Chapter 14: Adventures on the Road

"Well, it's nice to see you folks so happy. Apparently you either got more sleep than we did, less alcohol, or something else to put those self-satisfied grins on your faces," Sammy commented when Alex and his posse climbed aboard Patricia's touring van. They'd decided to get an early start, skipping breakfast at the hotel. Chelsea had gotten everyone a to-go breakfast which she'd laid out on the table before them.

"Hey, speak for yourself. Some of us not only didn't 'get any', but we didn't even get a chance to soak up any BCM last night," Cate mockingly complained.

"Speak for yourself," Gail responded. "I didn't get any ass myself, but at least I got to play a little, and I figure a feast of gorgeous young naked females with a casual tit or two tossed my way isn't a bad distraction."

"So I take it you did well last night, then?" Patricia asked. "I was nervous that with so much attention it may have been difficult, especially after that fiasco at the Cotton Bowl on Saturday night."

"Let's just say it was interesting," Alex cautiously responded, but Cate wasn't quite so reluctant to get into the details.

"Oh, it was interesting, all right. The first people we encountered, this woman screams to all her friends, 'I told you he was here. It's him. The Angel of New Orleans, and he's taken on his angelic form'. At that point we were the center of attention, as everyone knew what was happening."

"I figured letting everyone know your business was going to cost you eventually," Mac Schumacher, Patricia's drummer, remarked.

"Actually it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We'd had the same response when we went to the mall earlier in the day. What ended up happening was that I tended to the type 3s who clustered around me, while handing off the Seekers and Seers to Cate."

"So you're sticking with the 'Seeker' nomenclature?" Chelsea asked.

"Yeah, it's a better description," Alex replied. "However, you're welcome to continue to refer to them as Watchers if you want, since we all know who we're referring to, but I think Seeker describes them better than the term we came up with before we realized what was really going on."

"Wait a minute, Cate?" Jordan asked, skipping back to the previous comment. "Isn't she normally scouring the concert hall for you?"

"Normally she is, but we had so many helpers last night that she was there helping me out. We hadn't met many new followers, well, new Seers or Seekers, at least, but we had the whole lesbian contingent who were more than happy to help. So we were covered."

"So how did the women feel being foisted off on Cate, while you spent your time with your new fans?" Patricia asked.

"I'm sure they'd have rather spent their time with me, but once I explained what we were doing telepathically, they went along with it."

"Yeah, when someone first sees you, bathed in light, and you speak in their minds like God from on high, what do you expect?" Cate asked, not completely teasingly. "They're afraid if they don't do what you suggest you may strike them down."

"Nah, they know just how good Alex is," Gail explained as she dug into her meal. "They wouldn't expect any such thing. But they do want to please him, so, yeah, they'd do whatever he suggested, even if they didn't like it overly much."

"Man, I'd love to see you in action some time," Sammy complained. "You always operate in the back of the auditorium, and when you venture out into the city we're always busy either practicing or setting up."

"Don't worry, I'm likely to encounter plenty more. It's only a matter of time," Alex informed him.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to travel with us today," Patricia said. "We've spent so little time with you since we started this tour, it'll be nice to get to spend some time with you."

"Yeah, we've been dying to learn more about you on this tour, but so far we only get second hand information from Patricia after the set's all done," Erica Mayes, the guitarist said.

"Well, I'm planning on staying on the bus for a while. Traveling on our own doesn't seem to help much, and when I start venturing out I run into trouble. So you'll be seeing more of me for the next few days."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," Erica responded. "It's frustrating being so close to someone who's making such a difference in the world and hardly getting to see him."

"Watch your drinks," Sammy called out, since he was the driver, "the roads outside the city are a bit rough." Patricia's band took turns driving the van, mostly because they were afraid of relying on anonymous hired drivers who might be likely to sell Alex's story if someone offered them enough money. They felt it was safer handling the driving themselves, plus they pooled the money they saved.

"So, about the concert?" Patricia prompted.

"Like Alex said, it was interesting," Cate responded, taking over the explanation of events. "It was a complete change from normal. Alex ended up entertaining his new fans the entire night, while I and the other girls would pull the new girls aside and tell them what they needed to know. He kept excusing himself to talk to them occasionally, but often he'd just encounter someone else, which would just cause his fans to get excited and bother him more."

"I met the girls outside afterward and invited several of them up to the room so we could finally talk. They were anxious to get some face time, and it's helpful talking face to face when you introduce them to new people telepathically."

"Yeah, we've seen how you 'talk' to the girls," Jordan teased.

"No, seriously, we talked. Several of them were either married or in committed relationships. I ended up sleeping with two girls, but mostly we just talked."

The band members started talking about how the concert went while Alex, Cate and Gail finished up their breakfast. When they finished, Cate turned to Alex.

"You know, I was talking to some of the girls."

"You were talking to the girls?" Alex asked with a smile, having recognized the term to denote Alex's followers.

"OK, Gail told me about what a couple of the girls told her. They wanted me to know about certain things. It seems Megan, as in Megan and Ryan from Dallas, talked to the other girls and they got to talking about how you seem to upset a lot of men, while you seem to attract women, even those without the Seeker/Seer genes. It apparently got her thinking and she had a heart-to-heart talk with Ryan."

"I can imagine how he felt about that," Alex said, rolling his eyes.

"She said it was good for him. That he managed to get a lot out, but more, it revealed a lot of things no one thought to ask before."

"Like?" Alex asked, intrigued.

"She said he had no problems initially, but he found himself less and less able to think clearly as he began responding emotionally, and the primary emotion he felt was anger. Anger directed at you. He didn't initially have any reasons for his anger, but he tried to justify it based on assumptions he made about you. Does that sound like anyone you know?"

"Yeah, it sounds like quite a few people," Alex said, thinking of all the guys who'd come after him in the past several months, each of whom seemed to invent their own reasons for why they disliked him.

"She thought it was something about his exposure to you which triggered his reaction. She said he was fine until we reached the room, and that it got worse when you both took your clothes off and got closer together. She suggested pheromones. That could explain both the women's attraction to you and also the angry response by the men."

Alex thought about it in silence for a few moments before responding. "There are a lot of weaknesses to the idea. Darrel took a dislike to me without meeting me, and instead of it getting worse the longer he knew me, we ended up as friends. Anthony never even met me, and each time Tony confronted me we were outside the school, where the pheromone idea falls apart. Finally, if these scents affect so many women, then why do they only affect a few select guys?"

"There is that," Cate conceded.

The other girls were sitting around listening intently, having moved closer while they each explained their positions.

"OK, I didn't think that was so likely," Cate admitted. "But here's another idea, which I think is more probable. We discussed how the Seers ability is actually that they respond to your BCM, based upon a specific gene. That it's the fact they respond to it, and heal better than normal as a result of it. Right?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, what if men with the same gene don't become Seekers or Seers because they have a gene which either turns the ability off, or possibly they simply respond negatively to the BCM energy."

"Wait, you mean if I tried to heal them they'd go into anaphylactic shock?"

"No, I doubt it's a simple allergy. Instead, I think it's a biological reaction to the gene which produces both the Seers and Seekers. Given the widespread distribution of them across different ethnic groups, it seems fairly certain the 'S' gene has been around for a long time. Long enough for counter genes to have evolved and gotten established. The idea is women got recognized as being more sensitive due to the prevalence of the 'S' gene. Maybe men developed a reputation for being overly aggressive because they're genetically programmed to not react to it."

"That sounds a little iffy," Alex countered.

"Yeah, I was thinking that even as I was saying it. But still, it could be that select individuals react negatively to BCM. Normally their sensitivity doesn't show up in their day-to-day lives, but when they run across you, with such a large concentration of it, suddenly they react to it."

"But they'd run across smaller amounts of it in everyone they met. In every animal they petted, in the food they eat and the grass they sleep on."

"We'd have to run tests on them to determine their sensitivity to it, and what level would trigger a response. It might be those with the 'S' gene have an increased healing ability, but these people have specific counter-genes to it which trigger a negative hormonal response. It could even be a localized response restricted to the brain itself."

"So you're suggesting certain individuals will just take an instant disliking to me, and that, once they do, they'll invent reasons why they don't like me?"

"That's what I'm saying."

"Well what about Rodger, Chalise's father, or even Anthony. Neither one ever met me."

"It could be as simple as the excess BCM which Chalise and Grace had on their clothes and on them," Cate suggested. Alex responded with a scoffing mumble, but she countered herself.

"Hey, I can tell who you've slept with simply by detecting your personal BCM on them. Obviously it sticks around for a while. I'm guessing if you gave your Seers a pillow of yours, they'd respond to it. In fact, maybe we should ship your underwear to the cities you aren't able to reach. They could keep it in a Tupperware container to keep the excess BCM fresh, and if their eyes showed a response they'd know whether they were Seekers or Seers."

Alex was about to respond but thought better of it as he considered it. "We'd better ship Grace one of my T-shirts or something. You'll have to tell her what to look for. If she can detect a response in her father, we'll have our answer."

Gail laughed at that. "Yeah, I can picture it now. 'Say Officer, do you mind if I pass a potential felon this dirty shirt he can smear over his face so I can watch his reaction, possibly recording it with a video camera for documentation purposes?' She'd be thrown out as soon as she suggested it, and they'd assume insanity runs in the family. Either that, or they'd start following her to see if she was as dangerous as her father."

"Hmm, you have a point. What about if Dr. Avers Peterson volunteers to do the psyche evaluation for him? We could train him beforehand on what to look for. It wouldn't impact his evaluation, but he could easily record the response and he could measure it himself. He could even take an assistant, like Caity, to help him do his evaluation."

"The police and the prison authorities would never go for it. They'll pick either a local or a nationally recognized expert with prior court expert testimony experience. The best we could hope for would be to influence the defense team with our exciting offer of evidence they couldn't prove or offer as testimony in a trial."

"You're right. How about if we send it to Ryan instead? He apparently doesn't have it as bad as the others did, but he should show a response if that's the case. We should try it with some suspected Seers first. We should have some we can test it on. I'm sure we have people with relatives we haven't met yet."

"We'd need someone trained to know what to look for, and equipped to measure the response so we'd know how to test for it in the future," Cate suggested. "I don't think we can afford to waste the limited opportunities we have."

"There's also likely to be false positives. We'll have to find several potentials, then have someone fly out to test them," Gail offered.

"If you made it to California, you could follow it up with a visit by Alex later and correlate whether the findings are correct," Erica excitedly said.

Everyone started getting enthused about the chance to finally test for evidence of both Alex's and his followers' abilities. Alex simply leaned back and watched, smiling at their excitement. It would be a complicated experiment to set up, but it could be the kind of evidence they were looking for, and if it proved true it could provide a lot of answers about a number of different issues. What's more, Ryan, Liv and Lists would each be thrilled with the fact there was finally demonstrable evidence of what they'd seen. Whether or not they could do it, however, would be a whole different issue.

Just then the discussion was interrupted when the van's mobile phone went off. Immediately everyone froze.

It rang again, this time Sammy responded. "Damn, it's finally working. We've only gotten two calls so far, both from kids. Yet here we are, barely out of the city and someone—"

"Don't you think someone should answer it?" Alex asked.

Erica hesitantly picked it up. "Hello?" She paused a moment before responding. "No, this isn't him, but he's here." She glanced back at the others as if asking how to handle this before she continued. "Look, we're taking the next exit. Just follow us, and when we park, he'll let you in. It's important you come in, because he's got a lot of important information that you need to learn."

Both Alex and Cate thought they should have spent some time training everyone how to respond to new followers, but it was a little late now. Erica continued talking to her, mostly answering inane questions like how the band related to Alex, something she deftly avoided, simply reaffirming the band's emphasis on 'following your feelings'.

"Is there anyone with you?" Erica asked. "Oh, that's good. Having to deal with outsiders always makes these things more complicated."

When they finally pulled to a stop in a gas station's parking lot, Alex got up to let the new person in. Everyone else sat in rapt attention as Cate and Alex worked their magic, going over everything the new woman needed to know.

This was really the first time Patricia's people had observed him in action. Usually the band was elsewhere while this occurred. In the case of Chelsea and Jordan, they'd helped him, but they'd usually been in another room searching for new followers instead of watching what he did. Alex could see the band really wanted to be a bigger part of this than they had been. He was glad he'd finally found time to travel with them, as it helped include them more, and it made things easier for Alex's people.

Yet another step, Alex told himself. One more out of so many.

The van was pulling into Phoenix near the end of a busy week. They had two concerts here, Friday and Saturday, after having spent the last four days performing one night concerts at Amarillo, Albuquerque and Flagstaff following their extended stay in Oklahoma City. It was a pace Alex was unused to, and it left little time to spend exploring or searching for new people in the cities themselves, especially when the concerts ran late, and he spent so much time with various followers afterwards, only to get up and out early in order for the band to be able to set up the next day in a new city.

The others could rest while they drove, but he, Cate and Gail had to keep active, since not everyone who followed them thought to call the phone number on the bus, so they'd often have to wave to attract someone's attention before they exited the highway to talk with them. That was harder to do from a tour van than it was out of a rear windshield. As a result, Alex was already feeling worn out, and he knew he'd be busy for the two days they'd be spending here. Unfortunately, they couldn't spend any longer here than that, since they had a long drive through remote countryside to their next tour date in Las Vegas. They had a fair amount of time until the concert there, as it took place the next week, but Alex had some plans in Utah which he'd need the extra time for.

Speaking of remote, Alex had thought the Texas countryside was sparse, but it was lush compared to what they'd observed on the road here. Although they weren't technically in the desert yet, he could see how close to it they were. He was glad to see the green around Phoenix, as little as there was of it, glad to feel the increased humidity around the city as well, although the heat, despite the greener environment, was oppressive.

The band had really stepped up to the plate, now that he'd involved them in more of the day to day operations. During their frequent stops they each made themselves busy, planning out future stops, calculating how many miles there were between each exit, fixing drinks for their new guests and for themselves as well. Chelsea and Jordan took over Cate's role of recording the new follower's information, allowing Cate to focus on explaining the science behind their new abilities. It was a role they relished, since it was to help Alex. Sure, the tour helped their careers, and it was already proving a big success, much to Diane Kennedy's consternation. But their first priority was to help Alex, and they appreciated finally being able to play a bigger role in his work.

Nearing the city, Erica pulled off of Interstate 17, the Black Canyon Freeway, to fill up the van's gas tanks before getting into the city where it would be difficult filling up a vehicle so large. Exiting the highway, they were approaching a gas station at a nearby intersection when a car suddenly veered off course approaching the intersection, crossing into the oncoming lane of traffic and barreled straight into the cars just entering the intersection. There was a horrid screeching of tires, as the other driver tried to avoid the collision, but it was unsuccessful. Those who were paying attention watched glass fly as the two cars collided, spinning the one car around and off the intersection, crumpling the front ends of both vehicles, accompanied by a horrendous sound of crashing metal.

"Erica, pull over," Alex insisted, taking immediate control of the situation. "Mac, call 911. The rest of you, come with me. We've got to move fast if we're going to help, we'll need to finish up before anyone arrives to watch us."

Cate already had the door open when he got to it, and they took off running to the two damaged cars. There were several vehicles stopped behind the accident, although several cars had veered past while the drivers in the other lane simply took in what had happened as they passed by.

As Alex approached the cars he took in what he could. The driver's side of the vehicle hit was crumpled, and he could see it would be difficult getting the people out. The other car was kitty-corner to that one, and while damaged, seemed to be more structurally sound, at least enough so they could reach those inside. Turning, Alex started barking orders.

"Sammy, you and Chelsea try to get that door open so we can reach the occupant. Gail, check on the passenger until they can get the driver out. Patricia, check out the other car. We need to know what the injuries are and whether the people can be moved before we do anything else. Jordan, you'll have to control the approaching traffic."

Everyone followed his commands without thinking. The site was confusing, but since each person now had a specific job, they didn't stop to consider what to do. Alex and Cate were the only ones trying to do a quick evaluation of where they were most needed. Having no other information, Alex approached the driver pinned inside by their damaged door, since that looked like the worse situation.

"Martin? Martin, are you OK? Martin?" a woman behind him yelled.

'Alex, you'd better get over here, ' Patricia advised him. 'The driver isn't responding and his wife seems to be about to lose it. I need to get him out of the vehicle.'

'Are you sure that's wise?' Alex asked. 'Make sure he doesn't have back problems first.'