Chapter 12

Shielding sensitive information from a telepath is best done in layers. It helps to have some natural shields to begin with. Then the outermost conscious level - keep the information out, and fill it with a compelling, emotionally charged image. Preferably, one that is profoundly disturbing. In a pinch, one that is overwhelmingly attractive will do. Either way, it does two things: makes it believable that your mind keeps returning to (and dwelling on) the image, and makes it emotionally difficult for the telepath to push through that layer.

The next layer is the brief thoughts triggered by any questions or statements. The real trick there is to casually give some of the information that is being sought in a way that it is less than useful (downright counterproductive, if possible). Mixed in with that you have reactions to the circumstances and the relatively trivial questions, concerns, and observations that make up common mental "chatter". With a little bit of practice, any train of thought at that level will quickly lead back to the compelling image(s) of the outer layer.

Radar had taught her well, and Rose was prepared. Her mental image of her father being injured, his injury, a combination of his injury and the spike, and what could have been the consequences. These were heavily charged with her feelings of fear, loss, helplessness, and even abandonment. With the help of her new friends, she practiced new "hero names" and associated images for them. "Cutter" was the redheaded boy associated with an image of a flame cutting through metal. "Welder" had blue hair and an image of arc-welding metal. Green haired "Flora" was associated with images of plants moving at her command. And the taller, elegant, dark haired "Nightengale" with her healing, sometimes including a half remembered part about very short range for that power (or was that someone else?). Her mental images of their faces and bodies were blurry and indistinct, but their hair stood out.

Her hosts were just "Welder's Parents", with the generic "adults I don't really know" features common to early teen perceptions.

On the other hand, her images of her American friends - especially the winged form of Captain Peeper - were more clear and detailed. As were those of home and her family.

The police request to use a telepath as part of their questioning was pretty much pro forma. She was a foreign morf who had disappeared and reappeared under suspicious circumstances and eluded detection for almost all of the time she was gone. They were going to probe her. Her power's reading of their statements and questions left no doubt.

Even after the warnings and preparation, the interview was rough. It was clear to Rose that the woman didn't want to believe her.

Where had she been? After a brief time in the city, at Welder's house. Where is that? she didn't really know. Her new friends guided her, and she couldn't read any signs or the like. And she was overcome by the events leading up to the time she was going there. And those events ran right back into her father's injuries under (she imagined) similiar circumstances.

What happened? The gas in the office was fairly clear in her mind. Waking up by the unconscious men was a little more fuzzy and disjointed. Running away, with CP's help, was more like a movie than a personal experience. And that blended into the Captain telling her about her father and from there into the injuries.

Taking a train to an unfamiliar part of the city, hoping to lose whoever sent the men, was a frantic blur. Imagined scenes of the kidnappers showing up in the train brought her back to the attack on her father.

Finding the teens was colored with uncertainty, then relief. They were complete strangers, but they were willing to help her. Images of shopping for clothes and makeup for her disguise had the incomprehensible writing (such as the shop names) blurred to unreadable. Hands helping her with the makeup and the unfamiliar styles of clothes were clearly female, but otherwise somewhat generic - truth be known, she wasn't all that clear who did what when it happened. Images of makeup being applied around her eyes reminded her of her father's eyes and the injury. She never got beyond fairly generic images of the clothes and makeup, so any other details of the disguise were lost.

Questions about the teens brought brief, rehersed images of Cutter, Welder, Flora, and Nightengale. But the first thought of Nightengale brought her back to her father's injuries and the frantic hope that someone like Nightengale could heal him.

Taking a train to somewhere near Welder's house was intercut with images of men in suits everywhere, and imagined images of them pulling guns, knives, swords, or other weapons and attacking her and her helpers. Which always brought her back to her father's injuries.

The questioning seemed to go on for hours. They asked the same questions over and over again, in different orders. They also asked her about her home and her family, which seemed to be designed to elicit some responses they could use to calibrate their interpretation of her more relevant answers.

On the other hand, what she got from them - mostly indirectly - was more interesting. Her disappearance was a problem for some of the police. Pressure had been applied from high places to find her. Others were upset at a juvenile alien morf running around without proper escort. She had probably violated several laws in the process. So had her helpers and hosts, who she "couldn't" properly identify.

In the end, the facts that her powers were considered innocuous and that she hadn't apparently caused or gotten into trouble counted very much in her favor. So was the fact that her disappearance started with a kidnapping attempt. She was advised, however, that it would probably be a good idea to cut her visit short once her father was discharged. She barely needed her abilities to be certain that it was not a mere suggestion.

So much for tourist stuff and shopping trips.

They asked her whether she had somewhere to stay, and she told them that she assumed the room her father had rented for them at the hotel was still there. But she had promised her father she would wait by his bed while he rested and recovered. With all that had happened, she tearfully explained, she couldn't stand to be separated from him again. She put every bit of her ability into communicating the vital necessity of staying there.

After all that, they let her stay in the room and returned her things to her. As they left, she reflected on the

advantages of being thought of as a young girl. Sometimes.

Bravo! came a familiar mental voice.

Maki? Are you sure I'm not still being monitored?

Doesn't feel like it. She "listened" for a couple more minutes after they left, then went on to other things. I can still sort of listen to her if I'm "quiet" while I do it.

Doesn't she have shields?

Yes. Very good ones, too. But when she actively probes someone, I can passively recognize her and get some feel for what she is doing.

Something about that made Rose a little suspicious. How long have you known her?

Oops! I have known her my whole life ... she's my aunt.

Telepathy runs in the family?

Maybe. She's the only other one I know about, though.

I probably won't have a chance to say goodbye properly to the others. Could you do the honors?

Sure thing. Say hi to the angel for us when you get back.

You got it. Rose smiled, as she felt her new friend's mind withdraw.

The policewoman smiled discretely in satisfaction. Her neice didn't know as much as she thought she did about the tricks of the telepathic trade. She fingered the silver pin on her collar which identified her as an official psi, as she thought about what she had learned.

The girl was good. Between her natural shields - which she had made a show of lowering as much as she "could" when she agreed to the telepathic probe - and her obviously learned mental disciplines, there was not a scrap of useful information from the interrogation connecting her with the people who really helped her. If she hadn't recognized the combination (disguised as they were) and been suspicious, she would never have guessed who they were. She particularly liked the touch of using images of her neice moving plants with her TK as a misdirection for the nature of her powers.

But now she had to decide what to do about it. Her initial report about her observations from the interrogation was still valid, as far as it went. And knowing who the girl was really involved with satisfied her that she was in good hands while she was off the grid, and was neither causing trouble nor in trouble.

Tanaka San might be a ruthless businessman, but he was honorable, wise, and loyal to the country.

Her only question was what part the girl played in the events at his office. Superficially, the reports seemed to indicate that she wasn't even there. But the whole group of friends was there, and where they were concerned it was best not to take anything at face value. She had no doubt that his bio elemental protoge was capable of completely changing the girl's appearance. In fact, that would explain some parts of the girl's adventures.

On the other hand, all the significant players were clearly identified. The most likely candidate was the girl who was hit by a ricochet. She was clearly identified as being of Japanese heritage, but there was no indication that she was questioned. And her only apparent role in the events was getting knocked over by a glancing blow from a stray bullet.

In the end, she saw no reason to change her initial report. Even in the wrong hands, the report would do no harm to the relatively blameless parties (including her neice), while preserving the evidence concerning the real attacks.

The police were back a few hours later, with questions about an attack on some business offices. At first, she was confused. Her powers, such as they were, clearly had nothing to do with the attack. And the businesses had nothing to do with her father's company as far as she knew.