by K. G. Duncan
Dr. Kinsey was about to speak but the door suddenly opened, and Special Agent Novak entered the room flanked by a younger man and a woman. The pair could have been twins in their dark suits, and Novak was Daddy Warbucks, a full head taller, chiseled and standing between them. Novak was smiling, a hideous contortion of his lips, and Abby was struck by the fact that in person, he was even more vile than she had thought.
The first thing that rolled over her was the enormity and the hostility of his very presence. He was emanating a dark and distorted frequency that screamed “danger” to anyone who had the good enough sense to pay attention to such things. His swarmy smile only served to make him a grim caricature of the conniving, self-righteous villain that he obviously played in virtually every pathway he wandered through the Fold. Here was a constant force, but one that was far from highly evolved. This was humanity’s living nightmare. He was the blind, smug, entitled authority that thought he knew better than everyone else. He was oblivious. And it was because of people like him that the planet was precariously dangling on the precipice of disaster with our species so hellbent on destroying it.
“We finally meet, Miss Rubideaux!” His voice was deep. Maybe he was an opera singer in his non-special agent time.
Don Giovanni!
Abby had to muster all of her control not to start giggling right there on the spot. Oh, life was absurdly good, sometimes.
“A.B.,” Dr. Kinsey stood to introduce them. “This is Special Agent Novak and his team. They’re from the FBI’s department of Special Behavioral Science. They’re doctors, like me.”
“Psychiatrists by any other name,” Novak quipped. He nodded to his left and right. “This is Agent Browning and Agent Quick. They are here to assist me.”
Abby glanced at the two younger agents who remained stiff and unsmiling. The man was petrified of Special Agent Novak. The woman was hostile and sullen. She clearly loathed the man that stood between them. Abby quickly surmised that this was the Special Agent Novak show, and that these two had more than once felt the lash of previous scoldings for stepping out of line. They were here just to observe and not actively participate in the proceedings.
Special Agent Novak regarded Abby with a slight cock of his head, still smiling. It made her shudder. “Do you mind if we join the proceedings?” he asked as they all sat down.
Abby glanced at Dr. Kinsey before replying, “It appears I don’t really have a choice in the matter.”
At that, Dr. Kinsey raised her eyebrows and slightly shook her head. Abby glanced at her, smiled, then returned her focus to Special Agent Novak, who was still smiling—well, leering, actually—and replying,
“Ah yes, choices. I’ve read some reports on what you have to say about the choices we all make. Very impressive. But no need to worry. This is a friendly visit, Miss Rubideaux. We are here at Dr. Kinsey’s request.”
“Well,” Abby looked him in the eye. She recognized a liar and a bully when she saw one. “You have a funny definition of the words “friendly” and “request.” And I can see where all of this is going. Look,” and here Abby paused to reassess the situation. She decided to take advantage of her position and strike hard and fast. Novak needed to receive a message of who he was up against.
It was classic Sun Tzu and The Art of War: When sitting in the position of surprise and overwhelming force, attack and show no mercy.
She continued, “If you’ve truly read all of my reports, which I seriously doubt, actually, then you already know what I can do. So, let me make it clear and simple for you. I don’t want this to go on much longer than it absolutely has to. My answer is no… to whatever it is that you propose and/or represent. And… Wait!” Abby held up her hand and motioned for Agent Novak to remain seated. He had started to rise from his seat. He eased himself begrudgingly back down.
“I want you to know,” Abby resumed in a very clinical tone, “that I know why you are here and what you want. You want me to exhibit some of my abilities so you can report back to your grocery clerks and proceed with plans that involve me as an ’asset.’ Well congratulations, I’m going to give you half of what you want, anyways. Just a taste of what you can never have. And the other half? The part where I consider joining your little operational team? Not going to happen. And yes, you are ready to dazzle me and show me all the reasons why I would be doing my country such a great service. But answer me this: If this is such a great country that is fighting the good fight, why then, if I do not agree to cooperate, are you more than willing to drop the friendly act and coerce me into cooperating through threats to my family, my unwilful detention, and unpleasant punishment towards my own person? Doesn’t seem very great to me. Certainly not benign.”
Special Agent Novak was smirking, and the other two agents remained expressionless. Dr. Kinsey was tight-lipped and wide-eyed. Apprehensive, you might say.
Novak scoffed and interjected, “Well, a little precocious, aren’t we? You think you got it all figured out, do you?”
“Oh, more than that, Special Agent Novak,” Abby purred. “I’ve already read the book, backwards and forwards and every which way. But I’m prepared to go off script. Maybe add a few new chapters. Chapters you won’t like, Dmitri.”
At the mention of his given name, Abby saw his nostrils flare, his jaw tense slightly. She was getting to him. She pressed her advantage, “Oh yes, Dmitri. A bit odd that your father, a Slovenian immigrant, would give his son a Russian name. An homage to his maternal Russian grandfather? Soviet occupation after the war was a bit of a mess, I know, but I’m sure that the current generation of the extended family wouldn’t mind the mix in the gene pool. Don’t worry, though, your family secrets are safe with me.”
She glanced at Dr. Kinsey and winked. She looked back at Novak and continued, “But oh, the professional transgressions? I’m not sure those can be forgiven. I’m not just talking about all the procedural transgressions and the misrepresentations in your reports, but you know, Dmitri, that the little arrangement you have with the county health supervisor is something your superiors might be very interested in. When a mob enforcer engages in such activity it’s called extortion, but I guess that some of you in the bureau just look at it as a perk that comes along with the job?” She paused and leaned in to make her point. “The fact that you have a badge don’t make it right. In fact, it makes you worse than the criminals you like to put away for far less.” Special Agent Novak was no longer smiling.
She turned to look at the male agent sitting to his left. He looked really uncomfortable. “And you, Agent Browning. Jeesh, why don’t you grow a pair! I know all his shenanigans don’t sit right with you. You’ve been there, witness to most of it, and what have you done about it? There’s no code here that you must blindly adhere to. The department would come down on your side. Think it all the way through, man. You have more than enough evidence to make Dmitri here disappear from your life. What are you afraid of? And you!”
Abby turned to face the female agent and smile. “I think you should know, Special Agent Novak, that Agent Quick, here, would be very quick indeed to turn evidence on you. Oh yes, she would gladly slide right in to take your place. She has such ambition. In fact, she’d be really good at it—better than you, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
Abby paused and nodded at Agent Quick, then raised her fist and smiled. “Girl power!” she cried, before giggling. And then she looked back and forth between the two junior agents.
“You know,” she continued, “the two of you really ought to get together more and compare notes. Other than the sheer brutish force of his presence, Dmitri here has nothing to derail either one of your careers. In fact, lots of other folks in the Bureau would be grateful if you ousted this self-aggrandizing, hypocritical prick!” She looked over at Special Agent Novak, “You’re not very well liked. You do know that, don’t you?”
Abby leaned back, satisfied, and took a sip of her iced te
a. The other four people on the other side of the table sat in stunned silence for several moments. Finally, Special Agent Novak snapped out of it. He gathered up and straightened his papers, filing them away into his briefcase.
“Well,” he said. “I think we are done here for now.” He clicked his briefcase shut, stood up, and the other two agents scrambled up after him. He pointed at the door, and Agent Quick stepped over to open it. Novak and Browning filed out of the room, and as Agent Quick closed the door, Abby was sure that she peeked back at her with something like a smile on her face.
In the quiet that followed, Dr. Kinsey remained seated and stared back incredulously at Abby, who was busy slurping down the last of her sweet tea.
“Do you think that was wise?” She finally asked.
Abby smiled back at her, “Oh he’ll be back. And it won’t be so easy next time.”
“No, it won’t. And when he comes back again, he’ll be ready for you. You’ve just made a powerful enemy.” Dr. Kinsey steepled her fingers together and regarded Abby solemnly. “I’ve dealt with men like Special Agent Novak all of my professional life. Call it an institutional hazard for a woman like me. Unfortunately, men like him still call the shots in our little corner of the world. And for a little girl like you with no proper papers or legal guardians? Well, suffice it to say that Special Agent Novak pretty much can do with you whatever he wants. He is given quite a bit of autonomy to run his department within the Bureau. And that means there are no checks and balances in place. He could make someone like you disappear into the program, and no one would know or care. He has the ability to follow through on threats.”
Abby chortled, then responded, “You forget that I have you as my advocate! And you’re very resourceful, Joanna. Oh, he’s calculating and very thorough. But he’s also overconfident. His hubris will be the chink in the armor that will bring the beast down. Trust me. As a dragon, I know all about such things!”
Dr. Kinsey just chuckled and shook her head. “Well, I imagine you would at that. But be careful, A.B.. A man like that will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He could take you in and there’s not much I, or anybody else, could do to stop him.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself, Joanna.” Abby smiled and nodded her head several times. “You are a warrior woman and a high priestess in all other times, including this one! And I want you to know that you have helped me find my way. It’s what you have always done.”
Abby looked long and intensely at Dr. Kinsey, who finally shrugged and asked, “What?”
“I want you to know,” Abby began, “that I know you fought for me back there. That you tried to stand up for me against him. That no matter what happens in the weeks and days that lie ahead, you will always fight for me. You are my constant ally, in all the pathways that unfold. We’re not done yet—the two of us together. And no matter how this particular chapter ends, or how you might find yourself in a predicament, I want you to know that I am always going to fight for you, too. Even if it seems like I’ve betrayed you or left you behind to be on your own, please know that I only did it because it was the best way forward. The only way. I will always count you as a friend.”
“Okay,” and it was Dr. Kinsey’s turn to become solemn. “Now you’re scaring me. What are you cooking up, A.B.?”
Abby pointed at the recorder and the cameras in the room. Dr. Kinsey pushed the stop button on the recorder, then pushed back her chair, opened a drawer and Abby heard a switch click.
“Okay, everything’s off,” Dr. Kinsey said. She looked back at Abby. “No one can see or hear us.”
“I need to go talk to my brother,” Abby said.
“You have a brother?” Asked Dr. Kinsey.
“Sure. Well, he is one of many that are among us. Always. He’s just a thought away,” Abby stopped and tapped her temple, smiling. “But I need to see him. Real time. I need to leave you soon.”
“Could you just leave here anytime, then?” Dr. Kinsey hesitated, drumming her fingers on the desktop. “I mean, A.B., you’ve been here for… how long? A few months? I’ve never once seen, in all that time, any manifestation of these changes you’ve been describing. You’re just a girl, A.B.. An amazing, brilliant and perhaps even supernatural girl with extraordinary psychic powers.” Dr. Kinsey stopped to run her hand through her hair and smile. “But you have… I mean, in your mind? You have a sickness. And we are so close to breaking through. To understanding this elaborate fantasy that you’ve concocted.”
Abby stilled the disappointment within herself. “You still don’t believe everything I’ve said,” she finally spoke, softly. “But that’s okay. There are so many more things that I want to tell you. That I want to show you!”
Yes, show her.
The dragon rumbled deep within her. Abby slapped it down impatiently.
“No! We wait!” Abby snapped out loud. She glanced over at Joanna, who was regarding her somewhat skeptically.
“Sorry,” Abby continued, slightly chagrined. “Look, a whole lot of things are about to happen around here. In the next few weeks, I want you to do something for me. Are you listening?”
“Yes,” Dr. Kinsey answered calmly.
Abby took one moment to assess her companion, then decided that truth was the best option. It always was.
“Look,” she began urgently, “I’m not kidding. Here’s what’s going to happen, and here’s what I want you to do. “Over the next two weeks, you and I are going to meet like we have been doing. I enjoy our sessions immensely, as I know that you do, too.” They smiled briefly at each other before Abby continued.
“Special Agent Novak will want to sit in on many of these sessions. You will let him without objection. He will, for the most part, behave himself. It’s for Agent Quick, actually, that we do this. She is our ally, and she will help you and me before all of this is over. Novak is purely incidental. But we need her on the bureau’s end. For later. When the government finally figures out that they can be the good guys.”
She paused and reached over to grasp Joanna’s hands. The doctor flinched slightly, and Abby was quick to assuage her anxiety.
“Joanna, relax. I promise I will never enter your mind without your permission or unless there is a life-threatening emergency.” The doctor eased her tension, and Abby continued.
“Ok, now, this part is important. Pay very close attention.” Abby squeezed her hands and the doctor smiled. “Yes, it’s true that I could leave this facility whenever I want, but I’m not ready to do that. I still have things that I need to figure out. I like it here. And in the evenings, when I’m lying in bed, I am learning how to travel. How to go deeper into the Fold—and not just in my mind—physically, too. Yeah, that’s right. And the other ‘inmates’ in this place?” and here Abby paused to cackle at her choice of words. “Well, believe it or not, it’s one of the best places I’ve ever been to find out more about myself. There are others here connected to the Fold in ways that they can’t even understand or that they are even aware of.”
Abby paused to gather her thoughts. Dr. Kinsey was staring back at her intensely, the lines in her forehead all pinched together above the bridge of her nose. “But they are in it, almost unconditionally. It’s a natural state for them to be there. Their brains are different, yes… and it’s easier for them to access. I can help you write that groundbreaking paper that explains all of this, some day!” Abby and Dr. Kinsey both chuckled.
“But listen to me,” Abby continued more earnestly. “There will come a day not so far from now when Agent Novak will make a decision. He will have decided, finally… duh! That there is no way to control me or have me join his team cooperatively. He will order his team, that nut-less yes man, Browning, actually, to sedate me. They’re gonna try to transport me to another facility. I want you to let them do it. Oh, you can protest after the fact, make a real fuss over it—which for the most part, I am sure would be your genu
ine reaction! But don’t try to stop them beforehand… just be somewhere else. Let them do it.”
“But why, A.B.?” Dr. Kinsey was asking, “Why does it have to be like this?”
Abby grinned, but not from a genuine sense of pleasure. It was more a smile of resignation. “Because it’s the best way forward. The only way, where you and Michael, and all of your staff come out of this okay, and where Special ass-sphincter Novak will have to take all of the blame. And don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Everything will be as it is meant to be.”
“I don’t know, A.B.. All of this just doesn’t seem necessary. I have means at my disposal, protocols that I can follow…”
“No, Joanna,” Abby interrupted her. “Trust me. This is the best way.”
They looked at each other for quite a while. Dr. Kinsey finally nodded her head, squeezed Abby’s hands, then smiled and pulled away to stand.
“Well,” she said. “Ten AM tomorrow? My office. I have some chocolate from Austria that will be waiting for you.”
“Mozart’s balls?” Abby grinned.
“But of course!” And they both laughed.
Exactly two weeks went by before Agent Novak did what Abby said he would do. Dr. Kinsey had begun to wonder if everything that Abby purported to be able to see was just some part of a greater delusion—an elaborate, unprecedented self-deception. None of it was real. It was all just imagined—every last minutia of incredible detail.
But their sessions together seemed to prove otherwise. There was no question that Abby had incredible psychic abilities. She had demonstrated them again and again. Even with Special Agent Novak sitting in for several sessions, Abby didn’t hold back. She, in fact, seemed to be quite expert at ignoring him.
And what Abby described in their sessions together…well, it was incredible.
Dr. Kinsey was sitting in her office late in the afternoon in the near dark of the day’s end, reviewing the audio files—something which had become a nearly full-time vocation for her—when Michael came knocking. Well, it was a knock followed by him bursting into the room.
