Chapter 10

It was 3 am when April arrived at William's house. She was shown into the sunken room by one of William's guards. A disheveled William arrived a few minutes later. "Everyone out," he barked out the command. April nodded to her guards. William glared at April as they left the room.

When they were out of the room William said, "Come take my hand and say it." His voice had not softened; his face looked as hard as the granite from which the house was made. April's felt her own anger rise as she approached and took his hand.

"I did not know what he was doing until it was too late to stop it. As best as I can tell, he did the planning without input from anyone - you know how paranoid he is. Four hours before the attack he let me know that there would be multiple deaths but he gave no indications as to the numbers of dead." She pulled her hand away and continued. "But this is nothing compared to what faces us. I can't tell you all that I know but we are in grave danger, not from other Old Ones but also from the Young Ones. They will discover us no matter what we do. We must plan for this as one people."

"He engages in this despicable act and now he wants us to act as one people? How very convenient for him." He lowered his hand.

"Get real. Who did you kill with your first flint-lock?" she yelled at him. "Who did you kill with your first cap and ball pistol? You have always used whatever the Young Ones can invent. This time Martin used it first. One of you would eventually. We'll all be watching the sky for drones now, won't we?" Control your anger, she thought. Say we not you. Don't give the secret away. "We have always been copy-cats. Be thankful he didn't go nuclear."

"William," she said in a softer voice. We will be found out, we will lose our anonymity, and conspiracy theories will run wild. When that happens we must look civilized. We must have a written code of conduct that we follow, laws that make us seem like the Young Ones. We must be squeaky clean, if not, all that we have will be taken from us. We breed so slowly that we will become extinct."

"What do you want me to do," he asked.

"Ask all who are willing to come here to make our laws."

"So he can kill us all in one strike?" William laughed.

"I'll be here. Would he kill me?" She asked.

"Good answer."

"William. Please make sure that James and Mary come."

"I will ask Mary, but James was killed the same night as Yoshima. Did Martin kill him on purpose?"

"I don't know," said April, "but I doubt it."

Dan returned to Michaels' office carrying two cases. He set them down on the floor. "Normally you would be admitted to our group no matter what, but the situation has changed. Now I need to know what you are like. I need to know if you are a serial killer, a pedophile, or have some other unacceptable character trait. I don't care if you like kinky sex as long as it's between two or more consenting adults. I don't even care if they are your brothers or sisters."

"I don't think I want to join your group," Michaels interrupted.

"I think you do, because our group may be able to help your sister. I will try to help her, whether or not you join us or not, but I think the chance of success will be better with your help. If she can be healed, she'll be offered the same chance to join us. Assuming she passes the same test that you must pass. We will give her time and counseling to help her heal before she has to pass the test."

"I'll take your test."

"First the promise," Dan said as he offered his hand.

Michaels took his hand and said, "I will tell you only the truth for the rest of the day I swear that I will keep what happens here today a secret till the end of my days."

"And I promise to tell you only the truth for the next five hours. I also swear to keep what happens here today a secret 'till the end of my days unless we both agree the secret can be made known." Dan pulled his hand back. "Mr. Michaels."

"Call me Jim."

"Okay, Jim, call me Dan. Now before I can tell you more, I have to give you the test. That means that we will sit here for two hours holding hands while we watch a video. Do you need to send your secretary home or can she handle that?"

"I better send her home."

"I'll set up the equipment while you do that."

When Jim returned, Dan had two chairs pulled together and a flat-screen monitor on the desk in front of them. "Jim, I am right-handed so you need to sit in the left chair. I will be taking notes on the keyboard but don't think about that, the notes may not be about the subject on the screen. Some of the scenes will invoke no emotion and others will. The test will work best if we go through it in one session so I'm going to head over to the bathroom. Anything you want before we start?"

"A drink?"

"Alcohol would be a bad idea."

Two and a half hours later they were finally through. "Give me another thirty minutes and I'll give you the results," Dan told Jim. "Have a drink now if you want to."

"I think I'll take a nap," Jim said as he moved over to the couch.

A short time later Dan woke him, "I'm happy to announce that you are a typical semi-human."

"What do you mean by typical?"

"Think of it like this. Hot and cold are two sides of the same thing, so are winning and losing, so are the empathetic and the sociopathic, the workaholic and the sloth. We need a balance of humility and confidence. We need balance in all things to be a normal human. You are well within the range of normal. You're not perfect, but who is. You're good enough for us."

"What did you mean by semi-human?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, well that's the heart of the matter. This is the secret that you can't reveal. There are one, two, or three types of humans on earth. The taxonomical splitters would consider them three species and the lumpers would consider them one species. The first are your typical run of the mill humans, we call them the Young Ones. Then there's a type we call the Old Ones. Then there are ones like you and me. We differ from the Old Ones because we have different mutations that may give us different abilities. The biggest difference is that the mutation may affect men and women differently. Both men and women like us can be trained to have all the powers of the Old Ones, but we must be trained."

"You ready to start tomorrow?"

It was surprisingly easy to get Ellen released to her brother's care. "The hard part is checking her into a new place," Jim said. "I have to get up-to-date court papers putting her in my custody." He sat in the back set of his car with Ellen. They didn't look like brother and sister; she was short, thin, and pale from a lifetime indoors. Her hair was an oily blond and her blue eyes were dead. She was doped to the gills.

"Where are we headed?" Jim wanted to know.

"I can't tell you everything but it's a place where you should be safe. You and Ellen will be in a small cabin. No one should be close enough to bother her. There are armed guards but they won't interact with you unless you call them. You need to wean Ellen off some of her meds. There's a physician's number next to the phone, call her but don't go see her and don't let her come to see you. I've paid her a bunch of money to work over the phone. You have some medical equipment in the cabin and we can get more if we need it."

"I have to do some work today and tomorrow, I'll see you tomorrow night. There's a pager number next to the phone, if you need me call it but don't leave a message. The guards' number is by the phone. Only call them in life and death situations. You are on the edge of big events. You should be unnoticed, but the guards are there for you if you need them."

"Do you have a pistol I could borrow?" Jim asked.

Dan reached into the glove compartment and handed a shoulder harness and a 9 mm Beretta into the back seat. "Remember that you can't leave it around Ellen. Do you know how to use it?"

"Yeah."

They drove into the complex that was Martin's home, then down the trail to the cabin. Dan stopped the car at the cabin and unloaded the car while Jim talked to Ellen. Once they were settled in, Dan returned to the house and drove Tommy into the city. He would keep the appearance of being Tommy's bodyguard for as long as possible.

The guards took Tommy to see one of Martin's attorneys. They spoke of nothing of import; it was just a trip to add to the illusion that Tommy was in charge and that Dan was his bodyguard. They spoke for three hours, three boring hours. Dan was bored out of his skull until he 'listened' in on the office assistance's phone call.

She had been complaining about needing to get her pipes cleaned and last night she had them well and truly cleaned by a guy she picked up at a bar. She was telling every little detail to her friend. Apparently the guy had done a good job and then was gone when she woke up. A perfect night for her. It had all been safe sex. According to her, women can't even feel a piece of Saran Wrap between a guy's tongue and certain parts of women's sex. Women are so odd, he thought as he shifted his pants. They'll tell each other everything. I'd never tell a man or a woman those details. What she didn't say was just as interesting, she didn't want to see the guy again. She had gone out last night planning to get laid so she wasn't going to get serious about anyone she picked up. If she was going to be serious about a guy, she would have to see him for a week or so before she slept with him. She didn't want a potential boyfriend to think she was easy. Damn, humans are such strange creatures, he thought. And men and women are more alike then we want to admit.

On Tuesday, Dan spent all daylight hours patrolling the coastline near the complex. It was a job he liked. Often out of range of the thoughts of others, he enjoyed the time alone with his own thoughts. He enjoyed the time alone with nature: orca, eagles, and sea lions. It was a rare relaxing day.

Just after dark, Dan knocked on the cabin door. Jim cracked the door open and seeing Dan, invited him in. Jim looked like shit.

"Jim, did you get any sleep last night?" Dan asked. "You look like hell."

"No. She has nightmares whenever she falls asleep. I finally called the doctor. She said give Ellen some sleeping pills. Not as high a dose as at the last place, but she was able to sleep some. She doesn't recognize me. She doesn't speak or listen to anything I say. I wish I knew what was going on in her head."

"It will take time to heal her, you know that," Dan replied. "Do you want me to sit with her tonight?"

"No. I'll be alright."

"Jim, I'm going to have to relieve you some of the time. It will take up to thirty days for the drugs to clear out of her body. You can't stay awake for thirty days."

"I'll get some sleep. Let me stay with her these first couple of days, then I'll take a break. It's like old times, being with her I mean."

"OK. Good night, good night Ellen." We're going to need help, Dan thought to himself. Maybe I should find another to start with.

The day after Dan realized he needed more help, Mary was with William in North Carolina when April came down for breakfast. April hesitated briefly and headed to her seat. Always the gentleman, William held her chair for her.

"You look older dear," Mary said. "Several hundred years older. That's a compliment. No one would mistake you for a Young One."

"Thank you for coming, I didn't think you would."

"No one else will come here unless you can tell them what's in it for them."

"Nothing but their survival," replied April.

"Let's speak of every day events over our meal," William chided. "We can speak of matters of import afterwards." Not much was said during breakfast.

When the table had been cleared, William asked the servants for a carafe of coffee and privacy. He poured coffee for both women and then spoke to April. "Mary is right. Why should anyone come here at your beck and call? You've been an adult for one year. The only prestige you have is due to Martin and right now he is not held in high regard."

"First I need your promise that you'll tell no one what I'm about to tell you until I, Martin, or Dan Akins gives you permission."