Winters Family Psi Chronicles 1: Transformation (18 page)

Chapter 21

Rose and Kevin sat cross-legged in front of the pond in the backyard deep in meditation. A deep stillness permeated their surroundings and an unnatural cold dominated the air. They both abruptly awakened at the same time to reveal black eyes. Powerful psychic energy pulsed wildly between them as they regarded each other dispassionately.

“Did it work this time?” Rose asked coolly.

“Yes, I shared your memories,” Kevin said.

Over seventy years of her future self’s memories flooded his mind and reshaped his personality. Rose already possessed over one hundred years of practice suppressing her emotions and maintaining a link with the mysterious force that flowed everywhere. Several days ago, she’d achieved the ability to stay connected to this power at all times. Her future self had come up with the idea of trying to share the memory download with Kevin with the hope that he might learn to utilize this ability as well.

“Try to connect with the power,” Rose instructed.

Kevin slowly rose to his feet and opened his awareness to the mysterious force. He had practiced this ability before without success but this time, he could feel it pulsing around him.

“It’s working.” A hint of a smile curved his lips.

“Excellent,” Rose said. “We can begin killing off the senators then.”

“You don’t think we should get rid of Jeremy and destroy Phoenix Enterprises first?” Kevin asked.

“No, they’ll be a distraction for Psi-Tech. Once George Hendricks figures out that he’s being manipulated, he’ll realize what I’ve done. After the government is attacked by mysterious psychics, they’ll immediately turn on telepaths and multipaths. All of the companies like Psi-Tech and Phoenix Enterprises will stick out like sore thumbs. No matter what type of legislation the government passes, they won’t be able to track us down and their fear will grow. There will be a war waged against telepaths and multipaths,” Rose said.

“Jeremy always catches us though in ever future you create,” Kevin pointed out.

“That’s why I sent that letter to George Hendricks, warning him that Phoenix Enterprises will cause his company to become bankrupt in ten years and that Jeremy is the key to Phoenix Enterprises becoming the most powerful company in the world,” Rose said. “If Jeremy survives whatever attack Psi-Tech comes up with, he’ll be too distracted to figure out what’s going on.”

“That was a great idea,” Kevin said.

“Now that you share my ability to connect with the power, you should be strong enough to kill targets without the need to travel. That should make us even more difficult to track,” Rose said. “Let go inside. We have a few senators to put down.”

They made their way to the living room and Rose grabbed a folder from the large entertainment center. She and Kevin sank into the plush cushions of the gray sofa facing the large-screen television. Rose pulled out a newspaper clipping of a middle-aged man impeccably dressed in a blue suit smiling at the camera man. It was Senator Karl O’Malley and the picture had been taken several months ago. Kevin had the ability to remote-view his targets with a photo the majority of the time. Rose hoped that with his new ability he would have the strength to utilize his healing talent to launch a long-distance attack.

Kevin accepted the picture and closed his eyes to concentrate. Rose linked with him telepathically so she could observe the results of this experiment. Kevin’s connection with the force allowed him to easily find Karl who was in the middle of a business meeting with a roomful of influential businessmen. Kevin focused his mind with the deadliest intent, directing a stream of malevolent dissonant energy at Karl’s chest. The senator gasped painfully and immediately clutched his chest. His skin turned pallid and he fell to the floor in an untidy heap as he struggled to breathe. The room was thrust into chaos. Two of the nearby men tried to help Karl but it was too late. Kevin could feel the senator’s life draining from his body. Giddiness thrummed through Kevin over his accomplishment and he jerked back into his own body, reeling from the shock of the sudden disconcerting return trip. His black eyes snapped open and he lost his connection to the force.

“Congratulations,” Rose said coolly.

“I lost it,” Kevin said. The absence of the connection left an aching maw inside his soul. He longed for its return. He had to have it. Kevin reached out with his mind but the power eluded him.

“Don’t worry. You’ll learn to keep the connection strong. The main thing you’ll need to do is suppress your emotions. You can only feel the tiniest sliver of emotion or you risk losing it for a time,” Rose said. “But there’s nothing to worry about because it will return.”

“I want it now,” Kevin whispered as the horrible, aching emptiness threatened to overwhelm him.

“I know how you feel. When you download memories with me tomorrow, you’ll gain the experience of an additional seventy years,” Rose said.

She reluctantly took the picture of Senator O’Malley from Kevin’s hand and put the folder of news clippings away. Unfortunately, Kevin wouldn’t gain control of the force long enough to perform any more long-distance attacks for quite some time. He might be ready this evening but it was more likely that they would have to wait for tomorrow. Rose didn’t mind as she’d mastered her patience and emotional control over centuries of practice. Downloading her future memories had already given her generations of experience and would provide generations more.

Chapter 22

Emily awakened abruptly from a precognitive nightmare in her chilly living quarters screaming with terror. She turned the lights on with a mere thought and shivered in the cold that she had generated with the use of her abilities. Panic clawed at her insides and she knew she was broadcasting an unspeakable horror through the psychic network to those who cared about her and perhaps those who were mere strangers. She stumbled out of bed and heard the door pound loudly as she sensed her brother’s presence.

“Come in!” Emily called as she reached out with her mind to unlock the door and open it.

“Are you all right?” Jeremy burst into the room and took a close look at her.

“It was my precognition. I had a nightmare,” Emily said.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Jeremy said.

“I’m sorry. It’s beyond my control.”

“I know. I don’t blame you. I’m just worried.”

“Don’t be. You’re the one in danger,” Emily said.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy regarded her warily.

“We need to discuss this with Julie. Actually, Sharon is going to be stopping by in a couple of hours as well,” Emily said.

“Sharon from Psi-Tech?”

“Yes.” Emily was resigned for a long, turbulent morning. “I’m going to take a quick shower. Can you let Julie know we’ll need to have a meeting?”

“She already knows. You woke her up with your nightmare,” Jeremy said. “She asked me what’s going on and I’ve just told her.”

“Great! I’m hitting the shower then I’m getting some coffee. We can talk downstairs,” Emily said.

Jeremy looked ready to argue as he was one to face problems head on but he also knew Emily was headstrong and once she decided on a course of action, it was best to just give in. Emily smiled faintly at his back as he left and closed the door behind him. She mulled over the precognitive visions that she’d dreamed about as she showered and put on a fresh pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt. When she made it downstairs, Julie, Ryan, and Jeremy were waiting for her with mugs of coffee sitting in front of them. Jeremy had prepared one for her with cream and sugar just the way he knew she liked it.

“Thanks,” Emily murmured appreciatively.

“Talk,” Jeremy said with a hint of reprisal.

“Sharon will be paying us a surprise visit soon. She has found out some information about Rose. Apparently she’s been pulling the strings at Psi-Tech in a pretty big way and they’ve just found out. Rose has been writing letters anonymously to the CEO of Psi-Tech, George Hendricks, just like she’s been doing with Psychic Parallels and about a dozen other companies. She’s developed a rapport and trust from those she’s contacted over the years. One of her biggest threats is Phoenix Enterprises and specifically Jeremy. She has an ability to predict the future by downloading her memories from her own mind that exists in the future. She is essentially able to absorb it all as if she had lived it. She has an unusual ability that has never been recorded in any future I’ve foreseen. It’s an ability to tap into one of the fields that is discovered around the planet. One of the fields has been theorized about in the scientific community but isn’t understood very well. It’s called a morphogenetic field. It is discovered how to actually measure this energy field in the future but as far as I know, Rose is the only one who’s ever been able to psychically tap into it.”

“I’ve heard of that,” Julie said musingly. “It was one of the theories used to explain the hundredth monkey effect.” When everyone looked at her as if she’d sprouted a second head, she hastened to explain the scientific principle. “Some monkeys on an island discovered by Lyall Watson learned to wash sweet potatoes and this behavior was observed and repeated by other monkeys on the island. When about a hundred monkeys had learned this behavior, it spread rapidly through the entire population and somehow the behavior was learned on other islands completely separated by the original one.”

“Interesting,” Jeremy remarked. “So then scientists tried to explain how this happened and came up with a theory of a morphogenetic field?”

“Yes and they tested the theory with other animals but could never measure or detect actual morphogenetic fields until far into the future,” Emily interjected. “Apparently, Rose can tap into this energy and it greatly enhances her psychic abilities. She has been downloading her memories from the future just about every single day so she has literally hundreds of years of memories and practice controlling her abilities. I’m not sure we can stop her if she decided to attack us directly which will probably happen at some point in the near future. Fortunately for us, she likes to pull the strings rather than to confront people directly.”

“So what is she going to do to attack us?” Julie asked.

“She’s already sent letters out to the companies she has helped to start, warning them that Phoenix Enterprises is corrupt and evil. She’s instructed them to attack this facility as soon as possible and cripple us before we can take over,” Emily said.

“So at any moment, we’re going to be attacked by a bunch of telepaths and multipaths from other companies?” Jeremy said sharply.

“No because Rose failed to predict that through her manipulations, she’s made us stronger than the original timeline. The companies all have psychometrists who can detect her true intent even if they can’t pick up where she lives or all the details of her abilities,” Emily said.

“So when you and Nathan were put into comas, did she see you as a personal threat?” Julie asked.

“Yes, because we’re able to tap into events in the future that she has manipulated. She wanted to buy herself some more time.” Emily paused and took a deep breath. “George Hendricks received one of the letters Rose sent that was warning them to take action against us. He had a couple of his psychometrists read the energy from the letter and confirmed what he’s suspected, that he was being manipulated even as he had benefited greatly from Rose’s financial predictions in the past.”

“So why is Sharon coming here?” Jeremy asked.

“George has sent Sharon here to get us to form a temporary alliance to share all information regarding Rose so that Psi-Tech can hunt her down and neutralize her as a threat.”

“Doesn’t Rose cause Psi-Tech to become extremely powerful in the future?” Jeremy asked.

“Yes, she does but at first they will be weakened as our government is destabilized via psychic assassinations. The government will retaliate against all telepaths and multipaths. It isn’t until the government steps down that Psi-Tech gains political power which is years in the future. At that time, all executives at Psi-Tech will be killed and Rose will take over,” Emily said.

“Why would anyone let her do that? Wouldn’t they just arrest her?” Jeremy asked.

“At first, they’ll try but she’s too powerful. There will be an underground movement that will live in secret and strategize for many years on how to stop her. You will be that leader and will eventually capture her.”

“It sounds like she’s already too powerful,” Jeremy said dourly.

Kate and Skylar burst into the room with concerned expressions on their faces. Julie shot them disapproving looks.

“I thought I told you we needed the time to discuss details before Sharon arrived,” she said authoritatively.

“We gave you a lot of time but we need to know what’s going on,” Kate said nervously. “It was such a terrible feeling that I sensed from Emily. I couldn’t wait forever.”

“I would have briefed you after we’d spoken with Sharon,” Julie said. “However, if you want to sit in, you’re welcome to, as long as you refrain from asking questions.”

Emily tamped down on a surge of irritation at Julie’s scolding. She couldn’t blame her mother and her friend for their concern and didn’t appreciate the rebukes they’d received. She quickly informed them of what they’d missed in spite of Julie’s growing impatience.

“Do you remember the formula that was used to neutralize Rose’s psychic abilities?” Julie said crisply.

“I’m afraid I don’t. It was the first thing that I tried to recall when I woke up but since I don’t have a medical background, that information was lost immediately as the terms are completely unfamiliar to me,” Emily said regretfully.

“I would like you to try and see this event in the future and to determine the exact formula used to create this drug,” Julie said.

“I’ll definitely try but I haven’t been able to foresee the details for that far into the future since the electrical storms occurred. There are too many precognitives that are changing the future – not to mention Rose herself,” Emily said.

“I understand that. Can you remember any other important details about your vision?”

“Unfortunately, Rose has an ally who has joined with her. He used to work at Psi-Tech but I think he was secretly working for Rose all along. His name is Kevin and he will at some point in time gain the same ability to tap into the morphogenic-like field as Rose,” Emily said gravely. She took a large gulp of her coffee and gathered her thoughts. “There are other details I can’t recall right now. Dreams are difficult for me to remember.”

“I’ve made good progress in my plan to offer psychic protection. There are fifty-three people who have agreed to join so far. This will be important to ward off any attacks by Rose or Kevin or even Psi-Tech,” Julie said.

“How soon do you think you’ll have that plan ready?” Skylar asked.

“By this afternoon,” Julie replied. She stilled with her mug of coffee poised close to her mouth. She grimaced and set the cup down. “Sharon has arrived. She’s waiting for us in the lobby. I’ve informed the receptionist to escort her into the main conference room.”

“I’m not looking forward to seeing her,” Emily said.

“You don’t have to attend the meeting,” Julie said, “but I’d appreciate it if you would join us there.”

“Of course, I’ll go. This is important,” Emily said.

Jeremy, Emily, Julie, and Ryan made their way to the conference room where Sharon was waiting.

“Hi, Sharon,” Julie said crisply. “What brings you here today?”

“Some disturbing information has come to light at Psi-Tech and I wish to relay recent events and discoveries in the hopes that you will cooperate by in turn telling me what you know,” Sharon said succinctly.

“I’m willing to listen,” Julie said.

“There is a former patient from Evergreen Terrace Center, named Rose, who suffered from a severe disassociative state. The condition made her barely aware of her surroundings. It has come to my attention recently that in the future, Rose will become part of a psychic network which will cure her condition and cause her to become self-aware. One of her abilities is to transfer memories from her future self and also to control her body in the past before she became cognizant. Her future self was power hungry and wanted to get an earlier start so she altered the past by taking temporary control of her body and writing letters to various individuals anonymously over a period of years. She has been helping some people to acquire wealth by accurately forecasting economic events. She has helped many individual businesses to start and gave these owners a list of those telepaths and multipaths who would die if they didn’t join a psychic network.

“By doing this, Rose saved many lives but she also gave people the knowledge to create a psychic network many years earlier. This has drastically altered our present and future. George Hendricks, the CEO of Psi-Tech, is one of the individuals that Rose has guided over the years. Rose knew that he wouldn’t be perceptive for her idea of creating a psychic network because Psi-Tech has always seen telepaths as a threat but recently, she convinced him of the ability to create a psychic network for empaths that could include multipaths and telepaths. This changed the mandate for Psi-Tech to seek out and enlist telepaths to join us as they are no longer a liability but instead, an asset,” Sharon said.

“It’s a shame that you guys couldn’t have figured that out before killing so many of them,” Emily said frostily.

“Let’s try to get past that. It’s a regrettable policy that Psi-Tech had adopted but that’s all water under the bridge now,” Sharon said emphatically. “One of the multipaths that Rose decided to save and enlist as an ally was Kevin. She had been secretly writing to him for years and realized his potential. We discovered Kevin’s duplicity shortly after his unauthorized attack on this facility but he escaped. No doubt, he’s joined with Rose who has recently been cured from her condition and escaped from the mental institution.”

Emily seethed at the casual way that Sharon wanted to ignore the atrocities that Psi-Tech had committed in the past including the deaths of innocents who would become telepaths as well as her own imprisonment. It took extreme effort for her to keep silent.

“We know about Rose and Kevin,” Julie said smoothly. She quickly briefed Sharon on what they knew. “So how did you learn about Rose’s manipulations?”

“George began to sense something wrong and when he received the latest anonymous letter from her telling him that Phoenix Enterprises had to be destroyed and that Jeremy Winters must be killed, he became suspicious. George had two of his strongest psychometrists work on the letter. They were able to pick up all this information that I have just told you. Apparently, Rose didn’t realize that she would leave enough psychic residue to expose herself,” Sharon said.