Chapter 15

Colins fumed. He knew the board was composed of spineless jellyfish. Knox makes some unfounded accusations and they buckle under like whipped dogs. It wasn't just the money, it was because Knox would be the recipient of it.

The company had been falling apart as Knox ripped into the carcass. Productivity had fallen. He glossed over his own preoccupations with ways to find out what Knox had discovered. The hacker had found nothing even remotely important but had received five days pay for it. He had suddenly been evicted from the system and now was unable to get back in. He would not get paid any more unless he did.

Carstairs had looked so good a month ago but now it was easy to see that lots of it was just bravado. The fool had underestimated Knox and her people. He knew that the woman was paranoid but went ahead with a poorly planned and executed kidnap attempt. Then he had the gall to screw up getting a man on his death bed. This had almost exposed the secret.

So far nobody but the hacker knew about the telepathy. If the man didn't take precautions then I would be the only one to know. The hacker was certainly perceptive.

Carstairs now wanted blood. Well, blood and money. This became a personal matter for him. I had no trouble keeping him on the job but he wanted to kill instead of kidnap. I had to promise to let him kill the woman after I got all the information from her.

I drove downtown and parked in the public lot and walked a block in the warm weather to the restaurant. Carstairs was as prompt as usual and was sitting in a booth already. When he saw my face, he put some money on the table and left.

Outside the establishment we walked down the street. He said, "What did you find, Mr Colins?"

"Nothing new. I can't find who sent me the information. Knox has a twisted mind and much more wealth than I ever thought. We can get her for conflict of interest but the board would rather put this matter behind them."

"We should take somebody from the school. They have to know something that's going on."

"Be my guest but I want to be at all the questioning. I have things to find out too."

"What things."

"We talked about this before. Your job was simply to procure Knox and place her in a safe house until I got my questions answered."

"Remember, I get her after you're done."

I said, "I won't forget."

"We can find some people at the clinic she owns."

"That could be easier but I'm not sure. The children in the school would not know much of anything. The adults might. Did your eavesdropping devices find out anything?"

"Nothing pertinent other than all the women seemed to be lesbian."

"I thought the school was that way too until we saw the boys. What did you make of the dogs?"

"Now, they're special. The terriers are usually smart but these dogs are too young to know much but appear more intelligent than usual. Is that what you are after?"

"That's my business but the answer is no."

"I wish I could question those dogs."

"What about the bugs you tried to get to the school?"

"The best we can do is plant them on the people and vehicles that come and go. When they get to that woman's house, everybody is scanned. None of our devices so far have made it past this point."

"What about parabolic mics and lasers bouncing off the windows?"

Too far for the mics and we need a receiving terminal for the laser. So far the receivers have just been too far away to be useful. We have to change positions to monitor every window and many cases we have to change the transmitters too. We're going to have to go in and place the devices manually."

"That's dangerous."

"I know that. That woman is rich and paranoid. This means her defences are going to be strong. Her security force was cut down to ten but only somebody very rich or somebody with lots to hide would keep that many on staff."

I asked, "Did you manage to trace any of them?"

"Just three. One is ex-military but all three had problems with their lesbian tendencies, with drugs, or authority. Or any combination of the three. They found a sort of sanctuary with Knox. The rest are probably the same. Hell, this reminds me of Greek poet Sappho and the women she gathered on the island of Lesbos."

"What about the kids?"

"Haven't found anything yet. They could be runaways, legitimate students, or girls that had lesbian tendencies that were directed to her place."

"Maybe we can get the authorities to go in and investigate for us."

"I had plans of doing just that but the people going would be ours. We could go in as police."

"That seems like the best idea."

"It would be costly in lives. So far you have paid me one point three million. I will not renege on our contract but I do not see taking the school with less than thirty people. This will cost you nearly the same sum and this will not include bonuses and money for incarcerated or dead men's families. Is what you want worth all this?"

"I think so."

Carstairs slowed down until I had to turn and look at him. He asked seriously, "Have you found anything relating to what killed the team at the hospital?"

"Nothing at all."

"Miss Knox and you work for a large pharmaceutical company as managers but each of you have a long history of research. If it is some chemical weapon I want to know what I can use to protect our men."

"Mr Carstairs, I have no idea what caused," there were too many people around and I had to wait, "the deaths of your people. I cannot even guess. I would think it was some hand weapon except the hospital tapes show nobody leaving the elevator."

"Miss Lish may know more. It was reported that she broke down when Mr Appleton was taken away."

"I thought of that. Knox is sending an escort with the young woman when she leaves the grounds."

"I've seen them. They look quite proficient."

Carstairs said, "So the logical move now is to go acquire this woman? The school will be too costly to take."

"I agree. Do you have any idea what this young woman is doing? I cannot see Knox doing anything from the goodness of her heart."

"We can monitor her for a while. We'll have to do this anyway. I don't want any more deaths, even if it is the opposition that suffers them. It brings on too much publicity."

"How long will this take?"

"As long or as short as you want. It takes few people to do this sort of surveillance. If we go into an unknown situation we will bring in extra people. Both routes are expensive. I can possibly shoulder a portion of the costs if I get an equal portion of the rewards."

"Thanks for the offer but I have enough funds for this enterprise."

Kim and Dina approached the formerly verboten area and pushed a bell. This area was over the garage.

Miss Lage unlocked and opened the door. "Hello, ladies. Won't you come in?"

Kim smiled and said, "Thank you Miss Lage. Do you need us today?"

"Are you sure you still want to work in a smelly place like this?"

Dina took over and said, "It smells funny but we're getting used to it. We just want to help out."

"Well, you can finish off what you started yesterday. There's still a lot of equipment that has to be scrupulously cleaned."

"We'll do our best. We're a little slow but we will speed up in time."

"That's alright dear. Slow and sure is the better way to go. We don't like mistakes and accidents. Contamination is a real big no-no."

The two girls went to work. They studied the lab and the equipment diligently but concentrated on the menial tasks they were given. There were just two lab assistants left but there was work for four. They listened intently to everything that was said, especially about safety.

The two lab assistants kept up a shield that faded to only half by the end of the day. At no time was the shield formidable enough to stop the two girls from seeing behind it.

The newest form of Abicore was being synthesised. They learned that it was little different than the last method but the temperature had to be just four degrees higher and the pressure was now up to three atmospheres instead of two.

It took the two girls a few days to record all the various methods that had been used to make the various incarnations of Abicore. Structural formulas were now seen as something very important. Learning from experts was a lot easier than from a book.

The various types of Abicore had different effects. One did absolutely nothing but make a headache. Some brought out a stronger effect than others but also had stronger and very undesirable side effects. Usually this involved cramps and other types of pain but some produced rectal bleeding. So far seven variants had been tested. If they didn't work as well as Knox wanted then more variants would have to be developed and tested.

The girls knew that their lives meant nothing to Knox. This sort of research should have taken decades and with many labs doing just a portion of the work. The fact that all the subjects were already exposed to previous versions of the drug didn't invalidate the results in Knox mind.

When the drug was made in small lots, it was tried on the pack using them as nothing more than lab rats. More batches were made and then stored in a large vault. The girls knew that when they left they would need to take as much of this as possible as well as some of the equipment. Some instruments could be purchased later but it was possible to trace them.

I was the liaison with security. This usually meant talking to Janice. This woman had developed a good shield but not up to what Knox could construct.

I asked, "How was my suggestion taken?"

"Well, she thought about it. There must have been some conflict because it took ten seconds. You can do this if you want. She says it comes out of your budget if you do it."

I had to smile now. The budget Knox gave me was large and I would only spend a small fraction of it even if I stayed. "Ok, we can do that."

A lumber truck arrived the next day and the pack assisted in taking the lumber to the construction sites. With saws, hammers, nails, and a shovel we constructed a small platform beside one of the walls. A plank made a ramp and the dogs could now run up the plank and patrol the walls without getting hurt by jumping down. This allowed them to gain the top of the wall without any additional human intervention. More ramps were put up but all of them were hidden where possible.

My reasoning for the construction was to show that we were active in our security. The ramp was decorated with vines to hide its unsightliness. It gave us an emergency method to leave the grounds but security could easily catch us with their cars and guns.

I talked to Janice twice before going to Knox to make a request. She said, "What's your real reason for wanting to know how to shoot?"

"Defence. I think the same reasons that drove you to learn are compelling me to get at least a basic understanding of the process. You asked us to experiment and try to find new opportunities to learn more. We may find a talent this way. Even if we don't, it's a good way of stretching our minds and bodies."

Knox thought it over and said, "All of you use the bow, even the little black boy. Isn't that enough?"

"When men climb over the walls and race to the house, you might want somebody here with more than a bow and a knife."

This pause was short and she said, "Go see Janice. We can try your people out and see who shows talent."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"You will have to pay for this."

"How so?"

I have been giving some thought to what the human mind could possibly do, as you know. I want you to experiment with pain to see if it can be controlled. Fire is good. Perhaps this form of energy could be controlled."

"Yes, ma'am."

Knox was pushing to learn what skills besides telepathy could be developed. So far none of us could detect anything much beyond a sheet of paper even when we had Sam's thoughts to guide us.

My own skills had strengthened as had Kim's. We were not as strong as the rest but there was hope that we might improve. Kim and I could communicate well enough to be understood at one and a half kilometres. This was twice as far as anybody else. We could only communicate with the rest at three hundred and twenty metres. Accessing an unimproved human's mind was still limited to ten metres for the pack and less for Kim and I.

None of the talents came out until Joy picked up an old rusty nail and said, "I can see fire when I hold this."

Missy was nearby and looked within her friend's mind. The images were not that clear but the image of molten metal being poured was seen. This wasn't seen for what it was until the pack talked about this at the noon meal.

The older members got excited first and then the younger ones saw the reasons for the excitement. This was something that had to be told to Knox. Her paranoia and growing insanity bothered me a great deal. She could be composed and nearly stable one day and yelling and screaming the next. I couldn't read her very well but Dina could do better. The woman felt threatened by the pack simply because she could not manipulate it the way she did those around her. Her anger at the pack lasted longer as the days passed and the threats seemed to fade back.

After the meal, the pack waited for Knox to finish and the rest to go about their business. Blurting out facts over a meal was not the right protocol in Knox' mind.

The women said from a distance of three metres, "What is it, Piper?"

"Joy and I need to talk to you in private."

She said nothing but pointed upstairs. When we entered her office she asked angrily, "What is this about?"

"We found a new talent."

"What?"

"Joy picked up an old nail from the soil near the main wall this morning. She felt the image of fire. The pack reports that they see molten metal in her mind."

"Let me see this."

Joy handed the nail over and Knox investigated it. She said nothing then took a ring off of her hand and handed the ring to Joy. "What do you see?"

Joy was frightened of the woman and she took a long time. Knox was starting to get pissed. Finally Joy said, "I see fire again." There was a pause of two minutes until she added, "A woman with grey hair is changing the metal into a ring."

"What does she look like?"

Joy described the woman as best she could then added, "She is sitting in a wheelchair."

This fact seemed to shock Knox. In a moment Joy said, "A pretty woman with white hair bought this ring. She is tall and thin with a very nice dress. She has a nice meal with another pretty lady and gives her the ring. They kiss and hug." In surprise, Joy said, "That lady was you."

We went through more jewellery but the pieces that had gone through too many hands were not clear. The nail had not been influenced by many people and it was actually a workman that made the forms for the footings under the wall that had left the nail. We figured this was forty years ago.

If Knox had not been so busy we would not have left but the next day she was back with some antiques that Joy had to touch and talk about. A beautiful Chinese vase had a base made of very old material but the majority of it was only a few hundred years old. The disparity was not explained to us but Joy could read the information from the woman's mind.

A security detail took us to a museum and Joy was able to talk about the exhibits. She was tired by the time we got home and one of the security people had to carry her through the museum.

The month of June came and almost finished. It looked like the threat of attack had diminished. Knox had learned the hard way that if she yelled at Joy she could do less than she normally would be able to. We found another new talent but this one stayed hidden.

Bobby's intelligence had grown. We all seemed to share the power of our combined intellects so Bobby was much better than boys twice his age. He ran up the ramp leading to the top of the wall but slipped on a wet area from a recent rain. He fell over two metres but wasn't hurt. William had seen what happened and quickly but discretely informed the rest of us. Bobby had slowed down and hit the ground much gentler than he should have. We didn't want to duplicate the experiment here but we made plans to do so when we were safe.

Tiffany, Brandon, and Tatum were gathering information for Knox. Presently they were concentrating on Stethbridge. They were being hammered where they had the most fears. The twenty million dollar settlement was to be inked as soon as the new agreement was typed out.

The three tried their best to locate Stethbridge employees and find out more information. The team worked to find locations where the quarry would come to them. Colins saw them one time and left immediately. It was as if he knew that his secrets were not safe with them around.

The agreement with Stethbridge was signed and the money was transferred immediately. Knox was happy as she should be but she was still ultra cautious. She, like the rest of us, figured that Colins knew too much about us.

We gave hints to the newspapers and they were happy to print what they could substantiate. This meant that Knox and Stethbridge were highly embarrassed about what had happened. It showed that Stethbridge was at least partially guilty of attacking Knox and that Knox was a greedy, selfish woman. This brought out more insanity and even more paranoia. The latter was directed at us even though we did our best to project innocence. I talked to Janice and Kelly about my troubles with Knox in the hopes that the women would see on the hidden cameras that I wasn't doing anything against her.

There were enough details formalised that I knew it was time to leave. We had a rented safe house, two full sized vans and a small truck. My idea was to give so much grief to Knox that she would not have time to chase us down. To make this plan really work we had to hit her as hard we could.

She now had $737,217,000 in cash and various types of other liquid assets. On top of this she had a few lines of credit that added up to a measly three million dollars. Her businesses had a few million in reserve for a rainy day. If we could push her into bankruptcy we would have a longer time to hide and pull the blankets over our heads.

Knox monitored her various brokers on a rotating basis. On the sixth of July, I was going to start converting everything I could get into cash. These assets would be mainly stocks and bonds and other investment instruments. My typed reasoning to the brokers was going to state that the money was for a major purchase. Since they had no way of getting in touch with Knox, I felt safe in starting this long overdue task.

We had the chance to steal small amounts of drugs from the lab but we were scrupulously honest. We were being monitored and had to be. Selected pieces of equipment had to be taken and put into a rental truck. To do this we had to get security and Knox out of the house. This could be partially accomplished because Knox was required to be a witness at the case of the man that had originally been part of the first attack on her. We could start this process while she was attending this hearing.

It was Canada Day, July first, and four days before the court date. The pack began to feel that something was wrong. It took a good half hour to deduce that it only concerned Tiffany, Tatum, and Brandon. I used the cell phone to call Tiffany and there was no reply. Knox was not home so I went to Janice.

"The pack feels something has happened to Tiffany, Tatum, and Brandon. You have a team watching them."

Janice was a professional and immediately called one cell phone then another with no response. "Something is wrong," she agreed.

I was very worried and said, "Where were they last?"

"They were in Thornhill last. One of Miss Knox' old business associates has suddenly become antagonistic to her cause and she wants to find out the particulars."

"Will you send someone to check? There's a very bad feeling about this."

"I will do that."

I took out the encrypted cell phone I was given and called Knox in front of Janice.

"Yes!"

"We have a bad feeling about Tiffany and her group. Janice is going to investigate. Some force can be aimed at you too."

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Is Janice there?"

"Yes."

"Put her on."

I could hear both sides of the conversation mentally. Knox was worried and security would be alerted.

The feeling about Tiffany and her group was not clear, only that they were in a lot of danger. I was given the phone back and I returned to the pack. I felt shame in what had happened because the person in Thornhill was one of those people we had sent information to. They could have found some people to kidnap some of Knox' people to find out what was happening.

It was an agonising hour later that I learned that Tiffany's car had been found abandoned. There had been a tracker in it but nobody had informed us of what was happening. William had to get close to somebody in security to read their thoughts.

An hour later Janice came to me and said, "We found Tiffany's car. Miss Knox wishes you to bring Joy to see what she can see of what happened."

"We'll be there in four minutes."

I ran out and found Joy the hard way because it was expected. Joy came running to me and I got her ready to go. She was excited as any six year-old could be. We were hustled into a car with Janice. She had the strongest shield other than Knox and security didn't like us peering into their minds. The same thing held true for the rest of the school but some were less antagonistic than others. The younger ones thought it was neat.

The pack was nearby and wished us luck. We got part way down the driveway when I said excitedly, "Janice, stop!"

The woman put on the brakes and said, "Why?"

"I want the dogs."

The woman took only a few seconds to say, "Ok, but not all of them."

I turned to Joy and said, "Call Sparky and Dancer."

"Ok."

It was only a minute later that two dogs raced to us as if their tails were on fire. They just jumped into the back seat of the car. The windows were rolled down and we had two faces out sniffing the air and getting cool. Janice wanted the air turned on but it was not that warm.

The closer we got to Thornhill the more pain I felt. I had forgotten about all the people trying to push their way into my head. Joy was in worse shape.

"Joy is feeling bad. Do you have any strattera?"

Janice reached into her pocket and brought out the bottle. Joy was small and needed half a tablet but it would be checked later. I gave one to her and said, "Take this, Honey."

"What about you?"

"I forgot to bring some of our own." Tiffany had found some for us in preparation for our escape. There was nothing I could do about this now but try to appear as if nothing was bothering me.

Tiffany's car was near a sign that said Doncrest Market. We stopped further down the street in an available parking spot and walked back. The pill had not effected Joy much yet and we were both confused by all the thoughts.

The car had two security people near it and Janice made three. Their uniforms stood out as did the ones Joy and I wore. Knox was not around. I tried to scan for her but it was like trying to listen to one voice in a large sporting event. It hurt to even try. When I thought of Tiffany and the rest I forced myself to search through the oceans of thoughts but I couldn't find them. They may even be near but I couldn't distinguish them from others.

Joy had to hold me up then she said, "Let me try." She scanned and I stayed out of her head. When she stopped the scan, she put her hands to her ears as if to hold the world at bay.

When Joy recovered, she went to the car and put her hand on it and concentrated. Her eyes closed in a moment and we waited. It was at least ten minutes later that Joy seemed to sag and I was there to hold her up.

It was an anxious few minutes more for her to say, "Four men with guns came up to this car when the guys were sitting in it. They ordered them out and into another car. One man drove the car here."

Janice asked, "Can you tell us where they were taken to?"

"I can't find them."

"Can you tell us where the car was parked or anything about the men?"

"The men are soldiers, or were. I can't tell what they thought, just the way they moved."

"Did they have a uniform?"

Janice was very worried because one of Knox' fear was that a government agency would discover us and what she had done to all those people to make a few telepaths.

Joy said, "They were all different like they tried to be all different."

"Let's get back in the car and we'll go to where they were supposed to be."

When we got back in the car, Janice asked, "What's wrong with you, Piper?"

"A bit of hay fever I think and maybe something about my period. I'm new to those birth control pills we've been getting."

"You better talk to Kelly."

We left the downtown area. Thornhill had been swallowed up by the town of Markham and the city of Vaughan. This was just a bit north of Toronto. The residents still refereed to their old town when they spoke. An outlaying area was sparsely populated and easier on Joy and me but now I had to pretend to be still having problems with my period.

Joy's talent didn't encompass a wide area when she had a view. The background was in a haze or a fog. We drove all over one area until Joy said, "Here! Here! They were here."

Janice and our escort stopped and Joy was able to definitely say where Tiffany's car had been. We were in a commercial area with an alley and ample parking spaces for people to pull up and threaten Tiffany.

Janice said, "The house she was supposed to watch is blocks away."

I said, "Perhaps the person left the house and came here."

"Maybe he was doing business here." She looked at Joy and said, "See if you can find your people or anything of value."

Joy and I could function a little better here simply because there were fewer people near us. I couldn't detect Tiffany and in a minute Joy confirmed this. "I can't find them." She was worried and apologetic.

We patrolled from the car as we drove slowly up and down the streets. Thornhill was not very large but there were simply millions of people living within twenty kilometres and they were almost all to the south of us.

We picked up food at a take-out and ate in the car. Janice got on her own encrypted phone and I sensed excitement and so did Joy. When Janice finished the call she said, "We may have a lead."

I knew it was Colins now but said, "Tell me, Janice."

Janice felt smug and this was the way I liked her. "Miss Knox suspected one man and had him followed. He left work early. He met with somebody and handed over a briefcase. It was probably a payment but we aren't sure. The two took a second car without a tracking unit on it and headed north. The car headed west to King City and stopped at an isolated farmhouse. It's only about twenty kilometres from here."

I knew there was more but it was difficult to reach with Janice, so I asked Joy, "What's she hiding?"

"She has to take us back and then go in with all of the security team."

"That sounds great."

"It is, but they don't want us along. Janice has her orders."

I said to Janice, "Let's get going."

"We're going home to get armed. You two are staying there."

"We can help. Joy can contact our people in the farmhouse."

"I can't help you."

We drove home and I worked on Janice's mind all the time but then had to sit back and let Joy dig out what I could not. She found little that was new.

The house was in turmoil when we returned. Pistols were seen and some had silencers being fitted on and then removed. The rifles I saw being checked had not come from the armoury. I didn't know where they came from.

There were kevlar vests much like those I saw the American's using in Iraq. Binoculars and monoculars were out to be used when it got dark.

Some olive drab boxes came out but I couldn't tell what was in them. Some of the security force was happy to get a chance to fight but half would rather stay here. The teachers were given the responsibility of watching the house. William was sent to check on the armoury and it was secured this time. He went past our bows and saw that they had not been locked up.

Knox never came close to us and in fact stayed far away and relayed orders through Janice. We were to just stay here and help guard the property. This sounded fishy so I sent Bobby and Joy running toward the main gate to listen in to any thoughts as Knox passed. There were always some last minuted checks and the kids got into position long before the cars left.