A New World
Copyright© 2026 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 13: What will Claire Do
Oval Office, White House
Washington D.C., USA
Friday, May 21, 1999
Dave Clarke was at his desk reading reports while Sue and Claire sat quietly talking. They were discussing whether Claire would attend the memorial for her classmates, her teacher, and the Secret Service agents who died when she was kidnapped. Claire, accompanied by her mother and Robert last night, visited her wounded classmate Maria at the hospital. The visit had been less of a risk since it was unscheduled.
“Mom, I cannot run away and not acknowledge the sacrifice they gave when I was kidnapped. It disrespects their deaths and will just embolden more kidnappers.”
Sue was amazed that Claire was arguing so passionately while looking so calm. She could sense how strongly her daughter felt about going to the memorial. “If you go to the memorial, it will draw the terrorists who are still out there to attack the memorial service. If we put enough agents and officers there to keep the service safe, it’ll look like we are afraid of these terrorists.”
Dave finished commenting on the last report. He looked over at his wife and daughter. “You are both right. Let’s see if we can provide sufficient protection without showing it. You’re planning on Robert going with you.” Claire nodded, “Yes.” “Would his sisters be willing to go?”
Claire paused a second. “Mary said they would like to go. Brenda is still asleep. Mary, Linda, and Willy are working with their cousin Stephanie. That will make the fifteenth Macphater cousin that is able to communicate with us. Kim reports that she and her boys have taught two of them to sense people and things. The boys are still complaining about not being able to stay up last night and help.”
“Sue, if Bruce agrees that Claire can be protected by the three Maclarens, a Secret Service detail, and the police that will be there, do you agree that she could go?” Dave asked his wife.
“Yes, I realize the importance of Claire going, especially for her personally. I just was concerned about making things worse.” Sue answered.
“I’ll be armed also.” Claire stated.
“Is that an argument for or against you going?” Dave teased his daughter.
“It is an argument for the terrorists not to show up.” The look on Claire’s face led him to believe the terrorists would be smart if they didn’t show up.
Sue smiled. She liked the changes that have occurred in Claire the last three days. She was surprised that she wasn’t unhappy with her growing up so fast. Robert was all she could ask for in a son-in-law. Yes, they weren’t getting married for years, but she couldn’t think of him otherwise. “When will Robert and his parents be here?”
“They have just cleared security. Did you know that there are pickets out there protesting the killing of the kidnappers? What did they want Will to do? Ask them to let me go?” Claire was upset.
“Claire, there were protests after the US entered World War II following Pearl Harbor. Can you imagine the protest if we had sunk the Japanese fleet before they bombed Pearl Harbor? You can never get one hundred percent agreement out of the people. You want to keep the majority with you, but the more important thing is to do what is necessary to keep people safe. I would rather have them out there protesting than dead.” Dave told his daughter.
Claire was silent for a second. “Robert shared what you said with his parents. Will is laughing at the example. He thanks you for the reminder.”
“Yes, Will is a soldier, not a politician. I expect the protestors didn’t bother Leslie as much.”
“No, they didn’t bother her. She did appreciate your example.”
The intercom light goes on. “If Agent Maclaren is here, you may send him right in.” Claire and Sue couldn’t hear the reply. “Thank you.”
Bruce Maclaren entered a couple of seconds later. “Mr. President.”
“Bruce, what have you determined about security for Claire attending the memorial service tomorrow?”
“It could be done with ten agents, but I’m uneasy with the level of aggression that the terrorists have shown. I understand the reasons why you think Claire should go, but I wish we had a better understanding of what was going on.”
Dave nodded in agreement. “Would Claire, Robert, and his sisters with them all carrying guns help?”
“Yes, sir. I’m still concerned that the terrorists may do something unexpected. With their help, we could handle most any surprise that I can imagine. In fact, most of the ones that we couldn’t handle, I expect that even here you would be in danger.”
“You are certainly looking for surprises.” Sue was concerned at the level of the threat that Bruce was considering.
“After the surprises that we had the past few days, I have raised the level of concern that I have for the unexpected. I figure sooner or later, the bad guys will realize that they have to really think outside the box if they hope to succeed.”
“Good, that’s what I was expecting from you when I gave you this assignment.”
“Thank you, sir; I think.” Everyone laughed.
Bruce went over what he had found out about the memorial. The most interesting item was that the FBI was also expecting that the terrorists would be trying something. They would have a large number of plainclothes agents in the area.
“They are here.” Claire announced. “Vice President DeSang is on his way. Ms. O’Reilly pulled up a couple of minutes ago. She is coming up the stairs. She does like to keep in shape.”
“You’ll find out what it’s like when you’re older and have a job that doesn’t let you get much exercise. That’s why I have some of my briefings at the gym.”
Bruce remembered when the President had made that change six years ago. Some of the people thought the President wouldn’t be paying attention and had tried to take advantage of it. He remembered what the President had said to the former Secretary of Agriculture. There had been an investigation, and the man was out of a job.
The intercom lit. “Send them in. When the Vice President and Director O’Reilly arrive, have them come right in. Dave got up and moved over by his wife. Sue and Claire had also risen. Sue gave Claire a little push towards the door.
Robert entered first and held the door for his parents, who went to greet Claire. When the door shut, they each gave her a hug, then moved on to Sue and Dave. Claire and Robert embraced, and there was a short kiss. They broke apart, and Robert turned to Bruce and shook his hand. He then went over to shake the President and First Lady’s hands. He and the president shook. When he went to shake Sue’s hand, she surprised him with a big hug.
“Robert, I am glad that Claire and you have found each other. You are part of our family.”
“Thank you, I know how long it took Mom and Dad to meet, and Willy just found his Life-Mate. I had expected it to be years before I found mine.”
He stepped back as Al and Margaret entered. They had run into each other before getting to the offices and were discussing something. Margaret looked around the room and noticed Robert standing with Sue and Dave. “Al, I believe that we missed something here.”
Al was also taking in the room. “Sue, did you just give in to the inevitable?”
“Yes, I’m learning that Dave and I aren’t the only ones to have such a close relationship. In fact, I am finding out that we still have a lot to learn. Why ignore what Claire and Robert have found in each other?”
“Does that mean that she’ll be going to Townsville to study?” Margaret asked.
Leslie spoke before the Clarkes could answer. “There have been a number of developments overnight. We’ll be staying in Texas a little longer than expected. We’re needed more in Texas than in Queensland. Therefore, we have a little longer to decide. Willy and Ian were...”
Sue interrupted. “I don’t need longer to decide. Claire and Robert should be together wherever it’ll be best for them.” She looked at Dave. “Sorry, I didn’t talk with you first, but I felt there’s no reason to continue acting like a silly overprotective mother.”
Dave hugged Sue. “I knew it was just a matter of time until you overcame your fears.” Robert and Claire came over, and the four of them exchanged hugs.
“Sue, I’m glad you put it that way. We may need Claire, Robert, and the girls in Texas.” Leslie said. “Let us sit down, and we’ll make our report and explain why I say that.”
“Leslie, will you explain what has happened and why it changes things?” Dave requested.
“We have reached a critical mass in the number of individuals able to mentally communicate and also those able to communicate over great distances. I want you to understand that only some of those that are able to communicate may be able to communicate at long distances. We don’t know if it just takes longer to learn or that only some can do it. We are definitely still learning about mental communication.”
“What do you mean by critical mass?” Al’s interest in mental communication had risen since he had been told that he had the ability to learn it himself.
“Up until recently, mental communication for our family has been between husband and wife or siblings. Additionally, Will and my brothers when in the service had been able to keep track of their men. We’re unsure if this is the same or different. Most of the mental communication has been feeling and intuitive ideas about the other person. Recently, I would say the last couple of years that thoughts have started to be communicated. Right now, Willy and Ian are finishing transmitting their reports of what they have found when looking at the four worlds using an observation window system. Sorry, I am getting ahead of myself.” Claire brought her a glass of water. She took a drink.
“Yesterday, we were sitting here when Claire learned to communicate with our family in England. Bruce and Alyca were wed this morning.” Leslie said.
Margaret spoke up. “Leslie, we know that your family considers the Life-Mate of a family member as family. You even seem to include others like the Steele girls as family members. No, there is something else that has got you excited.”
“Willy found that his Life-Mate is Linda Steele.” Robert was concerned at his mother being upset. “Mom, I found Claire when I helped Jason track her. It’s not that different that Willy and Linda found each other.”
“No, it’s not that much different.” Leslie agreed. “What’s very different is that Tom Reynolds recognized her as Willy’s Life-Mate on Tuesday. He’d only met Willy a few times. He was more familiar with Linda, but it doesn’t make sense.”
“Didn’t I understand that your brothers brought Will home to meet you? That sounds like they knew something.” Sue said.
“But Tom has never shown any ability.” Leslie said.
“Mom, he has been working with his grandsons. Just like everyone else, the presence and activity of others using their gifts may have awakened his.” Robert explained.
“Leslie, let us go and welcome Linda into the family. Mary and Martha also. We don’t want Linda to feel that you are rejecting her.” Will said.
Leslie’s face went white. She realized with the mental communication that Linda now had that she may have misunderstood her concern.
“Dave, we have to go.” Leslie headed for the door.
“We’ll be back for the meeting. Robert can brief you.” Will’s eyes followed Leslie out the door.
“Go, take care of this family matter. I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one finding it hard to accept all that is going on.” Dave was glad to find that Robert’s family didn’t have everything under control.
Will rushed out the door to catch up with Leslie.
Dave looked to Robert. “I guess a lot has gone on since you left here yesterday. Start with telling us who has learned to communicate and anything else that is relevant right now. Then tell us how your brothers were able to get the windows to the four worlds working. Third, explain why it’s so important to go to Texas.”
“Sir, I would like to handle it a little differently. The reason that we need to go to Texas as soon as possible is that the United States is behind in getting the window equipment ready. The reason that we have the windows working in Queensland is that after we had gotten more of us able to communicate between here and Carlisle, we followed your suggestion and tried communicating with my brother Willy. With the sixteen that we had here and the thirteen in Carlisle, we had no trouble contacting him. He was actually sleeping. It took him a while to realize that it wasn’t a dream. Twenty minutes from when he awoke, he was fully communicating. He went next door to tell Ian and his wife Naz what to expect and to help teach them. Then Alyca and Willy decided to communicate the technical information for the window. MME had built the equipment to the general information but the particular information that would actually make it work and the setting for the worlds we didn’t send over regular communications even with encoding.
Willy and Ian decided to get an observation window working. Naz was working with us on training my Macphater cousins. After Willy and Ian got the observation window working, they strapped it on a truck and drove it up Mt. Stuart. We don’t know how to teach sensing of another world without actually opening windows with someone that already can sense the worlds. Just another thing we need to learn. They got the equipment near the top of Mount Stuart and hand-carried it up to the summit. They did bring some help. They backed off with the remote switch that they had added and opened the window and photographed the four worlds at the four cardinal compass points. When they checked the images, they found that there is land and water visible for all four worlds. We had hit the jackpot. They moved the equipment around and found locations for opening transit windows for all the worlds. Several locations are good for multiple worlds.
Brenda, both Marys, Linda, and I had been working with Naz to teach the cousins. Most of the others, especially the young kids, had dropped out to either sleep or do other things. The five of us were taking turns sleeping. Willy and Ian were keeping us updated on what they were finding. With less help, it was taking longer to teach communication. Finally, there were enough of them there that had learned that only a couple of us had to be there to guide. We have all of the cousins and their spouses that are in Townsville communicating. The rest will be there Saturday.
Sue asked, “Why wasn’t Claire helping?”
“I was here working with Tommy,” Claire said. “I taught him to be able to communicate and sense people besides being able to sense things. We had cut contact to be able to concentrate. I was falling asleep when I remembered I needed to tell Robert good night. I was surprised at what they had accomplished, but I was too tired to help.”
“So how does that affect TDI in Texas?” Margaret didn’t understand how that put getting the windows ready in Texas behind schedule.
Robert explained, “Well, we expected to be late in Queensland, but this put them ahead of even Carlisle. The military and scientists are already there. They are hiding the operation by calling it a readiness drill. Being able to communicate allowed us to catch up in Queensland, but we don’t have the ability to do that in Texas. Uncle Jess and Tom Reynolds plan to fly to Dallas on the Gulfstream and get things started. When Linda found out that the Gulfstream would be leaving Tuesday to take the controllers to Queensland, she asked if she could go along so she could physically meet Willy. Kim told her to take her sister and mother also. Uncle Jess plans to check if any of the three Steeles or Kevin can learn to recognize the other worlds. If they can, then Mary won’t need to rush back to Queensland.”
“Dad, they need to stop in Hawaii and check for the other worlds. I don’t understand how I know it, but it is important that they do.” Claire had just had an insight or revelation.
Robert had passed on what Claire had said and had gotten back comments. “Dad and Uncle Jess agree that is a very good idea. Hawaii is out in the middle of the Pacific with only the ocean around it. Uncle Jess says that there is over an eighty percent chance that there is a large land mass there on one of the worlds since the island chain is so long. Dad suggests that if one of them can learn to sense the other worlds, they just do a fast check and leave it to a team with an observation window to do the work. It would help in keeping the secret of our sensing the other worlds.” Robert relayed.
“It makes sense that on the other worlds where the Pacific Ocean is, there is a possibility of a large continent. We need to let Blake and Hunt know about checking for locations to set up windows at islands in the middle of the oceans. Bermuda is another good area to check out. I assume that besides New Zealand, there are other areas in the Pacific and Indian Oceans that PM Hunt should have checked out. We will need to inform New Zealand and Canada.” Dave began to realize that the secret may need to be made public sooner than expected.
“Ireland also.” Margaret O’Reilly added.
Everyone laughed.
“Ireland makes a lot of sense. It’s closer to the central Atlantic than Great Britain.” Al commented.
Margaret gave Al a smile.
“There’s one more important thing we wanted to bring up.” Robert said.
“Go ahead.” Dave told him.
“We want the five of you to take the time to develop your ability to communicate. Sue started yesterday, but it will take a committed effort. With the number of people we now have with the ability and the experience that we have gotten, it may take only a half hour but no more than two.” Robert’s words have shocked them, especially Bruce.
“I don’t know. I...”
Margaret interrupted Al, “Al, you would be a fool not to. It would be an immense advantage when you are President.”
Bruce finally got over his surprise. “Why is it important that I learn?”
Dave laughed. “If you are to keep track of what is going on at the memorial service Saturday, it would be a big help. Besides, you are a Maclaren. That’s why you have been doing so well handling all of this?” He turned to Al. “I agree with Margaret. Being able to communicate mentally when you are president will be an immense advantage. And if this critical mass thing gets even bigger, then we may have a lot more people that can real soon.”
“Not as many as you might expect. It seems that we have been lucky, or the ones with the potential have gravitated together, but we are beginning to be able to sense the potential now. Many people in Washington and Carlisle don’t have the ability. Naz believes that there are more in Townsville, but we’re not sure what she is sensing is the same as what we do. It’ll be a while before we know more. Also, many that we sense aren’t as strong.” Robert explained.
“It’s new. I’m ready to learn, but I’ll not have time until after the meeting tomorrow. We need to get as many individuals that can communicate into the CIA as possible. It will make things much easier.” Margaret commented.
“Margaret, I agree, but we need to know we can really trust these people first.” Dave told her.
“Dad, can you lie to Mom when you communicate?”
“No! You mean that you cannot lie mentally.” Dave considers the implications of this.
“I don’t know that you cannot, but you’ll have to learn how to do it first. Therefore, if you show a person how to communicate mentally, it will take a while for them to learn to lie. That’s the time to find out if they are really the type of people that you want.”
“Excellent point. We can use all the insight that we can get.” Margaret praised Claire.
“Here are some more points to remember. We have found that gaining the ability to communicate mentally has increased a person’s ability to do more than one thing at a time. It’s as if you had turned on a portion of the brain that wasn’t being used. Larry said ... That is John Harvey’s brother-in-law, Dr. Laurence Tidwell. Larry said that the number of thoughts that a person can work on simultaneously is an indicator of genius. He and his wife are planning to do some research on what is different in the brain. The important thing to remember is to keep the mental communication in the background. That way, no one knows about it. Also, remember that you can contact someone if you need help. Once you are able to communicate, we have some other things that we can discuss with you.” Robert added.
“Who should I contact for these secrets?” Margaret asked with a smile.
“Oh, it’s not secrets so much as it’s easier to explain using mental communication. It’s sort of like explaining the colors of a sunset to a blind man.” Robert laughed.
“So we are blind?” Sue asked.
“Mom, it’s a sense that most don’t have, and you aren’t fully using. The way you and Dad communicate now is equivalent to being color blind with cataracts.” Claire exclaimed.
“OK, we get the idea if not the picture.” Dave was laughing at how worked up Claire had gotten. “Robert, in your brothers’ reports, is there anything special of note?”
“The biggest surprise is that the Fire world was in the middle of the night. There was enough moonlight to determine that there was water and land. They have a crew making more observations, but Willy and Ian went to bed so as to be ready for the meeting. Willy has just sent in the preliminary report. We now know that for all four worlds that we have land and what appears to be ocean, if not a very large lake. Each world is fertile with abundant animal and plant life. There has been no observation of anything that would indicate intelligent life.
Robert describes the four worlds.”
“What are their plans?” Dave wondered if what they would be doing matched his ideas.