Discovery (Science of Psionics Book #1) by Dave Renol (sad books to read .txt) 📗

“Morning,” I mumbled. “Gimme coffee … lots ofcoffee.”

Linda jumped up to give me a hug, while Carlwent to fetch me a mug.

Linda guided me to a chair and said, “Afteryou went to bed last night, we got into an argument with Sid. Hegot pissed off and left.”

“Gone where,” I asked, taking my first sip ofthe glorious coffee.

Linda filled me in on the details of whattranspired after I crashed, with occasional interjections from Carland Sara. Carl kept my coffee mug topped up and became a candidatefor sainthood as far as I was concerned. When they finished, Ileaned back and tried to organize my thoughts.

“So you don’t think he’ll spill the beans?” Iasked Sara.

“Nope,” she replied firmly. “He’ll go out andblow off some steam for a day or two, but he’ll be back.”

“Alright, I guess it’s too late to stop himanyway, so we might as well just carry on.”

“What did you have in mind for today?” Carleagerly asked.

“I want to test the effects of sitting on myass in the hot sun, while my friends dote over me and bring me foodand drink on demand.”

Linda and Sara laughed but Carl lookedconfused for a few seconds before joining in.

“Ok, I guess we can take a day off and justrelax,” he conceded.

Despite the unpleasantness from yesterday, wehad a very nice day. I alternated between the patio lounge and thehot tub, with the others joining me off and on. We talked oftrivialities, Carl and Sara threw a football around for a while,and Linda played the role of hostess with good grace. It was a goodday indeed.

Usually I would be bored by now. I was alwaysone of those people who had to keep busy, but getting a big scarelike I did yesterday made me appreciate the little things in life.A wonderful baked chicken dinner crowned the day for me.

Afterward, we sat around the living roomwatching movies, except for Carl who disappeared into the officeonce dinner was finished. In between movies we had a bit of a breakwhile Linda went to make some popcorn. I went to see what Carl wasup to, thinking that he might like to watch the next one withus.

“Hey hoser,” I said, stepping into theoffice. “We’re about to put Monty Python and the Holy Grailon. Care to join us?”

“Sure. I was just messing around, hoping thatinspiration would strike if I let my mind go fallow.”

He was sitting in Linda’s favorite chair bythe window with his laptop on his legs. “Hoping that events mightduplicate themselves for you, eh?”

Smiling weakly he replied, “One can alwayshope, eh!”

“Well take off, eh! Come join us in theliving room.”

“Ok, eh! I’ll be right there.”

Smiling, I wandered back to the living room.I always had fun teasing Carl about his Canuck vocabulary, and heusually played along with good grace.

***

The next few days went by about the same, buta little more strained. Nobody spoke of it, but we were allwondering when Sid was going to come back. I felt like I was backto normal after the first day of rest and relaxation, but didn’t domuch with my ability. I kept having visions of news trucks pullingup to the house as we were flying around the yard.

On the fourth day, the weather turned foul,and a nasty thunderstorm kept us inside. Carl had become an almostpermanent fixture in the office window seat, and with a storm onthe horizon for today, he looked hopeful. Or maybe that wasdesperation.

Sara had taken to joining Carl in the officesometimes, which was a bit surprising since they usually didn’thave much in common to talk about. She even played a few games withCarl, borrowing Linda’s computer since she never brought one of herown down here. Even as we did mundane things around the house, mymind kept working on the problem of how our abilities could beshared with others.

If I thought about it, I could feel thebackground hum that I associated with the power. With the stormoverhead, I tried to reach out to it and see if I could feelanything stronger, but couldn’t notice anything different. Today’sstorm felt normal, for lack of a better word. Carl would bedisappointed.

I put together a quick lunch for us all andbrought it into the office where everyone else had congregated. Ihad just finished doling out the sandwiches when Sara’s phonerang.

“It’s Sid,” she cried, looking at the numberbefore answering. “Hello?” A pause before, “Where are you?”

“Sid, slow down … wait a minute … calm down asec and listen. We’re gonna figure it out here, it just takes time.Why don’t you come on back?”

She began pacing in front of the table. “Whoathere, what gives you the right to demand that? … I see … you don’tneed to be an asshole about it.”

She threw me an exasperated look. “Fine, I’lltell them,” she said curtly, hanging up.

“Well, as you know, that was Sid. It appearsthat he’s gone around the bend over this whole thing and isdemanding full disclosure from us.”

“Disclose to whom, the media?” Carlasked.

“Not to the media, the military. He wants usto give them everything, and issued us a twenty-four hour deadlineto comply. He also warned that there would be consequences to ourrefusal.”

“I’m not about to give up my freedom andbecome an experimental lab rat!” Linda replied indignantly.

“He’s bluffing,” Sara said with certainty.“Since he doesn’t like the press any more than we do, what’s theworst that could happen?”

***

We talked about it through the rest of thenight, as well as the next morning, but nobody was willing tochange plans to accommodate Sid’s presumptuous demands. As near asI can figure, it was twenty-four hours to the second when Sidcalled back for our answer.

“Hello?” Sara answered. “Yes, we talked aboutit, and the answer is still no. Come back and I promise that we’llfigure it … Hello? Hello? He hung up,” she told us crossly.

“Now what do we do?” Linda asked.

“I guess we wait,” Sara began. “If we don’twant to play his game then all we can do is see what his next moveis, then plan our own.”

“I hate waiting games,” I commented. “Bydefinition, they’re a waste of time.”

“Hey, what’s that?” Carl asked,