Chapter 18

Saturday, November 17, 1979

Saturday morning seemed almost like a normal morning for us. Missy, Jude, and I were up first. We were on one of the love seats in the sitting room in deep rapport and sipping our first cup of coffee.

{Is Sharon still asleep?} I asked Jude.

{Yeah, she'll probably sleep for another hour unless something disturbs her.}

{It doesn't wake her if you move around or talk?}

{No, I pretty much have to direct a thought directly at her if I want to awaken her before she wakes up normally. I would imagine you could direct a thought at her and awaken her as well.}

{I don't want to do that, Love. This has to be pretty traumatic to her. I'm amazed you guys seem to be adjusting as well as you are.}

{Yeah, we're kind of amazed too. Sharon and I have always been close and we've spent a lot of time in rapport with each other. I've never felt like my mind or my brain was being invaded or anything like that.}

{How did it feel when Sharon was killed and she ended up in your brain?} Missy asked.

{We were in close rapport when it happened. Sharon was a little worried about the kidnapper striking again, but she didn't want Mike to know. I was mentally holding her hand so Mike didn't realize she was worried.}

Jude took a sip of coffee then went on. {Our minds were completely meshed, then there was this subtle change. I can't really describe it except to say it was like the difference between when we're in rapport with our whole group compared to being in our family rapport. Suddenly, Sharon and I were in a much closer rapport than we'd ever been in before.}

{She didn't feel any pain or anything?} I asked.

{No, in fact it was a couple of minutes before we realized her body was dead. Bonnie was screaming orally and mentally. She was totally incoherent, so we tapped into you. That's when we saw the memory of Sharon, slumped against her seatbelt, with the whole side of her head blown away. Sharon went nuts for a couple of minutes and it was all I could do to help to bring her back.}

{Shit! I wonder what would have happened if you hadn't been able to bring her back. It would have been hell to have had to share your brain with someone who was insane.}

{Oh, I thought of that. I had a lot of incentive to bring her back to reality. Even then, I'm not sure if I'd have succeeded if Missy and Cindi hadn't helped.}

{Well, I'm glad you did. Can you imagine what it would have been like to have something like this happen and end up sharing the brain of a stranger?}

{I'd think they'd both be fighting for control and fighting to get rid of the other personality. I could see where someone like that could easily go insane.}

We were sipping our coffee and I was gently rubbing Jude's butt while I played with Missy's nipple when Sharon woke up. {Good morning, } she said.

We all told her good morning then she asked, {Mike, are you rubbing my butt?}

{I've been rubbing your lovely butt for the last hour, Sweetheart.}

{I thought you were rubbing MY butt, } Jude giggled.

{One and the same, my dear. I'll admit I was thinking of Jude until Sharon woke up, now I'm thinking of both of you as I rub. Kinky!}

{No, tonight is what's going to be kinky. We gave you a break last night, since you had just gotten out of the hospital. Tonight you make love to us.}

{Kinky!}

Annie McClasky arrived just before 10:00 AM with a guy she introduced as Danny Thompson. Danny was an expert on converting automobiles so that they were almost impervious to firearms.

Bonnie and Thelma got coffee for everyone and Danny started his lecture. He had been talking for several minutes about bulletproof glass and steel plates in the side and top of the car when Tim asked, "Wouldn't all of that steel plating be so heavy it'd almost pop the tires?"

"Yes, and it also slows down the vehicle and reduces your payload."

"Has anyone ever thought of using Kevlar instead of steel plates?" I asked.

"There has been some talk and even some experimentation. I know it works, but the cost is pretty high. It would seem like the perfect solution if the cost wasn't so prohibitive."

"Could you give us any information about who to contact to find out about the experimentation?" I asked.

Danny assured us he could and he would. Then he started talking about defensive driving techniques. I'd had a course in defensive driving when I was George, so I wasn't too interested.

I turned and saw Annie watching me. I smiled and she asked, "So, Mike, is your whole family telepathic or is it just you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I think you know exactly what I mean. I can read people myself. When I try to read you or anyone in your family, it's like you're not even there. The only way I can explain it is that one or all of you are telepathic."

{Cindi, help me out here. Deep scan Annie while I talk with her.}

{I already did, Mike. She's a telepath, and a good person.}

I switched to mental communication to see if Annie could communicate that way. <Can you hear this, Annie?>

<Wow! I certainly can. Can you hear me?>

<Very well, Annie. Talking at this level is much nicer than doing it orally. You can get ideas and feelings across much easier than if you had to find the words to describe them. You are right. It is the whole family that is telepathic.>

<This is amazing, Mike. I've never been able to talk with anyone this way. It's almost like I've been colorblind and now I can see colors.>

<That's a good analogy. Once you start communicating this way, talking with someone orally is like talking to a kindergartner. If you had microphones hidden in our house, you'd almost never hear anyone talking.>

<I didn't figure you'd open up like this, Mike. I figured you'd deny everything.>

<I'm going to have to risk making you angry with us, Annie. Cindi isn't entirely civilized and she scanned you without our knowledge. When you confronted me she told me you are a telepath and a good person.>

<What do you mean by scanned me?>

<She mentally went through your mind to see if you are trustworthy. She is civilized enough that she won't tell any of us what she saw if you don't want her to.>

<Oh my! I had no idea she was even there.>

<She's VERY good.>

<I don't guess I mind that much, especially if she said I'm a good person. I've done some things I'm not proud of, but nothing I'm really ashamed of. Can she hear us now?>

<I suspect my whole family is listening in, > I told her.

<Hi Annie, > came from everyone in the family.

"Oh shit!" Annie exclaimed. Danny's head whipped around then Annie told him, "I'm sorry Danny. I just had a weird thought. I'll try to keep my mouth shut."

Danny smiled at her then went back to his lecture. <Hi guys, > Annie told the family.

<I can shield our conversation from the rest of the family if you'd like, > I told her.

<That's not necessary, Mike. I do have a question for you though. When I first saw you in the hospital, you were devastated by Sharon's death. As close as you guys are, I think it would be harder on you than it would on a non-telepath. Then, the next time I saw you, it was like you were at peace with your loss. I'd have expected a much longer period of grieving. Can you tell me why this is?>

<You are a very intelligent lady, Annie. First, I have to explain a couple of things to you, but I need your assurance that you aren't going to arrest us and that you're not going to repeat anything I tell you.>

<That's asking a lot, Mike. If you tell me you have been doing something illegal, I'm sworn to uphold the law.>

<I understand that, Annie. Let me ask you a hypothetical question. If you read someone and you could see in his mind that he was planning to rape and kill a little girl. What would you do?>

<I'd try to find a reason to arrest him.>

<If you found you couldn't arrest him, or if you knew if you did arrest him that he'd be out of jail in a month or two and would then go on with his plans, what would you do?>

<I'm not sure, Mike. I'd want to stop him and I guess that if there wasn't any other way of doing it, I'd probably kill him, even though it would mean the end of my career. It'd also mean I'd spend the rest of my life in jail.>

<What if you could just turn him off? What if you knew you could do that and it would never be found out? Would you turn yourself in, or would you go on with your career? Would you throw away everything that was important to you? Would you deprive the world of a cop who was honest and who prevented a monster from raping and killing little girls?>

<I don't know, Mike. I don't think so. There is a real moral issue here though. Under the law, everyone is entitled to a fair trial.>

<Everyone is entitled to a trial to be able to prove they are innocent, if they are. Our founding fathers didn't intend for a trial to be a place for one attorney to be able to show they were smarter, or trickier, or slimier than another one. A trial was set up to prove guilt or innocence. You already know the guy is guilty.>