MINDFUL 2

Chapter 3.
Endgame.

Pete identified Iona’s ‘body’ and it was cremated with little ceremony. The DNA was thus carefully destroyed. Meanwhile the real Iona settled in New Orleans for several months to let time cover any loose ends. There was little chance of a drug dealer in Florida being connected with a trucker in Oregon. With practised ease she re-arranged her accounts until her fortune was safely scattered in offshore banks.

Now she had no need of a regular job but she returned to truck driving. The long lonely journeys gave her a sense of freedom and time to think.
She resumed her relationship with Emma and Jacky so that she could see her daughters Natasha and Rachel. They had extended the cabin and lived together but Iona usually stayed in the outhouse during her periodic visits.

When the children learned to talk Iona confirmed their telepathy. Both mothers were overjoyed but Emma doubly so because of the deafness. Soon after their fourth birthdays Iona established the first clear telepathic link.

Iona noticed that the children seemed to be developing slower than their British half-brother Ben who had communicated at the age of three and these thoughts reminded her of her two British children.

‘Would it be safe to contact them?’ She wondered, ‘and if she did, how would it best be done?’

Jacky’s office had recently been computerised and as a result of her work she had bought her own P.C. Emma was impressed and followed suite. Some weeks later Iona came home to find her daughters tapping eagerly away on the computer keyboards.

“What ho girls?” She telepathed as she entered the study.

“Look daddy. We can talk to anybody all over the world.”

Iona watched the screen and quickly realised the usefulness of the system. After some lessons from Jacky she waited one night until everybody was asleep and then patiently surfed the internet. She had no idea if Mary was on the Internet but it was a safe bet that the hospital was.

Eventually she found it and read the staff list. Mary’s name was missing and her heart sank as she trudged off to the outhouse. The following morning Iona broke the subject to Emma and Jacky.

“Do you think it’s safe to search for them?” Cautioned Jacky.

“I don’t know. How can I cover my tracks?” Mumbled Iona uncertainly.

“Let me do it.” Suggested Jacky. “I’ll use my office computer on Monday. That’ll be more anonymous.”

The weekend dragged for Iona and she moped about the cabin all weekend. On Monday she had a long haul to Toronto and she couldn’t wait for news. On the Tuesday she phoned Jacky and learned that Mary had moved across London to another hospital.

“Here’s her E mail address. Use a cybercafé when you’re in Toronto.”
Iona scribbled down the information and clambered impatiently into her rig. After days on the road she reached Toronto and sent the E-mail immediately. The following evening Jacky was bursting with excitement over the phone.
“Mary was overjoyed to get your E-mail! It’s a hell of a coincidence. There’re four of them going to Disney World in Florida next August.”

“August! Echoed Iona. “Why August. It’ll be as hot as hell during August!”

“I know. I said that but it’s a big thing with the Brits. That’s when they have their
summer vacations. We could easily meet them there. Natasha and Rachel are not in full time school yet so there’s no problem with them. If I take my vacation in August it’ll work out perfectly.”

“Who are the four?” Queried Bill.

“Mary, your daughter Rebecca, Sandra and your son Ben. He’s a teenager now.”

Iona tried to visualise her teenaged son and other daughter Rebecca but she gave up. She returned to her sleeper cab on the rig and tossed restlessly before finally falling asleep. The return leg via Duluth would be a long tiring run and the deadline was tight.
On arriving home late, Iona crept into the outhouse and slumped on her own bed. The next morning the children were bouncing on her bed demanding attention and she stumbled sleepily across the clearing just as Jacky was leaving for work.

“What time did you get in?” Jacky telepathed.

“Uhm- about two-ish.”

“Emma’s in the house. She’s just had a letter.”

Iona’s face greyed with shock and Jacky grinned.

“No it’s nothing to do with England. It’s from her old Alma Mater; the deaf school.”

They exchanged a passionate `goodbye’ kiss, which made the children giggle then Jacky left. As Iona entered the cabin Emma nodded towards the letter and poured out some coffee.

“They’re holding a reunion at my old deaf school. The old principle’s retired and this new guy wants to make the old student’s association more pro-active.”

“Well go then. You should have a good time,” agreed Iona.
“I’d like you to come.”

“And?” Queried Iona, already anticipating the answer.

“You’re telepathy,” suggested Emma, “what you’ve done for me you could do for them.

You always said you wanted to do something useful with it.”

“The old Iona is dead Emma and so is her telepathy. It’s best left that way.”

“But think of the good you could do.”

“I would do more harm. What happens when I leave them? They’d be devastated.”

“I was thinking of a permanent position; some sort of lecturer or something.”

“That’s a bit too philanthropic for me. I’m only human and I value my freedom too much.

It’s the only thing left to me. That’s why I drive trucks.”

“You’re obsessed with freedom aren’t you?”

“Wouldn’t you be? I was a prisoner of my supposed insanity for most of my childhood; if you could call it a childhood.”

“Well I was a prisoner too you know.” Countered Emma.

“It was a deaf school! Protested Iona. “They didn’t punish you or lock you up.”

“Don’t you believe it. They wouldn’t let us go out anywhere unless we were escorted ‘Too dangerous in the traffic’ they said. We only went out like prisoners on organised trips. We couldn’t even go into town. They treated us like retards.

This new guy Daniel was an old student. He was always kicking against the petty rules. He played hooky several times just to demonstrate it was safe for deaf children to be out alone. I want to meet him again and some of my old friends. Things must have changed enormously if they’ve made Daniel the principle. He was a real rebel.”

“Well you go then. I still don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go.”

“Jacky and the children are coming.”

Iona frowned as she caught Emma’s drift.

“That’s not wise. I hope you aren’t going to try and substitute them for me.”

“It has crossed my mind.”

“And what do they think.”

“I haven’t mentioned it to them yet. They’re still out playing. I’ve only just received the letter this morning. Rachel and Natasha are both used to deaf people.”

“I still think it would be very dangerous. Their telepathy is nowhere near ready.”

“They ‘talk’ to me and Jacky.”

“That’s a big difference from talking to strangers and creating a net. Anyway, they can’t even create a net yet. It might be years before they’re ready. It might harm them, or worse, give them away.”

“Well you come then. Then they’ll be safe.”

“That’s blackmail. Either I come or the children are put in danger.”

“They won’t be in danger I think they are ready. They are much more advanced than you were.”
“That’s only because I’m here to help them. They’d be as mad as I was if nobody knew about telepathy. Imagine if I wasn’t here and they were trying to communicate with you alone.”

“That’s unfair. Anyway, you are here and we would never have had the girls if it hadn’t been for you and your telepathy.”

Emma’s logic was impeccable and Iona cursed as she conceded the argument.

“I still think it’s too early for them. Their telepathy isn’t ready yet.”

“Well if I go, the children will have to go. Who else can look after them?”

Iona considered this and realised the risks. The children were not yet alert to all the dangers of disclosing their telepathy. She reflected on her own desperate childhood and realised the whole damned thing could start all over again. Emma and Jacky would almost certainly lose the children as the military authorities greedily sought an excuse to get two telepathic kids into their clutches. Emma’s deafness would be used to discredit their parenting and Jacky’s sexual orientation would certainly be used to smear the friendship, particularly as they shared the same isolated cabin. Iona knew the girl’s relationship was primarily platonic with a small sexual factor. However, it would be impossible to dissuade determined sleazy social workers and gullible prejudiced judges. Iona had encountered too many of both in her wretched childhood.

“OK then, I’ll come. I’m not happy though. Leaving these two telepaths with some stupid babysitter would be like the King James experiments.”

“What was that?” Demanded Emma suspiciously.

“Oh it was way back in British history.” Replied Iona dismissively.

“Go on.” Pressed Emma.

“They wanted to find out the true language of God so they took an orphaned new-born child and put it on a remote island with only a deaf-mute woman to care for it. Some stupid philosophers believed the child would grow up with only God to talk to and end up speaking the true language of heaven. It was a bloody crazy theory but they had their way.”

“And?”

“The child grew up with no language. The language centres in its infant brain were atrophied and it never learned to speak properly.”

“The evil bastards. You Brits can be bloody cruel can’t you?”

“It was the seventeenth century for Christ’s sake! Your lot were still burning witches.”

“You still don’t like us Yanks do you?” Observed Emma shrewdly.

“You’re alright. You’re no worse than those bastards back home. I’ve taken out American citizenship haven’t I? What more proof d’ you want?”

“Dammed by faint praise.” Charged Emma.

“D’ you think I’d be any safer if American military intelligence got to know about telepathy. D’ you think Natasha and Rachel would be safe.”

“We’ve got a constitution.”

“Oh sure! So have I, though it’s not a very robust one. I think I’d better come, if only for their sake. D’ you Emma, you can be incredibly naïve sometimes.”
Emma grinned thinking she had been particularly manipulative but the truth was different. Iona’s telepathy was still developing and she was curious about how many people she could patch into a telepathic web. A deaf school might be the ideal place to try.
The children had already detected both their mother’s intimate adult thoughts and described them to Iona. Fortunately Iona had persuaded them to keep it a secret and explained that mummies were very different from little girls.

It was still a traumatic time nevertheless as Iona tried to bridge the vast gulf between the children’s transparent telepathy and normal, carnal adult thoughts. The children explored everything and every time Iona arrived home there were more questions to answer, usually because the children had encountered some inexplicable adult hang-up.

Iona’s most successful control mechanism was pain. Not physical violence or cruelty but mental discomfort and distress as conveyed by telepathy.

She discovered this accidentally one afternoon when she was alone having a particularly black dog. As she dwelled on Michael’s suicide the children sensed her pain and quickly invaded her mind to comfort her. Iona was exquisitely surprised at their unique sensitivity and savoured the sharing of her telepathic hurt. Here at last had arrived the moment that Mary had long ago foretold.

‘Somebody to share Iona’s deepest telepathic feelings with.’

On learning of Iona’s pleasure, the children had immediately scampered from the surf and joined her in the outhouse. After indulging in the intense emotions, they all tired and fell asleep on Iona’s sofa. On returning from the beach Emma found the three sleeping forms bundled together on the sofa. She crept away and tackled Iona again that evening over supper. Iona explained the telepathic oneness she and the children had enjoyed. Emma breathed a sigh of relief but could not hide the slight tinge of jealousy. Iona sensed it and described it to both women.

“Sorry ladies. I’m afraid the children have started telepathy in earnest and only I can help them now. You’ll be sidewalk watchers from now on. Just be there for them if they fall.”

They finished their supper and Iona went for a stroll along the beach. As the lights dimmed in the cabin, the full moon rose and only the restless booming of the surf invaded Iona’s perfect peace.

Several weeks later all five of them set off for Emma’s re-union. They arrived in Seattle and made their way to the hotel that they had pre-booked. The hotel had a bar set out like an old backwoodsman’s hotel and this was the rendezvous for the reunion. Jacky took the children to a nearby burgher-bar as Iona and Emma met Daniel the new principle in the bar.

Signs were rapidly exchanged as Emma made the introductions and they joined a small group in the window recess. Iona sensed some resentment from a couple of ex pupils who had always fancied the pretty Emma.

They each wondered if Emma was a lesbian and why she had chosen a hearing female as a companion. Iona telepathed her findings to Emma and they shared a private telepathic smile. When the two deaf admirers discovered that Iona couldn’t sign they immediately felt superior and tried to jockey for Emma’s attentions. Iona wanted to adopt a low, uncontentious profile so she chose a large stuffed armchair in the large inglenook fireplace and settled deep into its thick soft cushions. She was almost invisible to all but the other immediate occupants of the fireplace.

“Well Emma. Nice to see you again,” signed Daniel. “We use this place regularly for reunions and the older pupils come here to get away from the school. It’s a sort of halfway house. One of our ex pupils owns it.”

As Daniel signed, the barman waved and signed across the crowded room. Emma grinned and sipped her beer as the bar filled up. From the privacy of the armchair, Iona scanned away quietly as Emma savoured old acquaintances and made new ones.

Eventually Iona contacted Emma and explained her plan. Emma gaped disbelievingly around the room then struggled to control her excitement as she counted at least a hundred people.

“Are you sure? A whole net with all these people!”

“It’s what you wanted isn’t it?” Replied Iona.

“But you’ll give yourself away!”

“No. You can pretend to be doing it.”

Emma swallowed nervously as Iona explained.

“Tell Daniel you want to try an experiment. We can start with him first. He’s got an imaginative mind and I’ve identified several others. They’re all bright and receptive to new ideas. I’ll tell you who they are as we go along.

Emma gulped as she caught Daniel’s attention and finally persuaded him to sit beside her. Once Daniel was seated, Emma took his hand.

“I want to try something.”

“Go on.” Replied Daniel curiously.

Emma slipped her finger into the palm of Daniel’s hand and signed privately.

“It’s something very unusual. Are you prepared for a shock?”

Daniel nodded and frowned uncertainly as Emma rubbed her temples.

“Get ready for this.” She signed as a final warning.

“What is it?”
“I’m using telepathy. Did you get that?”

Daniel croaked with shock and spilt his beer as the message slid like a stiletto into his mind. He almost dropped his glass in his haste to sign but Emma ‘spoke’ again.
“There’s no need to sign. Just think your answer.”

“What the hell did you do just then?” He demanded nervously.

“It’s telepathy. I’m using telepathy.” Repeated Emma as she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

“My God! How do you do it?”

“I’m connected to a telepathic web. It’s like the Internet. D’ you want to hear about it?”

“Do I!” He signed excitedly. “Do popes shit in the woods?”

Emma giggled at Daniel’s deliberate obfuscated irony. She always enjoyed Daniel’s rare `sidewinder humour’.

Emma gave a brief explanation and the inevitable questions followed.

“Who started it? Where does it come from? Is it aliens?”

“Those are exactly the questions I asked myself. Don’t worry, there are others outside ready to join in.”

Daniel glanced around nervously but failed to spot any likely looking progenitors of this newfound wonder. He was looking for some alien life form or some unusual person. In the excitement he had completely overlooked the invisible elfin figure huddled up deep in the armchair and all but invisible. Emma diverted Daniels attention before he remembered Iona huddled in the inglenook.

“D’ you want to speak to the others outside?”

“Please!”

Right on cue Jacky joined in while Rachel and Natasha took grandstand seats and savoured the principle’s stunned surprise. The children’s telepathy afforded them more latitude but they had been warned. If they were needed Iona would pull them in. Their telepathy had already advanced them beyond the realms of ordinary socialising.
Jacky introduced herself cheerfully from across the street.

“Hello Dan. I’m Jacky, Emma’s friend. Welcome to Telepathy.”

“He- hello! Where are you?”

“In the burgher-bar across the street. I’m babysitting the daughters so I’ll just sit here and listen.”

“Are you the one doing this stuff?”

“No. That’ll become apparent later. Stick with Emma for now.”

Daniel turned again to Emma and smiled weakly.

“How far does this stuff reach?” He ‘whispered’.

“There’s no need to whisper with telepathy. Nobody can hear us.”

Daniel glanced around the room to reassure himself but everybody was busy signing. He turned to face Emma then peeped anxiously through the window half expecting to see a spaceship.

“It’s all human.” Grinned Emma. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Convince me.”

Emma gazed around the room as though seeking another likely candidate. In reality she was listening to Iona’s secret directions.
“There’s a popular boy in a green `lumberjack’s’ shirt sitting by the old pot-bellied stove in that large noisy group. He’s got a bright flexible mind.” Observed Iona.

Emma spotted the boy and she turned to Daniel.

“Who’s that boy in the green checked shirt by the stove?”

“That’s Paul. He’s a clever kid.”

“He’ll do. Watch this.”

As Emma spoke she telepathed a ‘hello’ into the boy’s brain and sat back to enjoy the fireworks. Paul immediately stopped signing and stood up to stare nervously around the room. Fortunately it had been a woman’s voice in his brain so there was little threat but he was still frightened. Emma stood up and smiled as she waved and telepathed the next sentence.

“Don’t be frightened. It’s me Emma, standing by the window. Come on over.”

The shocked boy stared then gave a sickly grin. He rose unsteadily and picked his way through the crowd as Daniel stood to reassure him.

“Don’t worry.” He signed. “This is Emma. She’s an old pupil and a contemporary of mine. Don’t be frightened. It’ll all become apparent.”

The boy studied Emma and slowly drew up a seat as his hands started to sign.

“What did you just do?”

“There’s no need to sign. I’m sending messages straight into your brain.”

A stunned silence reigned before Paul finally accepted what was happening. Emma quickly explained the situation and he listened mesmerised. Once enlightened he became an instant convert and quickly used his popularity to facilitate Emma’s plan.
Several more of the brighter pupils were inducted and soon everybody was busily ‘chattering’ away on the web. In all the frenzied excitement Daniel had completely overlooked the elfin little fair-haired occupant of the alcove seat.

It was getting dark before he suddenly realised his rudeness in ignoring Emma’s partner. Quickly he whipped out his note pad and scribbled an apology.

“I’m terribly sorry to have ignored you so much. There have been some remarkable events here today. Emma will explain it all to you later but things are too hectic at the moment. I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to divulge it.”

Iona smiled graciously as she howled with laughter inwardly and shared the joke with Rachel and Natasha. She had been getting tired and tapped into the children’s elemental telepathic energy. Now the children were tired. Emma was compelled to declare an end and a ‘murmur’ of discontent eddied around the room as she apologised. The net closed with a ‘snap’ and last farewells were cut off in mid-sentence.

“That’s all ladies and Gentlemen. See you at the school tomorrow.”

So saying Emma made her excuses and arranged to meet Daniel in the morning. Emma and a weary Iona met Jacky and two sleeping children.

“They fell asleep just now.” Observed Jacky. “One minute they were bubbling with energy then they went out like lights.”

Emma turned suspiciously to Iona.

“Did you tire them out?”

Iona grinned and nodded guiltily.

“They enjoyed themselves though. Think of it as their childhood games. They’ll sleep like logs tonight. I’m shattered as well.”
Both girls exchanged wry smiles as they tried to imagine what had been going on. Iona’s expression, ‘Watching from the sidewalk’ was becoming more significant.

In the hotel the three telepaths slept soundly so Jacky and Emma savoured the privacy and chatted deep into the night. Emma realised that it was Iona who had manipulated her by coming to the re-union. Nevertheless the expansion of the web to over a hundred people had been a remarkable demonstration. It showed that despite being adult, Iona’s telepathy still had some way to run. The girls turned in about three o’clock.

Iona woke them with a gentle shake and they blinked uncertainly. Normally the children subjected them to an explosive bed-bouncing invasion but they were obviously still asleep.

“It’s ten o’clock. You’ll be late.” Iona whispered as she placed the coffee beside the bed.

“Where are the children?” Whispered Jacky.

“Still sleeping. Yesterday took out more than I thought. We won’t be able to do so much today.”

They reached the school late to find an excited crowd anticipating their arrival. Emma drove to the old school only to find the layout completely changed.

Instead of using the huge lantern office over the main entrance, Daniel had commandeered the annexe beside the main tower. Emma recalled the forbidding childhood image of the old principle gazing through the huge mullioned windows and the climate of fear it engendered. Daniel’s policy of an open door next to the main forecourt was friendlier. He was signing to some children in the doorway and waved to Emma as she pulled up beside the main steps.

“Over here.”
Emma pulled forward a few yards and they tumbled out as people began to gather. Daniel signed them into the office and Iona immediately opened the net. Jacky spoke first.

“The children want to feed the ducks.”

This was a simple ploy to get the children away from the crowds. Daniel summoned one of the staff and within minutes a large bag of bread appeared and the children scampered off towards the lake. Daniel studied the gathering crowd thoughtfully and sucked his lip.

“We’d best hold this meeting in the auditorium.”

“Not yet.” Replied Emma. “There’s some stuff to sort out first.”

Daniel nodded expectantly. ‘There had to be some explanations for yesterday’s events.’

“Go on.” He pressed.

“It’s about the web.”

“I’m listening.”

“Everything I tell you must remain secret.” Cautioned Emma.

“What! How? Just look at that crowd.”

“They only know there is a web. They don’t know how it works or who controls it.”

“Well that’s you.”

“Uhm- not exactly.” Countered Emma. “I’m only a channel for the real source.”

“Ahh.” Sighed Daniel. “Now the truth emerges. Go on.”

“I want you’re solemn promise. There’s to be no disclosure.”

“You’ve got it.”

Emma stepped back discreetly and left Iona facing Daniel alone. The gesture obviated any more disclosure and Daniel squinted curiously at the fair-haired elfin figure.

“Good God! You? So there are elves and fairies.”

Iona inclined her head slightly then nodded imperceptibly. The gesture was a typical transatlantic ‘understatement’ and Daniel almost missed it. It was the expression in the ‘elf’s’ strange turquoise eyes that really answered Daniel’s question. A silence settled as Daniel struggled to absorb the information and organise the questions in his brain.

“How?” He finally asked.

“I was born with it. I don’t know how it works.” ‘Shrugged’ Iona telepathically.

“So why a deaf school?” Wondered Daniel.

“Call it philanthropy.”

“You could do anything with telepathy.”

“I have- well almost. I just want to rest now. Somewhere peaceful to finish my days.”

The last words made Emma shudder. She had never heard Iona express such a wish before and she let out a gasp of anguish. Daniel pushed on oblivious to Emma’s distress.

“Are you terminally ill or something?”

Iona realised her mistake and corrected it.

“I’m sorry I meant for the rest of my life.”

The tension broke as Emma sighed with relief. As an American, the idea of people thinking about old age in their twenties and thirties came as a shock. It gave her a new insight into Iona’s ‘old-world’ perspective. Daniel also blinked as he grasped the proper meaning of Iona’s words.

“You mean you want to work here until you retire?”

“Something like that.”

“You gave us a fright then!” Admonished Emma.

“No harm intended. The only thing to remember is that nobody is to learn where the web comes from. Just say there is a telepathic web somehow functioning in and around the school.”

“But that’s impossible. People are bound to find out. They’ll want to know why you’re on the staff for a start.”

“Caretaker, cleaner, janitor, there’s plenty of vacancies I could fill without disclosing my true function. As I said, I’m tired of running. I just want to end up somewhere pleasant and this place certainly fills the bill. The grounds are beautiful.”

“Who were you running from?” Daniel pressed.

“It doesn’t matter now.” Iona finished. “The running is over. We can just pretend that Emma somehow discovered a way to create a web and it only works with deaf people; like some sort of divine compensation. This place started out as a religious charity didn’t it?

“Oh yeah! The religious directors of this place, they’ll just love that idea.”

“But the authorities are bound to come investigating.” Emma observed.

“They won’t be looking for me.”

Iona briefly explained her life history and Daniel shuddered before reluctantly acceding to her wishes.

“I’m not sure you’re safe to work with. You sound like a psycho, and if you’re not, you bloody well should be.”

“I was a psycho, I probably still am. I’ll not lie. Telepathy did that to me. I’ll leave it to Emma to fill you in.”

“Where are you going?” Asked Daniel as Iona rose to leave.

Iona explained.

“Yesterday I found out how many the web could support. Today I want to find out how far it’ll reach. Jacky can drive while I concentrate.”

Emma shrugged and spread her hands in abandonment. It was new to her as well. As Iona and Jacky got into the R.V. the curious crowd watched them uncomprehendingly. They did not associate the ‘ordinaries’ as having anything to do with the web so Iona and Jacky took Rachel and Natasha off the campus. Jacky turned to Iona.

“How far d’ you think it’ll reach?”

“I don’t know. Rachel and Natasha are here as boosters if I need them. They know exactly what to do.”

“How the hell does all this stuff work?”

Iona chuckled and wagged her head.
“No idea. I use Natasha and Rachel like batteries connected in parallel, it’s just that they haven’t got many telepathic ‘ampere-hours’ yet. That’s the best way I can describe it.”

The web worked up to five miles then their communications broke down. Iona connected the children and extended the range up to ten. They then drove in a circle to see if large mountains interfered and they returned to the school at lunchtime. By this time everybody was congratulating Emma on her achievement and Iona was left free to dine peacefully with Jacky and the children. Late in the afternoon the web was shut down and Emma feigned exhaustion. Already, the news had spread beyond the school but when some police arrived to investigate they found themselves unable to join the web. Daniel explained that it only seemed to work for deaf people and the ‘Deafness Compensation’ theory began to take root.

Over the next few weeks several scientific experiments were attempted but they only reinforced the theory and eventually the American intelligence services accepted that telepathy had little military use with a range of only five miles among deaf people. Henceforth Emma was contracted to come up to the school periodically to help deaf pupils formulate words by using telepathic ‘feedback’. The school quickly prospered as a centre of excellence and Iona had found a rewarding, useful job.

August was now approaching and they were all looking forward to Florida. They had arranged to extend the vacation to a month by driving across America and spending the final two weeks with the Brits in Disney World. Transatlantic communication had been kept to a minimum and they were to simply meet the Brits off the plane in Orlando. The transcontinental drive proved to be fun for there was no schedule and they stopped whenever it suited them.

Iona slept a lot of the time, and the mothers alternately drove and navigated. Sightseeing was organised on an ad-hoc basis. If the scenery warranted it, Emma did some painting while the others just hung loose or visited some notable site.

Iona was sick with tension and anxiety as they arrived at the airport. She had no idea what to expect after so many years separation and she was particularly nervous of meeting her children. They had not communicated anything on the Internet so she had no idea just how much Mary had told Ben and Rebecca. Iona’s guilt had been growing ever since she had contacted them. She knew all about parental rejection so if Ben and Rebecca attacked her on sight she could hardly blame them. As Jacky and Emma bought coffee, Iona scanned nervously in an attempt to reach Ben and Rebecca. Her fear transmitted to Natasha and Rachel and a tensely silent trio gazed distractedly into the skies. Suddenly Iona gave a low gasp.

‘Hello! Who’s that?’

The reply was weak but distinct.

“It’s Ben. Is that you dad?”

Iona’s knees went weak and she slumped into her seat. Emma and Jacky lurched nervously forward thinking she’d had some sort of seizure; or worse Ben had vented his juvenile anger and launched a telepathic attack. They had discussed this so many times that everybody was on tenterhooks with anticipation. Iona smiled and waved her hand weakly.

“It’s OK. I was just overcome. He seems happy to see me.”

“What! You’ve definitely made contact then?” Gasped Emma.

“Yes. Quiet now. He’s trying again.”

Jacky and Emma glanced simultaneously at the arrivals board and exchanged nervous glances. ‘The plane was half an hour late and could still be hundreds of miles away. Was it possible that the boy had even stronger powers than his father?’ Iona recovered her composure and smiled.

“He says they’re about one hundred miles out.”
“So he has got a greater range than you then?” Observed Jacky nervously.

“Apparently, or it’s a combination of both of us. None of the girls are communicating yet, but they’re still only young. Rebecca’s only twelve. Ben’s talking to her now.”

Emma watched Rachel and Natasha twitching with frustration as they anticipated telepathing to their half kin. She settled between them and squeezed them both to her.

“Don’t worry girls. It won’t be long. Daddy will try to patch you in as soon as possible.”

They knew it would be a long wait to transit immigration so they settled back in their seats while Iona and the children strained telepathy to its limit. Despite their efforts, the plane was still twenty miles out before Rachel and Natasha finally established their own independent connections with Ben and Rebecca. Jacky was returning with a tray of drinks as she caught the victorious grins on their faces. Emma looked up and signed ‘Success’ as she released her embrace of the children. Iona finally relaxed as she connected with Mary and surprisingly, Sandra.

“Hello my love. So they’ve finally told you?”

“They had to. Ben’s behaviour was sending me mad. It explained everything about him and you. Oh Iona! I wish you had told me.”

The plane had started circling about eight miles out when Iona finally completed her web and introduced the adults. Ben had already done so with his telepathic sisters and Iona grinned as she gently ‘peeked’ into the children’s private circle. She was told to ‘Go away’ in no uncertain terms. The children’s private web had been active at over twenty miles for they had each contributed their energies. The two independent webs continued until they collected their baggage. When they met they felt as though they had known each other all their lives. Nobody was more relieved than Iona.

There were many questions to be addressed but the first week was devoted to theme parks and tourist sites. Most of the telepathy was devoted to sharing fun as the group availed themselves of the endless entertainment. It wasn’t until the second week that Iona finally managed to explore the extent of Ben and Rebecca’s telepathy.

Iona’s biggest shock was to discover that Rebecca was able to shut out telepathic probes whilst she and Ben could not. On the other hand Rebecca could not create a web yet Ben had been webbing with Mary, Rebecca and Sandra since he was nine. It seemed that telepathy had clear sexual delineations associated with primordial gender roles. Having grown up as a lonely telepathic child, it came as a revelation to Iona.

Since realising she was telepathic and not mad, Iona had always carried a malignant subliminal resentment for her childhood maltreatment and the theft of her family.

As a child the destructive element of Iona’s anger had been the incubation of her telepathic punch. In adulthood Iona had felt guilty about its power and overcompensated to appear as a philanthropist.

Her telepathy had always enabled her to mask her resentment and live the lie but with the arrival of Ben and Rebecca her personality flaws were now laid bare.

Iona found it painful to be the recipient of telepathic inspection by her own children, particularly by the more mature Ben. The most humbling experience was to learn that Ben and Rebecca entertained no resentment about their father, nor his transvestism, or his female appearance. Telepathy enabled them to see the person not the clothes. Their mothers had worked hard to explain why their father was not around and the children had come to accept it without resentment. They fully understood the dangers of exposure. By comparison Iona’s own corrupted mind seemed dirty and inadequate and she felt a sense of moral inferiority. Gradually as the holiday progressed Iona began to withdraw into her shell and Ben took more control of the telepathic handles.

The adult women soon noticed this and discussed it with Ben while Iona was sleeping, as she seemed to do more each day.
“She’s tired. She’s been carrying the burden for too long.” Declared Ben protectively.

“Is she depressed?” Asked Mary.

“Very. She keeps thinking of somebody called Michael.”

Mary felt a cold lump settle in her stomach then she described Michael’s appalling suicide.

“D’ you think Iona’s suicidal?” Asked Sandra.

“She gets some very black depressions.” Replied Ben. “Her mind’s a pretty frightening place when she’s feeling down. There's some horrible stuff in there. I’m afraid to go in sometimes. Is that what it was like for her as a child?”

Mary nodded despondently.

“Then I don’t hold out much hope. She seems to think her course is run. I don’t know what to do and Rebecca is horrified when she goes inside. She senses the hurt much more than I do.”

Ben’s telepathic maturity belied his youth and he suddenly started to cry at his inability to help his father. Rebecca had been playing with her younger sisters and she stopped when she sensed Ben’s distress. As Rebecca probed her brother’s mind she joined him with the adults and sat hugging him as she spoke to Mary.

“Is there nothing you can do for dad, mummy?”

Mary suddenly felt the huge burden of responsibility settling on her inadequate professional shoulders. She felt so helpless. The gloom spread and the planned entertainment was curtailed. The silence resembled a Victorian Sunday and the children felt forced to escape to the swimming pool for relief. Iona emerged from her bedroom and gazed dispiritedly at the four women.

“You may as well go without me. I’ll baby-sit the children and read a book.”

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Asked Emma.

“I’ll only put a damper on your evening. Go on. Get out and enjoy yourselves, it’s supposed to be a holiday isn’t it?”

Reluctantly the four left to see a show and Iona settled on the patio to keep in contact with the children. The three girls continued splashing noisily in the water but Ben sensed his father’s telepathic supervision and returned to the patio.

“Who was Michael Dad?”

Iona put the book down and stared at Ben.

“My friend in childhood.”

“Auntie Mary said he was an autistic mute. Why did he affect you so much?”

“He couldn’t speak or communicate at all. One night I reached into his brain by a telepathic accident and found a brilliant mind. When he realised I was connecting to him accidentally by telepathy he replied to my blind probes and suddenly I discovered we could ‘talk’ to each other without using our voices. It was him who worked out that I wasn’t mad but telepathic and he explained how. He was a brilliant mind locked up in an idiot savant body and he was much cleverer than me. We became very close”

“So why did he die?”

“They thought we were gay and they separated us. He couldn’t talk to anybody else by normal voice because of his autism so the loss of telepathic contact sent him crazy. He flung himself from a high clock tower and smashed himself to pieces.”

At these words Iona suddenly felt Ben trying to download his father’s entire childhood memory. Iona strained to stop him and eventually managed it. Iona heaved a sigh of relief at having prevented her son from learning too much.

“Why did you want to do that?” Iona begged. “I’d have thought you’d seen enough to sicken you forever. You’ll poison your own mind if you read all of it.”

“I feel like a liberator of the concentration camps dad. Somebody has to be a witness to what you’ve been through. Those bastards should still be punished. Those probes you did in the lunatic asylum. Was it all true, are you sure you didn’t imagine some of it?”

“I’ll never know son. I was pretty strung out in those days. It was hard to separate fact from fiction. I kept a diary. It’s all in some books I hid in the old hospital ventilators. God alone knows what’s happened to them. It’s all about insanity and telepathy, and what I learned. If you ever find those diaries, I suggest burn them.”

“What d’ you do when you come across really evil people dad?”

“Why? Have you?”

“Auntie Mary showed me were those intelligence people work. The one’s who killed
Grandma.”

“I shouldn’t worry about them son. Your Auntie Jacky put paid to the last one with a rifle. The only ones left are working in London.”

Ben smiled at the thought of Auntie Jacky banging away like a western hero.

“So they’ve stopped hunting you.”

“I’d like to think so but I’ll never be sure. Anyway, you should know better than I do. When you’re back in London you can probe their minds any time you like.”

“When did you learn to kill people dad?”

“What, with telepathy?”

“Yes.”

“When they tried to kill me son. I’m afraid it was born of necessity. I was very frightened and very angry. I was still very young. They had kidnapped me and were doing bad things to me with drugs. Are you affected by psychosomatic drugs?”

“Yes, and Rebecca.”

“Well that’s another thing we’ve all got in common. That and telepathy.”

“Why are the girls able to shut us out?” Mumbled Ben.

“Why are we able to create webs and transmit much further?” Riposted Bill. “I don’t know son. I never even knew girls could shut us out until Rebecca showed me. I suppose Rachel and Natasha will soon be able to do so as well.”

“It’s like a pride of lions isn’t it? The females hunt while the males defend the territory.”

“Yes son. Sexual dimorphism I suppose, but for the life of me I can’t imagine why telepathy would need gender roles.”

“It might be necessary when everybody becomes a telepath.”

“You’re ahead of me lad. That will take hundreds of years.”

“It depends how I respond. I could sell myself like a stud stallion.”

Iona felt a shudder of guilt. In fathering four children by four different women she had done something similar. She could hardly condemn her son.

“So why would you want to do that?”

“The sooner everybody is telepathic, the safer it is for us all.”

“What do the girls think?”

“I’ve only spoken to Rebecca. She’s not sure. She feels jealous that I could have thousands of children and she can only have hundreds by selling her eggs.”

“My oh my! You have been a busy pair haven’t you? I’ll bet she feels vulnerable too. Every man around would want to have a telepathic child. It’s easy for you, it was easy for me, but it’s not so easy for the girls. They’d be hopelessly vulnerable to kidnap and rape. It’ll be your job to protect them.”

Ben fell silent as he considered the thought. As a telepath he had already encountered the primordial female horror of rape. Mary had explained it when she described the day Iona had revealed her telepathy on the lonely mountain. Ben knew about most of his father’s life for Mary had stuck to her promise to be open and honest.

“What d’ you think I should do?” Continued Ben.

“Let nature take its course. Telepaths will eventually become the only humans on the planet. It’s a dominant gene.”

“How do you know to trust a girl?”

“Use your telepathy and choose intelligent women. Once you know you can trust them, be honest with them. If they know they can trust you then your problem is solved.”

“But what if they talk? Reveal my telepathy.”

“If they’re protecting their own telepathic children they won’t talk, believe me.”

“How long does telepathy need to remain a secret?”

“Until there are enough of you to protect yourselves.”

“And how many is that?” Pressed Ben.
“I don’t know. I’m still paranoid because of my childhood. Everybody was my enemy. I’d be the last person to advise on that.”

Ben stood up and turned away dissatisfied. Iona stood to put her arm around his shoulder but the boy shrugged it away.

“You don’t know much do you? Even Rebecca says you’re cold and distant, and she can really feel emotions.”

“I’ve led a cold life son. I have never been allowed to let my feelings surface. Imagine where you would be now if I had made my telepathy public and let people know about you and Rebecca. You wouldn’t be allowed to leave the country; you’d be used as laboratory rats and God knows what else. Believe me I know whereof I speak. I could never allow myself to get emotionally attached to anybody.”

“But you do love mum don’t you?”

“Oh hell yes. I loved Sandra like my own blood. I became attached to her before I really understood the whole telepathy thing. They kidnapped me and forced us to separate. Your mum understands.”

“Mum says at first you didn’t want any kids.”

“I didn’t. You came unexpectedly. I was still young myself and I didn’t really know my own mind. Do you remember those days in the park when we played together?”

“Yes.”

“Well that changed my mind. Your mum couldn’t have any more children so Auntie Mary had a sister for you. It was the best solution we could think of. You’ve enjoyed having Rebecca around haven’t you?”

“Heck yes. She’s great. We never even argue. That’s the beauty of telepathy.”
“Well now you’ve got two more sisters to share it with. You’ll have to look after them as well when I’m gone.”

Ben let out a loud telepathic wail of protest and Rebecca dashed from the pool to investigate.

She found Ben beating furiously on the table as he refused to countenance Iona’s death. She quickly grasped the circumstances and attached herself to her father demanding that she never give up the fight. However, as she probed deeper into her father’s mind she detected the suicidal depression.

Ben followed Rebecca on her telepathic journey then gave up as he realised that their united efforts could not turn the depression’s course. Their combined pleadings served little purpose and both children shuffled off to the pool so that the water would hide their tears. Rebecca shut out her mind to everything and Ben desperately envied her ability to do so. He had never felt so helpless and lonely as he realised that he was now feeling what his father had endured all her life.

The mothers returned to find their children sitting silently around an empty pool as the night chill was beginning to bite. Their preoccupation was obvious and Ben first broached the subject of their father’s unhappiness to Mary.

“It’s hopeless. There’s nothing we can do. All he seems to think about is this Michael.”

Mary joined Ben to talk to Iona but her efforts proved totally inadequate.

“Think back to when you first met me as a child.” Replied Iona. “Remember Mabin Park. Are there any of my contemporaries left from that place?”

Mary’s blood ran cold. Ben had often asked about Iona’s childhood and been sickened by Mary’s revelations. She could not hide the truth from him and as a consequence of Ben’s desperate need to understand; Mary had inquired regularly about survivors. She was forced to confess that she knew of none of the children having survived past thirty. Every child she had learned of had committed suicide or been killed in prison or died from a drug overdose. Eventually other equally concerned people had taken up her researches in a campaign against childhood abuse.

Iona had anticipated Iona’s answer.

“I’m probably the last survivor from that place and that’s only because of the satisfaction of having killed my abusers. I may have escaped from my pursuers but I can’t escape what’s in my mind. There’s no reason left to keep going.”

“What about the children. They need you now more than ever.” Pleaded Mary.

“Ben will soon be of an age to help his younger sisters. My mind’s too filthy and soiled for their growing needs. I recognised the shock in Rebecca’s mind when she discovered my psyche; I don’t want Natasha and Rachel to suffer the same obscene turmoil.”

Mary couldn’t answer this and she turned to Ben for support. Ben simply stood dumbly staring at the floor. His father was telling the truth. If Natasha and Rachel reached an age when they were able to scan Iona’s mind, the horrors could destroy them. What little information Ben and Rebecca had downloaded left them disturbed and frightened.

Ben felt bound to agree with his father. If telepathy were to go forward as a healthy tool the desperate cancer of its origins would have to be cut away.

It seemed that environment and upbringing had a tremendous effect on its development. Despite telepathy’s powers and the infinite potential for serving mankind, his father’s gift had been hopelessly perverted and maligned. Even his father’s ability to maim and kill telepathically was something that had sprung from cruel necessity. Ben was incapable of such destruction.

Ben was amazed that his father had survived this long and the more he considered it the more he felt his father was right.
He had brought telepathy thus far and it was now up to the children. For the girl’s protection it was probably better that their father’s mind wasn’t accessible and the only way to be certain of that was for his father to leave.

In the future when they were old enough to understand, there might be reconciliation. Right now his father’s mind was a cesspit of despair and fury. Ben suggested to Iona that she leave until Natasha and Rachel were old enough to understand and Iona agreed. It mattered little to her how the separation was achieved but separate they must. Ben turned to the mothers and stared dumbly at the floor as he tried to explain.

“Iona’s sick. Inside here.” (He tapped his temple for emphasis.) “If we stay around she might infect us. That’s the best way I can put it. We’re too young, especially Rachel and Natasha. Rebecca and I were horrified by what we found. We felt like medieval travellers confronting the plague. We can see its effects but we can’t do anything about it. She’s going into isolation; it’s the only way. We might meet her again when Rachel and Natasha are much older.”

“Where’s she going?” Demanded Emma, terrified to be losing her telepathic support.

“She hasn’t decided. When she’s out of range she’ll make up her mind and that way nobody will know.”

“But she hasn’t harmed us. I don’t feel damaged by her.” Objected Emma. “You’re an adult and you haven’t got telepathy. It’s the telepathy that’s vulnerable and Rachel and Natasha who are most at risk. They are still too young to understand and they can’t get properly into his mind yet. Rebecca and I can and she confessed she was ashamed of what we found. I can’t blame her. She agrees with isolation, in fact she suggested it.”

“So Iona disappears again.” Sighed Sandra.

“I’m sorry mum. Rebecca and I will be here to help. At least it’s better than suicide.”

“But you’ll be in England!” Cried Emma. “What about my telepathic service at the deaf school. Only you and your father can make a web. The girls can’t.”
Ben fell silent. Neither he nor his father had considered this and he turned to Iona for advice.

“Make it a summer school then you can visit you’re sisters during the school vacation. Americans take their summer vacation earlier so you won’t miss out on any schooling.”

Emma sagged with relief. The arrangement would actually suite her better for it left her free to concentrate on the children and her art. It would be harder for the deaf pupils though because they would not receive the constant attention. Ben recognised this and added that he could supplement her work with visits at Easter and Christmas. Money was no problem; Iona had at least seen to that. It simply meant that Ben and Rebecca would be visiting America frequently. As the group discussed solutions and options, Iona went to bed. She seemed to need more and more sleep.

‘Just like an old woman.’ Observed Mary thoughtfully.

“She’s not going to die is she mummy?” Pressed Rebecca nervously.

“No.” Confirmed Ben. “She simply finds the effort tiring. I’m holding the ring at the moment. She has always needed sleep hasn’t she Auntie Mary?”

“Yes.”

Sandra nodded her confirmation and Emma and Jacky affirmed it.

Rebecca settled next to Ben in an effort to find sibling security as she stared at Iona’s bedroom door.

“I’m afraid of daddy, there’s horrible ugly stuff in her mind. She’s weird.”

“Don’t go looking sis. When we’re older and we can understand she’ll tell us everything.”

Mary smiled as she watched Ben trying to take over his father’s roll. Ben read her thoughts and shrugged apologetically.

“What else can I do? Dad’s losing it.”

In the night Iona slipped away. Ben discovered the loss early the following morning and crept into Mary’s room.

“Dad’s gone.” He whispered.

Mary sat up and shook the sleep from her brain before cursing and wondering if there was something more she could have done.

“I don’t think so.” Offered Ben supportively. “There’re only two roads left open to her; suicide or exile. Exile’s far the better one, let’s just be grateful.”

“Will he ever come back?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Only when or if, all the ghosts are laid to rest.”

“And how will he do that?” Asked Mary as she scolded herself for being so impotent and relying on the advice of a teenaged boy. Telepathy made her feel so insignificant. Ben ignored her frustration.

“Dad’s got graves to dig and things to bury. She’ll be a long time gone.”

“And Michael? What about Michael? She still wants to reach Him.”

“Ah. Now there’s the question. You know how to ask questions.”

“And you?” Countered Mary. “Have you got an answer? Somewhere in that telepathic world you share, are there any signs; any pointers.”

“Dad spoke of a wall. A huge dense obsidian thing.”
“Yes the wall. He told me many times. Can you see it? Can you describe it?”

“It’s exactly as he described it; tall and black, no features, no end, no beginning.”

“And that describes death exactly.” Murmured Mary despondently.

“He wants to reach the other side, to reach Michael again.”

“He once told me to do that he’d have to die himself; probably commit suicide.”

“She doesn’t see it as suicide; or rather she doesn’t see ‘getting through the wall’ as the end.”

“You mean life after death.”

“If you want to call it that. I saw some of the bad stuff, the ‘wild things’ as she calls them, before she chucked me out of her mind. I’m not sure how she intends to do it.”

“Don’t you want to be there for her?”

“I’d want nothing better but I’ve got to hold the fort here amongst us.”

“So you live in hope she’ll come back.” Suggested Mary hopefully.

“I’ve no other choice. Even if she can’t come back there may be some way we can reach across the wall.”

“Telepathically you mean?” Asked Mary.

Ben nodded and frowned.

“Hell I’m beginning to think like her aren’t I?”

“Yes. She always said that solid things didn’t affect it only distance.”
“That’s right, but the wall of death isn’t solid. Two telepaths might be able to get
through it like voices from beyond the grave.

“So what do you think the wall is made of?” Asked Mary.

“There you go with your questions again. I don’t know. Fear, horror, ignorance could all be blocks in that wall. We’ve always feared death. Dad thinks that telepathy might find a way through. If only she’d stayed around a little longer until I had a better idea of how all this telepathy worked. There’s still so much to learn. We might even have worked together on the wall.”

Ben’s unfulfilled wish silenced them both and he left to break the bad news to his sisters.
Mary sat back dully contemplating the void that Iona had left. She dressed like an automaton and ignored breakfast. Nobody felt like eating for apart from Iona’s departure, the two groups were also separating as the Brits returned to London that evening. At the airport Iona’s absence was emphasised by the deathly pall of silence. Depressed by events, all the children had shut down their telepathy in subconscious mourning for their father’s disappearance. Having to sign every word reinforced Emma’s loss.

Unfortunately her signs were unintelligible to all except Jacky and several interested people overheard her audible repetition. It was only after Ben realised that others were observing and listening that he plunged into telepathic mode and screamed a warning.
It was too little, too late but at least Ben and Rebecca had managed to distance themselves from the group. Even as the Americans drove home across the continent messages were passing between high places.

Fortunately the connection had not been made between the Yanks and the Brits so Mary and co boarded the plane without incurring any further curiosity. Ben’s scanning range also ensured that they were left in peace. It was Natasha and Rachel who were now at risk.

Six months later Ben returned to America and was ensconced in a cheap motel room near the Seattle deaf school to create a web for Emma to utilise. Rebecca had also flown over and she was enjoying a sightseeing tour with Jacky and her two younger sisters. Unable to create a web for Jacky they had ignored their telepathy chattered happily away about visiting California later in the vacation. They had no chance when a car swept around the corner on the wrong side and smashed head on. Only the weight and size of the RV saved them from death but everybody suffered concussion to a greater or lesser degree. The other driver suffered broken ribs and a fractured skull. On arrival at the hospital, Natasha and Rachel were still unconscious so they were tested by a brain scan, which of course revealed the telepathy organ in the centres of their brains. Fortunately Rebecca had recovered consciousness before the emergency services had arrived. She lied, saying that she had never been unconscious for she was aware of the dangers of brain scans.

Unlike Iona and Ben’s ‘flatfish’, the girl’s telepathic organs had a female form and resembled more of a seahorse with a tail curled down to the cortex and spinal column. A concerned doctor who suspected that Rachel and Natasha might have some sort of malignant growth approached Jacky.

“Are they related?” He asked. “They have very similar features.”

Jacky turned pale with shock as she vaguely recalled Iona mentioning something in her brain. She turned questioningly to a bruised Rebecca who instantly confirmed her fears and they moved to repair the damage.

“Yes. They’re half-sisters by the same father.”

“So one of the girls isn’t yours?” Pressed the doctor.

“No. Natasha is the daughter of a friend. We both had babies by the same man.””

The doctor raised a curious eye then frowned suspiciously.

“So this growth thing in their brains. It may not be malignant.”
“No. It’s a hereditary thing.” Panicked Jacky. “It’s in their notes. It’s harmless.”

“It’s very unusual. Where are you from and who is Natasha’s mother. We’ll have to contact her if the children don’t recover soon?”

“We live down the coast. Natasha is Emma Rawlins’s daughter. You know, the artist.”

This was Jacky’s fatal blunder. She had hoped that Emma’s fame as an artist might make the doctor back off slightly but the doctor knew of Emma and her work at the deaf school.

“You mean the deaf artist, the one who works at the Deaf school in Seattle. The one with the telepathy thing going.”

Jacky almost collapsed with fear.

“Uhm- yes.”

“Does she have one of these growths in her brain?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think she’s ever had a brain scan.”

“Hmm. That’s interesting. It might be connected to this telepathy business at the school.”

Jacky fell silent. Rebecca had sent a telepathic warning to her that the doctor was getting close to the truth.

“If you keep on revealing stuff Auntie Jacky. He’s going to put two and two together.”

“What shall I say?” Squealed Jacky telepathically.

“Say nothing. He’s already wondering why both girls have got the same growth.”

Rebecca’s words anticipated the doctor’s next question.

“If both girls have got the same brain structures and you say they’ve got different mothers it’s possibly on the father’s side.”

Jacky silently cursed for having tried to be so co-operative. Instead she adopted a puzzled frown and simply shrugged uncomprehendingly. The doctor handed some forms and suggested that Jacky contacted Emma urgently for the children were still unconscious. Within two hours of Jacky contacting them, Emma and Ben arrived post haste. Fortunately the children had recovered and the doctor was distracted by the condition of the other driver. The police had arrived to interview Jacky but fortunately, their dashcam showed it was clearly the other man’s fault. Later the doctor emerged to communicate with Emma. Jacky acted as interpreter.

“Mrs Rawlins do you think your daughter might have inherited this telepathic gift that you enjoy?”

Ben screamed a warning that the doctor knew about the girl’s telepathic organs and Emma swiftly took it on board.

“I don’t think so doctor. She’s never displayed any propensity in that direction. She’s not deaf and the specialists think the telepathy might be connected to my deafness.

The metabolic compensation theory.”

“Yes I’ve read about it in the medical journal. So would either of you ladies be so kind as to allow me to take a brain scan of your brains to see if you share the same genetic abnormality.”

Emma and Jacky exchanged puzzled innocent glances then shrugged their agreement. Ben confirmed that there seemed to be no danger.

“Be our guests.”
After a week the children were released from hospital and the group returned to Emma’s cabin. The doctor however had been concerned about the children’s brain developments and he had surfed the Internet for any useful pointers. He was a confirmed net surfing freak and enjoyed filling in what little spare time he had contacting other professional colleagues.

He had also checked with the family’s doctor and was puzzled to find no reference to the growths in the children’s notes. His suspicions were aroused further when his Internet inquiries turned up some references to a brain growths found in a boy in England over fifteen years ago.

That boy had disappeared and the authorities in Britain had been searching for him ever since. The biggest clue was the brief reference to some possible extra-sensory abilities related to the boy’s brain structure. The boy was believed to have left Britain illegally. The boy would be a man now. When the doctor tried to contact the surgeon concerned he was amazed to discover it was the famous Nobel Laureate, Ahmed Patel. He had met him at an international convention in New York. Medicine at the specialist level was a very small world.

Ahmed’s reticence and professed ignorance about the boy’s whereabouts only served to heighten the doctor’s curiosity and he continued to surf the net.

His overt activities soon attracted the attention of both the American and British intelligence services. Extra-sensory phenomenon had been deemed a low priority subject and what little information that existed had been pooled and shared.

Paradoxically it was out there on the same low-level priority but high level of secrecy as extra-terrestrials and UFO’s. Inevitably the Seattle specialist received a discreet visit
from his own government’s agency.

“You say both the girls have got the same brain deformity.”
“I didn’t say it was a deformity. Are you trying to somehow imply that the children are freaks? They are perfectly ordinary children to all outward appearances.”

“But inwardly?”

“All I’m saying is that they have a strange formation inside their brains and it’s a coincidence that they have the same father.”

“And that father’s name?”

“I don’t know. The mothers didn’t say. He’s dropped out of the picture.”

“Thank you very much doctor.”

“So what’s all the interest about? Why should the FBI be interested in two little girls?”

“Work it out yourself doctor.”

“There’s no resemblance to the fish thing in that English Kid’s head. These girls have got a totally different sort of growth.”

“Yes, we’ve seen the scans. Do you recall some strange goings on down here a few years back? It was some British kid in a bank raid. He was reputed to have disabled the gunmen by some sort of paranormal blast. Don’t you read the newspapers doctor?”

“I didn’t give it much credit. You know what sensationalists the press are.”
“Then this deaf girl turns up using telepathy to teach other deaf kids. That wasn’t sensationalism doctor. She’s still doing it. Your own colleagues confirm that.”

“But she can’t be related to the boy. She’s an American. Born here in Seattle.”

“Have you thought she might have been taught or influenced by the boy? Well he’s not a boy any longer is he? If it’s the same person he’ll be in his thirties. He could easily be the father of the two children.”
As the agents assembled their case it began to look more and more cohesive. The doctor tapped into his computer and together they surfed through the Internet gathering more and more snippets of information.

“I think it’s best if I call the children in for some follow up tests”

“That might arouse their suspicions.”

“I don’t see why. The four of them have got appointments for Monday anyway. They’re going on holiday in a few days so I set it for Monday for their convenience.”

“Four? Who are the four?”

“The two children Natasha and Rachel, the adult who was driving, and the British child; what was her name now.” He groped through his notes and waved the file.

“Here we are. Rebecca, Rebecca Jones.”

“Jones!” Chorused the agents with alarm. That was the bloody sir-name of the psychiatrist in Britain! She was the one who worked with the boy. You fool why didn’t you tell us this earlier”

The doctor took offence at their arrogant manner and was about to reprimand them but before he could form the words, the agents had scuttled out of the room.

Emma and Jacky were entertaining the three girls when the agents arrived. They had little warning because the girls did not have the scanning range of their half-brother Ben. He was out exploring some caves down the beach and he had switched off his telepathy to savour the wild loneliness of the Big Sur.

At the time of his sister’s abductions Ben was lying perfectly still on a grassy knoll high above the waves and watching some deer browsing on the bushes. Curious about them he tried entering their brains telepathically but like his father before him he only met with a disappointing mishmash of crude sensory perceptions.
Without a language to formulate thoughts it was like opening a book to discover blank pages. He did however detect frantic distress signals from his sisters as they were bundled into several cars. With a shocked squeal Ben bolted back towards the cabin.
As he ran he realised the girls were drawing further away from him and by the time he arrived at the cabin the cars were long gone.

He managed to keep in touch for a few hours and determined that they were in Portland but after that he lost them. With a scream of fury he searched the cabin but found no evidence of any violence or searches. They appeared to have stolen nothing and this surprised him. Even his and Rebecca’s passports lay undisturbed in the little travelling shoulder bag under the bed in the outhouse. He had been sleeping in the outhouse to allow the women and girls more privacy.

It seemed that their abductors were only interested in the girls and he stood puzzled as his eyes scanned the cabin. Then he realised they probably didn’t know he was there. He had brought very few personal possessions and his clothes were essentially androgynous; a few pairs of jeans, some trainers and some checked shirts, which were all similar in size to Jacky’s. The only evidence of there being a boy in the house was his dirty underwear in the laundry basket and it was doubtful if they had rooted through that.
‘No,’ concluded Ben, ‘they probably thought they had caught all the telepaths.’

He sat down on the porch to gather his thoughts but he was like a fish out of water. A young boy in a foreign country and up against that country’s agencies. The only thing he could do was run. Unfortunately he did not have the resources of his father. He cursed his parent’s lack of foresight for not allowing him direct access to his funds. How the hell would he get back to Britain without funds to get him to the airport? Worse still, how would he avoid the eyes and ears of immigration? His haunted eyes fell on Auntie Emma’s old pickup parked by the little ford in the stream. She rarely used it these days preferring to carry the kids around in the RV. He found the keys in the kitchen drawer and tried his luck. After a few stubborn coughs the engine kicked into life and he experimented all afternoon until he had achieved a reasonable proficiency at driving. Fortunately it was an automatic.
A last search of the cabin turned up some money and more importantly, some traveller’s cheques in his own name. Auntie Jacky had put them safe at the back of her drawer along with Rebecca’s. With his passport he would be able to cash them easily at any bank. He debated using one of the computers to contact Auntie Mary but decided against it. He could do that from an anonymous cybercafé. After securing the cabin as best he could, he collected up the papers and clambered nervously into the cab before cautiously setting off up the track. It was dark when he reached the main highway and that suited his purposes. Nobody would notice his age and he could drive all night towards the city. At a gas station he bought a wide brimmed cowboy hat to more resemble an American and to hide his youthful features.

In Portland his hopes fell as he passed the airport and realised why he had lost them. His sisters could be anywhere in America.

‘Anywhere in the world.’ He added thoughtfully. Then he realised they would probably keep them in America as laboratory rats. This thought depressed him.
His search would be restricted to the United States but it might still take him years to find them. By that time they could be brain washed or worse, vegetables. God! He wished his father were around.

He parked up in Portland and tried to work out a plan but he kept returning to the only option available. He had to get in touch with his father.

Even if he discovered his sisters, there was little he could do. Never having been exposed to the horrors and perils of his father’s childhood he had never developed the ability to maim or kill telepathically. His gift had instead developed along another avenue in extending his telepathic range up to hundreds of miles; more if the other party was also telepathic.

His first act was to contact Mary on the Internet to seek advice and organise some more
money. It came almost by return as he was sipping a coffee and attracting the glances of several other surfing nerds. American children didn’t usually drink coffee at an early age and they had noticed his unusual accent. They thought they had recognised another fellow nerd from a foreign country and they joined him at his table.
“Hi.”

Ben nodded amicably just as the printer spewed out Mary’s reply. Its ten pages contained a string of do’s and don’ts in addition to whatever suggestions she could think of for contacting Iona. The nerds casually glanced at the printout as Bill stuffed it into his pocket and drank his coffee.

“Where are you from?”

Ben sensed no animosity just a genuine interest in somebody who shared their hobby.

He put his coffee down and smiled again.
“The UK.”
“Is that England?”
“Some call it that. We call it the UK. There’s four countries in Britain altogether.”
The boys nodded and glanced at his screen.
“Where you talking to the um U-K- just then?”
“Yes; my auntie.”
This impressed the group that somebody should have a computer literate auntie. Bill tapped his pocket as he stood up.
“She sent me these notes, I’ve got to go and sort them. Nice talking, see you around.”
As he stood he suddenly had a brain wave. ‘Maybe he could use these nerds to search for his father.’
“Hey, wait a moment you guys. If you were looking for someone how would you go about it in America?”
They exchanged grins and tapped into their computers. A string of search agencies and government intelligence sights appeared on the screen.
“If he ain’t in these, he don’ exist.”
Ben grinned his thanks and typed in Iona’s name. The screen started listing hundreds of names so he promptly added ‘Evans’. The list immediately shortened and Ben printed out the list. He doubted if his father was amongst them so he co-opted the nerd’s help further and examined the listed names. Eventually he was convinced Iona wasn’t amongst them and he turned to the nerds with a disappointed shrug.
“Obviously she doesn’t exist’.”
“Don’ give up yet. Who is she anyway?”
“She’s my mom.” Lied Ben. “She left my dad in England.”
This sounded perfectly plausible to the nerds. Hundreds if not millions of kids in America were always looking for missing parents. It would be perfectly normal for a foreign kid to be looking for a lost parent.
“Have you got any other info?” They asked. “You know the sort of thing - when she left, what type of job, that sort of stuff.”
Ben gave dates and times so the group went to work with renewed vigour. The task had now become a challenge and several more nerds joined in the fun. Eventually they came up with some promising material and Ben treated them all to a round of milk shakes and burgers. Thus armed he booked into a cheap hotel were few questions were asked if cash changed hands. The true story about searching for his mother provided a perfect blind. The next day he collected more travellers’ cheques that had been forwarded by Sandra and he set off to follow his leads.
He learned that the driving age was lower in America so he was less likely to be stopped while driving the pickup. It had all the appearances of a beat up third family car, just the sort of thing that a boy would be allowed to drive. He was also only a few days short of his birthday so he would soon be able to drive legally. Alert to the dangers he decided not to risk breaking any laws so he waited until he was old enough. It was then a simple matter to take a driving test and make things legal. During the interim days he visited the cybercafé regularly to follow up additional leads until he felt he had located Iona down in New Orleans.
As soon as he came of age he travelled south until he found himself on the Texas Louisiana border. Here he had his first brush with the law. Oregon plates driven by a young kid soon attracted the police attention and they were even more surprised to find that the driver was a Brit. He was delayed several hours while they checked back but everything was in order.
Ben was quickly learning the advantages of keeping as close to the truth as possible while using his telepathy to weave the most plausible lies only when it was necessary. Eventually they let him go warning him of the particular dangers of the city whilst wishing him luck in finding his father.
He smiled his thanks and pressed on through the night until he reached the Mississippi. Here he took a wrong turning and found himself deep in the delta down in Cajun country.
Despite stories of suspicion and antagonism he found the locals helpful and he eventually crossed over the Mississippi into the city as the afternoon sun was beginning to lose its power. Hot and sweaty from the baking pick-up he booked into a first-class hotel and raised several eyebrows when his passport was presented at reception. Unaccompanied teenaged Brits were a rare event. ‘Southern Hospitality’ however, lived up to its name and he found the stereotyped image to be a total lie. Telepathy showed it to be his foreign status that attracted the goodwill and engendered a determination to show that southerners could be friendly and courteous. Ben savoured the friendly atmosphere and stepped out into the French Quarter just as dusk was falling. He had ceased scanning at the Texas border in order not to alert his father for he had no idea what his reception would be.
In the jostling crowds of frenzied tourists Ben hoped to achieve some sort of camouflage. Not the offensive camouflage of a leopard hunting its deer, or the defensive camouflage of the zebra avoiding the lion but an inexplicable in-between camouflage something like a tiger stalking an elephant. He needed desperately to locate his father but could not be sure of his reception until contact was made. The camouflage of the jostling crowds was both his vegetative cover and his stripy coat.
Slowly he sauntered amongst the crowds and peered curiously into the bars were his obvious youth denied him entry. The sights amazed him and he frequently hovered outside the open doors to gape rustically at the weird sights within. It was during one of these lapses of concentration he was suddenly caught unawares by a telepathic message.
“Is that you Ben?”
Ben froze nervously for a second then realised there was no threat. The question had been almost conversational in its casualness.
“Yes. Is that you dad?”
“Why are you looking for me? It’s too early for me to come back.”
Ben was thankful that his father hadn’t probed or scanned his mind. He had respected their unwritten code of honour not to probe without first asking. They had mutually agreed this after the horrors Ben had discovered before his father had admonished him. On realising his father was not angry Ben immediately opened up his whole mind and downloaded the events like some child confessing all his sins in one fell swoop.
Within moments Iona knew everything and cursed softly. It was bad enough that they had kidnapped her as a teenager but the girls were still children and guilty of nothing.

She did not let the saga upset her. Long inured to injustice, Iona kept her cool and settled down to formulate a plan as Ben picked his way through the crowds towards his father’s apartment. This took him off the main thoroughfare and as soon as he left the milling throng he felt the threat of darkness and isolation.
He had hardly sensed these fears before a trio of shadowy forms materialised in front of him bent on relieving him of what little money he had. For a moment Ben froze as the forms began to separate and the middle one spoke softly.
“Give us your wallet.”
For a second Ben debated running but the dull gleam of a barrel changed his mind. Furious at having been so easily caught he tugged his wallet from his jeans and dropped it at the feet of the middle mugger.
“Right. Now back up arsehole.”
Ben glanced behind him to see the other two closing in. His telepathy revealed that it wasn’t simply a mugging but a deliberate attack. ‘It couldn’t be racist,’ he decided because the muggers were all colours. It was obviously some sort of ritualistic gang rite. Another scan exposed the warped minds and he tensed nervously as he backed up to the wall to protect his back and make a fight of it. ‘If only he had his father’s ability to hit out telepathically.’
The thought had hardly entered his mind when the middle mugger let out a squeal before collapsing to the floor and shivering like a frenzied rabbit. His cronies gaped disbelievingly before rushing forward to see what was wrong.
“He’s had some sort of stroke or something.” Offered Ben. “You’d better get him to a hospital.”
The remaining pair never had the faintest suspicion that their buddy’s condition was anything but some sort of fit and they dragged him off in a panic. Ben felt the knots in his stomach slowly unravel as he realised he had just seen a vivid demonstration of his father’s awesome handiwork. Gratefully he picked up his wallet from the gutter.
“How the hell d’ you do that Dad?”
“Never mind that son. You’d best run. It’s a couple of blocks away and the coast is clear. That trio have had it coming for months.”
Ben sprinted the final few blocks and arrived gasping at his father’s door. It was in the poorest part of town and Ben’s telepathy sensed the hatred seething on the streets.
“Hell dad. How do you manage to live around here? If you were anybody else you’d be dead by now”
“I can look after myself kid. You’ve just seen that. There’s still a slight miasma of Voodoo around here and they’re a suspicious lot at the best of times.
Occasionally I give some innocent local guy a warning about some police move against them. They’re always grateful and they’ve got to know me locally.
The word’s out on the street. ‘Don’t hit the Brit’. Consequently I’ve got some very interesting and genuine friends around here. They’re a tidy bunch once they get to trust you.
“But haven’t the FBI found out yet?”
“These people detest the FBI and the CIA. It goes back to the Ku Klux Clan, the protests of the sixties, the hippie Vietnam thing and even Kennedy’s assassination. J Edgar Hoover’s also got a lot to answer for but enough of all that. We’ve got to get the girls back.
“Do you know who shot Kennedy then?” Gasped Ben.
“They’ve got no secrets from me. I’ll let you know one day but not now. There’s more important stuff so let’s get down to business.”
Iona kept a large-scale map on her wall. She took it down and spread it on the table then divided it up into parallels of latitude with a ruler and pencil.
“It’s going to be a long painstaking business son. If we’re going to find them we’ll have to search the whole continent systematically in strips as wide as our combined scanning ranges.”
“Hell dad that could take weeks. I don’t think we’ve got that sort of time.”
“Can you think of a better plan? We’ve no idea where they’re hidden.”
“They’ll be in a military base somewhere.”
Iona sighed and pulled out another map that was speckled with coloured marks. Ben studied it briefly and frowned as Iona explained.
“Those are US Military bases all over America, red for army, green for air force, blue for navy and yellow for unknown. Just look at it, there’s hundreds and I haven’t included any of the police stations.”
Ben’s optimism faded as his father’s patient systematic plan gathered plausibility. Iona pushed on.
“And don’t forget son, if either of us were stopped with this map it’s bound to raise suspicions especially with our British accents. I’m afraid it’s going to be slow painful work.”
The slow light dawned in Ben’s young brain as he stared shrewdly at his father.
“You’ve had this map for years haven’t you. You’ve been anticipating something like this since you left us in Florida.”
Iona nodded resignedly.
“Leopards don’t change their spots. If the authorities ever found out they were bound to come hunting and the girls would be vulnerable. I’m beginning to see the gender related structure of it now. It’s almost primordial. You touched on it in Florida when you spoke of the lions defending the lionesses’ territory. We’ve got to protect our own now.”
“We’ve got to find them first and then hope they haven’t been harmed. When do we start?” Pressed Ben as the urgency lent a sharp edge to his telepathy.”

“We start tomorrow. I’ve had a plan prepared for some time and money’s no object. We’ll do it East / west, because that’s the historical way America’s transport links were arranged so we’ll start in Texas and zigzag north up the map.”
“I suspect they’ll be in one of those top-secret bases in the Nevada desert.” Suggested Ben.
“Quite possibly but we’ll have to search systematically. I’ll leave a 4x4 outside you’re hotel and you can sell the old pickup legally to a car lot. Don’t dump it illegally it leaves traces and gives them leads.”
Ben studied his father respectfully.
Iona was an old hand at the fugitive game and Ben was grateful for the guidance. Telepathy was proving a remarkable tool to cross the age barriers and curb youthful exuberance.’
Iona turned to him softly as the boy reached out and squeezed her shoulders.
“I think it’s time you downloaded some more of my experience. The fugitive lessons are essential.”
They settled opposite each other on the sofa and rattled away like a pair of intranetted computers as Iona selected suitable memories. It was late when Ben returned to the hotel. He was woken again at noon by a telephone call from reception and went down to find a large envelope waiting at the desk. He left his trusty pickup in a car lot and took first offer without haggling. The less he was remembered the better his cover.
Inside the envelope was a huge sum of money and a sheaf of notes to guide him so he took a taxi back to the hotel and found some keys waiting for him at the desk. In the hotel parking lot a brand new 4X4 sat shining in the ferocious sun. By Mid-afternoon father and son were on different roads and keeping contact by telepathy.
After a tedious painstaking month they eventually located the children and the adults illegally detained in a secure USAF research unit deep in the Nevada desert. It was inside the same military restricted zone as the jet propulsion labs and an assorted mishmash of research projects cobbled together for convenience under an umbrella of security. It was extremely well protected and patrolled constantly by ground troops and helicopters. Father and son smiled victoriously as they shared their telepathic discovery. The captives were being well cared for physically but the mental stress was already beginning to tell. The younger girls having little telepathic range had been easily isolated and reduced to tears. Only the older Rebecca had successfully withstood all attempts. Iona was infinitely relieved to learn that they had not been drugged. The scientists had been in close contact with their British counterparts and heeded the warnings.
Father and son ate while they telepathically compiled a plan of attack.
“It seems that you’ll have to be the spotter son and I’ll be the artillery.”
“Can you kill at twenty miles dad?” Whispered Ben nervously as he contemplated the terrible finality of his father’s awful intentions.

“Yes, though I’m not sure I’ll have to go as far as killing anybody. Leastways not in the first instance. The first thing is to make contact with the children. They’ve ascertained it’s the children who are telepathic because of the naivety of Rachel and Natasha. They were easily trapped into revealing their abilities and the brain scans proved Rebecca has the same brain. Once they were on the right trail it took little effort and they now know that we can be identified by our brain scans. That’s the first definite lever they’ve got on us. I was always afraid of this from the day you were born.”
“You don’t regret having us do you dad?”
“Not as children son. But as telepaths I regret your vulnerability. You can’t hit back.”
“Can’t you teach me?”
“It may be too late. The horrors and terrors have to occur when the brain is still developing in early childhood. It’s like the emotional development thing. If a baby isn’t properly nurtured in its early months it loses the ability to relate properly for the rest of its life. With telepathy it seems that the changes are possible only during the early years before the parameters are set. It’s the old Chinese saying. ‘As is bent the twig so grows the tree.”
Ben cursed as he envied his father’s unique ability to strike back. It made him almost God-like. Iona frowned thoughtfully. She wasn’t really sure if having a telepathic `punch’ was really a good thing for it was open to awful abuse.
“There’s nothing to envy Ben. You’ll find out if you experience a kill. Telepathy amplifies the horror even if it’s your enemy who’s being killed.”
“I can stand it provided Rebecca is OK.”
“What about Rachel and Natasha?”
Ben suddenly realised exactly what his father had meant. He hadn’t really considered the little ones as real sisters; simply close relatives who were also telepaths. The relationship that had developed between him and Rebecca was a much more intimate affair. Even their cultural backgrounds had helped to delineate the differences. The anticipation of danger had exposed his subconscious deeper feelings for his ‘real sister’ Rebecca. Iona comforted him.
“Rachel and Natasha are still your sisters and my daughters. You’re all equally precious to me.”
Iona gave Ben a telepathic flash of the emotional attachments she had for all her children and this went some way to opening Ben’s emotional gate a little wider. Iona smiled as she peeked telepathically into Ben’s pristine emotional pastures and she envied Ben his innocence.
‘Things would change when Ben became emotionally involved with a girl.’ Grinned Iona.
For now Ben’s innocence would serve as a moral benchmark against which Iona could judge her own standards as she went in with all telepathic cannons blazing. If Ben squealed in protest, Iona would be able to draw back to the line of decency.
Ben read his father’s mind and wagged his head sorrowfully as he realised just how amoral and psychopathic Iona was. It was like soldiers becoming traumatised, unbalanced and finally battle hardened to the horrors of war; and his father’s life had been virtually one long war.

‘Was this what Rebecca had seen,’ wondered Ben, `when she had probed her father’s emotions so deeply as only girl telepaths seemed able?’

Iona and her son exchanged resigned glances as Ben sensed with foreboding his father’s ultimate destination.

“Don’t worry. We’ll get them out.”

Each drained their coffee and paid their bills separately.

Once on the road, Bill Iona explained the tactics.

“It’ll be Armageddon for them son. They won’t know what hit them. Don’t judge me, I am become death. Just be my eyes and ears- my artillery spotter.”

They drove in silence then loaded their back-packs and took a back trail before hiding the vehicles in a deep gully and starting the long painful approach on foot. They ignored the fences and cameras as their telepathy revealed the watcher’s minds and they moved when the screens were unattended. By such well-tried and tested techniques Iona eventually brought them within sight of the base. Ben was astounded at the ease of their progress and whistled when he saw the size of the complex. It was the size of a small city!

It was only now that the pair decided to contact Rebecca. She was the oldest and Ben had long ago forged special contact links with his sister. Rebecca did not bat an eye when she felt the friendly tendrils of her beloved brother’s telepathy reaching into her brain.

She acknowledged his arrival but they agreed to avoid any questions so that she could not be tortured to reveal any of their plans. Instead she gave her brother free run of her brain to establish the layout of the site and the disposition of the others.
With a full picture of the whole organisation Ben and his father adapted their plan. Iona contacted Jacky and Emma who immediately gathered Rachel and Natasha to their sides in preparation for the assault.

Ben had been expecting some sort of cataclysmic burst of telepathic energy but instead the attack came silently and sneakily. Nevertheless each soldier’s death sent a stiletto of pain slicing through Ben’s brain. It was soon mayhem; a single guard dying at his post, a whole patrol suddenly collapsing fatally, a screen watcher meeting his end as he slumped in his chair. Like some silent doomsday virus the whole sector was taken out as Ben moved forward to gather up his sisters and lead them to safety.

Anybody who spotted anything suspicious or even came within sight of Ben’s activities was detected by Iona and killed. Within an hour Ben and all the women found themselves back with Iona.

The women were ecstatic with relief as Ben herded them urgently towards the perimeter while Iona remained behind..

“You take them on Son. I’ll stay here as a rear-guard. Just leave the food and water.”

Ben caught the sadness in his father’s eyes and sensed the finality of his words.

“Come with us dad.”

“Somebody’s got to watch out for pursuit. You push on back to the 4X4's and put as much distance as you can between us. Take both vehicles. I'll steal a car from the base. Now for God’s sake go!”

“But that’s suicide dad. You’ll never make it. Come with us while there’s still time.”

“No somebody’s got to destroy all the evidence. They’ve got to believe you’re dead. If I’m killed, I’m killed. It doesn’t matter about me but you; they still don’t know about you. You’ve got to live if telepathy is to flourish. It’s up to you now.”
“But you can’t commit suicide dad!” Squealed Ben in anguish. “There’s no need. It’s a crime. Life is too precious. Look at the way those soldiers have died.”

“Their right to life was forfeit the moment they kidnapped your sisters.”

“But everybody has a right to life. You have no right to judge them dad! By killing them you became as bad as them.”

“I know that son, believe me, nobody knows that better than me. It doesn’t matter now son; my life is forfeit. I’m finished with life. There’s been too much killing. My life is soiled with it and therefore forfeit. There’s only death for me now.

“But you’ve no right to kill yourself.” Screamed Ben as he almost stamped his telepathic foot in frustration.

“If I’ve a right to life son, I’ve a right to death.”

“That doesn’t make sense. You’ve got it all wrong.”

Iona paused silently as she gathered her last thoughts.

“Son, death is as much a part of life as birth. If I’ve a right to life then I’ve a right to birth and a right to death. When that life becomes unbearable then I reserve the right to choose death, at my time and my convenience. That makes suicide as much my right as life, birth and death.”

Ben let out a wail of anguish.

“No! No! I won’t let you. They can’t have you! You’re being selfish. What about us?”

“Don’t cry son. I’m doing it for you all. My end will ensure your beginning. Now get on before the whole plan falls apart and my sacrifice is wasted. You’ve a long way to go and you’ve got small children. Just leave me the food.
If by some infinitesimal chance, I survive, I’ll need the food.”

Ben fell bawling at Iona’s feet. Jacky and Emma grabbed him by the shoulders and virtually dragged him away for they had no inkling of what was transpiring telepathically between father and son. The girls were so traumatised that they refused to open up their telepathy and enlighten their mothers.

Rebecca had probed briefly but was so shocked at what she had found in Iona and Ben’s brains that she closed down immediately. She had seen some of the slayings and refused to risk any further telepathic encounters with death. Mortified by developments Ben turned and led the group away as Iona settled down to stop pursuit.

As the group reached the 4X4’s they suddenly heard the crash of a searching helicopter and a rising pall of smoke. Iona must have killed a pilot. The roar of battle increased and Ben could not resist one last peek at the destruction. Cautiously he drove to the top of a high ridge and stared across the lower hills to find the base in flames from end to end.

‘How could telepathy cause explosions and fires?’ Wondered Ben.

Then as he gaped disbelievingly, there was another huge roar of weaponry and the sky darkened with smoke and missiles. The whole area where the cave his father had been hiding, was engulfed in explosions. Ben stared dumbfounded.

‘Nothing could possibly survive that,” he surmised in terror for his father’s life.

The base’s awareness of the slayings had expanded logarithmically until they erupted swarming like ants, while Iona’s telepathy was akin to a single cannon albeit of immense calibre; but eventually the attackers had amassed enough force to return fire. For what seemed an eternity, Ben was forced to sit on the telepathic side-lines as shells crashed around the rocks and bursts of telepathic venom spat back. Eventually the telepathy seemed to weaken and Ben desperately tried to add his energy to his father’s collapsing arsenal. It was all to no avail, although they were within range of each other, he could not detect his beloved father’s sentience. The telepathy slowly faded to nothing.
Ben felt a sickening lump settling in his guts as he scanned desperately but only found a cold silent blackness. An eerie hush settled over the base and matched the dark cruel silence in his brain. He likened the blackness to the obsidian death wall his father had often described.

The silence seemed to amplify the 4X4’s engine so Ben switched off and let it roll back silently until it was behind the skyline. A last desperate scan found nothing. Nearly all the soldiers were dead or dying and the destruction was absolute. Iona had made them pay dearly.

Dejectedly Ben turned the 4X4 and lurched down the hidden gullies to follow the others. Once on the main road he drove slowly so as not to attract attention for long lines of army trucks were already streaming towards the base and he had no wish to invite their interest. He did not catch up with the girls until the next state where they had stopped at a roadside diner. Despondently he joined them and sat quietly in the next booth as they netted silently.

“Where’s Iona?” Queried Jacky.

“I think she’s dead.”

“What! Are you sure?”

“I’m not certain; I’m just not certain of anything now, but I don’t think anybody could have survived that.”
“So you’re not absolutely sure?” Pressed Emma hopefully.
“No! Of course I’m not absolutely sure but I think I hit the wall, you know, the dark thing dad used to always mention.”

“Dammit! She didn’t have to die!” Cursed Jacky.

“I think she did. The incubus had hatched. It was the only thing he could do.” Mumbled Ben.

“What d’ you mean; incubus?” Demanded Emma.

“There was something inside him. I hardly recognised it; it was so hateful. When I asked him, he called it an incubus. I looked it up in a dictionary. It’s some sort of malicious thing that grows inside you.”

Emma and Jackie fell silent. They both knew what an incubus was. Ben continued resignedly.

“Dad had finally lost all love. God knows she had little enough of it to begin with. You both know that better than I do. All those things we associate with love were difficult for her, sharing, compassion, kindness, gentleness; they were all stunted long ago in his childhood and they finally died out there today. Hate and anger were the only things left to her and she detested herself for that.

That was the incubus- the hate, the anger, the malice. She knew it was getting worse so what better way to destroy the poison than destroy herself? It solved everything, especially if her suicide could save our lives. What are those words again? ‘Greater love hath no man that he should lay down his life for others.’ That sacrifice was the only love she had left.”

“And if she is dead?” Pressed Emma.

Through bitter tears Ben stared down the highway for a long time before speaking.

“I don’t know. I only think she is dead. We should be grateful if she is. We’re free of whatever awful hate was in her; we’re safe now but the hounds of hell will be afraid.”