Caleb 79 - Communication

"I did?" Meena asked a little puzzled.

"When I got mad at Gracie and Dylan being allowed to come and stay after she got out of hospital," I said, "you said that it could come back to bite me, and it seems like it has."

"No," said Melanie. "It wasn't that. We could see how much you were hurting after what happened. Then people stopped attending your hypnotherapy sessions, you had to leave the Ethics class, and some asshole started a petition to get you removed from school. We...no, I, thought that you had more than enough to be dealing with.

"We thought it would help the situation for you at school."

"We all knew," put in Jules, "that if we'd asked you, you would say no. You'd say no because it would mean that Chris and Jane had to tell their story in public, and that would be traumatic for them."

"Mostly," said Amanda, "we kept it from you because we are cowards. We could have asked you, persuaded, cajoled, and argued with you to allow us to do it, and I think that we could have done so. But none of us wanted to do that. You'd been through enough and the last thing we wanted to do was to put even more on you."

"My dad sometimes says," said Sarah, "that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. We all agreed that this would, in the long run, help the situation at school and we were scared that you would refuse to discuss it. We thought that you would nix the idea out of hand. We knew that you'd probably be upset about it, but hadn't figured on your anger coming on the back of the events of last week would escalate as it did."

I was surprised when Arnie pitched in.

"You're the head of the household," he said. "You try to protect everyone else in the household from everything that's going, even me. You saved my life at least twice in the plane crash," he held his hand up when I started to speak.

"We were headed directly for a tree trunk," he said. "I remember that. I thought we were lucky to have twisted at the last moment, but now I know it was you and your powers that prevented it. Also Sarah told me that the plane would have fallen out of the tree and not lodged if you'd not used your powers again. A fall from that height would have likely been the end of us both.

"Then you took over responsibility for my dad and his problems. You take on everyone else's problems, but don't allow your family to share the load. What happened to you last week was the biggest thing that could possibly happen to anyone and you barely spoke about it to anyone, just carrying on and trying to protect us all from the fallout."

Finally, Mary spoke.

"None of us have any excuse," she said. "Not me, Amanda, Jules, Ness, or Melanie." She looked at me, "or you." She finished.

"We are connected as intimately as it is possible. We can and do share thoughts, feelings, emotions, fears, hopes, and dreams. And how do we use this most precious of connections? We use it as a sex toy, we share orgasms with it.

"It just goes to show that even power users, with every advantage, can be dumb. But we're young, and we're going to make mistakes." She took my hands in hers. "I'm sorry. I really am. For all the reasons already spoken, and others besides, I thought that we needed to do what we did, the way we did it. I was so wrong, and I promise I'll never make that mistake again."

I squeezed her hands in mine.

"I'm sorry too," I said. "Even when I was doing it, I recognized that I was pushing you all away. Pops even warned me against it, but I did it anyway. I'm sorry I did that, and I'm sorry you had to make such a decision, and that you felt you couldn't talk to me about it."

"Are you still mad?" asked Ness in a rather small voice.

"No," I said. "Talking with Jeevan and Meena has helped a lot. It's going to take me some time, I think, to get my head around what happened, but it's coming into perspective. I have decided, though, to quit my hypnotherapy business at school. I think it's time that Sarah and Melanie took over. You can schedule the sessions between you, I'll give you my memories of how I treated people. You should have no problems. It's up to you if you want to do it. It is a good way of training your Compulsion though, and you can learn all kinds of other stuff too.

"For now, I'm going to keep my external clients, although eventually I'd like to hand them over to you guys too."

"Are you going to start going to classes then?" asked Mary, "When you're not going to the range?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to step up my flight training," I said. "I still have a lot to do, and I want to get everything done before I go to Quantico."

We sat and chatted for a while longer in Jeevan's living room. I didn't notice when Meena slipped out, as we reconnected, and it was only when Jeevan came in a little while later to ask if we'd like drinks that I noticed she'd gone.

I looked at my watch - it was almost ten o'clock.

"We really should be going," I said. "I think we've imposed on your hospitality for longer than we should."

"Nonsense," he said. "We're always happy to see you."

I stood up and embraced him. "Thank you," I said. "I'm not sure how I would have coped without you and Meena."

"It is of no concern," he said. "We are family, and we care for one another."

"All the same," I said, "thank you." I turned to Meena, who had entered the room, having obviously overheard what I was saying. "...And thank you," I said as she enveloped me in a hug.

"Any time," she said. "Remember - talk to each other?"

I nodded as we separated, and the girls each hugged Jeevan and Meena in turn. Arnie looked a little awkward when it came to his turn. Jeevan shook his hand.

"It was nice to meet you again," he said. Arnie smiled and nodded.

Outside Arnie was talking to Sarah.

"I'm going to head back," he said. "By the time I get back to yours, it will be time to leave in any case. I have an early lesson in the morning. The weather at weekend set us back."

She smiled and kissed him. "I'm sorry," she said. "Getting tied up in family drama can't have been much fun for you."

"It was fine," he said. "I'm happy to have been included. Family is not just about the nice stuff. If we can't be there for each other when things go wrong, then what's the point?"

She kissed him again. "I love you," she said. and he smiled.

"Good," he said. "Because you're stuck with me.

The girls each said goodnight to Arnie, either hugging him or giving him a peck on the cheek. When it came my turn to say goodnight, he grasped my hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked me.

"I will be," I said. "I have an amazing family behind me."

He nodded. "I know I'm the youngest of everyone," he said, "but if there is anything I can do to help, I'm here."

"Thanks," I said. "That means a great deal."

He nodded at me and then got into his car, heading home.

Jane was pacing in her backyard when we returned home, Kirsty in her arms. I could see Kirsty was tired, but simply wouldn't settle. Both of their eyes lit up on seeing me.

"Would you mind," Jane said, holding her daughter out to me. Reflexively I took hold of the child, walking slowly up and down the yard, murmuring to her as she settled her head on my shoulder. It probably took about five minutes, but it seemed much quicker, and the toddler was breathing evenly, fast asleep in my arms.

"We need to start getting her used to going to sleep for you and Chris," I said softly as I handed her daughter back.

"If you have any ideas," Jane said. "I'm all ears. We've tried everything but drugs. When she's determined not to sleep nothing short of medication will put her down, and I'm not medicating a toddler, no matter what the doctors say."

"Let me think about it for a little while," I said. "It's obviously not organic, or I wouldn't be able to get her to sleep. It's something else, and we need to work on it. You might not know this, but I'm a licensed hypnotherapist and I have some ideas on how to fix this."

"You want to hypnotize her?" she asked, looking shocked.

"Not quite," I said. "You can hypnotize children, but she is probably a little young to be truly hypnotized. However, I think her problem is that she's picking up on your feelings. You have both been wound up like springs for the last year, and I'm sure that's affecting her.

"I think we can overcome it, but it's going to require getting both you and Chris more relaxed so she can relax."

Jane bit her lip. "That kind of makes sense," she said. "I'll speak to Chris about it. I don't know how he'll feel about it.

"No pressure," I said. "Let me know."

She took her daughter into their house and closed the door behind her.

I sat in the yard for a little longer, enjoying the quiet, before taking myself off to bed.

Once more I slept well, dreamlessly. I wondered if the girls had had anything to do with that, which then reminded me, I needed a word with Tatarabuela Gonzales.

"Nice to see you again," she said, as we sat in our illusion room. I'd gotten up at my usual time and had told Melanie and Sarah to practice their martial arts for a while. I needed to do something else.

"And you," I said. Smiling at her. "Although I do have some questions."

"You already know the answers," she said. "Do you really need me to spell it out for you?"

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why am I here?" she asked. "And I don't mean here in this illusion, I mean why am I here in your head in the first place. What is my purpose."

"To protect me," I said, "from outside influence, and possibly heal me if I get hurt."

"Almost right," she said. "You should have stopped at 'To protect you,'"

"Should I?" I asked, flatly.

"You know it," she said. "I'm here to protect you. And if protecting you requires me to allow someone you trust, to help you when you're struggling, then I'm going to do that too."

I regarded her, wanting so much to argue with her, to tell her that it wasn't her decision to choose who to let through my shields. She smiled at me, softly as I got the point. She wasn't making any decisions. I was. She was in my mind. Yes, there was knowledge there that I hadn't had before she'd 'moved in' but she wasn't a complete and distinct entity. She was effectively my own subconscious, with a little of the original Tatarabuela added in for guidance and experience.

"Now he gets it," she said softly. "I wondered how long it would take."

"I thought..." I began

"Most do," she said. "Think rationally about it though. How could I actually be a fragment of the real Tatarabuela Gonzales? I'd be spread so thin now that I'd barely register."

"I thought you were a copy," I admitted a little ruefully.

"I suppose that could have worked," she said. "But she had no idea how to create that. All she did was to bundle up here memories and experience under the guise of an entity. Remember this was originally created for children. Most Power Users will eventually develop their own 'defender', but it takes a long time. Most are well into their second century before it arrives."

"So who am I speaking to now?" I asked.

"To you," she said with a grin. "It's the third sign of madness."

"Third?" I asked.

"The second is finding dark hairs on your palms." She explained.

I glanced at my hands.

"And the first," she said gleefully, "is looking for them."

I laughed. "I'm an asshole," I chided her, and she laughed.

"Nicely done," she said. "Way to insult your ancient 'fairy godmother' without insulting your ancient 'fairy godmother.'"

"So if you are me," I wondered, "why do you look like you?"

"Because you thought I was her, and not you," she explained. "I'm not responsible for your anthropomorphic illusions. You are. You might have noticed I look a lot like how you would imagine the Abuela Gonzales might look if she grew very old."

I shrugged.

"So, now I know," I opened, "does that mean you're going to disappear?"

She shrugged. "It's up to you," she said. "I could be her, or you, or Kermit the Frog if you want. You choose how to manifest your subconscious. You might find it makes it easier if it's someone that's not you. That way lies madness."

I nodded, then concentrated for a moment. Years fell from her. By the time I was done, she looked very much like Maria, her great...something...grand daughter.

She smiled at me. "Good choice," she said.

Melanie and Sarah were practicing their katas when I emerged from the illusion. I joined them, and then we all went for a run. I chose not to enlighten them to what I'd figured out - I thought it would be better for them to figure it out for themselves.

I went to the flight school and spent some time talking with Danny. Arnie was giving flying lessons all morning. We discussed my training and how we might step up the pace. I booked in more flight time in the gaps that he had for the next week. Friday, Ness had gleefully informed me that morning, we were finally going to get our cooking lesson.

"If you fly all this," Danny said, "then you will be ready for your check ride. I could book a slot for you the week you come back from your vacation. I'd suggest Wednesday or Thursday, so you could get a couple of hours in the air earlier in the week, and then maybe the morning of your check ride."

"Sounds good," I said.

"I'll get it booked," Danny finished.

"Hi Caleb," said Arnie coming in through the office door. "Aren't you supposed to be taking your FBI test this afternoon?"

I looked at my watch and cursed. I had twenty minutes to get to the FBI office.

Seventeen minutes later, I walked through the door and up to the reception desk. Rosie smiled at me.

"Cutting it a little fine?" she asked.

"I got sidetracked," I said.

"Fourth floor," she said. "Agent Drey is proctoring you. I think you know him?"

I thought back. Daniel Drey was the agent who'd done the 'mind reading' with me all that time ago. That was where I'd first met Daisy.

I got out of the elevator and walked down the corridor.

"Just in time," said Agent Drey. "Come in and take a seat."

I went into an office where a computer was set up.

"I need to see some ID," he said. I showed him my driver's license and he took a photo of it with his phone.

"I have to submit that to show I checked," he told me. "Take a seat."

I sat in front of the computer. He explained the test and the conditions and controls. That took about fifteen minutes.

"Any questions?" he asked. I shook my head.

He nodded his head. "Then begin," he said.

I clicked on the button to start the test.

I started to read the first question.

Logic Based Reasoning.

Answer the question below based on the following paragraph.

A percipient witness a.k.a an eyewitness, is one who testifies....

Just under three hours later, I clicked my response to the last question and sat back in my seat. I stretched my back.

I'd actually quite enjoyed the testing. The logic based reasoning made sense to me. The figural reasoning reminded me strongly of the IQ tests I'd enjoyed taking as a kid. Even though my scores hadn't been particularly stellar, I'd always done alright. I'd found the puzzles easier than I remembered though. I wondered at that, and then realized that I'd not taken an IQ test since I'd lost my amulet. I found the situational judgement questions obvious. I wondered if I was missing something. Surely, they couldn't be that simple. The answers seemed like common sense.

The next two sections, the personality test and the preferences and interests' section, I found a little frustrating. I always disliked personality tests since they always asked you to answer a question without giving you all the information, or ask you to choose between two equally desirable, or undesirable, statements. Also, they tend to ask the same questions over and over, just worded slightly differently. I presumed that was to ensure you didn't try to fool the test by answering how you think they might want you to.

"How was that?" Daniel asked me with a smile.

"I'll let you know in an hour," I told him. He laughed.

"You'll get an email once your results are in," he said. "I'd tell you to go home and forget about it, but I know that you won't be able to do that. Good luck, and I hope to see you back here for phase two in a little while."

"Thanks," I said. "I hope so too."

I was just climbing into my truck, when Ness' voice blazed into my mind.

"CALEB!"

"Ness?" I answered her. "What's wrong?"

"I think I just saw someone kidnap a kid from a school," she responded.

"You think?" I asked. "Can you send me the memory?"

I felt her concentrate, and assimilated her memory.

I saw her driving down the road, past the school. A man had walked up to a boy who looked to be about six years old. The teacher who was with the group of students, waiting for parents, looked at him and he smiled at her.

I saw a cloud of dark energy wash over the teacher and the boy, and then the man took the boy's hand and led him off down the road. The teacher just stood there completely ignoring what had just gone on. The man and boy got into a dark sedan parked a few paces up the street and, after a moment, drove away.

Ness followed.

"I'm on my way to you," I sent. "Did you call police?"

"My phone in in my bag," she said. "I don't want to lose him."

"Okay," I told her. "Stick with him, but drive carefully. Try not to spook him and concentrate on your driving. The last thing you need is to get into a wreck because you are so busy watching him."

I called Dianna.

"Hey Caleb," she said. "I..."

"No time," I interrupted her. "Ness just witnessed a child abduction. She's following the car, and I'm on my way to her."

"Tell me what you know," she said.

I told her what school the boy had been taken from, the make and model of the car, and its license plate which I'd been able to get from Ness' memory.

"Where is she now?" she asked.

I asked Ness her location. She told me that where she was, and that she still had the man in her sights. He didn't seem to have noticed her and wasn't in any hurry. He seemed to be heading toward the Mall. I wondered about that.

After I relayed the information to Dianna she said, "He'll probably have a change of vehicle in the parking garage at the mall. That way, if he'd been seen by anyone, he could escape since law enforcement would be looking for a grey sedan and he's in a different car entirely."

"Makes sense," I said. "I'm only about five minutes away. Is there anyone nearer?"

"I need to initiate a response," she said. "I don't know how long it will take us to get there. I'll be sending local enforcement also. You're the guy on the ground so do what you think is appropriate, but be careful. Are you armed?"

"No," I said. "Since I was going into the office, I left my gun at home."

"Okay. If police are on scene, then leave it to them" she said. "But if you can take him down safely, then do what you do." She hung up.

I considered where Ness was, and sped up a little trying to reach her as quickly as possible. There was frustration as I got caught by a stopped school bus and was unable to make any headway until it had moved off.

Eventually I turned right and could see Ness' car further down the street. I sped up again to catch up to her.

"I'm coming up behind you," I told her. "Where is he?"

"He's just pulling into the parking garage," she told me. I looked at the entrance and noticed the tail end of a dark sedan disappearing into the entrance.

"Stay there," I told Ness. "Let me pass you and then follow."

"Go," she returned. I pulled around her, and into the entrance to the parking garage. As I pulled in I could see the grey car about half way down toward the ramp up to the next level. I extended my attention and scanned his mind.