MindWar

by Darrell Bain

  Amber added one more comment before seeing what the folks would say, though in truth, she and Jimmy pretty well knew already. “That's how we feel now, and we haven't even had sex yet."

  Bailey looked at Pat and nodded. She remained silent, knowing with an inner sadness that someone else now occupied the primary focus of her daughter's love.

  "I'm convinced,” Bailey said. “We'll think of something, I promise.” He glanced at his watch. “Right now, though, we have to go. I've got a patient with problems who couldn't get off during the week, and Pat has a meeting at school. We'll talk some more when we get back. Be sure and keep the door locked."

  Amber hugged them both before they left, but her parents surprised her. Pat hugged Jimmy and kissed him on the cheek. Bailey put his arm around Jimmy's shoulder and squeezed briefly, letting him know he approved.

  "Is your mom home this morning?” Amber asked as soon as she heard their cars drive away.

  "No, she's working today."

  "Then come on. If there's even a slight chance we might be separated, it's not going to happen without us having made love.” She took his hand and led him back to her bedroom.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Their first coupling was somewhat clumsy, but Pat's frank talks with Amber gave her the knowledge that made it easier than most first times. That, plus the fact that their minds were merged, helped them to feel their way into the experience, and, as might be expected, the first time was over all too soon. Nevertheless, it was still the most intense emotion either had ever experienced.

  The second union was so overwhelmingly passionate that it was almost unbearable. Their minds were locked together even more tightly than their bodies, and each of them was able to experience some of what some of the other was feeling.

  Amber thought it was the most wonderful sensation that could ever be possible, and it went on and on, rising to an intensity that finally exploded over her body with a flood of emotion that made her cry tears of joyful pleasure and excitement. Jimmy's body became part of hers, and he absorbed hers in the same way. Both had been unintentional participants with Pat and Bailey having sex when they first realized they were able to see into other minds, but their own experience went far beyond that. Amber knew it would be impossible to explain or even use a mind touch to show anyone else what it was like. It was unique, only possible to those who could delve into each other, body and soul and mind.

  Even after it was over, Amber didn't want to lose the closeness; she snuggled against Jimmy, staying as near him as possible, thinking dreamily that it would be nice to not to ever have to move away. Her eyes closed, and gradually, Jimmy's embrace loosened as they drifted into sleep.

  * * * *

  Amber woke and immediately sensed that Mom and Bailey were back home. She started to sit up and realized that she was still loosely entangled with Jimmy's naked form. She pressed against him for a moment, long enough to bring him to awareness.

  "The folks are back home. I guess we better get up and wash off and get dressed, huh?"

  "Uh oh,” Jimmy said. “They'll know what we've been doing."

  "It's okay; I think they knew we were going to do it before they left.” She kissed him and got out of bed, heading for the bathroom. Sex with Jimmy was wonderful, but even the talks with Mom hadn't fully prepared her for all aspects of it—and the after effects.

  * * * *

  "Bailey, those kids still seem so young. This is going to take some getting used to.” Pat smiled gamely and gestured toward the bedroom.

  "Are you sure that's what they've been doing?"

  "Of course. Bailey, I knew what was going to happen before we left. Didn't you see how they were looking at each other? They had just finished showing us how close they are, and we were still talking about them being separated. What would you have done in their place?"

  Bailey munched some cashew nuts and took a sip of the beer he had opened when he returned. “The same thing, I guess. Pat, I doubt we can even come close to imagining how good it must be for them. Just think of what they showed us, and project that closeness to a sexual union. We have to do our utmost at keeping them together."

  "Well, I'm all for that. I want Amber close to us, Jimmy too. They may be mind readers and as mature as adults in many ways, but they don't know everything. They're still going to need us for a few years."

  Amber's bedroom door opened and she led the way out. At first, Jimmy had trouble meeting the adults gaze, but when they showed no antagonism or resentment, he relaxed.

  Pat intended to talk to her daughter later, but in the meantime, she did her best to act as casually as possible. She greeted them, went to the kitchen, and began bringing back packets of Chinese takeout food she had picked up on the way home. It was still warm enough to eat straight out of the cartons.

  It was Bailey who got them back on the subject of Jimmy being forced to leave. He pushed his plate away and popped the cap off another beer. “Jimmy, are you absolutely sure talking to your folks won't help? Suppose I tell them I'm almost certain it's your talents Joe's new employer is after and not your dad's?"

  "I tried, but he wouldn't believe me. Mister Bailey, I hardly know him; he's gone so much, and he doesn't believe. He doesn't want to believe there's anything special about me. He's almost convinced Mom, too."

  "You could show him like you did us."

  "If I did, it would just make him mad and resentful, and Mom would suffer. There's something else I didn't tell you. Mom is pregnant, and she wants to move away from here. She's scared the baby might turn out like me if she stays.” The young man shook his head. “It doesn't matter how illogical it sounds. We're learning that people believe things without a reason ... or for reasons that have nothing to do with reality. It's so strange to us. It's hard to understand."

  "I imagine so,” Bailey said. “What did you kids have planned for today?"

  "We were going to walk over to the mall and go to a movie and then come back and do some stuff on our comps,” Jimmy told him. At first, he thought the term “kids” for he and Amber no longer applied. Perhaps his face showed it, for Bailey spoke up.

  "Relax, Jimmy. You'll be “kids” to your parents until the day they die, just like any children you have will be kids all your life."

  Jimmy thought about it and saw that he was right. He nodded that he understood.

  "And so long as you're going to be a part of the family, I think it's about time for you to call me Bailey like Amber does. You can drop the Mister."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Be back by six. We're eating then, and Mister Hetrick is coming by to talk to us some more."

  "We will,” Amber said. She gave her mother and Bailey a quick hug, and they were gone.

  Pat blinked back tears. Bailey saw them and drew her into his arms. “It's hard losing a child, but it's good to know we prepared her well for a life of her own."

  "I know, dear, and it's not as if Amber is going to move out. The kids can't do anything until they're a little older. It's just that all this is happening so fast, it seems."

  "Well, look on the bright side. We won't have the usual trouble with teenage angst and misunderstanding."

  "There's that. I'd better get some papers graded before Ray gets here."

  "Go ahead. I'll fix dinner."

  * * * *

  Ray Hetrick arrived right on time. Once he was settled in with a drink, he looked around. “I was expecting Jimmy to be here, too."

  "His dad told him to stay in tonight,” Amber said. “It doesn't matter; I'll be in touch with him, and he can follow what's going on."

  "Good. First thing, I got the research started. It turns out that pudding had nothing to do with the results when the nerve agent was mixed with it. It stimulates mirror neurons anyway, in chimpanzees at least, and I checked back on the analysis of the substance we did right at first. It seems to be a derivative or offshoot of one of the nerve agents manufactured during the Cold War. What apparently happened was that the ter
rorist chemists made a mistake in their production, and instead of being detrimental to nerve tissue, it just stimulated the mirror neurons. Perhaps, in younger children, it also caused them to multiply, but we haven't gotten that far yet. If you want me to go into the mind reading business, I'll have to know what other substance was present that may have changed Amber, Jimmy, and Jeannie."

  Bailey shook his head. “Not yet, Ray. It's not that I don't trust you, but I'm doubtful about loosing telepathy on the world. It seems to be fine for our two kids, but Jeannie ... well, I'm not sure. At any rate, I don't want to let it get out yet. Besides, we don't even know why it took five years for the mind reading ability to appear in them. What I would like is a sample of the nerve agent to run a few more experiments myself."

  Ray Hetrick eyed Bailey closely. He thought he knew what Bailey had in mind, but he simply nodded. This was one time he had to just ride with the flow and do what he could to control it. Even though he was retired, he still felt a responsibility, and this was certainly the most interesting thing he could ever have imagined doing in his spare time. “Okay, I'll get you some. Next subject—"

  Bailey held up his hand. “Before you go any farther, you need to know something. Jimmy's father has suddenly been offered a job from out of the blue that appears too good to be true. We suspect it's Casey's doing, the same way he enticed Jeannie's parents to move."

  "You hadn't told me that."

  "We learned this since the last time we spoke."

  "You need a number to get in contact with me when things like that come up.” Ray wrote two numbers out and handed them to Pat who was nearest him. “I've got some retired agents who're willing to help and use their contacts while we see exactly what Casey is up to. I need for Jimmy to know as soon as we can where those jobs are and with what companies."

  "Los Angeles,” Amber said. “They're both going there. Jeannie wouldn't say, but we found out that she's working directly with Casey. Getting her parents out there was just a way for him to get their hooks into Jeannie. I bet it's the same with Jimmy's folks, too."

  From the way it looked, Ray didn't doubt it a moment.

  "Okay, get me more information. Call me when you learn anything new. Now, that other subject. I spotted a tail when I came over here. I had one of my friends with me. We pretended to be local cops and pulled him over. He wouldn't talk, and there were no grounds to notify local authorities; however, this sounds like something to do with the recruiting that's going on."

  "More recruiting?"

  "I haven't been idle. I already knew Jeannie's folks had been offered a job, as well as a few other parents of the most perceptive kids. I didn't know Jimmy's parents had though. That's kind of strange in itself. The others are who the teachers are terming ‘bad kids.’”

  "I probably know just which ones they are, then,” Pat said.

  "Me, too,” Bailey added. “So where do we go from here?"

  Ray laughed. “It sounds like you two are mind readers. How well off are you financially? If you can afford it, I can have a couple of men keep an eye on the school and your home at night. They want something interesting to do and jumped when I told them a little about the situation here, nothing about mind reading per se."

  "We can stand it for a while. Dad left quite a bit of money behind when he died."

  "Good. I'll get on that. A couple more friends will nose around and find out more about who's hiring, or trying to hire, and why, but I suspect we already know why in a general sense."

  There was more talk, but the essence had been taken care of. It was Amber who brought up the one subject that had been avoided just as Hetrick stood up and was ready to leave.

  "Mister Hetrick, is there anything you can do to keep Mister Gomez from taking that job?"

  "Nothing that's legal, I'm afraid. I take it you and Jimmy don't want to be separated."

  "We're not going to be, regardless,” Amber said firmly. “Not for long.” She endured Pat's and Bailey's scrutiny and reinforced what she had said. “I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. Somehow we have to fix that."

  "It's all right, Lumpkin,” Bailey said gently. “We're going to move to Los Angeles if I can't talk sense to Mister Gomez."

  Amber stood silent for a moment, communicating with Jimmy, and then ran to Bailey and her mother. They gathered her into their arms while Ray quietly let himself out.

  "You're the best parents in the whole world,” Amber said through her tears. I just wish you could be like us, so you'd know how important it is."

  "I think we do,” Pat assured her. “You showed us, remember?"

  "Yes but that was before Jimmy and I ... well, you know. It's even more wonderful than I thought it could possibly be. We'll never be separated for long, not while we're alive."

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Sunday afternoon, Amber, Pat, and Bailey went to the firing range to practice with their weapons. Jimmy was refused permission to come along with them. It made Bailey decide to present Jimmy with a gift of an automatic pistol of his own, the same model as Amber's, with the admonition his parents weren't to know. He realized he was taking a chance, but the boy was going to be in a situation where he might have to protect himself.

  Amber revealed that he was coming along with them, in a sense, as he had already done a couple of times. He could follow her actions in his mind, getting some grasp of how it felt to handle and fire the pistol. She had already gone over the mechanical handling with it late at night by mind touch, while they were each in their own rooms.

  When they returned, Joe Gomez was home and out mowing the yard, shirtless in the heat of early summer. After greeting him, Amber asked, “May I visit with Jimmy for a while?"

  "May as well,” Gomez said. He shrugged. “You won't be seeing him much longer."

  "I know,” Amber said. “He told me.” She went to the door and Melissa let her in. Bailey lingered.

  "Joe, what company will you be working with now?"

  "California Pharmaceuticals,” he said, taken off guard and revealing the company before remembering he had promised to keep it secret.

  "Hmm. Big company. How did you manage that?"

  "I've got a good sales record, Bailey. They came looking for me,” he said proudly. He wiped sweat from his face with the towel hanging around his neck.

  "Maybe they were looking for Jimmy, too."

  Gomez put his hands on his hips, making his rangy figure look like a stick man. “Listen, Bailey, I've had about enough nonsense about my boy being “special” and all that crap. He's perfectly normal. All he's got on his mind is girls. You ought to know that, of all people."

  "Joe, I've got reason to think the people you're dealing with aren't that reputable. They..."

  "I don't want to hear, it Bailey. California Pharmaceuticals? You think they're not reputable? Besides, I don't know if you heard or not, but Melissa's pregnant. We want to raise the girl away from all this special kid nonsense, so excuse me for being blunt. Butt out. Okay?"

  Bailey saw that there was no sense in going further. His mind was made up. “As you wish,” he said and went on in.

  "I just made my attempt to talk to Joe. It's no good. They're going, so I guess we better start our arrangements."

  Pat had a drink ready for him. When they sat down together she said, “I didn't think talking to Joe would do any good. I had a chat with Melissa this morning but didn't want to mention it until you had a shot at Joe. She told me about being pregnant while I tried to pretend it was a surprise. Then she said she wanted to move, that she was thinking of the future, whatever that means, and didn't want another child to grow up here and be thought strange.” Pat brushed at her hair, a gesture she unconsciously used when she was trying to put over a difficult concept in class. “She's got the idea in her head that if she moves away, Jimmy will go back to being normal. It's sad, but that's what she thinks."

  "I know,” Bailey agreed. “Denial is an escape mechanism. Fairly common.” He shrugged his shoulders; h
e knew that, without a person's cooperation, there was little to do about it.

  "Bailey, while we're on the subject, won't Casey find out what we're doing? Moving to Los Angeles, I mean? Do we have to worry about that?"

  "Sooner or later he'll know, but we can keep it quiet for a while. We'll have the house handled by a real estate agent after we're gone and have our mail sent to us by a forwarding company. We'll plan on following them as soon as possible, but it may wind up with Amber and Jimmy being separated for a while, regardless of what they want."

  "They won't like it."

  "I'm sure they won't, but I think they'll be okay so long as they know we're going out there, too. In the meantime, we can let them have as much privacy as possible. You know how it is when you first start having sex."

  Pat grinned. “Uh huh. Like you personally invented it.” She moved closer. “And I'm in the mood tonight, so you get a light supper and a couple of extra after dinner drinks."

  "You can twist my arm if you like, but it's really not necessary."

  * * * *

  Later that night, they lay together, both replete but not yet sleepy. Pat wondered idly if Jimmy or Amber had inadvertently picked up on their emotions during the height of their coupling. It had certainly been intense enough, she thought. Even if they did, it no longer mattered. They were doing the same thing themselves when the opportunity presented itself, and she knew neither of them would deliberately tune in. Thinking of Amber led her into another subject.

  "Jimmy said Joe had one more trip to make before school lets out. That'll give the kids some more time together without him interfering, but you know what? I feel sorry for him and Melissa both, with them not wanting to believe anything nefarious about Joe's new job. I'm afraid they're in for a rude surprise."

  "Me, too,” Bailey replied. “I've thought of one scheme to upset Casey's apple cart, but I want to talk to Ray first and see what he thinks."

  "What scheme is that?"

  Bailey told her.

  Pat thought long moments, remembering, then finally pulled him to her. It was an awful decision to have to make if they decided to go through with it, and she could hardly believe Bailey had been the one to come up with it.