I had asked for your views as to continuing this story in the introduction to the first one…but due to other responsibilities, proofing has taken a little longer than normal. Authors take note here those people we rely on ‘The Proofers’ are real people, with real lives. Send them a note to say how much you appreciate them…go on they deserve it. Anyway, to get back to my introduction, I began to listen to the voices in my head again--NO not, the ones saying, "Burn" and "Kill"--and this erupted over twenty-four hours. It is not exactly a TV/TG story, more a story with a TG element, but that hasn’t seemed to bother you before. If you like it, tell me about it. If you don’t, tell me about it too; then I might make the next one even better. As with the last one in this series the idea of the Curative Telepath is something, I have stolen from the John Brunner book, Telepathist--which is well worth reading.

Hypatia pboauk@yahoo.com

 

The Telepath Chronicles

Part Two - Above All Else Do No Harm

by: Hypatia

 

I must've dreamed a thousand dreams,
Been haunted by a million screams,
But I can hear the marching feet,
They're moving into the street.

-- Genesis, Land Of Confusion

 

It was from a deep sleep that William was woken, but this was what you expected on your weekend on call.

"You awake there?" came the voice of Susan Jennings, a technician who he seemed to be paired with on a regular basis, ever since his first escorted trips into the minds of others.

"Uh huh," he responded without opening his eyes.

"We have sensitives reporting that a strong grouping formed," Susan said with sympathy in her voice.

"Where?" he asked trying to pull himself together.

"It’s a close one, Stoke on Trent area they think," she answered and he sat bolt upright.

"Stoke On Trent?" he repeated with disbelief in his voice. Susan nodded.

"That can’t be a coincidence, can it?" he asked himself more than Susan. "No, the nearest grouping we have had in the last month has been in London. We cover most of Western Europe and I don’t think anything this close could be coincidence."

"Staff and ex-customers search, I’ll get on it now," Susan said departing. He looked at his watch as she left, which showed three in the morning.

"Bollocks," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed rubbing his eyes. Outside the sound of the rain was intense.

"Wonderful! Karen last weekend gets Valencia on a Sunday with a false alarm," William muttered to himself. "I get Stoke on a wet Saturday," and he knew deep in his heart it wasn’t a false alarm.

Armed with a coffee, William walked into Susan’s office. She was working at a computer terminal.

"What have we got to go on then?" he asked the back of her head.

"Not a hell of a lot," she replied while clicking on a name on screen. A phone line was opened and they could hear the ringing tone.

"Yes, what is it?" came an unhappy man’s voice from the other end.

"Emergency contact trace," Susan said, "sorry to disturb you."

The man just grunted in reply and the line went dead.

"What about Professor D?" Susan asked moving to one side to show that the next name was Professor Dubrovnik, head of Curative Telepathy at the Buxton Institute.

"You know the rules as well as I do. All registered Teeps are to be contacted first, then we start looking for an unregistered talent," The words were begrudgingly offered. Professor D was not a woman to wake over a triviality or as a matter of procedure. The phone started dialling again.

"Dubrovnik here, what’s the problem?" came The Professors softly accented voice before the phone had rung three times.

"Emergency contact trace, Professor" Susan said apologetically.

"A local grouping, any flavour of it yet?" she asked.

"Not yet we were only notified ten minutes ago," Susan admitted her ignorance.

"Who is on?"

"Hunt," Susan’s use of the impersonal surname irritated William.

"Tell him to get along to ward C3 and see a young Norwegian lad. Otto Hyderman is sensitive enough to pick it up in his sleep. But if you wake him, you will lose everything as he tries to block, so be quiet William, understand?"

"Yes Professor," William said.

"Well move it. You can’t spend all day with Susan," came the inevitable reprimand.

"I’m moving," he shouted as he left the office.

*****

Curative Telepathy was a new science, if you could call it a science. The first recognised telepathist on a scientific level had been Ben Hanson, a teenager with alleged emotional and psychiatric problems. He did have emotional problems -- he felt the troubles of the world and couldn’t cope. He was a strong talent even by today’s standards with nearly sixty years research and development of the training procedures behind them. He was strong enough to take over the ‘here and now’ of a respected Doctor of Psychiatric Medicine. It was only for a few minutes and it was a primitive form of psychotic grouping, but Jason Hamilton, the psychiatrist, had realised that something untoward had occurred.

For the first ten years, the public treated telepathy as a novelty. The Military, though, took it very seriously. Children were sought out, especially those with no families. What went on in supposedly civilised nations is still a closely guarded secret. Most countries still denied that any telepaths were ever held by the military. The escape of the seventeen from Siberia is still not admitted to have happened by any nation. Led by a young woman whose strength lay not in power, but control they fled their nation and found that nothing was different in the ‘Land of the Free’. Hiding their tracks they made contact with those being held by this democratically elected government and broke them out. Illyana Dubrovnik became known to the world when she led fifty six young men and women into the United Nations Building, unchallenged, by making those around them just not see the group until they were ready. In front of the ambassadors gathered in the General Assembly, they revealed themselves to the world and told the governments of the world where they stood.

"You all have your secrets," the young woman, not then sixteen, had told them, "personal and military secrets that you wish to remain secret. If we are left to live our lives in peace, they will remain that, if not and if we ever hear of a telepath being held against their will, then there will be no more secrets ever!"

"We do not condone such theatricals as you have performed here or respond to threats," the American representative had shouted. "Furthermore, the US does not imprison children against their will for military purposes." The man seemed to shiver for a moment and then continued in a wooden voice. "I have been gay most of my life, but my wife accepts my affairs as she knows she is necessary for my image. Say, who is the boy on your right. He’s cute."

Initially there was silence at this revelation, but then the uproar began. It was a long political battle, but with the support of the public, they won their freedom. The thought of a politician having to tell the truth -- the whole truth -- was a big point in their favour. The other thing that pushed public opinion was the gawky young girl with the sad dark eyes and a vulnerability that grasped all hearts and twisted as she spoke boldly despite her poor English in that hostile room.

Seven years later, here in Buxton, the Institute had been set up for the training of telepaths. Initially it was one of seven, one per a continent each in a country with little or no animosity towards the telepaths and out of the way and the public’s gaze. Now, forty years later, it was a hospital specialising in Psychiatry for all with training for new telepaths. Telepaths now had a clear and respected role in everyday life. Of course, the Institute had one additional function, a function that was highly respected, but not commonly understood by the public. The Institute was also the home base for the Curative Telepathists, those brave souls who ventured inside the minds of others.

*****

Though it was classed as a ward, C3 wasn’t exactly a ward. Telepaths tended to be socially isolated even before the onset of their skills, which occurred usually shortly after puberty. They were usually loners by choice with very few friends. They were screwed up kids before the world started looking at them with suspicion. Then all of a sudden they start feeling and hearing (depending on their focus and strength) exactly what goes through a human beings mind all the time. Some never recovered, withdrawing from the world. Others became schizophrenic and a few became violent killers trying to silence the voices. In C3 was a place where they could be with others with the same problems, a haven from which to escape the maddening world and refine the skills that they had been given. The most important of theses skills, in William’s opinion, was the ability to shield, to prevent the world from violating a child’s mind with the hatred and anger that we all carry.

 

William informed the duty staff what he was doing and walked to the door of Otto’s room. He closed his eyes and released the barriers of his mind. Twenty three adolescent telepaths thoughts and dreams imposed on his mind. Twenty asleep three awake, two of those awake were rather interested in each other. He thought about interrupting them.

"DON’T!" came a shout in his mind making him wince.

"Gently please," he thought back to the female.

"Sorry," came the apologetic reply, "this is their last night here together. Michael moves on to university to study sociology. Leave them be. They aren’t doing any harm and next year they will be moving in together anyway."

"Whom am I talking to?" William asked.

"Cassie," the girl admitted and William got a flash of a young girl possibly fourteen. It was a strange image he got which bore little in common with pretty young woman, who he had met once. An image of a flat chested, rather fat girl was placed in his mind. Every minor flaw that could be imagined was intensified under her own critical image of herself.

"Hey now," William thought back, "if I wasn’t old enough to be your big brother, I would be chasing you," He lied back. Women were something that had terrified him through his adolescence. He could talk to Professor D now after years of knowing her, and with Susan, he could function on a professional footing. Not that there was anything up with Susan, though she was wonderful in every way. He sent back an image of Cassie with a few years added, the body filled out and a more confident attitude. Cassie giggled in response.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked. "It’s late. You’re not peeking, are you?"

"No," she protested her innocence, "but something is up. Everyone who is asleep is echoing something and I can’t sleep because of it. Those two are too involved to notice."

William opened his mind to the feelings again trying to block out the feelings of the young lovers as they allowed hands to wander where perhaps they shouldn’t. It was difficult as the passion and love that they were radiating was a strong emotion covering the subtle nuances of a dreaming mind.

"Quiet a minute you two!" William snapped at the couple. "Shield your thoughts."

"I said quiet!" he snapped again as the couple tried to apologise. They blocked their thoughts immediately as did Cassie.

Love was the emotion he felt. A deep warm love that was overpowering, a warmth and hunger as well. It didn’t make sense. A non-verbal grouping was unheard of. The precision of a fantasy magnified what the escaping Telepath felt, more interaction means a better fantasy. That’s why others were brought into the group, to develop the fantasy. This just had emotions and needs.

"Sorry you two. I am leaving now," William said apologetically.

"Sorry," came an embarrassed joint reply.

"Don’t be, but remember, no pregnancies are allowed here, so use precautions," he replied. Embarrassment and guilt washed over him from the young couple as he walked off, secure in the knowledge he had at least made them think. He had told the duty nurse he was leaving and was just walking off when he was stopped in his tracks.

"STOP, WAIT FOR ME!" rang through his brain again causing pain. He turned around and saw a young girl running along the corridor trying to slip on shoes while she ran. The nurse intercepted her.

"I can help, I can feel her," she said to the nurse who glanced at William. He nodded. "Let Professor D decide," he thought.

Back in Susan’s office, Professor Dubrovnik was already waiting. She had a habit of knowing when and where she was needed. That in some ways was reassuring, but it did make William question his abilities at times. She smiled at Cassie as they walked in.

"I see you have brought an admirer with you," she projected to William on a one to one level. William nearly choked on the now cold cup of coffee he was still nursing.

"What…She said she could help," he protested, shocked at the revelation.

"Easy, you are the first person she has connected to here," the Professor told him. "You remember that don’t you?"

*****

He did, ten years, no eleven years ago, he had come here as a scared thirteen year old. Desperately seeking to divorce himself from the world, trying to close his mind to it. He didn’t want to be different. Then he had encountered a mind that was present only infrequently back then, that of Professor Dubrovnik. She had been a lot more active internationally at that time, before she passed on her duty as representative of the telepaths of the world to a new generation. Whenever she was present, he was mentally observing her, fascinated by the power and texture of the mind of this unknown person. He rebuked all other mental contact, but sought out this person in secret or so he thought. For weeks he followed this woman’s thoughts night and day and for weeks she stayed performing the function of a Psychiatrist.

"Why don’t you come and let me see what you look like?" she asked one afternoon, he remained silent trembling with the fear he may have been discovered.

"William, I am inviting you to have a cup of tea with me. Now say yes and get off that bed before you become permanently attached to it," her mind said.

"I don’t know who you are," William admitted projecting to another person for the first time.

"My name is Illyana. I am in the cafeteria," she told him gently, her mind projecting reassurance to the scared young man. "Come please, I would like to see who has been so attentively following my every movement."

"I am sorry," he said trying to block his thoughts and shield himself from her. His determination possibly held out six minutes before he had to look again.

"I am still here," her thoughts lilted humorously back at him, "and the only thing I would be upset about is eating alone."

He dressed, something he had to be forced to do normally, having no interest in the world outside his room, and walked off the ward. The nurse on duty didn’t challenge him and he walked through the busy corridors to the cafeteria. It was crowded, very crowded as it was lunchtime.

"Left a bit," came the voice as he walked through the tables. "Stop and turn around."

He did and nearly ran out. Before him was one of the most recognisable faces in the world, a face that had been portrayed in three films, Illyana Dubrovnik.

"Sit down, William," she said her dark eyes intently fixed on him, "please."

He did, trembling and scared before this legend, and found she wasn’t angry; she had cancelled meetings with international leaders so that she could get to this stage. From that day on he was one of Illyana’s special ones and he was no longer alone. Because no matter where in the world she was, whom she was with or what she was doing, she had time for him. So he understood what Professor D meant when she said that he was the first person Cassie had connected to and how important it was. As The Professor had explained to him, there were many meetings with presidents but only one William Hunt and he was special.

He now had to try to build up a similar relationship with that strangest of creatures to him, a female. To make matters worse, it was during that most difficult of ages for a girl, as a teenager.

"Cassie here says she can feel the grouping," William said verbally.

"What can you tell us," Susan asked, turning back to the computer.

"Er…it is a woman…I think," the girl mumbled unsure of herself in the current the company.

"William, you ask her," Professor D said on a telepathic personal level. "She is too insecure to cope when Susan in her professional mode."

"How do you know it’s a woman?" He gently asked the girl.

"I know how a woman’s mind feels and this is a woman," she replied a little more sure of herself. Susan looked at The Professor questioningly.

"She is very correct. A woman’s mind doesn’t work the same way as a man’s, different responses and thought patterns," The Professor replied.

"Anything else?" William asked her.

"Love, a deep love, but it is tinged with anger and loss," Cassie said her eyes glazing over as she concentrated on the grouping, "and it’s that way," she pointed at a wall.

"You can feel direction?" Professor Dubrovnik said sharply. The girl was silent and pale at The Professors urgent tone.

"How do you tell what direction it is coming from?" William asked softly. Her face was unsure, and her brow wrinkled.

"Don’t worry about The Professor. She never bites, however much she shouts," he thought on a personal level to the girl. The wrinkles left her brow and she smiled.

"I didn’t know if it was just me," she replied telepathically. "I didn’t like to say anything, I was scared"

"Don’t worry about it," he reassured her.

"Cassie says she can feel the direction," he said to Professor Dubrovnik, "but she was scared to say anything."

"Listen young woman," The Professor said standing before her. They were at the same eye level with The Professor’s diminutive height. "In the past you might have been afraid of being different. Never fear it here, as here we are all different. What makes you different, here just makes you more special," she said and hugged the girl tightly. William could feel the reassurance and love that she was projecting to the girl on all levels. He could also feel the fact that the girl wasn’t convinced.

"She is ok. She pulled me together when I was only your age and I turned out fine. I think…" he tailed off his own insecurities returning. He broadcast them at her toned down so she knew she wasn’t the only one who felt this way. She broadcast her appreciation back.

"Well then, you two are going to go hunting. Susan and I are going to see if we can pin the tail on the Teep." The Professor said and looked at the girl "Are you up to it, Cassie?"

"Yes Miss," she replied meekly.

"Professor D is what most of these who work with me here, call me," she said gently, "and I think we are going to be working together a lot."

Cassie cast a furtive glance over at William.

"We all work together; we are a team, so don’t worry," Professor Dubrovnik told her mentally and the girl relaxed. "You have ten minutes to get some warm clothing, so move it."

They watched the girl leave and looked at each other.

"Directional awareness!" Susan said with awe in her voice, "if we can just train three people to do that then we have an instantaneous fix on any grouping."

"Slow down," The Professor said seriously. "It will be years before she can open up enough to show anyone how she does it, and that’s only if we work gently. You are too young to remember the struggles to understand the empathic talents we take for granted now. We had dozens of them before someone was able to show how it was done, then it was easy."

"Why me?" William asked. "I know nothing about women or teenage girls."

"I never noticed," Susan said sarcastically, making William look at her in surprise.

"Listen, you have to play this by ear. She has been a reclusive personality for the three months she has been here and you are her first attempt at breaking that isolation. Even without the abilities she is showing, she is special," Professor Dubrovnik said looking at William.

"As are we all," he intoned almost as a prayer in response.

"You do listen then, occasionally," The Professor said turning to face him directly. He nodded in reply.

"If we lose this bond, she might reject all other attempts then we might never get her back" she said. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, I was just myself," he protested.

"Well keep doing it and remember to shield your thoughts when necessary. Even now you are a little lax with that," She warned him. "Give us a shout if you locate them. If we find anything first we will relay it on to you"

"Yes Professor," he said and left.

"What did he do to reach her?" Susan asked.

"Nothing," Professor Dubrovnik replied with a smile. "He was just himself and that was what was needed."

*****

"Just you two?" the pilot on duty for the small helicopter based at The Institute asked.

"Yes, we have a grouping nearby that we are trying to locate," William said to the man who was obviously unhappy about being woken.

"I don’t care about the specifics at this time in the morning. Just tell me where to fly," the pilot grumbled. William looked at Cassie almost hidden beneath a large coat.

"That way," she said pointing south west into the dark night, the pilot raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"We are airborne, Professor," William said as the aircraft lurched from the ground.

"Good, we are having little luck in tracing down all female telepaths in the area. Procedures like contact numbers are being neglected. I will be jumping on people from a great height," Professor D said with a very irritated tone. William knew that she believed in security through solidarity of the telepaths and once she had confided to him that she felt the dark times could easily return. Only fear of them as a group and what they knew stopped some governments returning to the old ways.

"We need to go slightly left here," came Cassie’s thought to bring him back to reality. He could feel the fear that the girl was feeling over their method of transport. He told the pilot and turned his attention to the girl.

"Don’t worry you get used to it after a while," he told her broadcasting reassurance and the concern he felt for her.

"Thank you," she said and he got the warm glow of her gratitude.

As they approached Stoke, the power of the grouping could be felt but despite its power it still felt imprecise and diffuse. William could tell when they were close, within a few miles but that was about it. The young girl though, so unsure about most things, was utterly certain about her ability to determine direction.

"Down there" she said pointing at a sprawling complex of buildings.

"Land where you can," William told the still silent pilot and the helicopter descended to a mostly empty car park.

"Do I stay?" the pilot asked as they opened the door to leave the helicopter.

"No," William said verbally and mentally added, "stay in the area just in case."

"Where are we?" Cassie asked William as they crossed towards a building that she had indicated.

"A hospital I think," he replied a hypothesis soon validated by a sign saying Maternity and Neonatal Paediatrics, he pulled out his phone and hit the button for Susan’s office.

"We know, William," Susan’s voice said, "Professor D is with you."

"You didn’t think I would let you out alone at night with that poor young girl, did you?" came The Professors voice in his mind. Cassie started giggling showing this had been a broader communication that the one to one personal communications.

"No Professor," he admitted, "do they know we are coming?"

"Not yet, as I can’t get anyone on the phone who is higher in authority than a porter," she answered with irritation.

"Well, we will have to see if my ID was worth bringing along," he said reaching inside his pocket to pull out a still new looking photo ID and attached it to his coat. It pronounced him a Curative Telepath and supposedly gave him the same rights as an International Diplomat. It also made it an offence to interfere with him in anyway. The locked door at the entrance to the unit didn’t care about that fact though. He pressed the bell and got no response. He started banging and shouting to try and attract attention. He didn’t get any response from within the unit but attracted the attention of two police officers.

"Now sir what exactly is going on here?" one of them demanded.

"and what is the young girl doing out here at this time of night?" the other asked.

"This is an emergency! I need to get in there now!" William exclaimed without hesitation.

"Now sir at the moment you need to be explaining to us exactly what is going on," the first officer said patiently, prepared to discuss the issue all night if necessary. Suddenly, his companion walked over and broke the glass on the door.

"Jesus Harry, what the hell do you think you are doing," he demanded of his companion.

"I don’t know," the second officer said, as Cassie and William entered the unit.

"Badges? We don’t need no stinking badges," he said to Cassie with a bad Mexican accent, but the girl just looked blankly at him. "Never mind. Which way?"

One ward was a flurry of activity. Midwives, nurses and a couple of doctors seem to be in frantic activity.

"Get out of here now," an older man shouted, "this unit is closed, a quarantine situation is in force. Wait in the relatives room and someone will be in to see you when they can be spared."

"Excuse me," William said, and was ignored a nurse pushed past him on the way to the drug cabinet.

"What the hell use is that?" came Professor D in his mind unbidden.

"LISTEN TO ME!" He shouted both verbally and mentally.

"No! You listen to me," the man who had ordered them out said. "We have an unknown viral condition here at the moment. Get out now!" he gave one last glare and turned his back on them again.

"NO YOU DO NOT!" William bellowed. Suddenly, all eyes were on him.

"You have a Psychotic Grouping," he said looking around at the victims of the telepathist’s fantasy. Twelve silent figures of babies were not moving or crying, despite the noise and fuss around them. The silence was eerie and unsettling.

"Don’t give me that crap! Get these two out of here," the doctor ordered two large orderlies after said dismissing the thought as ludicrous.

"Touch that man and you face a penalty of up to fifteen years in prison and violate the Telepath Charter section 2, subsection 4," came a quiet voice from behind William and Cassie. Despite the lack of volume everything again stopped and all attention was centred on the door.

"Who the hell are you?" the doctor shouted and tried to see where the voice came from. William stood to one side and a small figure wrapped in a large black coat came into view. A pulled up hood hid the face.

"I am Illyana Dubrovnik," she said pulling the hood down.

"Professor Dubrovnik?" the man asked awe in his voice.

"Yes," she answered verbally and added a mental comment to William and Cassie. "Never underestimate the power of theatricals and an arrogant attitude. With the right attitude, you never need to explain yourself"

"Who is the Ward Sister here?" she asked ignoring the doctor.

"I am, Professor Dubrovnik," a woman in her early forties said from a far bed.

"How many children aren’t responding?" The Professor asked.

"Twelve, all girls. They just act as if they were dead to the world," The Sister spoke with a choked voice, concern over the babies obvious.

"Easy child" she said to the woman while projecting reassurance to her. "I know you would give your life for your charges here but this is beyond you. You and your staff have done all they can here, but you can help us at The Institute with them, if you wish."

"Yes," the woman answered, "lets get them ready to move. Sandy call transport, Trisha get the patient records. Will you come and see the relatives, Professor?"

The Professor just nodded.

"Wait just one bloody second!" the doctor who had been in charge shouted. "What the bloody hell do you three think you are doing?"

"Our jobs," The Professor said, turning her back on him.

"William, Cassie, with me," she ordered mentally and we left the ward.

Outside in the corridor, The Professor stopped and faced the two of them.

"The Prime is here, go to casualty and find her," she instructed. "Are you able to continue young lady?"

"Yes," Cassie said and William looked down at the girl he had almost forgotten about. She looked pale and shook up.

"Are you sure? As my prime concern at this moment, is you" She fixed her gaze on the girl.

"Yes Professor," Cassie said firmly. "I just want to help those babies."

"You have done your part, you found them. For now you watch, learn and above all ask questions. Is the Curative branch the area you wish to go into?" The Professor asked.

"I don’t know," the girl admitted. "Until now I just wanted it to go away."

"Well it will not go away," Professor Dubrovnik said firmly, "but it is not the curse it seems at first. For the moment, learn for a while and then we can have a talk in a few weeks to see what you want."

"What I want?" Cassie asked with surprise.

"You are special as is anyone with the talent, but that doesn’t mean you are better than anyone else without telepathy. It does mean that you will be a person with responsibilities and power. You must realise first that you are special. Without that belief, you cannot hope to achieve anything. Then you must realise that all are special and then you will be ready to take your place in the world."

"I don’t really understand Professor," the girl admitted uneasy under the scrutiny of those dark and piercing eyes.

"But you will, now go," and they were dismissed.

*****

Accident and Emergency was around at the front of the hospital. As to be expected at this time of night, it was well populated by the last of the drunken accident victims. But the power in here was tactile. The overpowering feeling, though, was love mixed with grief. Even some of the drunks seemed to be sensitive enough to feel it.

"What do you want?" the receptionist demanded, looking at the two of them suspiciously. Her disgust at the possibility of a relationship between William and Cassie washed over him. Cassie was too immersed in the sensations of the telepath to notice.

"She’s here," she said and started walking into the treatment area.

"You can’t go in there, come back," the receptionist demanded.

"Curative Telepath on duty," William said and followed Cassie. "Stop." he told her mentally.

"She is just through here," Cassie replied moving forward again.

"NO, STOP!" he thrust at her mind.

"Why?" she asked turning to face him her face showing how unsure of him she was with his harsh attitude.

"Psychotic Groupings are sensual and seductive things. Before you get into visual contact with the Prime, you have to have your blocks in place. Never take a peek, as it is an even chance, without prior preparations you will be drawn in," he told her gently, also projecting his concern for the girl.

"Yes, I understand, but isn’t that what you do, go inside?" she asked.

"Yes, and I followed the Prof for ten years nearly before I did my first solo. Even then I nearly lost myself." He gave her a quick blast of the fear he felt when the realisation of what had happened had set in.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. He felt her mind with his and realized that the ill formed blocks were completely ineffective. Anyone with the slightest training would have broken them.

"Firm it up here and you have gaps here and here," he said getting a gasp of surprise as his voice came in her supposedly shielded mind. She firmed it up slightly and William began to cover her mind without her knowledge.

"I have it, William," Professor D said to him ripping through his blocks easier than he had the girls. He gasped in surprise.

"You don’t expect to learn all my secrets in a mere ten years do you?" she chided him.

Prepared, they drew back the curtain and William’s blocks nearly fell apart. Lying on the bed was the pale form of a woman they all knew, the head of staff psychology at The Institute Janet Evans. She was the last person anyone would have expected to be part of a grouping. She was the person who kept the rest of them sane when the duality of their lives got to be too much, the woman who had helped William integrate and incorporate the Sapha character, who plagued him for months after his solo.

"PROFESSOR!" he screamed with his mind "IT’S JANET!"

"I know," came the grim reply.

"What are you doing here?" came an angry male voice impinging into William’s shock, a flash of fear came from Cassie.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER NOW!" he blasted at the man mentally, who staggered back removing his hands from the girl’s shoulders.

"What…what," the man mumbled unsure.

"That girl is a telepathist as is this woman. You will not impede us," he projected at the man with only a little less force. "Prepare to move her."

"Yes…yes," the man said turning to a nurse and began gabbling instructions.

"Get her home and get some sleep," Professor Dubrovnik told him. "Tomorrow you have a lot to do."

"What do you mean?" he snapped back at her with fear at what she was suggesting.

"Janet is a long time friend. I can not enter her mind as she knows me too well," The Professor replied, ignoring his attitude.

"Why?" he asked, "why would she let this happen?"

"Because four days ago she lost her husband and eight month old girl in a car accident, which isn’t public knowledge yet. We wanted to get her over the humps before she was drowned in sympathy from all the telepaths. The emotions would have destroyed her," The Professor stated bluntly. "Now go, sleep and tomorrow we can see if we can possibly make her fantasy any worse than the nightmare of her real life."

*****

The two of them left the hospital in silence. Not one person dared to speak to them. The trip back was also in silence. Back at the Institute, the news had preceded them and the atmosphere was unpleasant. Almost seven hundred telepaths were based at The Institute on a professional footing. All of them knew and loved Janet. Even with the heaviest blocks he could form, the shock and sorrow penetrated to his soul.

In Susan’s office, it was obvious she had been crying and he stood around unsure and uncomfortable as Cassie and Susan hugged each other and cried for a bit. Then he walked Cassie back to C3.

"Are you going to be OK?" he asked her verbally not wanting to release his blocks and allow the emotions to overwhelm him…yet.

"Yes," she said with little conviction in her voice. "I will be fine, can I see you tomorrow when you go in?"

"Ask The Professor. Even though I go in solo, she has the ultimate authority," he replied. "What she says goes."

"I understand," she said and paused. Suddenly, the young girl was hugging him tightly.

"Thank you for treating me as a person and for being so nice," then she was gone.

Back in his room he too wept for a while, letting in the emotions swirling about from the others at the Institute. As the fleet of ambulances carrying Janet and the children arrived, followed by taxis with the relatives of the poor children trapped within their minds, the compassion and the sorrow flowed outward in waves. It even overshadowed the anger and fear that the parents were feeling.

*****

Arousal was the thing that woke him from his sleep. Nothing unusual in that, despite his lack of experience, but something was wrong, very wrong. While the usual evidence of his arousal was demanding his attention and centring his passion, other sensations were flowing over him. Hands moved over sensitive breasts and a persistent rubbing between his legs sent amazing sensations throughout his body.

Images began to flash into his mind, disjointed images. His own body flashed through his mind, nude and rather anatomically incorrect, soon joined by Cassie’s corrupted body image.

He looked at the image the girl had of herself, as a professional, trying to ignore the sensations that were being forced upon him. The self-image she had of herself wasn’t quite as drastic as it was earlier. Small breasts graced her chest and though the image was comical of a fat young girl trying to seduce a Roman god image of him, she was accepting some of her good points. Her face wasn’t the over exaggerated assembly of minor faults that she had brought into his mind earlier and it was a generally a more confident image. As her excitement grew, she lost the image she was projecting and everything became centred on her. He was now a young girl lying in bed, one hand caressing a small breast through a nightdress, the other rubbing frantically between her legs, as she was lost in her pleasure.

He lay there until exhaustion, rather than orgasm stopped her and he was aware of her bodies every sensation: the ache in her wrist and fingers, the slightly sore sensation at the entrance to her vagina and the hardness of her nipples. He couldn’t remember a time when he had been in so close a communion with another.

"Cassie," he whispered gently.

Shock and fear washed across her with lots of guilt for her actions. Her blocks came up and he gently eased around them back into her fearful mind.

"Cassie, don’t be afraid," he said to her and for a moment a flicker of hope that her clumsy attempt at seduction had worked, flashed through her mind.

"No, I am not going to shout," he told the fearful girl. "I don’t know which Greek Gods you have been looking at, but you got him mixed up with me somewhere along the line."

"I’m sorry, I…" she started to say.

"No apologies," he told her firmly. "It is a nice compliment that mustn’t happen again."

"Why not?" she protested.

"First of all the age difference, for the moment, it is too great and it brings my professionalism into question. Secondly, if I’m going to mentor you, we cannot have any problems between us. If this relationship did become sexual, the jealousies and tensions that go with that would stop us from being effective together." He explained to the girl, then added, "I would be disappointed by that."

"Do you really mean that?" she asked and he lowered some of his blocks so she could feel his sincerity. Yes, some things he kept hidden, but subtlety was the key when shielding things that you don’t want known.

"Oh…" was her reply as she found she had access to her mind.

"We might not be lovers, but I guarantee a relationship that is a lot closer and infinitely more satisfying," he formed in his mind letting her pull it out.

"But you will have enough of me, get fed up and just want rid…"

"No…" he started to say to her, but was interrupted.

"Yes you will because everyone does. Weird Cassie who knows that little bit too much; they thought I didn’t know what they thought of me, but I knew and I know why they hate me. I’m a freak in my mind and ugly to look at," the girl wailed, anger and hate washing across over William.

"Listen to me, Cassie," he forced the words into her mind, the emotional turmoil making it difficult to reach her.

"Listen to me! I know how you are feeling, because I felt the same. I still do to a certain extent. Only Professor D pulled me out of it and gave my life some purpose. I still can’t be classed as confident, but I promise you this. Anytime, day or night that you need me, unless I am in another mind, I am here for you. No matter what the problem is, I am here for you. But above all else, I am here to talk to whenever you want," he could feel the girl wanting to believe it was true.

"But…" he continued, and felt her worry creep back in, he paused for a minute, "no more of those little games this morning. My resistance and good sense may not always protect me from your charms…"

The girl giggled then laughed, the crisis had passed.

"Do you mean that?" she asked.

"Yes! I do. I want your promise. I may live like a monk, but I can be corrupted. So come on, I want your promise," he told her.

"I promise," she said happily.

"Good! Now get out of my mind while I try and compose myself after what you did to me," he replied and she was gone.

He lay back, examining his actions and wondering if he could have handled it better. He wasn’t sure if he had taken the right course, but he didn’t think he had botched it too bad.

"You didn’t," came Professor Dubrovnik unbidden in his mind. "You handled that very well. Another ten years and I may be able to relax slightly and not keep checking on you…possibly. Anyway my boy, time to get out of that bed and get to work. Bring Cassie with you, but get some food first."

"Yes Professor," he replied, food first meant a long day, or days, of work. He washed and dressed quickly after telling Cassie he would meet her at the cafeteria.

*****

It was dinnertime in the cafeteria, but the hustle and bustle normally found there was subdued. William found he was the subject of his telepathic and non-telepathic colleagues’ scrutiny, an uncomfortable situation for him. Susan came walking in and that at it at least meant he wouldn’t have to continue sitting alone.

"What is everyone looking at?" he whispered to her, slightly concerned that Cassie’s attentions this morning had been noticed.

"The Professor has let it be known that you are going in to try and get Janet," Susan said to him. "She had a word with all the staff while you were sleeping. She said that you were the only hope that Janet had."

"Wonderful, now everyone is looking to me to do the miracle cure," he said despondently. "How the hell do I hope to make her fantasy worse than real life?"

"I’m sure you can think of a way," Susan said with a tone of voice that made him look up at her.

"Pardon?" he said.

"I am sure you can make her life unbearable," she said firmly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked her.

"Well, for a telepath of your abilities, you can be pretty bloody unperceptive," she said angrily.

"What are you talking about?" he demanded. Susan just cast her eyes over to the door and shook her head. Cassie gave them both a painful mental blast of acknowledgement and came across to them.

"Hi Susan," she said plonking herself down next to Susan.

"Hi Cassie," Susan said pleasantly. "The thing is, this fantasy seems to be totally non-verbal. From the outside, all we are getting is sensations and emotions."

William was suddenly thrown for a minute with the rapid change of direction the conversation had taken.

"Do we actually know what happened yet?" he asked. "She isn’t likely to have gone to the hospital on purpose to see the children."

"No," Susan replied, "she took an overdose and was taken unconscious into casualty. She roused slightly, but didn’t resume full consciousness before she formed the grouping."

"Why wasn’t anyone with her?" William asked, unsure as to why anyone would be left alone in a vulnerable condition like that.

"Her sister was with her and planning to stay the night. Around midnight she looked in on Janet and seeing she was sound asleep, decided to leave for some reason her sister couldn’t explain," Susan explained. "Shortly afterwards Janet took the overdose and then she began broadcasting. The police, thinking it was someone shouting for help, broke in and found her."

"So how do I get in?" William asked.

"The only way you can," Susan said with a slightly evil gleam in her eye, "as a baby or, more precisely, as a baby girl. That is the only ticket into this one."

"Wonderful" William held his head in his hand and groaned

*****

The ward with the children was eerily quiet; the only sound was the weeping of some of the parents. Waiting for the Teeps, was Professor Dubrovnik.

"Are you rested properly?" she asked.

"Yes Professor," he said.

"Good, then let us begin." She walked over to one of the silent infants and pinched her. Then she ran a fingernail up the sole of the girls foot. Neither provoked a reaction.

"No response to external stimuli at all," William said and The Professor nodded.

"Feel what the child is living," The Professor said, and he opened his mind to the child.

Colours and shapes were the main thing he could feel, warmth and an all-consuming feeling of love. Nothing took any form and the feeling of a full stomach made the child sleepy despite the fact it was as unreal as the rest of the fantasy.

"That isn’t a lot to go on, Professor."

"It is all you have, you are going to have only emotions to use on the secondaries. If you can unplug them, then we can work on Janet. With a luck, without the children reinforcing her, the fantasy will fall apart," The Professor, lectured William aloud, but he could tell that she was also having a conversation with Cassie.

"Cassie tells me you have explained about setting up blocks before working with the Prime so if you two will prepare yourselves," The Professor told them. William could feel Cassie’s blocks going up and again pointed out her holes, not that it would be something she mastered for some time.

"I will watch her," The Professor reassured him. "Your attention must be elsewhere."

"Yes Professor," he said meekly.

"No, have the confidence you should have as one who has spent many years under my tutelage. Despite the misgivings you have, only one person I know has had more potential than you in the field of Curative Telepathy," she told him, her thoughts again cutting through his blocks as if they were not there.

"Who?" he formed the question in his mind, knowing that she would read it without him even trying to force through her blocks.

"Me, of course," she said with dry humour. "No false modesty in me William, though you may even surpass my talents, for you have an excellent teacher. Now come on, let us get to work."

As they walked through the ward the teams of technicians moved in connecting the children to EEG’s and preparing the possible drugs for use that might be needed as the therapy progressed. The sight, though, provoked more fear from the parents as the equipment and teams moved in.

"What the hell do you think you are doing with that?" a man demanded of a technician trying to attach the EEG leads to one of the infants.

"This is your daughter?" Professor Dubrovnik demanded after marching up before him.

"Yes," he declared looking down at her.

"He is doing what is best for her. You should also do what is best for her and comfort your wife," she said firmly.

"You can’t tell me what is best for my daughter!" he screamed at her. "It’s you people who have done this to her. Why don’t you just kill the bitch?"

"If that would save your children, I would do it without hesitation" The Professor calmly told him, "but this would kill them as her mind died. The only hope your child has is what we do now, if you let us continue that is. For without us she will die."

"But…but," the man said his eyes welling up with tears as The Professor released his tight hold on his emotions. She put her arms around him pulling him down to her level.

"We will bring her back, I promise you this," she said to him, "now go comfort your wife and let her comfort you."

"Yes," he mumbled and walked back to his wife in a daze.

*****

Within a side ward was the body of Janet Evans lost within its perpetual dreaming. A second bed was prepared next to hers, ready for William. As he lay down, Susan began attaching leads to monitor his vital signs.

"This is going to be difficult for you, William," Professor D said to him. "You are going into a female body again, a female baby to be more precise. That side of it shouldn’t pose as many problems this time, but watch yourself. If all else fails, get out and we will try again with a different approach.."

"Professor, you do not lie very well," William said as he made himself comfortable "What are the odds of getting her out if I have to enter a second time?"

"Low, but that is still better than zero!" she asserted.

"I don’t think it has ever been successfully done, has it?" he asked.

"No, because the people like you, who I train, do not need two attempts. If they do, they are in the wrong field. Good luck…" she said, as the world about him started to lose definition.

His body image was once again was manipulated by another and his thoughts became less defined. A huge figure loomed above him and his eyes tried to follow and focus on it with little success.

"Oh, my poor baby," came a voice and he was picked up and found himself held against soft warm skin. "Mummy will look after you. Mummy will make sure nothing happens to my little girls."

William tried to struggle against the arms that held him, it was a fruitless exercise and his emotions began to get the better of him as his frustration grew.

"No," came the voice again, "all mummy’s little girls are good little girls."

He tried to protest, but the sound that came out made little sense even to him. Warm flesh brushed his face and the smell of a woman filled his nostrils. Something brushed his lips and on reflex he opened his mouth. Something warm was placed in his mouth and his lips closed on it. A hunger gripped him to the soul as she manipulated his mind.

"There you go, you will soon feel better," the warm voice said and his body was cuddled in this woman’s arms. He sucked and warm milk filled his mouth. the woman started humming gently as he drank.

It must have been a long time he drank for because he woke up being lifted up by the woman. His stomach was feeling distended and uncomfortable, she was rubbing his back and patting. Suddenly a belch erupted from his mouth unbidden and he felt a lot better. In fact he wanted to sleep again.

"You can go to bo-boze in a little bit. We just need to get you cleaned up and dressed pretty first. All my little girls are pretty girls"

The woman laid him on his back and began fiddling between his legs. Suddenly cool air caught him unprepared as something was removed from his bottom half.

"Oh you have been a good girl," the voice told him proudly. It was becoming more and more difficult to concentrate on what the words meant, but the tone was relaxing. His eyes started to close again. Some one was wiping down his lower half…he was brought back to reality with a jolt as the warm wet cloth passed across his groin without impediment.

"Did it tickle mummies little girl?" the voice asked and proceeded to dry him. Again, the smooth decent from his plump stomach to his empty groin, unnerved him. His mind was starting to function properly again. He looked around as he lay there. He still couldn’t make his eyes focus, so he felt with his mind for the children. They were all asleep. Impossible he decided? Twelve children all asleep? This must be Janet’s fantasy, the perfect children. Feed them, clean them and then play with them a while and they sleep all other times.

His bum was lifted up as a powder was sprinkled on him, the smell of it overpowering. Then a nappy was placed on his lower half and he was manipulated into a one-piece pink romper suit. Janet fastened the poppers on the front but something was up; she had stopped the constant baby talk.

"There you go. You go to sleep now," she said laying him down. He could feel a body either side of him.

"Oh, is my little baby hungry?" Janet said and the baby on his left hand side was lifted up and began gurgling happily.

"Baby should be asleep," Janet said as he struggled to roll on his side to see those around him. "Why isn’t mommy’s baby asleep?"

Her tone was not happy. The fact of him being awake had violated the rules of this reality she had set up. He was exposed and at her mercy, though she didn’t recognise what it was or what he was, she was suspicious. She placed the baby she had picked up, down again and lifted him up again.

"Are you mummy’s little girl?" she asked her tone now questioning.

From behind him, he felt a flash of anger from the child who had been placed back down again. The wet nappy was uncomfortable, she was hungry and the figure who gave her warmth and food had not done it. She became indignant at the lack of attention. She opened her mouth and started to cry.

Janet countered it with a telepathic wave of love and comfort, which washed over all the children.

"You aren’t one of mummy’s little girls." Janet said firmly. "Who, or what, are you?"

He panicked, his fear building. If he was killed within another’s mind, it probably would not kill him. If he got out, though, he would be probably looking at permanent brain damage…if he got out. Once killed, he would be a secondary like the rest of the babies, but a secondary with TP powers to be controlled by the primary. With two telepaths in the system, it would take something major to bring them out. He panicked and began struggling.

"No one can hear you, all the babies are asleep, as you should have been, as you will be," Janet said and his body began to reform, she wasn’t killing him she was planning on keeping him here as what she expected him to be…a baby girl.

He struggled and panicked trying to get away from her, his mind, which he felt was sluggish before was loosing coherence. Facts were slipping away from him at a frightening pace. Soon he would be left a creature of instinct.

Instinct…that was it! Babies were creatures of instinct! The centre of their world was them and they were everything. He started projecting with all his force to the sleeping babies: FEAR…HUNGER…ANGER, basic feelings, powerful feelings, he threw at them the damp horrible feeling that the baby next to him had felt upon waking, the feeling of hunger he had just experienced.

The screaming started. He began amplifying it, working the emotions the newly upset children felt and feeding it back to them.

"Mummy’s little girls don’t cry," she said, trying to calm the infants down. As she settled one down the next one built up to a crescendo and suddenly stopped.

The world shuddered.

Janet picked up a lifeless form; the fantasy was more than the child cared to cope with. A child expects to be loved, fed, and kept warm. The worst thing possible for a child was to be left, to be ignored by its mother.

"No, not my little girl," Janet screamed in anguish, "not again!"

The shudders began again as Janet’s anguish washed over the children. It scared them more than anything that had happened so far. They couldn’t accept it, so they returned to the real world, leaving the traumatised woman with a dozen lifeless bodies.

"Jesus Christ," came Professor Dubrovnik’s voice into his mind. "We got all twelve. get out…get out…get out now, William!"

"You did this," Janet said turning to face him, where she had left him on the nameless soft surface.

He retreated, in his mind trying to claw his way back to reality. "Look for your happy thought," The Professor had always said, "the one thing that you have to come back for." He tried to focus on something to bring himself back, one thing that he had to go back to.

Cassie…the image of the girl and the thought of what it would do to her, pulled at him. Then, he was lying on a bed and noise was around him. He reformed his blocks as Janet was still pulling at his mind trying desperately to bring him back into her fantasy. He opened his eyes.

"He’s back, Professor," Susan shouted. In the background he could hear screaming children.

"She’s trying to retreat again, Professor," William shouted, and all of a sudden the force on his mind stopped.

Susan had stopped mid-movement, her expression one of fear, as had Cassie. She was after them. He dropped his own blocks and surrounded the minds of the women with his throwing back Janet’s presence with the power of his anger.

It stopped…

"Professor, she’s after the children again!" He shouted, getting no response as The Professor concentrated on protecting the twelve children.

"YOU TOOK MY CHILDREN!" Came a scream from Janet’s bed, she was awake but not fully returned to reality. Her mind still thought this was her fantasy.

"Janet," Susan said trying to calm the woman down, unaware of most of the activity that was occurring.

"YOU TOOK MY CHILDREN!" She screamed again, and a mental blow of a magnitude of power he never dreamed could exist hit William. His breathing stopped as he fought the invasive blow into his mind. His heart laboured and suddenly he was released, but weakened.

"YOU TOOK THEM FROM ME!" She screamed as William tried to form some blocks on his mind. She hit him again and the blocks crumbled, again his breathing stopped but this time his heart began beating irregularly as she tried to take control of his bodies automatic functions. The pressure seemed to go on for an eternity and then relaxed again.

"YOU…" She screamed and her body fell to the floor. Behind her the figure of Professor Dubrovnik tottered for a moment then slumped to the floor. William struggled to try and raise himself from the bed, but was unable to. He tried to cry for help, but again it was too much.

"Help us please," came into his mind, causing pain as Cassie began projecting with all her force, "please help us."

People began running into the side ward and William closed his eyes.

"William, are you hurt?" The thought invaded his weakened mind and he screamed in pain, but it was from Cassie and he struggled to regain his composure.

"Go gentle, I am rather tender," he whispered not willing to try to think it. "How is The Professor?"

"Better than you it would seem" came her shaky voice.

"And Janet?" he asked.

"No…she’s gone," The Professor said, sending a wave of grief through the numbness that was his mind.

"What happened? She was back," he asked wondering how she had retreated back into her fantasy.

"No, William, her mind is gone. She’s brain dead," Susan said gently, "something The Professor did."

"What happened?" Cassie asked, her voice threatening to break into sobs.

"She thought we threatened her children and she fought back," Professor Dubrovnik said, sounding more composed. "There is nothing more dangerous than a protective mother."

*****

Eventually they composed themselves enough to leave the side room. They emerged onto a ward of screaming children and joyous parents. Though the parents wanted to thank them they hesitated. The three telepaths that had been in the room, Cassie, Illyana and William, looked like they had fought a month-long battle, despite the fact it had only been two hours. Cassie and Susan assisted William, his muscles still not responding properly after the mental beating he had taken. The Professor, despite the fact that she carried herself with her usual dignity, looked ancient.

The man who had been so verbal on their way in stood up and clapped loudly followed quickly by others. They could feel the unanimous and unqualified joy the parents projected regarding the salvation of their children.

"No please stop," Professor Dubrovnik begged receiving instantaneous silence for her words though she spoke in barely over a whisper. "Your children are back. Rejoice at that, yes, but please remember that it has cost the life of a good woman who we here failed in her time of need."

They continued walking through the ward now in silence except for the sound of the children. Outside, The Professor stopped.

"Listen to that sound," she prompted and they did for a moment, crying babies and happy parents.

"Though none of us will be happy about today’s events, listen to that and remember we have saved twelve young lives here today. Rejoice in that sound, for the Janet I knew would. Though other branches of medicine may believe ‘Above all else do no harm’, here we cannot. We must save those who we can…when we can and live with the results."

"As for Janet she has peace now, at least. Good work and I will see you all tomorrow."

 

Professor Dubrovnik turned her back on the others and slowly walked down the quiet corridor, leaving the others behind. Now that the job was done, she needed some time to herself, time for a bath, a stiff drink and a warm bed that she could curl up and properly grieve for her lost friend. Maybe she should take tomorrow off too. Maybe…She wished above all that the death hadn’t been necessary, but as she had said, nothing was as dangerous as a protective mother and The Professor would allow no one to touch her children.

 

The End…Is it worth another one?

 

 

 

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