by William Hill
Liam staggered down the hall towards the kitchen. He had no idea what time it was. All his mind could register was that it was morning, he was still in his clothes from yesterday, and that he was again hungry. Very hungry.
Sitting down at the table he accepted the mug of coffee his mother put in front of him. When she asked if he wanted breakfast he nodded his head. "Lots, please."
Picking up his cup to take a sip, he noted that he hadn't seen his father also sitting, across from him. "Morning" Liam mumbled.
"Yes it is. Tired?"
"You've no idea."
"Oh, I think I do. At least I know how wiped out I've been after a particularly difficult vision cast. Admittedly, I've never done anything to compare to last night, so maybe I don't really know. That was quite a demonstration, you know."
"What was the general reaction?"
"Total amazement, you pulled off a perfect 'Ten'. Gold Medal stuff. To be truthful, you've scared a few."
"Smith?"
"Most of all. Your Uncles are also a tad uneasy, but I can bring them around, me being Big Brother and all. And Mom - your Gran - thinks you're Aces."
"I think I blew away Drew and Scott."
"Yep, systems overload. They were here, crashed on the sofas, when I got home after picking up your Mom and the girls. Full of questions. Sent them home about an hour ago," he said with a grin.
"What did you tell them?"
"That they're cousins to a true Master."
"True?"
"There's no further doubt in anyone's mind. You've truly arrived. You really are above the norm, the best we've seen or heard of."
He, too, had heard the comments everybody made last night. They just hadn't registered at the time. He had even surprised himself; he wasn't one hundred percent sure it'd work. And he didn't like this talk about him being the "best".
His mother slid a plate full of eggs, sausage, and toast in front of him. After thanking her, Liam nodded his head in her direction.
"Tell her?"
"How could I not? She doesn't know how to accept your ability. Not having the gift doesn't allow her much understanding of what she's told. But, being married to a Master gives her some idea and she's concerned about all this talk about how strong you are. She's afraid you'll get too much attention from the bad elements. I've assured her that now you can hold your own, and you have plenty of good help."
"Thanks. Has Carol called yet?"
"What do you think?"
"I'll call her back after I finish eating."
He couldn't wait for tonight, there was to be another meeting of the Circle. It had been a week since his "demonstration" to the others and he was now just recovering his full strength. He hoped they wouldn't ask for another, he had no idea what he could do to top the last. It had tired him to his bones, so much so that he hadn't any desire to go out with Carol, let alone do anything else, and he really did want to do something with her tomorrow as she'd been insistent this past week ever since he'd returned her calls the morning after the demonstration. She had positively gushed her praises of him. She'd said she just knew he'd do something extraordinary, and how Daddy was beside himself with pride that "his little girl" was the girlfriend of the boy destined to become perhaps the "greatest Master" of our time, and was encouraging her to see more of him socially.
He heard the distant toll of wedding bells behind that comment. Now, that was scarier than his newfound abilities.
He walked Carol to, and met Drew and Scott as usual at, his car in the student parking lot after school. The brothers had been his constant companions everywhere, before and after school, between classes, at lunch, everywhere. It seemed that the only respite from them was when he was in his own bathroom at home. At school one or the other always accompanied him to the one there when he had to go. Now that they were officially Watchers, it seemed as if they were taking him on as their primary function in life whenever Carol wasn't with him. He found their attention kind of heady, but tiresome as well. Still and all, he enjoyed their company.
With their new status, it had been necessary for his and Carol's fathers to meet with the cousin's parents and explain to them just what the boys were, vision-wise. It had been difficult for them to fully grasp the description given them until the boys gave their folks a demonstration (secretly suggested to them by Liam's dad ahead of the meeting) as they all were sitting in the Gill’s living room.
"Boys, why don't you both go to your room until I tell you to return," he told them with a wink.
Taking his cue, they went. After waiting a few minutes, Liam's dad suggested to Al and Virginia, the boy's parents, that they accompany him to the boy's room as he wanted to show them something. They went upstairs to the bedroom and looked in. Both boys were lying on their beds, eyes closed, apparently asleep.
"I guess they were tired. Let's go back down stairs, I'm sure they'll come down when they're called," Liam's father said, adding a soft "okay" to the boys.
As all four parents reached the last stair down into the living room, the boys' parents froze. Drew and Scott were sitting together on the couch.
"How did you get down here?" their father demanded to know.
Their mother turned and ran back to the bedroom and yelled back, "They're still up here, asleep!"
"Impossible! They're right here before my eyes!" he yelled back, as she came back down.
Then the boys both grinned at their folks. Saying, "Bye!", they simply vanished. Almost as fast, they came down the stairs behind their patents and said, "Hi!”, startling them.
“I just don't understand!" Al said to Carol's father.
Liam's dad ushered them back into the living room — Mr. Gill having to support his wife as she was feeling a little light-headed — and had them sit down again.
"Well, Carroll and I have tried our best to explain it to you, but it's not easy. I admit I don't really understand it myself. Liam has done some research and can probably explain it better. Let me get him over here," he told them as he closed his eyes and mentally reached out to Liam.
When Liam felt his dad’s mind touch his, he heard, Liam. Could you come over to the Gill's? There's room in front of the TV. Get me?
As Liam materialized in front of everybody, right in front of the TV, Mrs. Gill gasped and made the sign of the Cross, as Mr. Gill uttered a low "Oh, my God."
"Liam, you've done some research on our gift. The Gill's here need some help understanding just what it is that their sons and we do. Can you help?" his father asked.
Sitting down on the floor in front of them, he began reciting his own search for understanding, all about the plasticity of the mind, the dimensions of time and space, and how, in the case of his Gran, time travel may well be better defined as precognition. He could see, as he finished, that they still couldn't grasp what he was saying. Then it occurred to him, having noticed Mrs. Gill crossing herself at his sudden appearance that perhaps telling them something that they'd been told all their lives by their church might just help. He reminded them of the doctrine of Transubstantiation, the belief that Jesus, when they take Communion at Mass, is present in both the wafer and in Heaven at the same time. That got their attention.
"I’m not saying we are anything like Him! We're mere mortals. But the same principle applies."
"Now I'm beginning to understand," Mrs. Gill admitted. "I still don't see how you can do it, but I see that you can do it, if that makes any sense! But for heaven's sakes, don't anyone pop in or out on me again or I'll have a stroke!" she said, with a laugh.
Mr. Gill just shook his head side-to-side, still in doubt. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes…I swear…if anyone tried to tell me about this I'd say they were a nut case. Boys, listen to your Mother. If you must do this stuff, don't do it in front of us without warning, hear?"
Drew and Scott, and Liam as well, gave them their word. Liam's and Carol's fathers then explained the dangers of saying anything about th
is to anyone. Both Mr. and Mrs. Gill assured them they wouldn't. They certainly didn't want to be thought of as those "crazy" Gills.
Will explained to them the general idea of what the boys were involved in, without too many details, that at times the boys may be needed away from home and, of course, the need for absolute secrecy. "Naturally, I, or Carroll, will always let you know, and keep the boys safe," he assured them, "and even as young as they are they'll be serving their country."
"Well," Al told him, "I'm as much a patriot as anyone else, and now that I know we're family, and I take family very seriously, I'll put my trust in you and take your word on it."
Liam was nervous as he pulled his car into Smith's yard next to the garage. He turned the engine off and just sat there. Drew, in the front passenger seat, turned to look at him. He then looked back to his brother in the rear, who only shrugged his shoulders at him. Neither really wanted to say anything to Liam, but Scott finally broke the silence.
"What's the matter, Liam?"
"I'm a little nervous," he confessed. "From the way Smith reacted to me last week, I don't think he's too happy with me."
"You just took him, like the rest of us, by surprise," Drew said.
"Yeah, but everyone else was excited. He was angry. I could see it in his eyes."
"He doesn't seem to like your Gran, either," Scott observed.
"He's just scared of your strength," Drew added.
"That's just it! He scared he can't control me, or Gran, and that makes me nervous. I don’t think he likes either of us, and that means I can't trust him."
"Hey, you're more powerful than he is," Drew bragged on him.
"I don't know that. Gran isn't even sure what he's capable of. She told me early on that she thought I was stronger than he was, then, based on what she'd seen him do. But she also told me to never go near his place by myself, as well, as she doesn't trust him completely either. I did once, anyway, and I’m sure he sensed me, so I immediately visioned away. Besides, we don't know who or how many, if any, friends he has elsewhere," Liam told them. That quieted the brothers.
He heard the engine of a car coming up the drive and, looking in his rear view mirror, saw it was his father and grandmother.
"Here’s the Cavalry," Liam said out loud. "I've got back-up now."
“What are we, chopped liver?" Drew snorted under his breath, even as he was secretly glad someone else was here also.
As they exited the car Liam just shot him a wry look. They said their "Hello's" to the others, and they all went down to the meeting room, where no one else was waiting except Smith.
"I'm sorry I didn't get a hold of you all earlier, but I did manage to reach the others to call off the meeting," Smith informed them.
"What’s happening?" Will asked.
"Nothing that concerns the Circle" Smith assured them. "I just need this evening to prepare for some business I have in D.C. in the morning. I have an idea! Why don't you come along with me, Liam? You can see some of the sights. The Smithsonian, perhaps, while I have my morning meeting, and I'll have you home tomorrow night. Would you like that, if your father says okay, that is?"
Out of the corner of his eye Liam caught a look from his grandmother, a look that said Don't.
"Thanks for the offer, Dr. Smith, but I have other plans."
"Oh, well, another time, perhaps?"
"Perhaps," Liam answered with a smile, knowing it would never happen.
Having taken their leave of Smith and returned outside, Liam’s father told him that he wanted him to return home with him and his grandmother, and to let Drew drive himself and Scott home in Liam’s car.
“What? Why?”
“We want to talk to you about something in private before we all get home. You trust Drew to drive carefully, don’t you?”
He did, but still didn’t like the idea of someone else driving his car without him in it also. Just the same, his father’s demeanor suggested that Liam hadn’t an option here, so he yielded.
“Hey, Drew! I’ve got business with my dad. Would you like to take my car and drive yourself and Scott home? I’ll fetch it back in the morning.”
“Would I? You bet! Promise, I’ll be careful!” he told Liam, unable to contain his joy at having a chance, finally, to drive the car.
After some miles in silence, Liam's grandmother said, simply, "He's lying."
"How do you know?" her son asked.
"Can't be absolutely positive, but yesterday I had a sense that Smith was in the District, with someone else, discussing Liam. Liam was somewhere nearby; don't know exactly where though, but when Smith returned home Liam wasn't with him. It might have been tomorrow, or some other time in the future, but I'm guessing now is the time. Did you see how he was looking at Liam last week after Liam pulled off his 'power play'? And what was that about wanting to take Liam with him to D.C. tomorrow?"
"You know, I had a gut-feeling something wasn't right also! Guess some of your precognition is rubbing off on me, Mom," Will laughed.
"Everyone has, at times, a touch of precognition; they just call it a ‘hunch’, or, as you say, a ‘gut feeling’, even if its not accompanied by an actual vision,” she answered. “In any event, Liam's not safe."
"Hey, guys! You're talking about me as if I wasn't here."
"Sorry, Son, but your Gran is right, I feel it in my bones - oops, there's another metaphor! So I suppose we'll have to get you hidden, somewhere, for a while."
"Hidden! Where? For how long? I've got school Monday!"
"I don't know how long, but don't worry about school; you'll be out sick and we'll get your class work to you from your teachers. It'll give you something to do as well as keep you current in class while you are sequestered, and I think I know just where," his grandmother mused. "I have a friend who travels a lot, but keeps an apartment in D.C. She's out of town at the moment. I check her mail every so often for her, so I have a key."
"You want to hide me in the District? That's where Smith's going to be. Besides, he works there when he's not here, doesn't he?"
"Where better to hide, than under his nose? He'll never think to find you there, so close to home," his father explained. "Good idea, Mom".
"Won't he feel my presence?" Liam asked.
"There are quite a few Masters in the Metro area. Yours will just blend in with them. It would be like looking for one particular grain of sand on a beach," his Gran assured Liam.
I sure hope so, Liam thought.
They took him home and had him pack enough clothes for a week. On the way to the apartment in the city, his dad laid out a few rules.
"One, do not leave the apartment for any reason short of fire. Two, do not use her phone — we do not want the NSA listening in and, on that note, do not use your cell phone either. In fact, give me your phone now, your location can be traced," his father told him.
“NSA?”
“National Security Agency,” his dad explained. “They electronically intercept and record, and analyze, every electronic transmission, by phone, text message, IM, and email, sent by anyone, anywhere. There are no more secrets anymore. Hell, they’ve got satellites that can read your lips from space.”
"Really?" Liam suspected that was a bit of hyperbole, but wasn't going to call him on it. "But what if I need something? How will I get a hold of you?"
"We'll stop on the way and pick up a prepaid with plenty of minutes," his grandmother offered. “If you have to use it, it too will be intercepted, but can't be identified as coming from you, so don't use your name and talk in generalities just as if it was everyday conversation, unless it's an emergency and then just say, 'I miss you', and we'll know you need help. By the time they think to analyze it to make a voice match to you, we'll be there.”
“Third, if you watch her TV, enable the Closed Caption so that you can read what's said with the sound turned to zero," his dad told him.
"What about lights at ni
ght?" Liam wanted to know.
"There's a lamp in the living room on a timer that comes on at five and goes off at eleven. There's a lamp in the bedroom on another timer that comes on at eleven and goes off half past," she said. "Also, all the window blinds and curtains are closed. Keep them that way. And stay away from them so you don't cast a shadow on them that can be seen from the street."
"Food?"
"She keeps a fully stocked panty. You may not like her taste in foodstuffs, but at least you won't starve. Nothing in the Fridge, I'm afraid, at least nothing that would spoil," his Gran told him.
"Anything else?" he asked with an edge to his voice.
"Liam, son, I know this won't be your idea of a vacation, but in this business, one does what one has to do."
"You guys talk like you're CIA, or something!"
All his grandmother said back to Liam was, "You don't 'need to know', so don't ask."
"Oh, God!" he exclaimed, as his father let out a chuckle. "Not that again!"
"Where did you think I learned it?" his father said with a smile.
He looked at his grandmother with a new assessment. "A friend's home, or your 'safe house', secret agent?"
His grandmother just laughed. "Need to know, Liam, need to know!"
Before they got anywhere near to the District line, his father pulled into a convenience store. His grandmother handed four U.S. Grant’s back to Liam.
"Run in and get yourself a good one with plenty of minutes," she instructed him.
He entered the store and asked the clerk sitting at the register behind the front counter if he had any prepaid cell phones. The clerk merely pointed in the general direction towards the far corner in the back of the store. Looking out, he saw his father had parked in a stall away from the building. He went to the back, studied what was available, made his selection and bought it along with two hundred and forty minutes. Four hours should be plenty, he guessed. He exited the store and went to the car, opening the rear door and jumping into the back seat. Shutting the door, he started to tell them what he had.
His father and grandmother were gone.
Chapter Twenty: On the Road
“I’m not a big believer in…luck. I believe it has a lot to do with fate and just really having a vision…”
