Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (14 page)

“Yes. I just need to rest for a bit,” Jeremy said.

“It’s cold in here.” Kate shivered and frowned at them with puzzlement.

“It’s a side effect when a multipath uses a lot of their psychic ability,” Julie explained. “I called Sharon at Psi-Tech to demand that she stop the attack and she claimed she had no idea that there was one going on. I told her we identified Kevin’s psychic imprint and know it was him. She assured us that no attack was authorized and she would look into it.”

“Do you believe her?” Skylar asked.

“Not for an instant,” Julie said crisply.

“I got rid of Kevin. I think I might have temporarily clipped his wings. He should leave us alone for awhile,” Jeremy said.

“Good work,” Julie said. “We’re going to need to figure out a way of defending ourselves against this kind of attack in the future.”

“I think what we’ll need to do is find out which of us have offensive, long-range capabilities and have them ready in situations like this. The remote-viewers can guide them to any attackers,” Jeremy said.

Julie nodded in agreement. “We also need to find a way to block intruders. There has to be a way.”

“I think the same technique of pushing back against remote-viewers who try to lock onto us would work,” Jeremy said.

“That’s something we should train everyone to do,” Julie said. “Great idea. I’ll coordinate a telepathic instruction guide so that all members of the center will know what to do.” She gazed down at Emily for a moment then looked up to address the group. “This would be a perfect time to gather information on Psi-Tech. I’ve already put the remote-viewers to work on it for random intervals but I think we should take a look now. If anyone is interested in joining with me, we can go as a group.”

Skylar and Jeremy both volunteered immediately. Julie nodded in acknowledgement and Kate piped up that she wanted to participate as well.

“Are you sure?” Julie’s surprise was obvious as she clearly hadn’t expected Kate to volunteer.

“Yes, I want to be a part of this,” Kate said.

“All right. Let’s all sit down and get comfortable so we can begin. We’ll need to concentrate for possibly quite awhile,” Julie said.

They found each other in the psychic network as well as the remote-viewers who had been patiently waiting since Julie had telepathically let them know her plans just before asking for volunteers. The group was pulled along in the wake of the remote-viewers who locked onto Kevin’s position. The teenaged multipath was seated at a desk in a medium-sized office with his eyes closed and fog escaping from his breath due to the cold temperature. The computer monitor in front of him was shut down so they all knew he hadn’t been working on it. They all waited for something to happen and wondered if anything would until finally Kevin’s eyes opened to reveal completely dilated pupils with no trace of color whatsoever. This alerted everyone to the fact that he was still utilizing his psychic abilities in a major way. The door unexpectedly burst open and Sharon stalked inside wearing a crisp, black business suit.

Her face conveyed a livid anger as she approached the desk followed by two security officers who already had their guns drawn. Surprise finally registered on her face as the cold air permeated her consciousness but the anger quickly took over again.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Sharon bit out furiously.

“I was attacking the psychic network at Phoenix Enterprises,” Kevin said in a cold, matter-of-fact tone.

“On who’s authority?” Sharon demanded.

“My own, of course,” Kevin taunted.

“You have no authority to take such action on your own! You need to learn to follow orders! When George hears about this, he’s going to strip away your authority and make you a lowly peon. You jeopardized our security with your childish attack,” Sharon snapped.

“I used my healing ability in an experiment to see if it was possible for long-range attacks. It turned out to work very well. George will slap my wrist but will approve of the results,” Kevin said calmly.

“He won’t approve when he learns that you acted on someone else’s behalf. I’ve been investigating you and have learned some interesting things,” Sharon said smugly. “You’ve been working against us from the beginning.”

“You’ve had psychometrists read my room,” Kevin said bluntly.

“That’s right,” Sharon said with a tight, angry smile. “And you’ve been working for someone who has their own agenda. I’m not sure what you were trying to accomplish by attacking Phoenix Enterprises except maybe you were trying to increase tensions between us in order to undermine Psi-Tech’s power base.”

“That wasn’t my intention,” Kevin said slowly. “My associate and I wish for Psi-Tech to remain strong and have helped your efforts. I was learning my potential in the attack on Phoenix Enterprises and also buying us some time. You see, there are two members of the Phoenix Enterprises psychic network who will learn information that will ultimately lead to our failure to attain a power base.”

“Who are these two individuals?”

“You’re very well acquainted with one of them. Her name is Emily Winters. The other is Nathan Roedrill.”

“And what exactly would they learn that would lead to the failure of Psi-Tech?” Sharon demanded. When Kevin failed to respond, her face contorted with renewed anger. “It’s just as I thought. You’re protecting your own agenda and it’s not necessarily in Psi-Tech’s best interests. You can no longer be trusted.” She threw a commanding look at the security officers. “Shoot him.”

They immediately complied as they hadn’t lowered their guns during the entire tense, verbal exchange. The tranquilizer darts froze in midair about a foot from each gun, slowly turned and shot back at each of the operatives, injecting them in the neck. They crumpled to the floor in unconscious heaps as Sharon blinked in surprise. Kevin smiled widely with evident satisfaction.

“When did you become telekinetic?” Sharon asked shakily.

“I’ve always had that particular ability.” Kevin slowly rose to his feet. “I have a lot more abilities than I admitted to this company. I’ve known all along that we would be forced to part ways. You’ve outgrown your usefulness to us.”

“Psi-Tech has vast resources. They will hunt you down no matter where you hide,” Sharon said coldly.

Instead of responding, Kevin merely gazed at her with his chilling, black eyes. Sharon pulled out a gun from inside her suit and pointed it at him. The weapon whipped out of her hand and landed in the far corner of the room. Sharon gasped and retreated several steps toward the open door. Her eyes widened with terror and she grasped her chest. She drew breath laboriously as if something impeded her lungs.

“It’s very unpleasant to have dissonant healing energy directed at you.” Kevin smiled chillingly at her.

Sharon continued to breathe laboriously and sank to her knees as fatigue set in. Soon, she passed out and Kevin stepped over her. He paused at the door and looked around the room. Without warning, Jeremy and his group were thrown out of the room and found themselves back in their bodies with an alarming rapidity. Jeremy opened his eyes to find himself falling out of his chair in Emily’s room.

“He must have known we were watching the entire time but didn’t care,” Skylar said.

“Or maybe he didn’t notice us until he was leaving,” Julie said.

“No, I sensed that he wanted us to see him in action,” Jeremy said.

“He must have a pretty big ego,” Julie said. “It looks like we have another problem besides Psi-Tech. I wonder who his associate is.”

“If it’s just two of them, they aren’t really a threat,” Skylar said. “They’re up against both Psi-Tech and us.”

“I believe that they are manipulating us somehow,” Julie said. “If it’s just the two of them, the only way for them to be effective is to pull the strings of larger teams or to take over one or both teams.”

“Do you think that’s possible?” Skylar said with alarm. “How could they take over Psi-Tech?”

“I’m not sure. Psi-Tech is a large company so maybe they have several people in key positions who are being blackmailed or controlled somehow,” Julie said. “We’ll need to find out more about them.”

Chapter 16

Jeremy met with Julie and Ryan in the main conference room early in the morning before business operating hours. They all had large mugs of coffee in front of them and a copy of the appointments set for the next several days.

“Congratulations are in order,” Julie said crisply. “We have kept every obligation so far in spite of the very tight scheduling. Last night, I purchased three plane tickets for you to visit Psychic Parallels and investigate the company. You can bring whoever you like but I would suggest that at least one of them be a psychometrist. I know you don’t want to leave your sister while she is in her current state but she was supposed to have awakened by now and it’s obvious something has changed. I believe our best shot of helping both Emily and Nathan is to find out what’s going on.”

“I agree,” Jeremy said. “I’ll definitely bring Skylar with me. Kate had originally wanted to go with us but since Emily is still unconscious, I’m sure she’ll want to remain here.”

“The strongest psychometrist we have right now is Lynette. She’s a new-hire who doesn’t yet know about Psi-Tech so you’ll have to be careful what you say around her. We don’t want to freak people out by making them think we’re off balance. We lost a lot of potential telepaths to our psychic network because they thought we were crazy. As you know, a lot of people find it hard to believe that Psi-Tech has secretly been killing telepaths – especially when they are adding telepaths to their psychic network,” Julie said.

“In spite of their new policy of accepting telepaths, Psi-Tech is somehow going to be even more of a threat in the future than ever before,” Jeremy said grimly. “When does the flight take off for California?”

“At nine o’clock so you’ll have to leave here in a couple of hours,” Julie said. “The return flight isn’t scheduled back until seven in the evening which will give you plenty of time to investigate Psychic Parallels.”

She slid the envelope containing a printout of the online tickets she’d purchased across the table and Jeremy accepted them.

“Thanks,” he said. “Do you have enough skilled precognitives to fulfill the obligations for our current clients?”

“We have three precognitives that can do the job for today,” Julie said reassuringly.

The rest of the meeting covered a variety of topics regarding ideas for increasing their psychic network more quickly. The main concern was Psi-Tech’s rate of expansion which remote-viewers had reported was four times greater than Phoenix Enterprises. Afterwards, Jeremy telepathically informed Skylar and Lynette of their mission to Psychic Parallels. When they gathered in the lobby, Jeremy and Skylar introduced themselves to Lynette who they hadn’t met before. She was a middle-aged woman with graying brown hair, blue eyes, and a friendly smile. She wore pink slacks, a pink blouse, and pink tennis shoes with a bulky pink purse. As Jeremy drove to the airport, they made small talk and Lynette offered her sympathies over Emily’s current state. Unfortunately, Julie hadn’t been able to purchase seating on the plane together so they were dispersed in different sections. When they arrived in San Diego, Jeremy rented a white sedan and drove to Psychic Parallels which was situated in a small, run-down white building on the outskirts of the business district.

“Interesting,” Skylar murmured.

“They’re definitely a very small company,” Jeremy said.

They stepped inside the building and found themselves standing in a small lobby area with half a dozen plastic red chairs lining either side of the room. A musty smell permeated the area and the front counter was comprised of old, orange Formica. A young blond in her early twenties was seated behind it. A brass name plate on the counter identified her as Molly with the title of consultant. She beamed at them as they approached.

“Welcome to Psychic Parallels. My name is Molly.”

“Hi, I’m Jeremy and this is Lynette and Skylar. I’m vice-president of operations from Phoenix Enterprises and these are my associates. We’re skilled professionals in the field of psychic research and consultation and thought the owner or manager might be interested in speaking with us,” Jeremy said.

Molly stared off into space for several seconds then her gaze shifted back to meet Jeremy’s. “Yes, the owner would like to speak with you. It will be just a moment. Please, have a seat.”

Jeremy, Skylar, and Lynette seated themselves and waited patiently. Lynette’s right hand rested on the side of the chair and her eyes took on a faraway look as she read any psychic imprints. Jeremy wondered what information she would discover. It didn’t take long for a short, dark-haired man in his early thirties to arrive. He had a tan, a neatly-trimmed beard and wore a black polo shirt and jeans with flip flops. He radiated a strong psychic energy that made Jeremy a little uncomfortable.

“Hi, I’m Craig, one of the owners of Psychic Parallels.” He shook each of their hands. “Please, follow me. We can talk in my office.”

His office was tiny with outdated, shaggy brown carpeting and freshly painted white walls. A small desk with what looked like several family pictures was situated in the corner of the room and three large filing cabinets on the other side of the room. Three chairs faced the desk and a couple of tasteful paintings hung on opposite sides of the room.

“It’s good to meet you. I hadn’t realized there were other companies besides Psi-Tech like us,” Craig said when they had all taken their seats.

“Yes, there are several new companies,” Jeremy said. “Phoenix Enterprises started up a little over a week ago. Julie and I are the owners and we started out with a loose network after discovering that telepaths can link and increase their psychic abilities. We then formed a company to help other telepaths and multipaths.”

“Interesting. That’s the same terminology that I’m familiar with. We have eleven multipaths in our network. Our company itself has eight employees and a little less than a hundred members altogether in our network. My sister and I are both multipaths. Our main objective is to eventually create a cooperative network with all telepaths and multipaths in the world. Of course, it will take a long time to succeed but the more companies who are working on the same goal, the faster we will achieve it.”

Jeremy hadn’t considered joining the psychic network at Psychic Parallels but doing so would greatly increase their network. It would be prudent to discover more information before jumping in though.

“I’m curious as to how you formed a company so quickly,” Jeremy said with a polite smile.

“I wish I could claim all the credit but I had a lot of help. You see, there were psychics before the big day that transformed the world. Psi-Tech already existed and there was a smattering of psychics scattered everywhere. My sister, Stacy, and I are fraternal twins. We already shared a telepathic link although it took a lot of concentration to communicate with each other before the electric storms. There was someone who could see the future that corresponded with us for about one year before that. The letters provided us with ways to make money by accurately forecasting specific events. We were advised that our business would save many lives because the electrical storms would be a catalyst for the activation of extremely powerful psychic abilities in some individuals that would quickly lead to their death. By linking with other telepaths, these individuals could be saved.

“We were given a list with thirty people who would die from such abilities. Four of those were given correspondence by presumably the same anonymous person that wrote to us. These individuals were given letters that accurately predicted events for them in order to gain their trust and later were warned they would die as a result of the electrical storms unless they linked with other telepaths. A week before the storms happened, we were all given contact information about each other and agreed to meet and link right after the storm if we developed the symptoms that were described to us. Everything that the letters predicted for the storm came to pass and we linked that very day, forming the beginning of our psychic network.” Craig smiled cheerfully at them. “Tell me how you started up.”

“Well, my sister was a precognitive before the storms. She was able to foresee events in the distant future that would take place after the storm. She learned a lot of information and learned a great deal about Psi-Tech which has a lot of corruption. We wanted to offer an alternative to Psi-Tech as we didn’t like what would occur in the future,” Jeremy said.

“Yes, we see something dark about Psi-Tech as well. However, it is a company that originated by government funding and therefore some corruption is to be expected. Over time, when all telepaths and multipaths have joined together, we will evolve morally and Psi-Tech will become a positive influence in the world.”

Jeremy, Skylar, and Lynette were flabbergasted to hear this prediction made and wondered if the precognitives working at Psychic Parallels really saw this happening or if it was just a theory.

“I’m afraid the precognitives we have don’t share your vision of Psi-Tech. It seems to be growing darker and more ominous as though with greater ability, they become more corrupt,” Jeremy said slowly.

“For now, that is what is happening but you have to realize that the more our psychic network grows, the more the future alters. The one who made this company possible was able to accurately predict all events that he or she forecasted and had a vision of Psi-Tech becoming a positive influence on the world in about twenty years. Even though the precognitives see troubling things in regards to Psi-Tech, we have been assured that the future is even now changing but we just aren’t as strong as the anonymous individual,” Craig said.

“My sister has always been a very strong precognitive and she never saw Psi-Tech losing its darker side,” Jeremy argued.

“I’m afraid we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on that point. I usually charge an affordable fee for membership to our psychic network but since you already have an established network, I’m willing to link with you at no charge,” Craig offered.

“Are you intending to join Psi-Tech’s network?” Jeremy asked as a chill of foreboding gripped him.

“Yes, my sister is visiting with them as we speak. We made an appointment and should be linked at any moment.”

Jeremy couldn’t allow Phoenix Enterprises to become linked with Psi-Tech but he didn’t want to lose out on further information that might result from continuing a discussion with Craig. He struggled to think of something political to say that wouldn’t commit to anything.

“That sounds like an intriguing proposal. I’ll need to consult with my business partner before we go ahead and link,” Jeremy said smoothly. “I’d like to know more about the individual that helped your company. It sounds like this person never revealed himself?”

“No but we have several psychometrists that tried to read the psychic imprint on the letters and are sure it’s a woman. Unfortunately, there isn’t a strong enough impression to read anything else.”

“Lynette is a very powerful psychometrist. Would you mind letting her try to read the letters?” Jeremy asked.

“Sure.” Craig rose from his desk and crossed the room to one of the filing cabinets. He opened the second drawer from the top and pulled out a large folder containing a multitude of letters. “We kept all the letters and placed them in one folder. This is what she wrote to all five of us.”

“Thanks.” Jeremy accepted the folder and handed it to Lynette.

She rested the pile of letters on her lap and placed both hands flat on the top. They all wore expectant looks on their faces as they waited for her analysis.

“She’s definitely a woman. I’m seeing a bunch of people around her and yet she spends a lot of time alone looking out the window,” Lynette said slowly with her eyes squeezed shut. She hesitated as she processed more images and impressions. “I sense a powerful mind but it’s separate from the one who writes these letters. It’s as if the body and the mind is separate somehow. I’m not quite sure I’m interpreting this correct. Give me a moment.”

Jeremy and Skylar exchanged surprised looks as they mulled over what Lynette had just learned. Jeremy couldn’t make sense of it but at the same time, was trying to keep his mind clear so he wouldn’t miss anything when Lynette spoke again.

“Yes, there is a definite disparity between the body and mind. It’s such a powerful mind and it almost feels like it doesn’t belong. I’m afraid I can’t explain anymore.” Lynette sighed and opened her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You did terrific!” Craig exclaimed. “No one has received that much information from those letters before and believe me, we’ve tried.”

“Thanks,” Lynette said gratefully.

“You’re a world-class psychometrist. The best I’ve seen although I haven’t seen too many,” Craig said.

“Can I see one of those letters?” Jeremy inquired.

“Sure.”

Jeremy pulled out one of the sheets of paper and read over the letter silently. At the bottom where the signature should be was an infinity symbol with a backwards R attached.

“She signs in an interesting way,” Jeremy said.

“Yes, it’s fascinating. She’s a wonderful person. I’m sure we’ll meet her some day,” Craig said.

“Why didn’t she come here and introduce herself?” Jeremy asked.

“She said it’s too complicated to explain but that she would be here some day,” Craig said.

“Doesn’t that make you uneasy that she’s so secretive about her identity after all this time?” Lynette asked.