Chapter 19

Cindi came in and joined us before long and not long after that Tiffany asked us if she could join us. We all started kicking around ideas about how we could get around a mind shield and either detect a shield or detect a person's thoughts behind the shield.

<So, let me get this straight, > Tiffany said. <You shield your mind by subconsciously projecting a thought that there is nothing there. Is that correct?>

<That's essentially it, > Jude said.

<Now, if you're projecting that thought at me, I don't consciously hear it.>

<True.>

<Then telepaths must have conscious receptors and subconscious receptors.>

<I'd never thought of it, but that must be true, > Cindi said.

<Then, is there any way we can leave our conscious receptors on, but turn our subconscious receptors off?>

<I don't know, but Cindi and I will certainly look into that, > Jude said.

<Another thing you guys might think about, > I said. <Is there any way we can become aware of what our subconscious receptors are receiving?>

<Ah, I see what you're saying, > Tiffany said. <If we know someone out there is projecting the thought that they aren't there, maybe we can trace the thought back to the person.>

<Either that, or maybe we can use feedback to counteract the thought and be able to read the person normally, > I said.

<Wow!> Cindi said, <Either of those ideas have great possibilities.>

We all thought our own thoughts for a few minutes then Tiffany asked, <When you guys go into rapport, is it all with your conscious mind or is it both?>

<It's mostly conscious, but there must be some subconscious as well, > Jude said. <That would be a good place for us to start our investigations. Cindi, why don't we go hide somewhere and see if we can figure anything out.>

They took off like two little girls. Missy shook her head and said, <I wish I had that much energy. This last month has seemed to drain me.>

Tiffany laughed and told her to wait until the last month of pregnancy and she'd really have something to complain about.

When it was time for lunch, my immediate family and Tiffany made soup and sandwiches. Cindi and Jude did not join us, so none of us tried to contact them.

At dinner time, the entire family got together. Cindi and Jude still hadn't showed up, so I tried to contact Jude mentally, {Jude, my love, it's time for dinner.}

{Mike, } Sharon said, {We're fine, but we're tied up right now. Just leave us some leftovers and we'll grab something when we need it. We're getting very close.}

We all went to bed that evening, most of us a little worried about our spouses. I knew there was nothing we could do or say that would get them to postpone their investigations until tomorrow, so we didn't interrupt them.

Tuesday, November 20, 1979

Sometime during the night my two lovely young women must have finished what they were doing. When I awoke, they were snuggled up to either side of me. I slid out from between them without waking them. They obviously noticed I was gone, even in their sleep, because they moved closer to each other and their arms went around each other.

I drained my bladder then went into the sitting room to get some coffee going. Missy joined me right after I poured my first cup. I poured one for her too and we cuddled together on the love seat.

{Do you know what time Cindi and Jude came in?} I asked.

Missy just shook her head.

{It must have been late.}

A nod from Missy.

We cuddled for a while and I stroked her back and butt. At first it was like she was too out of it to respond, then she started arching her back to increase the pressure of my strokes. Eventually, after emptying her cup of coffee, Missy asked, {Do you think Cindi and Jude figured anything out?}

{Knowing those two, I don't think they'd have quit until they did, } I told her.

Eventually, Jude joined us. After she had poured herself some coffee, I asked her if they'd made any progress.

{Yes, we made progress. In fact, we made a lot of progress. Cindi is the only one who can do it by herself right now, but I think I can learn.}

{What can she do, Love?}

{She can look around the entire area with her subconscious receptors and tell you where every person who is using a shield is located. It's not perfect because she still can't tell what they're thinking or anything, but she can tell they're using a shield and their approximate location.}

{If she said there was someone using a shield in a certain area, could she she tell us which person was using the shield if we got her close enough?}

{We think so, but we're not sure. None of our family are shielded from her, so we can't test it. Even if one of us tried to shield her, she'd know which one it was by which family member suddenly disappeared.}

I thought for a minute then asked, {What if we got Annie to go to a public place and had her put up a shield? We could let Cindi see if she could find her.}

{That would definitely be a good test.}

We snuggled a while longer, then I got up to call Annie. When she answered the phone, I said, "Annie, Jude and Cindi worked a lot yesterday on being able to find someone who was using a shield. They think they have something, but they need to be able to test it on someone who is not a member of the family."

I could hear the smile in her voice as she asked, "And you're looking for volunteers?"

"Yes. You're the only telepath we know well enough to ask."

"I'd be happy to Mike. What can I do?"

"If you could go to some public place around noon and put up your shield, we'll see if Cindi can find you. If you could keep it within twenty miles of here, it'd be more fair to Cindi."

"Sure, not a problem. I know just the place to go."

It turned out that Jude and Cindi had to work together to detect a mind shield. Jude was in a close rapport with Cindi and Cindi was, I guess you would say, in a trance. While she was doing this, Cindi couldn't communicate either verbally or mentally with anyone but Jude.

I loaded the two of them into the back of Missy's car and Cindi went into her trance. Missy and I got into the front seat and I asked Jude if Cindi could detect anyone with a shield.

{She says there are two of them, but neither are close, } Jude told me.

{Can she tell us anything about either of them?}

{She can't read their thoughts or anything, but she thinks one is a man and the other is a woman.}

{We're going after the woman this time, } I told her. {Can she tell us which way to go?}

{Cindi said to head toward Castro Valley.}

There was a little fumbling when we got into Castro Valley. Jude was telling us which way to turn based on what Cindi was telling her about the direction of the shield. We turned onto one dead end street and had to back track, but eventually we turned into the parking lot of the hospital I had been in after I was shot.

I started to drive toward the entrance to the hospital when Jude yelled, {Stop!}

I immediately stopped and Jude said, {The shield is directly to the right of us.}

{Interesting, } I said. {There is a row of the parking lot directly to the right of us. I'm going to turn down that row.}

I made the turn and started, very slowly, down the row. About half way down the row, Jude yelled, {Stop!}

I stopped again and Jude said, {It's directly to our right again.}

The row in the parking lot was actually two rows deep. I figured Annie could be in either of four cars. Missy and I got out and walked between the cars, looking into each one. We found her in the third car we looked in. She was lying in the back seat with a big grin on her face.

Annie agreed to meet with us at a diner in Castro Valley. Once we were all seated and had ordered coffee, Annie said, "So you are able to detect a shield. Can you tell anything about the person who has the shield?"

"I can pick up a few things, but not a lot. I could tell that you were a woman. I could also get some feelings about your character. It's hard to explain. Since it's the subconscious we're working with, these are things that are buried deep down."

"For instance?"

"For instance, I could detect a feeling of honesty, a feeling of duty, and a feeling of loneliness or longing."

"Okay."

"I could also detect another shield off to the east of us, toward Dublin. It was a man, but we weren't close enough for me to pick up anything else."

"Do you think that might be Hunt?"

"It could be, but there have to be dozens of people in the San Francisco area who use shields."

"How do you think we should go from here?" I asked Annie.

"I'm not sure, Mike. Being able to detect a shield is going to be a big help. We can't just get a gang of police officers together and go looking for him though. Number one, we don't have probable cause to arrest him."

"Yeah, and number two is that he could put to sleep or even kill any number of police officers who came after him," I said.

Annie let out a big sigh. "I've been thinking a lot about what you were asking me the other day."

"Annie, this might not be the best place to talk about this. Would it be possible for you to come out to the house for a while?"

"Yeah, I can do that. Let's get out of here."

I paid for our coffee and we headed home.

When we were in our sitting room with a pot of coffee brewing, I asked Bonnie to join us.

<Like I started to say back at the restaurant, I've been giving a lot of thought to our laws and why they are the way they are. I think you are right. I think they were written to protect innocent people from being terrorized by the government, > Annie said.

<You can start right out with the fifth amendment. I think it was included to prevent the boys in the back rooms from beating someone to the point they would confess to something they didn't do, > I said.

<Yeah, and Mirandizing someone is to prevent cops from tricking someone into doing the same thing. It's the same thing with the search and seizure laws. They are to prevent the police from just going into anyone's house on a fishing expedition.>

<All of these laws were written for good reasons. They are to protect the innocent. The problem is, they are being used to protect the guilty.>