The Talented (21 page)

The shrewd woman shook her head, “Adam, I’m sorry but that could never work. We need you here. This is the only place with the facilities to…study you.”

“Hmm,” I replied, “…and I bet it’s also the only place that can contain me. Sorry Doc, the deal’s off. Maybe some other time.”

I cast my gaze around the room at the remaining guardsmen and scientists, and for the first time they responded to me with a wave of positive regard that left me overcome with emotion. I saved them. I saved them all, and they knew it.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

More dreams.

The white sands almost looked blue under the starry sky, save for those surrounding a small fire pit, where the flames flickered and sputtered. A slender man in early middle-age wearing a cotton oxford with linen slacks reclined comfortably in a hammock stretched between two palm trees, having no trouble reading his book in the dark because the beach, fire and stars were all in his mind. However, not everything present was of his making. A shadowy figure stood silently near the water, his silhouette blocking the reflection of the stars behind him.

Curious, but not alarmed, the man in the hammock called out, “Hello there? Who are you? Step forward so that I can see you. After all, this is my sanctuary that you have intruded upon uninvited.”

At first the dark figure did not move, then it slowly approached, gliding over the sand unnaturally, like a specter. Gus slid off the hammock and stood, now afraid, until the dark form entered the circle of light created by the fire. The pale white skin and black eyes were framed by thick black hair that resembled raven feathers more than it did human hair.

“Oh! Adam. You startled me coming in here like that, in the trappings of your former alter ego. What’s the meaning of all this?”

The specter opened its pale lips as if it had never done so before and spoke using my voice.

“Not Adam,” it replied, “The human you know as Adam Sharpe is merely my vessel in this bizarre world of yours. You may call me Talon. I am a Prophesier, though you should remember that from our first meeting years ago.”

Gus looked at him with a sad expression and said, “So be it, boy, I will play along for now. Talon. What can I do for you?”

“The boy knows everything, Augustus. He fell asleep tonight wanting to confront you about it. That must explain why I was summoned here.” Inhuman menace subtly played across the being’s features. “To confront you.”

Not giving any reaction in his face or voice, Gus evenly replied, “Confront me about what?”

“You lied about everything,” accused the Prophesier, “I can read it from your mind as easily as you read that imaginary book. Your name is Dr. Augustus Mandel, the child prodigy who is the only known psionically gifted person not bred by the program. . Abducted by the government as a child, you were studied at the Fortress. However, it was not long before you mastered all the known theories and began developing your own. The work you did revolutionized their understanding of the core principles of psionics. Your work was ground-breaking, so much so that your species named the energy flow between the consciousness and the brain after you. The Mandellian thread. You taught the older students of the academy, who were roughly your age. That’s when caught the eye of a tall beauty with long dark hair named Clare. You had an affair with the girl and she became pregnant with your child. Since he was the first child of the seventh generation, she named him Adam.”

Gus answered that with a chuckle, “Is that your theory? Well, I must say I’m flattered and touched that you would believe me to be your…I mean
Adam’s
father. Don’t you find it strange that of all the hospitals for me to be laid up in a coma, somehow Adam ended up being brought here as well? A little far-fetched, wouldn’t you say?”

Talon replied with no emotion whatsoever, “You arranged it all, Augustus. As a comatose patient you do not belong in this kind of hospital, but you made it happen to be with your son. While you can not speak or eat on your own, you psionic arsenal remains fully functional. Through the minds of others and remote viewing you watched over your son’s development, and manipulated events so that you would be brought together here, where he could grow under your tutelage and protection.” The black, alien eyes peered into his, “You love him. He’s your son. Admit the truth.”

Finally the facade worn by Dr. Augustus Mandel began to crack, and with a resigned sigh, he said quietly, “It’s true, Adam. All of it. I didn’t want to lie to you, but if I were to tell you the truth you would have sought out your mother, the act of which would have exposed you to that maniac, Harrison. That was not a risk I was willing to take. You were fragile and broken, and I did my best to help you to heal and grow strong, but despite your great power your psyche is dangerously unstable. Even now your trauma has brought back your childhood fantasy self. This is precisely what I had feared…that the strain would be too much for you.”

The dark form stirred, for the first time appearing uncomfortable. He said, “I must go. Adam approaches.” As smoothly as he first appeared, the Prophesier withdrew into the gloom and vanished.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Even though I should be used to dreaming of myself as Talon the Prophesier, lately it has gotten worse. The dreams come every night, and have become so incredibly vivid that I remember them upon waking.

However, this is the first time that I have woken up inside someone else’s head.

Gus stood next to his hammock on the beach in his mind. The first hints of sunrise cast long shadows across the dream landscape.

“Adam,” he said.

“Dr. Mandel,” I replied.

Silence filled the space between us. I was the first to speak again. “Since we first met you were like a father to me. It should be like a dream come true that, in fact, you really are my dad…if not for the lies.”

Gus took a step toward me, “Son, I wanted to tell you, but I was trying to protect you. Please try to understand.”

“What I understand is that you didn’t trust me with the truth. That is what hurts the most. The lack of faith in me.”

“No, please,” my father replied, “I believe in you. I’ve always believed in you.”

All grew silent for a moment, save for the gentle rolling crash of the waves.

I broke the silence. “Tell me about my mother.”

Gus looked down at the sand when he answered, “How do I begin to describe Clare? Even at her young age she looked like a Greek goddess, like Athena. She was the real rising star of the Program, not Stuart, but all anybody noticed about her was her brazenly flirtatious ways. Officially, Harrison was her boyfriend, but even then the young man was consumed by his work. He traveled for weeks at a time, and then upon his return would work 15 hours a day, every day. That is why she tried so hard to make him jealous. One day Harrison stumbled into the room while Stuart and she were kissing, and that finally caught his attention. However, it did not have the desired effect. Harrison became consumed with jealousy, and from that point forward they were bitter rivals. Clare grew tired of it all, and was privately ashamed of her tarnished reputation. She showed up at my door one evening with eyes red from tears and told me everything. Then we…well. We were together that night.”

“Please spare me the details,” I said. “How could you? You were her teacher! She was just a teenager, and she trusted you! She came to you in a moment of weakness and you took advantage of her like a lecherous dog!”

Gus seemed to have trouble looking me in the eyes as he replied, “Please, son, it wasn’t like that at all. Clare was only a few years younger than me! Besides, I never took the teaching seriously. It was just a waste of time that kept me from my research. So there I was, a brainy kid who had never kissed a girl, when out of nowhere the most beautiful girl whom I have ever met suddenly wants me. It wasn’t just her looks, Adam. Her mind was like nothing else I had ever experienced. I could no more have turned her down than I could have gone without air. But…I was her teacher; that is true. What you said to me just now were almost her exact words to me the next day. She stopped speaking to me, not even in class. You are both right, by the way. I was wrong in what I did, but I do not regret it. Just look at you! You are a miracle child. Not only are you the only Program child of your generation to survive into adulthood, but more importantly you have grown into a good man. Of that I’m proud.”

“So, where is she now?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice steady. “Where has my mother been all these years?”

Gus fell silent for a time, then replied, “When I heard that the Fortress was burning, all I could think about was that Clare was in there. The fire wasn’t the main threat down there. It was the smoke. Thick black smoke filled the entire complex. Without psionics I never would have found her. By the time I got to her, she was on her hands and knees, keeping her mouth an inch from the ground. Apparently there was a thin layer of fresh air down there. The only way out was to leap through space, a skill that Clare had not yet mastered. I had the skill, but lacked the raw power. Clare was my opposite. We joined our minds as one and teleported together into the surrounding forest.”

His eyes brimming with emotion, Gus continued, “We struggled together to get to a hospital but I couldn’t stop coughing, and after a while my legs gave out. I couldn’t walk any more. Clare was hurting as well, but she was stronger than me. Seven months pregnant and she still had enough strength for the both of us. She insisted on staying with me when I knew that she desperately needed medical care. That you both did. So I summoned every ounce of strength that I had left and I teleported us both to the hospital. By myself. Miraculously, it worked, but at a terrible cost. I arrived at the hospital unconscious, and never woke up. The strain of it all caused Clare to go into labor prematurely. You were born that night, and both of you almost died. You couldn’t have weighed more than a few pounds. Clare was treated and released, but I never saw her again. Sorry, son, but I do not know where she is.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head, “I need some time to work this out. This is too much to deal with right now.”

“Take your time, son,” Gus replied, “You know where to find me.”

I walked down the beach toward the lapping waves.

When I woke up for real I found myself sitting on a bench next to a deserted bus stop. The bench stood in front of an exclusive shoe store named Antonio’s. My favorite sharkskin boots were from Antonio’s. It was an upscale place, but not ridiculous, and it was located in Troy, not too far from the Usher house. Alicia! It dawned on me that I was on my way to meet her for coffee. We had not seen each other since I dropped her off a few weeks ago at her father’s house. According to my mobile the time was 10:16 in the morning and I was already sixteen minutes late. How could I have fallen asleep at a time like this, and on a public bench of all places? I didn’t even remember sitting down. I ran the few blocks until I could see the coffee house. It was a local place, not one of those chains from Seattle. The chrome-edged, rounded furniture had a retro 50’s nostalgia about it. Even the corner of the building rounded off smoothly, sloping away from the revolving door. The name of the establishment, the Arbor House, glowed in cursive blue neon lights over the entrance. There were some tables and chairs outside, though few sat there. The sky was overcast and the chill in the air suggested that the end of summer was here. A pretty young woman with hair the color of freshly ground cinnamon and perfect skin just a shade lighter zipped her fleece jacket and took a sip of water. Alicia’s eyes lit up when I sat across from her, and she smiled.

“Hi, beautiful,” I said.

She raised an eyebrow and responded, “Hi, beautiful? That is what you say to me after leaving me hanging for weeks wondering if you were alive or dead? How about ‘I’m so sorry, beautiful,’ or ‘I was an idiot, beautiful.’ Maybe even, ‘I’ll never cause you to worry like that again, beautiful!’”

Taking her hand, I said, “I’m so sorry, beautiful. I was an idiot, beautiful. I’ll never cause you to worry like that again. Beautiful.”

Alicia seemed to soak that in for a moment when I asked, “How are things going at home?”

She shrugged and replied, “My dad is just as stubborn as he ever was, but I guess we are getting along better. He wants me to work at Olympus, but that is so not happening. It’s bad enough with him as a dad, can you imagine him as your boss?”

The corner of my mouth turned up, “I think I can.”

She paused for a second then said, “Oh, that’s right. Of course you know all about it. But enough about me, what happened to you? You were gone for weeks!”

I proceeded to tell her everything about what happened: The accidental time travel, my arrest and shooting, the escape attempt, Harrison’s past crimes and Stuart’s current ones. The Prophesier and Gus. All of it.

Several refills of coffee later, Alicia still held my large hand with both of hers. Despite the chill in the air, her hands were warm and dry. She responded, “Where did Kate and the rest of them get beamed to?”

Good question. “That’s one detail Talon didn’t share with me. Maybe that is for the better. Dr. Grauer informed me that its owners have liquidated Fortress Investments. The funds were untraceable, so really they could be anywhere. The Alliance does not care much at this point, since the investment company is dissolved and Stuart is…gone.”

I could tell that she wanted to ask me more about the void where Stuart was sent, as if I had any idea, but instead she asked, “What will happen with Harrison?”

This was the part of the story that worried me the most. “Harrison escaped with the help of that guard who shot me. Ericka, I think. In a way I feel less guilty knowing that he is free, but that does not change the fact that he was responsible for a fire that killed hundreds of people. He needs to be put away.”

Alicia mulled that over for a moment, then asked, “So you got a job offer and turned it down. Thank God you had the sense to do that. Those Alliance folks are bad news.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Do you think they will leave you alone?”