacher."

"Elementary school," added Amanda. "I love kids."

Dana looked at Jules.

"Computer science and electronics," said Jules. "Double major."

Dana refocused on her food for a few minutes. I saw her glance at the girls. I could see she was itching to ask, but didn't quite know how to open the conversation.

"Go on," I said. "Ask."

She looked at me. "That obvious?" she asked, a wry smile on her face.

"Kinda," I said, grinning.

She sighed. "The rumor is that you guys are all in some kind of polyamorous relationship," she said.

"It might be a rumor," said Amanda, "But it's also the truth."

"The four of you?" Dana asked. Amanda nodded.

"Five," said Mary. "Ness will be joining us in the summer."

Dana shook her head.

"I don't know how you do it," she said. "Not you," she directed that at me, "but all of you. How do you manage everything? I can't even keep one person happy. How do you all manage to keep each other happy?"

"Love," said Jules simply. "We all know that we each love each other."

Dana looked at her. "You all love each other," she said quietly, almost to herself. It wasn't a question, more of an affirmation of a fact. "So, it's true polyamory, not just polygamy."

"That's what makes it work," said Mary, "and I think you are the first person we didn't have to explain the difference to."

Dana smiled weakly. "You are so lucky," she said. "Most of us struggle to find just one person to love us. You guys have four."

"Man trouble?" asked Amanda brazenly.

Dana laughed. "If only," she said. "To have man trouble, you have to have a man." She looked around theatrically. "D'you see any hanging around me?"

"Pretty girl like you," said Mary. "Surely you're fighting them off."

Dana grimaced. "It's bit more complicated than that," she said. She said it in exactly the same way Jules had once used those words. I entered her mind, and saw her truth.

Dana was transgender. Born biologically male, she had always felt out of place in her own body. All her life, her father had forced her into dressing and acting to her biology, and it was only since she had moved away to university and been able to make her own choices that she had started being able to express herself as she'd always wanted to.

Dana must have seen something in my expression.

"What?" she asked.

I floundered for something to say for a second. I had shared the revelation almost instantly with the girls; Jules rescued me. "You said that," she said softly, "in the same way that I used to."

Dana looked at her. "I don't know what you mean," she said. Her aura was spiking fear and she was getting edgy. Amanda dealt with that. I felt her power flare, and Dana's fear ebbed away.

"My life was 'complicated,'" Jules said quietly. Nobody that wasn't sitting with us would have been able to hear her. "I was alone, and never thought anyone would love me. Then I met these three. They showed me that it didn't matter to them who I was. They were prepared to offer me friendship. They knew my secret, and they liked me anyway. It was a turning point in my life."

"Your secret?" asked Dana.

"Everyone has one," said Jules. "Maybe, when we get to know each other better, we can share ours."

"But you are all..."

Jules smiled. "We're not asking you to join Caleb's 'harem,'" she said, "if that were even a thing. We're just holding out our hands, offering friendship. You don't have to be alone anymore. Whatever it is you are hiding, it doesn't matter. We don't care."

"I'm not..." Dana began, but Jules raised her eyebrow.

"Trust me," Jules said, "I have been almost exactly where you are right now. Tell me you don't go back to your room in the dorm and stare at the back of the door, just hoping for someone to knock - perhaps to borrow a book or to ask about an assignment."

Dana stared at the tray in front of her, the remainder of her food forgotten.

"I don't..." she began, but stopped.

"It's okay," I said quietly to her. "You don't have to tell us anything you don't want to. We just want you to know that if you need someone to talk to, or someplace to go where you're not alone, then we are here for you."

"But why?" she asked. "What do you want from me?"

"Friendship," said Mary.

"And Caleb wants you to go easy on him in ethics class," added Amanda. That broke the mood, and Dana laughed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not agreeing to that."

"Always worth a try," I said, grinning.

We finished our lunches, and as Dana got up to leave, I said, "At least take my number. Then if you need anything, you can contact me."

She took my number, then immediately called it and hung up. "Now you have mine," she said, blushing a little. "Now I'm not the only girl on campus not to have exchanged phone numbers with a guy."

I smiled at her.

We didn't see Dana for the rest of the week. Wednesday night we had at home, and it seemed like Thursday evenings were going to be our time for going to the range. Mary and Amanda had another lesson with Clive while Jules and I competed against each other. Hoss had been right; having your own gun made a difference. Jules was a better shot than me at first, but her arms got tired, and by the end of the session I turned the tide. I knew that that would change as she had more practice and got back into it. My shooting was improving, but I needed more practice too.

Friday night, for a change, we went out. We went bowling, and had a blast.

We were talking about going over dinner and Jules said, "Drop Dana a text; see if she wants to come."

I looked at her. "You think she will?" I asked.

"I doubt it," she said. "But being invited will cheer her up."

_Hi - I know it's out of the blue, but we and our housemates are going bowling. Want to come?

It took a few minutes for her to reply.

_housemates?

­ _Josh and Louise.

_What time?

_We're heading out in about an hour. Was thinking of booking a lane for nine.

_see you there!

"Well," I said. "I didn't think she would go for it."

"Who?" asked Louise.

"Dana," I said. "Girl from my ethics class."

"You trawling for more women?" asked Josh, grinning.

I smiled at him, shaking my head. "Not exactly. She's an intelligent girl. Louise will be able to talk to her, but you have no chance."

Louise laughed.

Dana was waiting for us in the bowling alley lobby when we arrived. I made the introductions. She had seen both Josh and Louise around campus - sometimes with me and the girls - but they had never spoken before.

Josh, Louise, and the girls had made me swear, before leaving the house, that I would not use my TK to cheat. I had been mortally offended at the mere suspicion that I would do such a thing.

It was a close thing, but, even without powers, I managed to squeak a victory. I came first, followed, surprisingly, by Jules, then Josh. Dana split Mary and Amanda, and Louise came plumb last. She didn't care.

"Thanks," said Dana as we left the bowling alley, "That was fun."

"You in the dorms?" asked Louise, and Dana nodded.

"Come on," Louise said. "Their car is full. We'll drop you. It's almost on the way, and it's late for you to be on the streets alone."

Dana looked at me.

"It's okay," I said. "Josh has taken his medication; he's perfectly safe."

Josh just shook his head.

"That was fun," said Dana again as we said goodnight. "Thanks for the invite."

We said our goodbyes, and the girls and I went back to the house. Josh and Louise arrived back a half hour later.

"She's a nice girl," said Louise.

We were all sitting in the living room, enjoying a warm drink before bed.

"You know her family never come to visit?" she asked.

I shook my head.

"Poor girl is all alone, so I invited her over for dinner tomorrow," continued Louise.

"Invited?" asked Josh. "Was that what that was?"

Louise looked at him. He turned to us.

"Bullied into agreeing, more like," said Josh. "The poor girl hardly stood a chance."

"What are you cooking then, Louise?" I asked.

She looked at me with a small smile on her face. "I kind of promised that you would cook," she admitted.

I shook my head wryly. "And what time did you tell her to be here."

"Six," she said. I sighed.

"And what other plans did you have for her?" I asked.

Louise looked at me, wide-eyed and innocent. "Plans?" she said. "What do you mean?"

"Come on Lou, this is me you're talking to," I replied. "You've gotten good at policing your surface thoughts, but that's not going to stop me if I don't want it to."

She frowned. "Well, she's lonely and frustrated," she explained. "She's been here nearly two years and not gotten laid once in that time. I actually think she might be a virgin."

"And you thought to rectify that?" I asked.

"I thought we might at least make her feel loved," she said. "She's so lonely. Couldn't you see how she lapped up any attention she was given, by any of us? And when you or Josh spoke to her, I'll bet her pussy was dripping."