Part 12
You reach out to Tyso and Stephen with all the concentration you can muster. They won't pull you back to that place to hurt the others. You trust them more than that. Lightning shoots across your vision. Sounds like none you've ever heard assault your ears despite the silence of hyperspace. Concentrating on Stephen's voice is the hardest thing you've ever done.
[Jay, listen to me. Something's opened your senses wide and that's affecting you like a drug. You have to focus around it. You have to focus on my voice.]
You can hear Tyso too, distantly, but Stephen's is the more familiar mind and you lunge for it with all your strength. You don't hear Stephen's yelp as your unshielded mind hits his with the force of a high speed train. In the short time since you've broken out your telepathy has already strengthened considerably and no telepath of your strength would ever normally be entirely unprotected. Even as what little is left of your reason is overjoyed to make contact with the other Tomorrow People you can feel Stephen being overwhelmed. He holds on to your mind with all his strength though, anchoring you against the currents of hyperspace that threaten to blow your mind away.
In the end it is Tyso who pulls you both in. You teleport from hyperspace to land in a heap at the blonde Tomorrow Person's feet and you can feel Stephen on his knees beside you in the sand. Sparks still fly across your vision and you are picking up hundreds of stray thoughts but all quiet and distant.
"Jay!" Tyso shouts your name urgently. "You have to release your hold on Stephen's mind! You're crushing him!"
You do as the older Tomorrow Person says without conscious thought, too exhausted to argue with the authority in his voice. Tyso's voice becomes gentler and his accent more acute as he squats beside the two of you.
"Alright. I jaunted us into the middle of the nearest dessert. Hopefully here we're far enough away for you not to hurt anyone. We can't get you back to the Trig until some of the effects wear off." Tyso has a hand on either side of Stephen's head and you can feel his concentration. Stephen groans and his eyes flutter open. He looks pale and unsteady after what you did to him. Your throat feels dry and you feel ill. You don't try and move. You are not sure which way is up and which way is down anyway. You drift into unconsciousness as Tyso turns his attention to you.
*****
You wake in a comfortable bed and in near total silence. For a moment you just lie still, too relieved that the room is not turning somersaults to risk provoking it by moving. It takes you several long moments to register that you are, in fact, in your room on the Trig. The clean white sheets below you feel cool against your skin and you turn your head to press your forehead into them. You're nursing the worst headache you've ever experienced short of your breakout itself.
"Sip this." Someone is holding a cup to your lips and you do as they say before trying to figure out who it is. The headache begins to subside as you drink and you turn around slowly to face your visitor. John, you realise, the name coming to you on a deep and instinctual level as you study the rich brown eyes of the man beside you. You remember how the others have spoken of this man, you remember the affection and respect in their voices. Even in this first encounter you can feel the tightly restrained power in the man. You can feel his anxiety and his curiosity about you. "How are you feeling, Jay?" John asks quietly.
"Like a truck hit me." You murmur and then you frown. "John, I thought you were on Earth. What are you doing here?"
"You've had a busy couple of days, Jay." John smiles gently, his occasionally harsh exterior softened by his obvious concern. "I wanted to meet you and see that you and Stephen were alright with my own eyes."
"Stephen?" You ask, your voice rising with concern, "Did I...?"
"You overloaded his senses rather." John tells you calmly, putting a hand on your shoulder to stop you from trying to rise. "But then your own senses were overloaded at the time. He's a bit pale and shaky but he'll be fine."
You scan the older Tomorrow Person's face anxiously but relax as you realise that he's telling you the truth.
"John, I'm so sorry."
"You're going to have to be more careful, Jay." John tells you with a frown. "Tyso found the remnants of the pastry in your pockets with a bite taken out of it. It's no wonder you lost control. There were substances in the thing that would have acted like a powerful drug on your system. We try to avoid anything that might affect our mental state."
"I see. I didn't think I'd swallowed enough for it to have any effect." You tell him, chastened. "It wont happen again."
John frowns again.
"It had better not. Once is too often."
"Let the kid alone, John." Mike is standing by the door to your room and he comes to your defense. "We all make mistakes at first."
John rolls his eyes but you can feel the warmth between the two of them.
"And you made more than your fair share."
"At least Jay didn't rob a bank." Mike agrees leaving you utterly confused.
"The people I was with?" You ask, suddenly anxious.
"No worse than a few with headaches." Mike assures you. "You didn't focus on any of them the way you did with Stephen so none of them were caught badly enough to actually be hurt. Tyso's gone back there now, just to make sure there were no after effects."
"Good." You say a little faintly as the exhaustion you've been feeling begins to kick in.
John tucks the sheets on your bed up around your shoulders.
"Get some rest, Jay." He says softly. "And don't worry. We'll see you in the morning."
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