by Chad Kunego
Rick started to say something else, but his stomach decided to take advantage of the momentary silence, rumbling loudly. Looking between the women sheepishly, he smiled slightly.
“In that case, I don’t suppose we can order in, can we?”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
Kaitlyn stepped out of the room, pausing to let Zarina pass before closing the door behind them. As soon as they’d decided what to order, Rick had slumped back on the bed and quickly fallen asleep, his slight snores letting them know it was normal sleep rather than falling unconscious again. Just to be on the safe side, they waited almost an hour before getting up to leave in case he woke up again. It concerned her that, whatever he’d done to heal Zarina, it had taken so much out of him.
After seeing what he was capable of during their first mission, she figured he could snap back from just about anything, especially since his powers had only increased since. Hell, he’d healed from having a good chunk of his spinal cord and heart vaporized within seconds and was ready to go again. Now he was too weak and exhausted to even get out of bed. Was this just a fluke? Or was it a possible weakness that could be exploited?
She looked over at Zarina. The other woman appeared lost deep in her own thoughts while they walked down the hall toward the exit. Making sure nobody else was within hearing distance, she slowed her pace down and lowered her voice before speaking.
“So what didn’t you tell him?”
Kaitlyn noticed a started look cross the other woman’s face.
“What?” she stammered out, looking apprehensive, “What do you mean?”
“You were hiding something back there, back when you told him you felt fine. Out with it…”
Kaitlyn noticed Zarina’s eyes slightly dilate, her eyes flicked up to her right momentarily before responding, letting her know Zarina was getting ready to lie to her.
Glad I took all those interrogation courses. They come in pretty handy sometimes.
Before Zarina had a chance to open her mouth, Kaitlyn held up her hand, stopping in front of the other woman.
“Before you lie to me, decide if it’s worth getting kicked off the team.”
She watched the other woman’s eyes flare open slightly before her shoulders slumped in defeat.
Bingo!
“How did—”
“Never mind. Spit it out.”
Kaitlyn waited patiently for the younger woman to begin. The slight look of challenge in her eyes took surprised Kaitlyn slightly.
“Just so you know, I was not trying to hide anything. I just do not know if it is something that will last.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Whatever he did to me, did more than just heal me. I feel different. Changed. Stronger. My thoughts seem so crystal clear now compared to before.”
As Zarina talked, Kaitlyn gradually noticed something akin to pressure emanating from the psionisist, almost like facing into a strong breeze. Bringing her attention back to what Zarina was saying, Kaitlyn thought she could almost see a slight corona of purple light surrounding her head like a halo.
“But I do not know if only temporary or permanent. Am scared it is only temporary. Is actually troubling if condition is permanent.”
“Why,” she asked, the impression of a halo growing stronger around the other woman.
“Because if power is permanent, I do not know if I can control it. I have never felt such power before.”
“How strong,” she asked, almost against her better judgment. Without saying a word, Zarina raised her hand in front of her. Slowly, without a sound, Kaitlyn noticed all the vehicles outside slowly rise an inch off the ground. At the same time, the sound of every door down the hallway suddenly slamming open, banging against the wall before quickly slamming shut again caused her to jump slightly. Dropping her hand, several car alarms blared to life as the vehicles dropped to the asphalt, the sudden bounce tripping the alarm sensors.
“That was just passing thought. Before, would need to concentrate to open only half that many doors, or lift something that heavy,” she said, gesturing outside. “Now I can split attention enough to do all that as easily as walking across room.”
Without warning, Zarina’s legs slightly buckled, causing her to slump against the wall. She quickly covered her face while her body shuddered. With sudden understanding, Kaitlyn realized the other woman was crying. Reaching out tentatively, she gently laid her hand on the young woman’s shoulder.
At the touch, Zarina's hands dropped slightly, her tear-streaked eyes latching on to the older woman’s gaze.
“What did he do to me!”
Chapter 9
Before she had a chance to speak, shouting started erupting from all the rooms down the hall. Doors started opening with guests poking their heads out, asking each other what was happening. Panicked questions of whether it was an earthquake or some other form of natural occurrence began echoing down the corridor.
Grabbing the sobbing woman, Kaitlyn hurried the two of them out the exit before they were noticed. The cacophony of car alarms going off in the parking lot motivated Kaitlyn to move faster. The last thing they needed was people coming out to investigate and seeing the two of them.
Half steering, half dragging the young woman across the parking lot, she gave a silent thanks for having put the top up before they’d carried Rick inside. Reaching the car, Kaitlyn gently forced Zarina into the passenger seat before quickly moving to the driver side, hopping in and starting the car.
Revving the engine, she glanced around quickly before hastily backing up. Swinging the front-end around, she dropped it into drive, gave it some gas and quickly sped away. Once she put some distance between them and the hotel, she glanced over at the woman still quietly sobbing in the passenger seat. Kaitlyn ran her fingers through her hair, trying to make sense of the young Russian’s sudden breakdown. After another minute of driving, she gently rested her right hand on the other woman’s trembling shoulder.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand,” she began softly, “what’s so bad about getting your powers boosted, even if it’s only temporary?”
Waiting for a reply, she drove on in silence, giving Zarina time to compose herself. After a few minutes, Zarina quieted down. Grabbing some tissues, she cleared her nose before answering.
“How can… How can I explain to you,” the young woman asked, haltingly at first. Kaitlyn spotted a barely noticeable flash of violet light cross her eyes before she spoke again.
“Tell me, are you familiar with Plato’s allegory of cave?”
The question caught Kaitlyn off guard. The question seemed completely unrelated to the situation at hand. After a few seconds, she shook her head slightly.
“Didn’t that have something to do with a cave with shadows or something?”
“Da,” she said, a slight smile creasing the corner of her mouth, “that is story.”
“Okay, so how does this relate to your powers?”
Taking a deep breath, Zarina held it for a moment before forcefully exhaling, scrubbing at her eyes furiously before continuing again in a quiet voice.
“Is like this. I spent most of my life learning my powers, like person shackled in cave, only able to examine shadows cast by light behind them onto cave wall. It took me many years of trial, error, meditation, and study to finally be able to see shadows clearly. That is,” she said, her voice catching before continuing, “was my reality. I knew nothing beyond shadows.”
She paused again, staring out the side window. After a few minutes, Kaitlyn started to get impatient.
“So Rick did what? Make the lights brighter, made the shadows more defined?”
Zarina looked back at her, a sad look in her eyes.
“You are still not understanding. He did not make light brighter, he unshackled me and led me to mouth of cave, gave me ability to fly. Now I am seeing world for what it is, not just shadows. Everything is so vivid and sharp. Is almost too much to take in.”
&
nbsp; Kaitlyn let out a tired sigh.
“Maybe I’m missing something, but I’m still not seeing how that’s a bad thing.”
“Because,” she said, putting her hand over the one Kaitlyn had placed on her shoulder, “I am terrified what he did will go away, shackling me in cave again, left to face cave wall with only memories of what exists behind me.”
The sudden realization hit Kaitlyn about what the other woman was describing.
“Oh, Christ…”
§§§§§§§§§§§§
The sounds of shouting slowly bubbled up though his consciousness. Groaning, he tried to ignore it and go back to sleep, but after several minutes, he came to the conclusion the noise wasn’t going to die down anytime soon. Without thinking about it, he extended his senses outward while pulling in energy, trying to determine if there was some sort of imminent threat approaching to account for the noise.
Don’t sense anything. Wait a sec…
Focusing, he tested his ability to draw on ambient energy, feeling no resistance.
Well, at least my powers seem to be back to normal…
Climbing out of bed, he noticed his clothes sticking to him uncomfortably. Against his better judgment he sniffed his shirt, wincing slightly.
Damn… That’s rank. Whatever I did with Zarina really did a number on me.
Stretching, he felt his body protest. Joints crackled and popped while tight muscles protested his movements. Actually having aches and pains was almost a novel experience since, even while he was in hiding, he’d rarely felt discomfort beyond the headaches associated with using his abilities.
Maybe I should use some energy to work the kinks out…
Tapping into the ambient energy around him, he tested it a moment before allowing it to fade back to a trickle charge. Exercise was probably a better idea, now that he thought about it. At the very least, it would get his blood pumping. And it wouldn’t cause his appetite to spike as much as using his powers would.
With that in mind, he stretched again, slowly moving into a Tai Chi form he’d learned a long time ago. Moving slowly, he worked through the different positions, gradually working up a sweat. Turning his attention inward, he felt the internal energy, something his teacher had called chi, progressively expand into his dan tian. Whatever chi was, it felt different than the energy he normally drew on with his power, complementing it somehow.
Continuing on, he gently moved his chi through the microcosmic orbit, feeling the warmth slowly move up his spine before spilling over and flowing down the front of him again. Relaxing even more, he synchronized his movements with his slowly deepening breaths. Tension slowly seeped out of his body, allowing it to move more fluidly.
The unexpected voice snapped him out of his meditative state. His power swelled instinctively, preparing for combat. Without thinking, he snatched his metal combat spheres from their tube and launched them into a complicated defensive pattern while he looked around wildly, trying to determine where the voice had come from since his awareness didn’t detect anything. After verifying the room was empty, he launched his senses outward, trying to locate the speaker. After several minutes, he drew his awareness back into himself, unable to detect anyone suspicious.
Where did that voice come from?
Pausing to come up with an explanation, he realized that he could hear the sound of a television coming from the next room over.
“Must have been the TV…” he mumbled, slightly annoyed that his meditative exercise had been interrupted. After a moment’s consideration, he decided to hop in the shower rather than continue exercising.
“Well, at least most of the aches are gone,” he said, noticing the feeling of lingering warmth, “Whatever it was, it’ll have to wait until after my shower.”
Grabbing a change of clothes, he headed into the bathroom. Letting the hot water finish the job his exercising started, he let the rest of his tension flow off him with the steaming water, letting his concerns circle around the drain before disappearing.
Hopping out, he dried himself off. On a whim, he paused in front of the mirror, wiping the steam away. Consciously changing his vision, he tried focusing on his aura. After a brief moment, he noticed a glowing white light enveloping his body, almost like he was inside a glowing, transparent spacesuit. Turning from side-to-side, he tried to remember what he’d done to shift the color.
Let’s see… When I looked at her aura, I noticed it was vibrating at a specific frequency. So…
Concentrating on his aura, it suddenly shifted in color to a brilliant violet color. Without warning, his mind started rapidly flashing random memories, processing random bits of information at a dizzying pace. His memory suddenly rewound back, replaying the moment he’d heard the voice earlier. With crystal clarity, he realized the voice had been in his mind, not from an external source.
His memory pulled up another, seeming unrelated memory. Shocked, he realized the voice he’d ‘heard’ was the same voice he’d conversed with when he’d almost died on the last mission. It was also the same voice he’d heard when trying to help Zarina. Continuing to process the memories at high speed, he correlated the conditions he’d been experiencing when he’d heard the voice, comprehending that he’d been in a deeply focused, meditative state. Before he could process the experience further, he heard the door open, followed by the sound of people coming into the room. His aura snapped back to white, quickly expanded to encompass the room. His senses bumped up against a peculiar area of resistance that slowly moved around the room.
“Food’s here!”
Drawing his awareness back in, he took a deep breath before responding.
“Be right out!”
Shifting into super-speed, he quickly dressed before opening the bathroom door. He noticed the area of resistance he’d sensed emanated from Zarina in an almost physical wave. Putting the questions he had aside, he headed over to the small table where his teammates had piled all the food they’d ordered. Overloading his plate, he expended a fraction of his power to keep it all from sliding off the plate onto the floor.
“How you feeling?”
He chewed his food slowly while he considered the question. With a quick mental scan, he determined that his mental experiment hadn’t tired him out as much as the first time.
Maybe just practicing will keep it from being so exhausting…
Swallowing, he looked over at Kaitlyn.
“Surprisingly, none the worse for wear. A little rest, some exercise, and a hot shower can do wonders, apparently.”
From behind him, he felt Zarina’s attention pass across him.
“Do I get the clean bill of health doc,” he said, glancing over his shoulder with a smile.
A look of surprise cross her face.
“You could sense that?”
He nodded, noticing her tense slightly at his admission.
“Were you able to sense it before?” she asked, a worried expression spreading across her face. He noticed a quick glance pass between the two women, but he wasn’t sure what it meant.
“No, not that I can recall. Then again, I was doing some experimenting while you ladies were gone. I think it might have sharpened my senses a bit.”
“What kind of experimenting?”
This time, the question came from Kaitlyn.
“Well, I wanted to see if I could duplicate something I did earlier when healing Zarina.”
He noticed the worried express grow more pronounced on Zarina’s face.
“How could you be so reckless? Especially since it knocked you unconscious last time. You should have waited until one of us could watch over you in case something happened!”
Rick was taken aback by the sudden look of anger on Kaitlyn’s face.
“Hey, I’m fine,” he said, holding his hands up in defense, “but it did bring up a question I want to ask Zarina.”
Turning back toward the young psionisist, he thought about how to ask a question he believed
he already knew the answer to.
“The way I understand it, the color of a person’s aura gives a clue to their abilities. Correct?”
Hesitantly, she nodded at him.
“Okay, so if a person’s aura is purple, like yours, what does that usually indicate? I mean other than having psionic powers. Does it just indicate their powers, or could it also indicate something more general, like how well their mind functions?”
He noticed the look of worry replaced by a look of interest. Shifting his vision, he noticed the halo around her head intensify in color while she considered the question, confirming his speculations.
“I suppose it could, although I never really considered it. I know that, almost without exception, people who exhibit true psionic powers, not powers that mimic psionic abilities, have auras in the violet range. Why do you ask?”
He noticed he had both of their attentions now.
“Well, when I tried shifting my aura again to match what I remembered yours to be, my brain seemed to kick into high gear, like I plugged my brain into a computer. You just confirmed my suspicions. I think when I changed the color of my aura, it unlocked a new facet of my abilities.”
A look of shock spread across their faces.
“Bozhe moi…”
Chapter 10
After dinner, they discussed what to do next.
“Let’s head over to the hospital. There’s no sense putting it off.”
“Nyet. Need to process info I read earlier. I will be able to ask better questions after night’s sleep.”
“Besides,” Kaitlyn said, jumping in before he could say anything, “you’ve had a long, exhausting day. She’s not going to go anywhere, so our best course of action is to wait until we’re all fresh.”
