Part 4
Reluctant to give up on the indescribable feelings coursing through your body you reinforce your mental shields and force yourself to concentrate on the details of what Stephen is trying to show you. He describes the mechanisms for bringing a ball into the firing chamber, the complex circuitry that controls the timing, the arrangement of electro-magnetic and biotronic fields that accelerate the balls used in the game to such high speeds. It is not until after several minutes have passed that your mental shields slip and Stephen realises how tired you really are.
A frown passes over the face that you can only vaguely see through the haze of images in your mind.
[I think that's enough for today, Jay.]
Suddenly released from the strain of concentration you lean back against the nearest solid object. With your senses still distorted you don't realise until too late that you were leaning mentally against something in the inside of the device. There is a very quiet ticking noise from it and Stephen looks at you closely, startled.
[What did you just do?] He asks.
And that's when the projectile from the machine hits him in the chest.
*****
For a few milliseconds you can do nothing but stare. Stephen is folding to the ground, already unconscious, an impossibly red stain spreading across the front of his clothing. Then your instincts kick in.
Without a thought you jaunt to Stephen's side. Your hands hover above his shattered chest and your mind reaches out to him. You can feel the damage below your hands and instinctively you do what you can to repair it. You bind shattered edges, stop the torrential blood flow, but the damage is too severe. You can feel Stephen slipping away and try to call out to him, to hold him back.
A second pair of hands closes over yours before you are even aware that Mike has jaunted to your side. You can feel him reaching out, healing, calling to Stephen but even he is struggling. A third person appears beside you and from the moment her mind joins your impromptu link you recognise Carol. Together you try to heal Stephen, try to persuade him to hold on.
More hands come into your tunnel vision now, pulling you away. More powerful minds than yours shoulder you aside as what is clearly a Trig medical team takes over from you. In an instant they and Stephen and Mike are all gone and only then do you become aware that the small room is full. It's full of things, people, in so many different shapes and sizes that your mind threatens to shut down completely. On your hands and knees you scuttle backwards trying to find a clear spot in the room. You wrap your arms around your knees and hide your face in them, unable to take it all in. You hear Carol's voice, tired and upset but authoritative.
[Back off! Give him room! He's a novice!]
You just want to hide but you raise your head slowly as Carol strokes your hair gently. The room is emptying now the immediate danger is over and Carol is kneeling beside you.
[You did the right thing, Jay.] She tells you. [You kept Stephen alive until the rest of us could get to him. Not many people could have done that.]
You want to tell her this was all your fault, that if you had done the right thing in the first place none of it would have happened, but you can see the fearful anxiety in her eyes and you can't add to it with your own petty guilt. You can't speak but she continues to stroke your hair, speaking soothingly.
[You did the right thing.] She repeats. [Jay, you're in shock. I'll take you back to your rooms.] You don't try to interfere as she reaches out to set your belt but just jaunt when she tells you with the vague thought of the Earth common room in your mind.
The blond haired woman appears beside you and forces you to sit on the sofa. Carol's long flowing robes brush around your face as she arranges cushions around you comfortably and at her mental command a hot drink materialises on the link table. The taste is strange and a little bitter but she forces you to sip it and you do. You can feel the edge of her worry in the back of your mind like a knife as she fusses around you.
"How...how did you know to come?" You ask aloud, not ready for the full honesty of mental contact.
She smiles a wan smile at you.
"You were broadcasting panic loudly enough that half the Trig heard you. Even Overmind hesitated. Mike and I knew something was wrong at once but it was your broadcast that told us where."
She adjusts the last cushion and looks at you seriously.
"Jay, will you be alright for a few minutes? I left my children unsupervised. I need to make sure they're looked after. I'll be back soon. In fact Mike should be, too."
You nod vaguely and she looks at you worriedly before she jaunts.
*****
It's almost half an hour before Carol returns but you don't notice the time passing. Your mind seems to have shut down, no conscious thought passes through it. She finds you where she left you, with the mug of now cold liquid still held between your hands. She has to pry it loose before she can wrap you with the blanket she summons telekinetically from somewhere.
[Jay, I'm sorry. I couldn't get back any sooner. My children are still too young to be left alone for long. I didn't mean to leave you alone for more than a minute or two.]
You come back to yourself still feeling vague and disconnected.
"Where...where's Mike?" You ask. Carol brushes against your mind but you shy away from the telepathic communication that seems to come so naturally to her. You're virtually untrained, uncontrolled and dangerous. She senses your slight resistance and answers verbally.
"Still at the medical centre."
"Stephen?"
Carol's face is pale and anxious as she looks you in the eyes.
"They're doing their best, Jay. The...damage was extensive and by the time they repaired it Stephen was in a coma. They're worried about what the effects might be if, when, he wakes up."
"Will he be alright?"
Her eyes flood with tears.
"It's still too early to tell. Oh, Jay!"
She starts to cry and you find yourself holding her as she sobs into your shoulder. You feel the guilt building up inside you like water behind a dam. This is all your fault. These people accepted you as one of their own and all you've done is cause them this distress.
"Jay." Carol takes a deep breath and brushes tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "They might want me to help try to bring Stephen back so I might have to leave you here again for a bit. If Mike calls me to the medical centre I'll have to go at once."
You nod, numbly.
Do you:
a) ask to go along to the medical centre?
b) wait here?
To return to the start click here.
To skip this storyline and start another click here.
You are currently on Path 5.
Click here to return to my homepage.
Email me on tiylaya@yahoo.com with comments or suggestions.