Author Part 6
(Chapter 59 of "Senses")
LOS ANGELES
As per her long standing custom, Morgana did her daily reading on Larry
Christopher. She had done it several hours earlier, while Jim, Mats and I were playing darts, but I am telling you this now because everything else that happens next actually happened at the same time as the three of us up in space were talking about heading for Greenland. Every last one of us knows where we were.
I won't pretend to tell you I understand the processes of Morgana's reading. I wasn't even there and although I've been shown it several times, the logic simply escapes me. Probably because I don't have the ability to see her insights. All I can say is that it involved big trouble, Jim, A.J., Larry, Mats, and (gulp) me. And the death card.
Morgana suddenly saw a vision of the Christopher brothers addressing a large crowd. She couldn't see the crowd, but it was all three brothers on the stage, so a concert was unlikely. She had the impression that I was somewhere above them, while Mats was lurking in the shadows. Just as quickly the vision was gone.
She called Larry and while she waited for him to arrive she transcribed the picture of the vision to her private tape recorder. For reasons she could not explain, the vision chilled her to the bone. Without the death card, the vision was perfectly harmless. But with it...
Larry arrived at her apartment above the lab ten minutes after having been called. He sat down on the bed in the room and said, "Looks like this one's serious."
"It is," Morgana replied. "You, your brothers, Mats and the boy..."
"Stephen?"
Morgana nodded. "Yes, him. The equation just changed somehow. Your lives are in danger."
"Do you have anything specific?"
"Very little. You and your brothers are addressing a large assembly. It looked like a concert stage but it was well lit. Beyond that I really can't say."
"Does anyone die?"
Morgana swallowed. "Yes. I don't know who - I didn't see that. The insight is tied to a reading and when I put the two of them together someone dies."
Larry nodded thoughtfully. "Then it's begun," he said.
"Yes. After all this waiting. We'd better get a hold of everyone to tell them to keep themselves sharp."
Larry nodded again, in agreement. It had been almost three years since they had discovered that the human race was approaching what the aliens of The Foundation called a 'history node'. The group of paranormals had been studying themselves since that date, waiting for the time when their skills would be needed. And it appeared that the time had finally arrived.
Larry walked over to the intercom switch in the room. "Scott?" he called.
After a moment's pause, a reply came. "Morgana, your voice has changed," Angie's voice came from the speaker. "Scott's with Mats doing the satellite check, remember? I was doing some calibration of the scan gear for Jace, so I picked up the call."
"Sorry, I forgot. Force of habit, I suppose. Get the group together. We think the history node has finally arrived."
There was a pause. "Understood. Not many of us are here right now."
"Who's out?"
"Jace is with Mats and Scott. Jim and Karen are out drinking. The Davis' have gone to a movie. Paul's around here somewhere. Rand, Connie, A.J. and Carrie were going to the beach last I checked. Have you been outside? It's gorgeous out there today."
Larry chuckled. "I'm not much of an outdoorsman," he said. "I jog because it's healthy, but other than that I prefer books. I can do without skin cancer, thank you."
"In the long run, everybody dies," Angie retorted. "Anyway, it'll take some doing to get everyone here."
"Understood. Call the bar first to get Jim and Karen, then call Janis. The others we'll just have to wait for. They'll have to come back here anyway." Rand and Constance always stayed at the lab when they were in Los Angeles, so they didn't have to get their own place.
"Roger wilco, captain," Angie said. "I'll let you know what's what as I get a hold of people."
"Thanks," Larry said, turning the send function of the intercom off. He sat down next to Morgana. "You're frightened," he observed.
Morgana, who had displayed little outward sign of how she felt, shivered slightly. "Yes I am," she admitted. "We could all die."
"We could," Larry acknowledged.
"It bothers me that I only saw the five of you in the vision. What if the rest of us are the ones who are dead?"
"I doubt that you would be. How could you see a future that you're no longer in?"
"We can't explain any of my ability. Not in several years of trying. We just don't know if that's the case."
Larry put his arm around Morgana. She was still shaking very slightly, and felt cold to the touch. "You'll be fine," he said.
"Don't you find it daunting that the whole human race might depend on us? Remember when that green alien was here? He didn't want Mats around. Now that we've assured that Mats is on planet, how can we not be involved in the decisions that determine if every person on the planet is killed?"
"We've talked about this before," Larry replied. "We've known this was coming ever since that day. I knew it would be soon ever since the boy joined us." Larry almost laughed. "He knew it too, although he's really only just now discovering just how much hot water we're going to be in."
"I know. It's easy to intellectualize all of this, but now that the day has arrived..." Morgana stopped, unable to finish the sentence.
"We have a warning, thanks to you," Larry said. "Now we just need to discover how to use it." Larry hugged Morgana tightly. "Tell you what. Let's stay here for a few minutes to get ourselves together. It will be a while before everyone gets here."
Morgana nodded and brought her hands up to Larry's arm. "Okay," she said.
In moments like these, she became conscious of herself to a degree unequaled at any other time. The smell of the air, the taste of her mouth, sensations on her skin. A drop of sweat traced its way down from her shoulder, flowing slowly down her chest to her left breast, then down her naked belly to the patch of warmth below. She allowed her hand to follow the bead of sweat, until it too touched upon the hair surrounding her sex.
The sex had been very good. Usually their sex was, but this time there seemed to be a sense of urgency; a tenseness that needed release. As she stepped into the shower Karen thought about Jim, lying naked on their bed, and touched herself almost without realizing it. "Jim," she called. "Care to join me?"
There was a rustling from the other room, then footsteps. Jim stepped into the bathroom, naked, holding his erection in his right hand. "I was thinking of you," he said.
Karen stood in the shower stall, the water running into the tub from the lower water spout, waiting to be switched to the shower nozzle. Karen turned the faucet to do so. "Come here," she said.
Jim did, picking Karen up and embracing her tightly, kissing her breasts strongly, then setting her down and closing the shower door. Within the space of the shower stall, Jim knelt and began tonguing Karen around the clitoris, eliciting moans while Karen dug her fingers into Jim's hair, holding tightly. Jim kept his right hand on his cock, keeping it hard while his left hand massaged Karen's rear.
After what seemed an eternity, Jim slowly stood, running his hands up Karen's form, then entering her as he stood fully. Karen wrapped her legs around Jim's back, thrusting harder to counter each thrust of Jim's. With the sweat already on their bodies, the hot water from the shower, and the sweat generated by the sex and the heat of the room, they moved to each other in an almost frictionless way, thrusting harder and harder until it seemed as if one of them would break.
They began to float in the shower stall, and Karen grabbed onto the handle for the shower door to keep them close to the ground. The shower door opened, and Karen could see her own face in the mirror of the bathroom. The bathroom door was open, and the mirror had not yet completely fogged over from the steam.
She watched through the mist at her own face in the mirror, her breasts moving in rhythm with her body, as Jim came. It was explosive and seemed unrelenting, sending shudders through her body as she responded in kind. When the shudders of pleasure subsided, she brought her hands around Jim's back and held him tightly. "Wow," she said.
"Agreed," Jim answered with a smile. "Now aren't you glad we didn't go to Mike's?"
"Yes," Karen replied. "That was great."
"I don't know what got into me."
"Me either."
"All I know is that I just had to fuck you."
"And I needed to fuck you too. I didn't even have to let out any of my emotive control for that."
Jim shook his head and took a deep breath. "Amazing. Fucking amazing." A shudder ran through his body. "I hope that one can last you a while. I'm going to be relegated to oral sex while I recover from that. You damn near broke my hips you were thrusting so hard."
Karen brought her legs to the ground and reached to take Jim's cock out of her body and into her hands. She then slowly slid down, bringing his cock between her breasts and squeezing them together. Playfully, she licked the tip and watched Jim shudder. "You sure about that?" she asked.
Jim let out a breath and sat down in the shower, water running through his hair. "For a little while," he said, ironic smile on his face. "I need a breather." Jim ran his hands through his hair, then stopped, startled.
"Do you hear the phone ringing?" he asked.
"You're going to need to deal with this," Debbie said.
Debbie and Nicki sat in the Buick Convertible 'drink had owned when they had first met, Debbie in the passenger's seat and Nicki in the back, waiting for 'drink to return from the ice cream shop with ice cream cones for all. Nicki sat in the back seat.
"Mother," she said. "I wish I knew what to do. I love him, but I know he doesn't feel the same way about me."
"You know that?"
Nicki nodded. "I do. He thinks about it constantly. I don't even blame him. I forced him into this situation, and took advantage of a weak moment for him. I shouldn't have done that."
Debbie smiled. "Yes, you should have. Men are hardly aware of the fact that women want and need sexual pleasure too. Did you use a condom?"
Nicki shook her head.
"Do it next time," Debbie said, "or I'll force you to listen to Angie lecture about the subject. My point is that you didn't do anything wrong in seducing him. You were just trying to fulfill your own needs. What was wrong was the fact that he didn't want to fulfill those needs and you forced him."
"But there was no one else around," Nicki said. "Who else could I have gone to?"
"There's masturbation."
"But it's not as satisfying. Not anymore." Nicki's eyes seemed to mist over. "I never thought it could be so...so..."
"Stimulating?"
Nicki laughed. "Good term for it. Mother, do you even understand all of this? Really understand?"
Debbie nodded. "I do. When I met your father, I knew he was the right one. Every fiber within me wanted him, and he wanted me. I remember all too well those desires. I still have them.
"But while most people get those instant desires, it's quite rare for it to be reciprocated. That's why dating even exists; to convince the potential partner that the feelings should be mutual."
"I sure as hell haven't done that with Jace," Nicki said.
"I know. You have to try now."
"Why? He doesn't want me to. I'm an inconvenience to him."
"And you've had sex with him. You may not realize this, but he feels guilty about it."
Nicki was puzzled. "Guilty?"
"Oh he's probably not even aware of it. Thing is, this will make him hostile to you. Sex changes things for men. They believe you can no longer be friends with someone they've had sex with, and that they have a responsibility for their behavior from that point forward that depends upon the fact that you've had sex."
"That's dumb."
Debbie nodded. "It's also true. Keep this in mind when you get around to dealing with him. And you must deal with him - he's part of the team now."
Nicki nodded, then looked up sharply. "What was that?"
Debbie frowned and looked at her daughter. "What was what?" she asked.
"There!" Nicki replied. "It sounded like Janis!"
"What?"
Nicki held up her hand, listening. After a moment, her eyes went wide. "Mother," she said, with a worry in her voice that sounded very young.
Debbie looked at her daughter, then saw that 'drink was running from the store. "Janis just called me telepathically," he said breathlessly as he jumped into the car. "First time in almost 24 years we've communicated that way."
Nicki nodded. "I heard it too," she said. She focused her eyes for a moment, and her parents realized that she was contacting Janis herself, something she rarely did but could fully do just as Mats did, unlike her father who could only communicate with the ship on a binary level. After a moment her eyes focused again. "It's begun," she said.
Debbie looked at them both, comprehending. "The history node," she said.
'drink nodded. "We're going to Venice beach to find A.J. and the others, then to the lab."
A.J. Christopher, Carrie Fallon, and Rand and Constance Weiss were holding court at the corner of Market and the Strand in Venice Beach. More accurately, A.J. was holding court while the others looked on.
Venice beach was home to some of the more eccentric elements of Los Angeles life. Retired hippies, vendors selling various odd things, the occasional tattoo parlor, the famed muscle beach workout area, and the occasional activist trying to legalize marijuana. Within such a crowd, A.J. Christopher would hardly be noticed, were he not over seven feet tall.
Fortunately, there is a certain amount of nonchalance among the locals in Venice, feigned or otherwise, so the easily-recognized rock star wasn't mobbed by too many people. Only about fifty.
For nearly half an hour he signed autographs, posed for pictures, and just acted rowdy (something that will not stand out at Venice beach, unless you get even slightly violent - then watch out - Beach Police has a strong reputation) while the others shopped for used books and cheap jewelry.
When they came back they were pleased to note that the crowd had dispersed somewhat. "How do you put up with it?" Rand asked.
"Part of the job," A.J. replied. "This wasn't so bad. I once did a show in England where it wasn't safe to leave the auditorium, the mob was so bad. I ended up staying the night in the dressing room, which I don't recommend. Very few dressing rooms have couches big enough for me to sleep on."
Constance shook her head. "I couldn't do it," she observed.
"Many people in my shoes can't."
"And some of us don't have to," Carrie added with a smile.
"Fuck you too dear," A.J. shot back. He kissed her on the top of the head.
"You're as bad as Jim sometimes," Rand said. "Both of you."
A.J. laughed. "I used to be worse," he said.
"I'm not sure I want to contemplate that."
Carrie nodded. "Yes, a frightening thought."
"Well," A.J. said, "I've gotten older, maybe a bit wiser. I'll be hitting thirty soon and it does feel a bit different to discover that the old farts that I've been so scornful of all my life may have known a few things after all."
"Don't use that age crap," Carrie responded. "Jim hit thirty and it hasn't even slowed him down. Not by a long shot." She looked up into A.J.'s face and saw a deep frown. "What's wrong?"
A.J. didn't answer, but pointed at Rand and Constance. Carrie looked and saw nothing out of the ordinary at first. Then she noticed that Rand was trembling slightly, and working very hard to control himself. Constance was very similar, but it faded from her quickly. Then from Rand.
"What was that? A.J. asked. "There was a thickening of the connection between you two for a moment, and a flurry of activity."
"Something's happening," Rand said. "I don't know for certain what, but it's major. We need to be walking towards Abbot Kinney Road. We'll be met."
"'drink just tried a telepathic link," Constance added. Over the last three years they had discovered that 'drink could not communicate telepathically with either of the musical Christopher brothers, nor with Carrie, Constance, or Karen. No one knew why. He could communicate with Rand on a limited basis, and had tried as he walked towards the car to get his wife and daughter. While Rand was in a sort of communion with him, he could get general impressions. He interpreted 'drink's sendings as that they were to get to an access road so that 'drink could brief them.
"I'm not sure," Rand said as they began walking, "but I think it's begun."
As for Paul Cynic, he was sleeping in his apartment at the lab when the others were realizing that the history node had been reached. As he would remark later, he really could have slept through the end of the world. Angie got an alarm clock thrown at her for waking him up. And an apology after the explanation.
Why am I telling you all of this? What does it matter where we all were when the moment occurred that we'd need to be on our guard?
Because we've all been asked the question so many fucking times that we need Carl Sagan to keep count. (If you read this and can channel to the spirit world, tell Carl. I understand he's got a great sense of humor.) And until now we've never told the truth.
Funny thing is, Mats and Scott and I were the last to figure it out. Face it, we were on a space ship heading for Greenland when Morgana had her insight, thinking nothing more than that we had an unexplained earthquake.
That may seem strange to you, considering that we had Mats with us and Janis knew about everything fairly quickly. Let me just point out that when Angie started calling we had already landed in what I still remember as the middle of nowhere and got out of the ship.
The rest of this will take some explaining.