Chapter 18: A Little Bird, a Pit Bull and a Spirit Go Into the Desert and...

"Hey, Cate, aren't these mice getting a bit ... fat?" Alex asked, not sure how to phrase a question about tiny rodents delicately.

Cate wandered over and glanced around her brother to see what he was looking at.

"Oh, those are Allison and Shani. Allison is one of the Seers, that is, she gets a dosage equivalent to what a Seer would get over her lifetime. I've noticed the Seer mice have been putting on weight. I suspect it's because they handle food more efficiently, drawing more nourishments from the same amount of food than the others. I'd cut back their feed, but that could potentially skew the results of the experiment. But then again, not cutting them back could skew it as well if their life spans are reduced by their being overweight. I've been meaning to discuss it with Becky to see what she thinks about it."

"Don't you think you should mention that to the human Seers?" Alex asked.

"Well, the mice are adjusting themselves, voluntarily cutting back on what they eat, but they haven't changed enough to counteract the effects to their metabolism."

"Still... ," Alex said, before refocusing his attention.

'Hey, this is Alex. Cate noticed something unusual in her research you might be interested in, ' he said, reaching out to each of the Seers. 'She says that your metabolism has likely changed significantly and you're likely to gain weight as a result.'

'Hey, Alex, this is Allison. I've talked to several of the girls about this already. We've already noticed it and we've each cut back on our eating pretty dramatically. If I'm not mistaken, the Watchers have had some problems as well, but only after they spend time with you. They seem to return to normal within a week of your leaving.'

'Really? You already knew this and didn't think to mention it to Cate?'

'Well, the girls have been contacting me, since I'm the resident medical expert, and I discussed it with Liv. We figured out pretty quickly on our own that we needed to cut back what we eat, so it wasn't too hard to figure out it was tied to our activation. Frankly, about all I eat nowadays is a small appetizer anytime I go out to eat. It's more nutritious than a salad, but I can't eat much more than that.'

'Have you noticed any modified responses from the boosted Seers and Watchers?' Alex asked. 'I mean, does that boost the effect, as well?'

'Not that I've noticed. We think it has to do with how we utilize the extra BCM we're exposed to via the link you created in our brains during our activation. Since you don't do that to the Watchers, they don't seem to be affected. What they're affected by is simply being exposed to your energy. That effect lasts for a while after you're gone.

'There's the ongoing question of whether you increase the size of the link when you boost the Seers, so it might be useful for us to measure exactly what the different amounts each of the Seers eat, but since we haven't noticed a difference in their BCM it just never occurred to us.'

'OK, that makes sense, though you'll have to talk to Cate about doing any further tests. But as long as you're aware of the problem I'm happy. I was afraid you'd all blame me for getting fat.'

'Believe me, the only ones blaming you for getting fat have more specific reasons for it than this, ' Allison teased him before saying goodbye.

"Are you finished?" Cate asked.

"Yeah, I was warning the Seers about it, but it seems they already knew about it."

"That's what I figured," she replied, "but it brings up another topic I was meaning to discuss with you. You'll notice Shani is thinner?"

"Yeah, I noticed they're all different sizes, but Shani and Allison are kind of two extremes. One's huge and the other is thin as a rail."

"That's what I was meaning to discuss with you," Cate responded. "Shani is one of my 'Alex mice'. She's been getting a dosage commensurate to your lifelong exposure to BCM, and frankly, she's thinner than the others because her metabolism is much higher. I've made adjustments in their case, because I figure they need the extra nutrients, but like you, they eat a LOT more than normal mice and they still lose weight."

"That makes sense, after all, you've seen me eat."

"Well, I just wanted to point out that it's an issue. I'll be watching them to see if they show any other symptoms, but that's not real likely for some time."

"Hey, and here I was thinking you'd want to limit my calorie intake to try to extend my lifespan, after all, that's what they've been finding in lab animals."

"Yeah, I can see that. If I were to cut back your food, you'd likely be a skeleton within a week. I don't think those rules apply in extreme cases like yours. Basically your metabolism is racing as your body tries to deal with the effect the BCM has on it. Don't worry, I'm being very careful with what you're consuming. Why do you think we've been eating such rich food in fancy restaurants? I'm trying to get some more fat on you as a protection, giving your body something to fall back on during emergencies."

"Hmm, so that's why we don't stop off at McDonalds anymore," Alex replied with a grin. "Man, speaking of which, I could go from some fries right about now."

"Well, you're not likely to get it out here in the middle of the desert," Erica called out from the front of the van where she'd been listening to the conversation.

"Still, if you see someplace to pull over and grab something, I'm getting kind of hungry as well," Sammy commented.

"Hey, we're in the middle of the damn desert. We're not likely to pull over for some crappy gas station warmed over hot dogs. I've got some stuff for Alex to eat, but you can stand to skip a meal or two, Sammy," Cate informed him, looking his pot belly over.

"Ah, man, you're no fun," he playfully complained, remembering as he said it that his life hadn't been anywhere near this exciting before he'd met the siblings.

"Alex," Mac Schumacher, who was driving the tour bus at the moment, called out. "We've got something here."

Alex focused his attention on her as he started to get up. "What is it? We're pretty far from any populated areas." He noticed she'd already started applying the brakes, though, so he knew something was up.

"There's somebody standing in the middle of the road, trying to get us to stop," Mac warned him.

"This far out in the country, that might not be such a smart idea," Gail warned. "If they've got someone else hidden nearby, they might be looking to rob us."

"Or more likely, it's another Seer who's detected you as we're approaching," Patricia countered.

"Yeah, and who the hell is going to be wandering around in the middle of the desert without having a car nearby?" Gail asked, skeptically.

"I agree with Patricia," Alex said, coming to his own decision. He'd gotten close enough to see out the front of the van, and he could see a slightly heavyset woman in colorful but muted earth tone colors. "If it makes you feel better, you can take whatever precautions you want, Gail, but we're stopping to see what she wants."

Mac slowed the large bus and pulled onto the dusty embankment. While they were still in the desert, they were now in what they called the 'high desert', near the higher isolated peaks rather than in the sandy isolated areas, thus is was marginally cooler, but Alex wondered what this woman was doing way out in the middle of nowhere. He saw no other signs of life nearby. No truck stop, no stores, no houses, cars or much of anything, yet this woman was standing in the middle of the road holding her hands up signaling for them to stop as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

As the bus pulled to a stop, Alex opened the door, exposing them to the billowing clouds of dust they'd kicked up, as well as to the oppressive heat outside. As he moved down the stairs, Gail was right beside him.

"I thought you wanted to stay back and watch out for anyone nearby?"

"Hey, I'm guarding you, not everyone else. But if there's anyone else here, they're very cleverly disguised," she advised him.

"She's coming by the side now," Erica called out, so Alex quickly exited the vehicle and held the door open for the woman, who despite her size was pretty nimble. As she approached, Alex recognized her hair was straight and black and her skin was a coppery tan color. Between that and her dress, which was adorned with several tribal motifs, he gathered she was a Native American. That might explain why she was here, but not why she was wandering in the middle of nowhere with no way to come and go.

"I'm glad you stopped," the woman said as she drew near. "You were traveling pretty fast, and most people don't pay much attention when they drive past here."

Gail wondered why she was speaking with Alex normally, if she was a Seer like she suspected. Watchers, while they were attracted to Alex, usually didn't go to such lengths to stop him. However, Alex was hampered by the sun, which was now shining directly in his eyes from behind the woman approaching them. Thus, according to Cate's premise about how he performed his activations, he'd be unlikely to do it yet.

Beside the native dress she wore, he also noticed she had a full backpack and a water bottle strapped to her side. He could see that much, at least, since it was in silhouette.

"My name is Alex. Do you have a car nearby or—?"

"No, I like to wander the desert every now and then to maintain my roots in my native environ—" she said, halting abruptly when the angle she was facing Alex from changed and his eyes connected with hers. But instead of stumbling back, she simply stopped and regarded him, as if taking in whatever was happening to her, almost like she'd been expecting it.

"Are you OK?" Gail asked from slightly behind and to the right of Alex.

"I'm fine," she told them. "I was expecting something exceptional, but when I saw you, you looked just like a normal gringo. But now you look like what I expected you to, like a spirit."

"Well, look, let's get you inside where we can discuss this in some air conditioning. While you may be used to this heat, we city folk aren't," Alex said, already feeling himself sweating heavily. The woman simply nodded, stepping in front of Alex and climbing the stairs into the tour bus.

"If you could, I'd like to refill my water bottles," she said to those inside the van as she entered, without bothering to introduce herself. "I've been waiting for you for a while, and I'm running low. I was afraid to leave to refill them."

"You've been waiting for a long time? Not just since you felt Alex approaching?" Cate asked as Chelsea got her some water.

She waited until Alex and Gail followed her into the van before responding, figuring they'd want to hear her response as well.

"It's an interesting tale," she said. "I come up here to commune with the spirits of my ancestors and to reacquaint myself with the old ways of my tribe. But, as I was packing up to return home I saw a running bird, what you'd call a roadrunner. It stopped near my campsite and just stared at me, which isn't like them at all. We both watched each other, until it finally turned and ran off a ways, then turned back to watch me again, as if challenging me to follow it.

"Now, what's peculiar about it is the running bird is my spirit guide. Although my American name is Robin Peters—my father was from outside my culture—my tribal name translates to 'morning bird'. It seems everyone associated birds with me, though they seemed to have gotten the wrong birds. I had my first encounter with the spirit of running bird when I was twelve, and it was so momentous I decided I would study to become a medicine woman of my tribe so I could better learn what it was trying to tell me."

While she was talking, Cate offered her a seat and she happily took it. Despite being used to the terrain and her being there voluntarily, it was clear she was tired from having been exposed to the elements for so long. Chelsea handed Cate a glass of water as she handed Robin her water bottle. She took a long drink of the water, pulled her oversized backpack off, revealing it contained both a folded tent and sleeping bag combo, and she pulled out another couple of water bottles.

"Since that time I've served my tribe, the Hualapai, as their official medicine woman. We're a very small tribe, with only a couple thousand members scattered over a range only several hundred miles across both Arizona and Nevada, and many of those I serve live off the reservation, in non-tribal cities across the country. But they often ask my advice about a number of things, so I like to return to the mountains here to commune with the spirits to ask them how best to answer their queries."

"Well, I don't mean to interrupt your story, but I'd like to introduce everyone," Alex said. "What's your real name, just so I'll know what to call you?"

She laughed a short bark of a laugh. "My 'real name' is Robin. I'm as American as the rest of you, only I also live in my native world as well. You wouldn't be able to pronounce my native name, and I don't consider it important that you do. Everyone I know speaks English, and while Hualapai make a fair amount off of the tourists visiting the Grand Canyon, which is only spread amongst a small number of members, our native language isn't widely used anymore, so I only use it on special occasions to remind people what it sounds like. But it's rarely used for everyday speech."

So Alex made introductions all around, and Robin 'morning bird' stopped with each introduction to stare at the person. Alex wasn't sure whether she was trying to figure out what her new visions meant, since they varied with each person she looked at, or whether she was trying to peer into their souls using her normal vision, but she took the time to evaluate each and every one of them.

"Anyway, as I said, the running bird drew me from my campsite," she said once more, not bothering to explain what she'd been looking at in each of them. "I figured, as strange as this was to have my spirit guide come to me as an actual bird, she wasn't likely to wait for me forever, so I quickly packed everything up. Once I started, the bird ran off, but once I'd gotten everything squared away and set off in the direction she'd run off to, she showed up farther on.

"Now I have no idea if it was the same bird or not, but I felt confident it was my spirit guide speaking to me through them, something she's only rarely done in the past. But she continued to guide me in the same manner, showing up occasionally, staring me in the face, then running off in a new direction for me to follow before running off again. I knew better than to run after it, simply following in the direction it set out, but it drew me, eventually, to this site.

"When I got to the highway I wasn't sure where to go, thinking my spirit guide wouldn't be concerned with the ways of the white man, but as I was running across the road, another running bird showed up farther down the highway. It ran out in the middle of the road, once again staring at me, as if saying 'No, I want you here, ' so that's what I did. When I returned to the road, it ran off, disappearing once again. So I waited. And it was a long wait. I waited two full days in the hot sun. I'd set my tent just off the road so I wouldn't get overexposed. But today the running bird showed up one more time, this time calling to me. I didn't know what it was saying, but I chose to interpret it as meaning that this was the day we'd been waiting for, so I packed up my supplies once again so I'd be ready for whatever happened."

Robin stopped speaking when Chelsea brought her water bottles back, once again drinking a fair amount, trying to rehydrate herself, and then putting them back where she'd gotten them. It was obvious she was dehydrated from sitting in the sun for so long, so they gave her time to recover.

"Eventually I could feel your presence approaching, and I could tell it was a strong spirit, and not just another car. I decided I couldn't afford to let you pass, so I got in the road, intending to flag you down in case you didn't know I was there."

"I didn't," Alex explained. "While you can feel my energy, I have no such abilities of my own. I give off the energy you feel, but I have no way of interpreting it on my own."

"That may be, but your energy isn't so much physical as spiritual. I've felt the spirits of my ancestors and of my spirit guide before, and yours feels similar, although it's much stronger. I'm now thinking I've been such a successful medicine woman because I've been able to feel the spirits of my people, and I've used that to evaluate them."

"That makes sense," Cate said. "The energy Alex gives off, which we call BCM, is given off by all living things, but only a tiny percentage of people can detect it." She then proceeded to give Robin a full explanation of what was involved, and she listened very patiently, absorbing everything she told her, but she didn't seem to be overly convinced.

"As I said, you can explain it anyway you like, but your energy feels just like that of other spirits, but theirs isn't as strong, probably because they're reaching out to me from the land of the dead, whereas yours is from a living source."

"Actually, we've got an alternate explanation," Alex replied. "We have a Vietnamese woman who views it along similar lines, interpreting it from her cultural basis. Her theory is that my spirit found a way to tap into this BCM energy source as a way of crossing over from the spirit realm. She thinks I used the energy to bring over many of my followers, and that's why I've found so many supportive people around me."

"She sees me as one of his generals in the spiritual realm," Cate said with an obvious pride in her voice.

"That makes more sense," Robin observed, "and it fits in with what I both believe and feel in my bones."

"It also fits in with what we've been trying to tell him," Gail suggested, "that he's being led by a higher being, or possibly by a number of them. We're thinking he's here to do more than just educate a few random people."

"The bigger mission, as much as we can make out," Patricia offered, "is to create a new branch of humanity with these particular abilities, and if he crossed over to do it, then he must have seen a unique opportunity to help humanity, and then found a way of doing it."

"Well what are we doing here in the hot sun?" Robin asked, looking like she was ready to head off.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Alex asked in confusion. "Don't you need to gather your supplies? Return to your car? Meet whoever brought you here?"

"Don't worry about that. I'm used to the desert. I come out here often, and I travel the high desert during the day and the low desert at night. I'm comfortable catching rides with passing traffic, and I know how to get from one location to another. I can't rely on telephones, since there's no wireless activity out here."

"But isn't that dangerous?" Alex asked, worried about her catching rides with complete strangers in the middle of the desert, where it wouldn't take much to hide a body if someone wanted to.

"Don't worry, I'm a capable woman who knows how to defend herself. And while I may not be able to fight off a fully grown man, I know how to extract revenge, if nothing else," Robin said, as she reached into her hair and pulled out a very small needle of some kind.

"It's a cactus needle, dipped in the venom of a number of poisonous animals from the desert. I keep several hidden on me. It may not be enough to save me if I'm attacked, but it'll incapacitate anyone. And I'm not so afraid of death that I'd try to save myself by not defending myself. All I need to do is scratch their face enough so when they seek medical attention for the poison, whoever treats him will see the scratches and call the police. As you can see, I'm well aware of how dangerous life is. While I can't prevent the danger, I treat it like the other dangers of living in the desert. There are any number of ways you can die out here. You just have to be aware and keep your eyes open."

"That fits in with what we've learned about your kind, the Seers that is," Gail said. "They're pretty good at evaluating people based on what they feel from them, thus you've probably been able to avoid the worst cases."

"That makes sense. I've avoided a lot of people over the years, and if I recognize someone is dangerous, I can usually manage to defend myself. Stabbing someone with this," Robin said, once again indicating her small needle, as well as revealing a knife in her belt, "is more effective when you first meet someone than after they've already attacked you."

"But wait, you want to leave here and follow us, wherever we head off to?" Alex asked, still not able to keep up with the various divergent discussions.

"I was led to you by my spirit guide. They had something for me to accomplish, and I believe it was more than just this 'activation' you talk about. I have to believe I was meant to help you, as much as you have helped me. So if I am to do that, I must follow you to whatever you'll need my help with."

"But how will you ever get back?" Alex asked, trying to figure out how she could just take off with a bunch of strangers on a moment's notice like that.

"I have a phone and a lot of contacts. My friends are used to my wandering ways. It may take them some time to reach me, but they'll find me eventually and take me home when the time comes. Now let's go. There's no sense waiting. If you have a rendezvous with fate, there's no sense putting it off."

Still confused, they got everything straightened up and got back on the road, not sure how this was going to eventually play out.

"So what's up with all the mice?" Robin asked after she finished talking to Anh. "If you're interested, I could find you a few wild specimens."

"No, they're part of an experiment," Cate explained. "We're testing to see what the long term affects of exposure to BCM is. Since these are lab mice I know what their typical lifespan is, whereas I wouldn't with their wild brethren."

"Well, if you ask me, the chubby ones look pretty healthy, despite how fat they are, but the skinny one doesn't look so hot."

"The skinny ones represent Alex, while the fat ones represent the Seers, like you. The lethargic middle ones are the control group," Cate explained.

Robin tried to glance at Alex again, but immediately realized she couldn't tell how he looked because she couldn't see either him or his aura clearly. "That doesn't sound good for Alex," she said in response.

"That's why I'm doing the test. We're worried about his health. Tremendous power comes at a cost, so far Alex hasn't been corrupted by it, but it's costing him in other ways."

"Well, I'll admit the skinny ones looks healthy, so they'd probably do better in the wild. Frankly, I wouldn't let those chubby mice out of here, as they wouldn't last long out in the wild. I can imagine all the foxes salivating over them now."

"I'd be willing to bet both of them would likely survive longer than the control group mice," Cate said, sticking up for her tiny test subjects.

"Hey, there's a gas station coming up," Sammy announced. He'd taken over the driving when they'd stopped to pick up Robin.

"Ah, that'd be Billie D's place. He's got his own receiver, so I should be able to get a signal. I'll call someone and have them pick up my car."

"If it was nearby, why didn't you have us stop by and get it for you?" Alex asked.

"Because it wasn't nearby. It was over on the far side of those hills back there. You'd have had to drive a good fifty miles to reach it," she answered. "While it's a relatively short walk, it's a long way by road."

"Oh, OK, as long as there was a good reason," Alex answered weakly.

"Something tells me it isn't such a short walk, either," Gail commented, taking into account Robin's tough girl image.

Robin made her phone call, making her arrangements while Sammy pulled in to the quaint but worn down little roadside stop. Sammy pulled the bus up to the gas pump as everyone else got ready. Although they had their own mobile bathroom, no one really liked using it much, since using it meant they'd have to empty it more often, something none of them liked to do often. As a result, everyone was ready to make a break for it.

"Man, I'm ready for this. I've been trying to hold my knees together for the last half hour."

"That serves you right for drinking all those sodas," Jordan teased Erica.

"Me, I'm ready to get out and walk around," Mac said. "I wonder what they sell inside?"

"Billy doesn't sell a lot. He's got a lot of fast food, most of it pretty old. The drinks are all lukewarm, and the road maps don't show shit, but he's got the basics. But I wouldn't get your hopes up about the bathrooms. They're not as nice as the one you have here."

"You know this Billy?" Patricia asked.

"Yeah, I know him. He's a Paiute from near here. He's gotten close to the members of my tribe, to keep anyone from getting upset about his setting up shop in their territory, but it's government land and it's off the Hualapai reservation, so they really can't complain."

"Billy D? That's some Indian name, is he from Mississippi or was he named for the actor?" Chelsea asked.

"Well, if you insist on knowing, his native name is 'Burrowing Fox', that's a 'wannge'e' if you're interested, but everyone knows him as Billy D. He picked it up when serving in the military, where no one could pronounce his name. He found it so much easier to use, and it generated so many fewer questions, he kept it after he got out."

"Are you two friends?" Chelsea asked, out of curiosity.

"I wouldn't say friends, but we know and respect each other. I stop by occasionally when I'm up here in the high country, and he knows of my role as the local medicine woman."

When they stopped, everyone climbed out, and Alex went to help Sammy fill the tank. Robin stuck with Alex, as did Gail, but Gail only stuck around for so long until her bladder got the best of her, so she excused herself and trotted off.

Alex was pumping the gas while Sammy checked out the van, Robin was testing the wind as if it had some private message for her.

'Alex, you'd better get in here. There's someone waiting for you by the register, ' Gail warned him a few minutes later.

"Uh, SAMMY, could you take over the pump for me. I've got a situa—"

"Yeah, yeah, don't bother explaining. I should've known you'd get called away as soon as you offered. Go on, I'll take care of this," Sammy said as he took the pump from Alex. "Just remember, though, we only have so much room in the bus with all those damn animal cages."

Alex wiped his hands off and headed inside, Robin following right along behind him. When he entered the little shop attached to the gas station he saw rows of supplies, several older refrigerators holding various sodas and beers, and a few people around the cash register. However Alex made a point of not looking at their faces, wanting to save that moment until he was closer.

"Mornin', Robin."

"Mornin', Billy," she answered simply.

"Interesting group of friends," Billy commented.

"Just wait. You ain't seen nothin' yet."

"You can look, Alex," Gail advised him, "I've told her what to expect."

"I fel—" the new woman started to say until Alex glanced up and looked in her eyes. After their discussion of the other day, Alex took the time to watch what happened. He couldn't see anything specific, but Cate, who'd noticed something was up and who was watching from one of the nearby aisles, saw what was happening. Since she knew what to look for, having discussed it with her sister Becky, she could clearly see the woman's eyes dilate then immediately contract again. It was quick, and hard to notice, but it was pretty clear if you were looking for it.

She'd also observed, before Alex arrived, that the woman's pupils were already pretty large, and they got larger the closer Alex got to her. Thus by the time Alex reached her, there wasn't quite as significant a response.

The woman, a tough looking girl, looked like she was built like a linebacker. She was beautiful, with long straight brunette hair with a few blonde streaks. She was buff, clearly having more muscles than Gail, and she wore camouflaged military pants and a simple green muscle T. She was clearly a weightlifter, and knew how to work out. Alex assumed she must be in the Army from her outfit, but couldn't figure out what the hell she was doing out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Are you OK?" Alex asked.

"Hell, yeah, I'm a soldier. I'm always OK. I ... what the fuck did you do to my eyes?"

'Easy there, soldier. Let's not say too much out loud. I'm trying to keep this type of stuff quiet.'

That produced a reaction, whereas her initial activation didn't. Her head snapped up and she tried to stare Alex down, but was unable to so for longer than a few moments.