Chapter 6

Early Monday morning it was back to the grind. I was still in a good mood having gotten to know Tom and Courtney... or, as I should start calling him: Ben. He has changed his name to Ben Porter, now. I spent the night Saturday, and learned still more about him on Sunday. For example, he had technology from the future!

His car was amazing, as was his personal computer. He seemed to have a small arsenal to draw on, and I now had a way of communicating with him that was not only secure, but no government on earth yet had the technology to get to the frequency we now used. Even if they did, it was always coded and the codes were unbreakable by today's cryptographers. It involved an encryption process not yet discovered.

Tom was an exercise nut. He had a route he jogged when he was here. I asked to join him, then looked at Courtney. She rolled her eyes at us and went back to drinking her coffee, and watching the local news.

"Health nuts," I had heard her mutter, as we left the house.

I smiled at the memory, which got a response from Eric.

"Good weekend, Scott?" he asked interestedly.

I nodded. Eric was a good man, but he was a total HS goon. He believed in what the government was doing to fight terrorism. I saw problems with it, since I was an 'involuntary employee', so to speak. Tom had been one, too. History is loaded with countries that had 'temporarily' suspended citizen rights. Said citizens, never seemed to get them back; or if they did, only with catches attached to them. Still, over all, the US was still the best place to live as far as I was concerned.

I spent hours and hours trying to identify the location of one terrorist suspect who seemed to be in Israel. The problem was, he was in hiding, and seemed to be underground. When he did move, I got only brief glimpses of his surroundings. To complicate matters, he had several hostages with him, and several men. When they moved, it was always by van or car. They seemed to be trying to get out of the city.

I was also taking classes in language identification. I could draw decently, and was able to copy writing I saw fairly accurately. I already knew how to read a map. After hours of frustration, I finally caught a break. I could see a landmark through a closed and curtained window. I had to move the curtain a bit with my telekineses, but I was finally able to locate them to within a few blocks.

When the day was done, I felt I had accomplished something truly worthwhile. It would not be possible to get feedback on what happened for several hours yet, but a rescue and capture had been launched.

Tom said I needed to stretch and exercise my talent more than I had been. He had asked me what I had done to train it, and I had replied that I had done nothing, really. It was just there. He had been very blunt with his critique.

"If I had done as you, I never would have discovered the full depth and range of my talent. You have to stretch it, and study it. You push yourself, and your talent, to the point you have headaches! Damn, Scott! You have no work or study ethic at all, do you?"

So I was to practice my TK... 'telekineses' ability, for short... everyday after work by moving objects at his place. He had set up a table with items of varying weights and sizes, and told me he wanted to see me lift them. He also said I should try to hear what was being said in the places I visited mentally. If I could move objects, then damn it, I could hear as well as see! My mind just needed the urge to do it.

Thus began my training under Tom's tutelage. He was a stern taskmaster, and would not let me quit. Day blended into day, and week turned to month; but by God, my abilities did improve! I was now lifting over two pounds of dead weight easily, and I could manipulate controls with precision.

I was also starting to get garbled sound! This was the most exciting aspect for me, so far. What was not so exciting, were the killer headaches I was getting in conjunction with my newfound abilities. I was also starting to be able to do my TK at much closer range, such as line of sight! Things I had never done before were now starting to happen for me.

Months had gone by, and I was fast approaching my first complete year as an employee of HS. Tom Suggested I take a vacation. I could take a week off with no problem. I put in for a vacation, and surprise of surprises, it was granted.

Unfortunately, what Tom's idea of a vacation and my idea of a vacation were, did not jive. He had suggested the vacation as a subterfuge. What he actually did, was to take me to an alternate universe! There he enrolled me in a training program. He said I was woefully lacking in survival skills, and this was the perfect place to learn them.

What followed was six months 'subjective time' in that reality. It was the most nightmarish training that ever had been my misfortune to take. There was a heavy slant on hand-to-hand combat. At the end of my six months I had to say I was in better shape, and was more confident in my self and my abilities. I also had a set of reflexes that would make a cat proud.

Tom checked in on me from time to time. When I graduated the course, he brought me back to the start of my vacation days. That was why I had taken the vacation. He knew I would need to relax and get reoriented. This 'timing' stuff, and alternate reality switching, was a confusing thing to me. Part of my training had been intensive practice with my mental abilities. These people knew of mental talent, and they had trained me hard.

They also taught me to attack with the talent. If I wanted, I could now turn a brain to mush, stop a heart, touch nerves to cause excruciating pain, or to numb a person. The things I could now do, and was trained to do in an emergency, astounded me. I could now also hear clearly what was said when I did a remote viewing. That was a great improvement, really.

We were sitting in Tom, or Ben's, backyard having a BBQ. We were celebrating my graduation from this school of training where he had sent me.

"You know, I think I cursed you every single day, for a while," I said musing out loud.

Tom... Ben, damn it... Ben grinned at me.

"It was to be expected. How do you feel about the experience now?" he asked curiously.

"Actually quite good. I feel much more confident in my abilities and in myself," I said, sitting back and sipping a beer.

"I've been through it, you've been through it. All my men there have been through it, or live it training others," Tom responded.

"Might I ask why? I mean, that was an actual base of some sort. It was big, and you seemed to be somebody important there. What's it all for?" I asked curiously.