Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1) (48 page)

"Look, you know that Merlin and I are close,
right? It gets easier and easier for him to talk to me every day. Not always a
good thing, but, anyway, he says that Jessica really didn't want to take Sam to
Mr. Johnson's. I'm not completely clear on where he got this from--I think from
the trees, if that's possible."

John's head jerked around to stare at her. "The
trees, you say? Jessica has a thing for the trees."

Lisanne nodded. "So anyway, Merlin says that
Sam, well, I don't want you to take this the wrong way or anything--oh, brother,
I don't know how to say this. Sam may have 'made' Jessica take her there."

"What do you mean 'made Jessica?' Sam couldn't
have talked Jessica into this!"

"Well, no, she didn't talk her into it. More
like she, well, um, she kinda coerced her."

"What?"

"We all know that Sam's a special kid. And she
has these powers, or whatever you want to call them, skills, abilities,
whatever. Anyway, she used that skill to change Jessica's mind. To get Jessica
to take her with Black to Mr. Johnson's cabin."

"Oh, for Pete's sake!" John exploded. "You're
serious?" He glared at the cat, who stared back at him calmly. "You are
serious," he said, his voice a bit shaky.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Lisanne said, uncomfortable
with how shaken John was now.

"Okay, that's okay. It's not okay if she really
did this, but you and Merlin--I'm not upset with you two. Just need some time to
figure this out. I've got to talk to Jessica."

"Well, we're out of it now. I've done what
Merlin asked and told you, so I'm just going back to thinking up names for the
group, okay?"

"Yeah," John replied, distracted. "You and
Merlin keep working on it, that name thing. Then we'll all vote on it tonight."
He paused. "And Lisanne? Merlin? Could you guys keep this quiet among the rest
of the group? I don't want everyone to--well, to--"

"Be scared of her? Yeah, that's why Merlin said
to wait until we were alone for me to tell you."

"And are you scared of her now?" John asked.

"Naw, I'm not scared of her. Besides, Merlin
says I have such a hard head nobody could make me do anything I didn't want to
do." She laughed. "You just worry about Sam and Jessica. Merlin and I will
forget all about this and concentrate on the name thing."

Merlin curled more tightly in Lisanne's lap, now
divested of the money bag, ears flat against his head. More work for him.
Naming the group. No way he'd leave this one up to Lisanne. And no way was he
going to just forget about what Sam was capable of doing. No way.

Hardware Store, Branson, Missouri

"So, did you and Rachel get your eye thing
squared away?" Nathan asked Andy as he sorted through plastic pipe in the
hardware store. They'd paired up again after Andy's eye appointment.

"Yep, we sure did. We went with Mrs. Philpott
and fortunately they had my brand of lenses in stock and could get them done
for me right then. But I went ahead and got some eyeglasses, too, just in case."

"Oh, ho! And when are you going to spring those
on Lisanne?" Nathan asked.

Andy groaned. "There's never a good time to
spring anything on Lisanne, trust me."

Nathan said, "I wonder if we should buy some
tools that aren't power tools. Who knows whether we'll have power for long."

"John said he has a bunch of older tools in his
shed. But I think you're right. You can never have enough tools, especially if
they aren't made anymore."

"I have been on so many shopping sprees in the
past week that I'm literally stunned by how much money we've spent," Nathan
observed.

"But even with all that shopping, I'm sure there's
going to be some absolutely vital item that we've forgotten about. And we'll be
kicking ourselves later for not getting it," Andy told him.

Nathan started to laugh wryly. "Well, there's
one thing we won't run out of anytime soon. And you have Alex and me to thank
for it, just remember that when you and Lisanne get together."

Andy looked at him, puzzled.

"Condoms, man, we bought a ton of condoms."

Andy's mouth fell open, and he started to laugh.
"I knew I liked you, Nathan, I just didn't understand completely why. But wait
a minute, I thought you said that you and Alex weren't--"

"Not for us! I mean not for us to use together.
Alex brought up the idea about tampons for women, and then that got me to
thinking and I remembered about condoms. We both agreed that getting pregnant
in the middle of all the coming chaos would not be smart."

Andy's face grew serious as he thought about it.
"That's the thing, isn't it? We don't know what kind of world will be left.
What the 'After' world will look like." Shaking his head, he said, "No, there's
no way I want to bring a kid into this mess until we know we can survive."

He walked up to the counter to stack up boxes of
nails next to their other purchases of wrenches in all sizes and other assorted
tools. He glanced at the small TV the store owner was watching next to the cash
register and stood there riveted to the spot.

Nathan arrived with an armful of pipe connectors
and noticed Andy glued to the TV screen.

"What is it?"

Andy pointed to the large, white, truly huge
cloud formation spreading up the middle of the country. "That--that--"

Turning to stare at Nathan, he said, "I'm
standing here looking at the biggest weather story of my life, and I'll tell
you, buddy--right now I know for damn sure I don't want to bring any kids into
this nightmare."

Nathan nodded thoughtfully. When the weather guy
looks scared by the weather, maybe nightmare was the right word for it.

The Mall in Branson, Missouri

Black and Max walked down the rows of the shoe
store, looking for Max's size.

"Ah, here we go," said Black, hefting a pair of
black leather boots into Max's hands. "These here are the ones you want. They've
got the steel toe. We'll have to get you some others for working in the fields,
but these boots here are the ones you'll wear when you're on duty with me."

Max sat on a bench to try on the boots. "Do you
really think I can be a part of your security team?"

Black assured him, "Absolutely. I'm going to
need strong young men and women, and you fit the bill. Ever do any fighting?"

Max shook his head. "No. I had somebody fight me--beat
me up--but I never fought back."

He looked up at Black as he finished tying the
boot laces snugly. "It was my Dad. He used to beat me up. That's why I ran
away. If I'd fought back, well, I think he woulda killed me."

Black grunted. "Then you were smart to not fight
back, son. You have to choose your battles. But don't you worry. I'll teach you
what you need to know. Nobody's gonna go beating up on you when I'm through
with you."

Max grinned at him. "I like the sound of that!"

"So do those fit?" Black asked.

"Yeah, they do. But don't you think we're buying
an awful lot of shoes and boots, Black?"

Reaching for several more pairs of the boots in
larger sizes, Black said, "Boy, you already got big feet and you ain't done
growin' yet. I can't have you running around barefoot a year from now. My team
of Protectors wears boots!"

Max nodded, surprised that Black seemed to think
they'd still be here a year from now.

The Samuels' House

Jessica sat, wilted on the overstuffed, flowered
silk chair in her bedroom. Her azure-blue eyes were huge. John sat on the edge
of the bed across from her.

"I know, honey, this is a lot to take in, but--"

"You know? You don't know anything about it! I've
been wracking my brain all afternoon after having you yell at me! Feeling
guilty and trying to understand how I did such a stupid, stupid thing. And now
you're telling me my daughter, my sweet little girl, turned on me and messed
with my mind? You don't know anything about how I feel right now, John!"

"Jess, hon, I don't think she turned on you--"

"Then what do you call it? She manipulated my
thoughts! How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. I just don't know," John replied,
an expression of sorrow on his face.

"My God, what are we going to do?" Jessica asked.
"This is like--you know what it's like? That Twilight Zone episode where that
little boy manipulates all those people with his mind. He controls their
behavior. That's what this is like! It's like a horror story."

"Jessica, that was a story and the characters in
it weren't like us, weren't like Sam."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really. We've given Sam a good foundation.
She knows the difference between right and wrong. But I think this is like
anything else with kids. Even when a kid knows they shouldn't lie, they still
do end up trying it out. And in Sam's case, nobody ever told her not to do this--this--thing.
It's a skill she has but we didn't even know she had it. And as her parents, it's
up to us to teach her how to use it wisely."

Jessica glared at him. "I don't want her using
it wisely! I don't want her using it ever again!"

"Okay, hon, but there may come a time when we
need her to use it."

"You can't be serious. She can't be allowed to
do this! We have to make her understand that she can't ever do it. Not ever!"

John took a deep breath, and then said softly, "Not
even to save her life? If we're overrun here and evil people get hold of her?
If we're attacked and she's in mortal danger? Not even then?"

Jessica stared at him for a moment and buried
her face in her hands.

San Juan Islands, aboard the Rhondavous yacht

Captain Hollywood regaled them with tales from
his years of whale-watching as they munched on ham and cheese sandwiches and
potato chips.

Phoebe asked, "But weren't you ever afraid they'd
run right into your boat and flip it over?"

"Never!" he replied. "Not once. You see, they're
smart. And they like to play. So they charge up to the boat like they're going
to ram it--but they never, ever touch it. I've seen them do it a few times and
it's thrilling. Last year we had six playing around the boat at once!"

Phoebe didn't look thrilled. She looked
terrified.

Zack was enthralled hearing about the
magnificent sea creatures. They'd gotten a late start on their tour, but even
so, they were treated to the sight of Bald Eagles, a Great Blue Heron, and a
couple of Belted Kingfisher birds before the sun started to go down. They
planned to sleep on board and try to contact the whales tomorrow. Captain
Hollywood, and what a name that was, Zack thought with a grin, felt confident they
would see some of the whales, perhaps from J pod. The pods were all named and
the whale-watching guides in the area knew who was who within each pod. Zack
was fascinated by the signs of intelligence the whales seem to possess.

He asked, "How smart do you really think they
are, Captain?"

"I think we have no idea just how intelligent
they are, in part because it's a different kind of intelligence than we have.
But the scientists say their brains are almost four times larger than ours, and
they have all those deep folds in the brain like humans do that indicate high
mental ability." He paused to take a sip of hot tea. The wind and water
combined for a chilly night and he was getting warmed up from being outside. He
thought this group of clients was a strange mix and pretty intense, but he
enjoyed the rapt audience.

"The other thing is in the way they forage for
food. In this area they feed on salmon, which are plentiful here. But in other
parts of the world, wherever they live, they feed on the most abundant food
source. Think about that! They don't feed on species that are rarer. They base
their choice on the ecology of the region, on what will make the least impact
on the environment. There are a lot of us humans who haven't figured things out
nearly as well. And they have a society that is peaceful! I'm telling you we
could learn a lot from them."

"Maybe we will," Margaret murmured.

Dusty Dubois heard her but didn't respond. Sure,
it was all interesting information, she mused. But I wonder what Captain
Hollywood would say if he knew Margaret planned to talk to the whales and not
just watch them. She turned to Alan Beakman sitting next to her and whispered, "This
oughta be some show tomorrow."

He looked at her and rolled his eyes. All day
long he tried to think of some way to cheer up his old friend and mentor, but
what could he say? Her city was gone. Alan couldn't believe it himself. And
from what little he'd seen on TV earlier, he was shocked that people weren't up
in arms about it. Didn't they realize that Houston was one damn big city? But
it seemed like after L.A. and the quake there with so many dead, it seemed like
people were shutting it out. There had been so much horrific news that people
couldn't grasp it, couldn't handle knowing about it. And Margaret was
predicting more disasters. Alan hoped fervently she was wrong.

"So there we were in my smaller boat, The
Cobalt," Alan heard Captain Hollywood telling the rest of the table, "and you
have to understand it's painted black and white, just like the whales are. I go
over to the rail and look down and there about twelve feet under the boat is a
whale--upside down! Mirroring the boat, keeping station with it, always in
place. It was unbelievable."

Grimly, Dusty thought everything lately was
pretty unbelievable.

The Samuels' House

John sat on Samantha's bed, watching his
daughter sitting cross-legged and leaning against the headboard. Jessica was
across the room, arms crossed, as she listened to him talk. She was very still.

"Sam, are hearing what I'm telling you? What you
did was wrong," John explained.

Her bottom lip came out a bit and she looked
hurt. "So Merlin told on me? Why?"