Chapter 26

Brenda called another meeting of Talent Inc. Once again everyone gathered at my house. It was about Nathan, of course. The guy was not being harmed, and would even realize that any time had passed. He was in the 'between', after all. Still, there were people in the world who actually cared about him.

"We can't leave this guy hanging in the 'between' forever. A decision must be reached. If we can't get a consensus, then a majority will have to do. I have done some serious thinking about this guy, and I am of the opinion he has to be stopped," Brenda said seriously.

"What did you have in mind? We talked about this last weekend till we were blue in the face, with no resolution," Ruth said, her knitting needles flying in her hands.

"True. However, I don't think everyone thought it through, all the way. Why did this group form in the first place? Everyone knows that, now, even the two newest members know the reasoning behind it.

"We have chosen to be responsible for the talented people with abilities such as we have. By not making a decision, we are making yet a different decision. I placed a man who has a life and loved ones in the 'between'. I did this to protect US from him. Does anyone question that he was abusing his abilities?

"No? Well, then that's a start. We all agree on that, at least. Now we have to carry this through. I see only two options. One, we kill the guy, outright. We dump his body where it will be found, and the local authorities chalk up another unsolved murder. Option two, is that I take him on a quick trip to the alternate world and have his ability burned out. Then I bring him back and set him free. As it stands now, there is just no way we can simply turn him loose," Tom summed up.

That kicked off the discussions again. Still, I had been seriously thinking about why this group had been formed, during this last week. The government had screwed with two of us a lot, and we got together, to protect people like us, from them.

At the same time, were we also protecting the government and the public from others with abilities like ours? Had we assumed the roll of the 'talent police'? Like it or not, we had. Now we had to act, or we were just a joke.

We had gone to a lot of trouble to take on the U.S. government, and establish ourselves as a force to be reckoned with. It was not like we could tell everyone we didn't mean it and go back to the way things were, before.

By god, it was time to step up and take the responsibility that comes with the power we had. If we did not, we would be no better than the US government.

We had a job to do, and this was a part of it, no matter how distasteful.

"Burn his talent. He has shown no remorse or redeeming qualities. He is a user and a manipulator. He is as dangerous to the general public, as he is to us," I spoke suddenly.

Everyone looked at me when I said that.

"Tom is right. Unless we step up and take responsibility for ourselves and for people like us, no one will take us seriously. Not our government, and not the world. We decided at one point we were above certain laws by virtue of our abilities. Well, we need to make a decision and right now. I say burn his talent and be done with it," I said loudly.

Silence was my answer as people looked at me.

"Think about it. We are the police agency for those of us who have special abilities. Like it or not, we TOOK that power, when we 'educated' the politicians. We are the police, the judge, the jury, and if need be, the executioners. We hold an enormous amount of power between all of us.

"I have been thinking a lot about this for the past week. During that time, I realized we were not living up to the reason we created our group. Brenda? You could destroy the crops, or help them if you wanted. You hold weather in your hands as I hold a book to read. You could, in effect, ruin a country... hell, you could ruin the world if you so desired. Ruth? You have a healing ability that is unparalleled.

"I can look into the future and see what might be. I can find people and can move objects. I could kill from afar, if I so desired. It would be so easy to stop someone's heart with my kinetic abilities.

"Tom can move into the past, and travel into an alternate world. He can teleport to just about anywhere on earth. If he wants, he can bring a great many things with him. He also has that 'between' of his.

"That's just we few. What do we represent? What do we stand for? We offered Nathan a place with us. We didn't and don't insist he join us, we just want him to abide by a few simple rules. But no, he decided to make us an enemy, simply because he couldn't 'read' or manipulate us. We just barely headed off a potentially disastrous confrontation with the government.

"No. The time has come, and that time is now! We need to make a decision! We have established ourselves as 'The Authority'. Now, by God, we need to get our act together and respond like an authority," I concluded.

Everyone was looking at me, and I began to get uncomfortable.

Finally, Tom started nodding.

"Hear, hear, Little Brother."

"I'm with you, Scott."

"Wow, you really let go, there. Didn't you?"

My sister came over. She hugged me, and said she was going for more coffee. Brenda came into the crook of my arm, and looked with huge eyes into mine. Roger and the others started talking quietly about what I had said. I felt drained and exhausted.

The decision was finally reached, and Tom disappeared for a few minutes. When he returned, he nodded.

"It is done. His ability has been eliminated, and his memories of the past months have been altered. He is no longer a threat to others, nor to us," he said with satisfaction.

I still felt bad about having been part of a process that made this kind of decision. Tom started talking again.

"We need to establish a better way to make the initial contact. We also need to have more than just a broad outline of what we stand for. We need a set of rules, or laws, to abide by. We can't just tell people we are the gods of thought, and they must perform as we say, or else. There needs to be guidelines established that we can show these people," Tom was saying.

"I can help there, I think. I am a lawyer, after all. While this type of law is not my specialty, I think I can cobble together a workable system. I can include some sort of checks and balances, also, to make sure we don't run amok," Debra piped up from her spot.

"Good. I want in on that process, Debra," Courtney said immediately.

For the next couple of months things went along smoothly for a change. My factory was up and running, and I already had a couple orders. I had hired a few more people and now had a total of ten people working for me.

One of the things I had discovered when starting my business, was that people expected a lot of perks as part of their pay. I added up everything, and decided that some of it was ridiculous. I finally decided on what I considered to be a fair health plan. The employees would become eligible for the plan, after they had worked for me for a specific period. Give them all full coverage, from the start? No way.

Every once in a while either Courtney or Debra would call on the secure cell phone, and ask my thoughts or opinions about some rule or law they wanted. There were several special meetings with the group over this subject. They were also fiddling with the terms of being a director, the length of the service, and the election method. One example was that you were only allowed to vote for a member of the board if you had joined the group, and were an active member. This rule created a place for possible future members, who did not wish to be part of the process of electing our leaders, yet did want the benefits of being a member of the group.

I thought it a good process. The people who were active had the greater voice, yet all would be protected. Unlike the U.S. Government who had to worry about votes, we didn't. If you did not vote, it wasn't because we forbade you. The more active you were, within the group, the greater was your voice. Only active people who were onboard with us could vote or hold office. While we encouraged all to be active, we didn't demand it.