Dream Bound (3 page)

“You’re more than welcome, Lizzie. I know you’ll be an asset to this team. And, by the way, let’s drop the ‘Mr. Dugan’ stuff. I probably won’t be able remain on site all the time once you guys are comfortable with the job, but we’ll be living and working together as a team enough to drop the formalities. My name’s Mac, though I imagine there’ll be times when it’s something else, hopefully only muttered quietly under your breath.”

He smiled at their laughter, then focused on Lizzie again, and Rodie tried to hide her disbelief that this little girl could be an asset to anything more sophisticated than the next routine on the cheerleading squad. Twenty-five? She looked about twelve.

Almost as if he’d read her mind, Dugan looked right at Rodie. “Lizzie may look young,” he said, turning quickly to smile at the girl. “And she is, but she’s also an amazing young woman. Lizzie was homeschooled before entering Georgetown at fifteen. She completed her undergraduate work at eighteen and had her doctorate in astrophysics from Princeton before she turned twenty-one. Lizzie’s been heavily involved in research and development on the Mars project for the last four years. When she talks about satellite communications and design, it’s for the new Mars lander that’s under construction.”

Rodie shot a quick glance at the girl. Then she chuckled. “Okay. I take back my wayward thoughts. Pretty impressive.”

Lizzie blushed and mumbled something. Rodie thought it was a thank you. Curious, she asked, “What do you mean by ageism? I thought that was something directed at the over-fifty crowd.”

Lizzie shrugged and shook her head. “You’re doing it right now—looking at me and thinking I’m just a kid. I was the only woman on my team, and the only member under thirty-five. In the beginning, more than ten years under.” She squared her shoulders and gave Rodie a level stare. “I know I’m young, but I’m far from stupid. I got tired of being treated like the resident bimbo.”

“Ouch.” Kiera Pearce chuckled. “I ran into that in law. The good old boys’ network is tough to deal with sometimes.”

“I’ve run into it, too,” Rodie said. “And you’re right. I’m sorry for doing the same thing to you. I should know better.”

“Thank you for that.” Lizzie shot her a bright smile, and Rodie suddenly had a whole new appreciation for both women. A sisterhood, of sorts.

Amazing how a shared problem created its own camaraderie. “I finished my masters in computer science at Stanford the year I turned twenty.” Rodie sensed they wanted to know more. Was that why she felt a need to explain more than she would under normal circumstances?

But then, what was normal anymore?

“No one took me seriously. I didn’t know whether to blame my age, my gender, or my indeterminate race.” She’d grown tired of explaining. No, she wasn’t black. Wasn’t Asian. Wasn’t Hispanic. She was just a mutt. A perfectly happy mutt, if the idiots who needed a label would just leave her alone.

“Or all three.”

She glanced up at Morgan’s dry comment, unsure whether he was teasing or agreeing or just making fun. “Or all three,” she echoed. Screw him. She didn’t really care.

He stared at her a moment. One corner of his mouth was quirked up in what could have been either a smile or a smirk. He held her gaze a moment and then turned toward Mac Dugan. “So. Are you going to tell us why we’re here and the others aren’t?”

Mac had been quietly watching them. Intently, the way you might study a lab experiment, was Rodie’s first thought. The silent buzz in the room grew stronger.

Mac nodded toward Morgan. “I am. I’m guessing you’ve already figured out some of the main points in your favor. All of you are incredibly intelligent. Off the charts intelligent, if you want the truth. You’re all powerful type-A personalities. Driven, creative, unafraid of trying new things. You’re all leaders, which could create a problem, except I’m the alpha wolf in this little pack and you will defer to me.”

“And why, may I ask, will we be doin’ that?” Finnegan’s question had a whole lot of Irish along with an obvious thread of steel running through it. Rodie sat back so she could better observe Dugan’s reaction.

“Because, Mr. O’Toole, this is my project and my money. My ideas.” Dugan grinned at all of them. Rodie almost laughed out loud at the feral, almost wolf-like look of the man.

“And because you signed a statement agreeing that I was the one in charge and that all final decisions would rest with me when you filled out the original questionnaire. If you don’t like it, you’re welcome to leave.” He folded his hands on the table and his gaze slowly swept over each of them.

No one moved.

“You’ve also got creative minds and you’re physically healthy. That was important—no genetic health problems or weaknesses, no communicable diseases, venereal or otherwise. Your psychological profiles show no sign of major neuroses or other mental issues. Plus, the women have all agreed to implants for birth control, which you ladies will need to take care of by tomorrow. We have a clinic here on the main campus.” He shrugged at the surprised looks from the guys. “What do you expect? I’m not about to put six sexually active, extremely attractive young adults together for six months and risk unwanted pregnancies.”

He continued with his assessing gaze moving slowly over the six of them. “There’s another thing you all have in common. It’s probably the second-most important ability.”

Now he focused on each of them in turn. Rodie held his gaze when he got to her. A shiver raced along her spine, a sense of knowing. Of some weird connection to the man, even though she’d never met him before.

And she knew. Just like that, as clear as glass, she knew what trait they shared. “You tested us for psychic awareness, didn’t you?” She almost laughed as Dugan’s smile grew. “I bet we all scored really high on the extrasensory perception part of that questionnaire.”

“You were just in my head, weren’t you? Telling me that we tested off the charts for ESP.” Cameron’s sulky attitude was gone. He laughed, staring open-mouthed at Dugan. “You just used telepathy with me.”

Every single one of them—including Rodie—stared wide-eyed at Mac. She almost snorted when Cameron’s head suddenly jerked one way and then the other, catching everyone’s amazed expressions. Then he narrowed his gaze on Dugan again. “You talked to all of us. You were in our heads at the same time. How?”

Mac Dugan leaned back in his chair with a huge, obviously satisfied grin on his face. “The same way you’re all going to be able to communicate with each other. Each of you has strong telepathic abilities. You merely lack the training.”

“How does this fit in with the telescopic array you’ve built, assuming this entire process has to do with the array?” Rodie could still feel the mental touch of Mac Dugan’s words in her mind. It was a disturbingly intimate sensation. Maybe she wasn’t dealing with the assault or the boyfriend incident as well as she’d thought, but those things had happened weeks ago. Why was she thinking of them now? “ESP and big satellite dishes? I don’t get it.”

“First of all, yes, this is all about the array. As I said, telepathic ability is the second-most important trait you share. The first is more personal.” Once again his gaze caught each of them independently, and the corner of his lips tilted slightly. “You are all, to one extent or another, sexually active and sexually very creative, very free about your sexuality. Mr. Black lives openly as a bisexual. He’s had a number of short-term relationships with both sexes over the years. Kiera, you’ve been married, briefly. You’re now divorced, but you said you identify as lesbian, maybe bi. You, Mr. O’Toole, wrote on your application that you consider yourself entirely heterosexual. You also identify yourself, and confirmed it a few moments ago, as a sexual predator.” Dugan chuckled. “Pretty ballsy statement, if you’re serious. Point being, you all have robust sex lives, and according to the tests we’ve run and the forms you’ve filled out, amazingly detailed sexual fantasies. With the telepathy, you have the ability to project those fantasies.”

Lizzie snorted. She covered her mouth with her hand and glanced at Rodie and Kiera. “And with the array, we have the ability to project those fantasies into space.” Laughing harder, she snapped her fingers. “Now that should bring any horny aliens in the universe racing our way. Wicked amazing!”

Laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath, Rodie glanced at Lizzie and started giggling again. This was so not what she’d expected, and it was obvious she wasn’t alone. All of them were laughing and cracking wise.

All except Morgan. She caught the frown, sensed his anger as he settled his chair back on all four legs and slapped his palms down on the table. A little shiver raced across her spine. Damn, but the man was hot. Even more so when he was pissed off.

“You are fucking kidding me.” He glared at all of them, growling in that deep, sexy voice of his. “You’ve pulled all of us together based on our ability to broadcast sexual fantasies? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Actually, Morgan, it’s not. Hear me out.” Mac Dugan shoved back his chair and stood up.

Rodie sensed the alpha wolf had just raised his hackles and growled. The laughter stopped. Every single one of them sat straighter in their chairs and paid attention. Rodie took a quick glance around as another shiver snapped across her spine. Even Morgan appeared to have backed off.

The easy smile was gone from MacArthur Dugan’s face. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and his gaze flicked from one to the next. And then, in a few terse words, he changed everything Rodie had ever thought about space and life on other worlds—and the power of the human mind.

2

T
he energy in the break room was positively mind-blowing. Mac stood there for a minute without moving, but when he looked at the six young people in front of him, he felt like pumping his fist in the air and shouting.

They might not realize it, but he had his dream team.

An absolutely perfect team.

He’d never been surrounded by so many brilliant minds. Not in the classes he’d occasionally taught at Stanford, not in the research and development meetings held here in this same building, headquarters of the company he’d first envisioned with Zianne—their company, known around the world as Beyond Global Ventures, or BGV.

Only when he’d been with Zianne had he experienced this kind of connection. The thought slammed into him, left him shaken—these six reminded him of Zianne. Of her power, her strength, and her amazing mind. Their thoughts were so bright and strong, their questions tumbling one over the other, and yet at this moment, with him standing here before them, they were open. Receptive. Even Morgan was curious and waiting, despite his skepticism.

Mac wished he could tell them the truth, but they weren’t ready. Soon. Soon he would tell them everything. But for now, he would merely whet their curiosity. Convince them that he wasn’t crazy, that he really was offering them a chance to touch the minds of an alien race.

“I know you have questions because I hear them.” He nodded at the varying expressions flitting across their faces. “Yes, I can hear and see your thoughts. Not crystal clear, but I do read them well enough to know that you’re seriously wondering whether I’m completely crazy or just mildly nuts.”

He folded his arms across his chest and perched on the counter beside the espresso machine. “I can assure you, there is no need to call the men in white coats.”

Damn, but a good, strong drink would go great about now.

He glanced at Morgan Black and bit back a laugh.

“Morgan, I see that you and I are of a like mind. Believe me, if I had a bottle of Jack Daniel’s within reach, I’d be pouring a double shot for each of us.” He spoke over Morgan’s soft “Holy shit,” and added, “I should have planned ahead.”

Leaning forward with his feet resting on the back of his chair, he planted his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands. His memory of Zianne’s beautiful smile, as clear now as on the last morning he’d seen her almost twenty years ago, settled in his mind. He ached for her now with as much pain as he’d felt when he first realized she wasn’t coming back.

When he’d finally accepted that she wasn’t returning because she couldn’t, he knew it meant just one thing—her nightly escapes to see him had been discovered by her captors. His only hope now was that they hadn’t killed her. That the Gar were still in orbit behind the moon, still within reach.

That the remaining Nyrians—including Zianne—were alive.

He sighed and focused on the six brilliant young men and women watching him so intently. Six minds that were the hope of an entire race of alien beings, maybe even the hope of this whole damned world.

His hope as well, and with luck, his salvation.

For some reason, he thought of Dink—Nils Dinkemann, the one who’d been his closest friend and, with Zianne, his lover. God, it was so long ago. He’d been even younger than most of these kids. In so many ways, he and Dink had been little more than children, still finding their way, but they’d made a great team. Mac, Dink, and Zianne—a computer nerd, a young man searching for his sexual identity, and an immortal creature from another world. Ageless. Brilliant, and beautiful.

He still saw Dink on occasion, but damn it all, he missed Zianne so much he ached.

“There are some things I can’t tell you right now,” he said, shoving his memories aside. “Things that would make little sense out of context, but that you will learn once we reach the site. I can tell you that intelligent alien life does exist. I can promise that you will be contacting these life-forms, hopefully within the next few days, and that they will reply to you.

“That connection is the purpose of this entire project, which is similar to SETI, but not officially part of it. Once you sign on for the initial six-month program, you will be the core members of the DEO-MAP project, an acronym for Discovering Extraterrestrial Organisms through Mental Acuity and Projection.”

He gazed from one person to the next, knowing their lives were going to change over the next few days, weeks, and months. He sensed their skepticism, but he also realized their minds were wide open, their curiosity spiking off the charts. “I am handing you the vehicle to connect with alien minds. All I ask of you is the power of your sexual energy, which is the strongest karmic force in existence. Give that freely, without reservation, and I promise, you will make contact.”