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Sarah's Landing II: The Telepaths of Theon
Prologue Earth’s reach for the stars, catches the interest and attention of a culture existing on a shrouded planet who have commissioned a highly technically superior force to search the universe for compatible life forms. The alien race, who call themselves Theonians, are capable of fantastic psychic abilities, one of which allows them to travel anywhere in the universe at will. The Theonians’ advanced society is on the brink of disaster. These aliens must now enlist, but are forbidden to conquer, a race of beings whose genetics are similar to theirs to ensure the continuation of their own existence. Settling on the planet Earth as their primary objective they surreptitiously send a member of their Inner Council to scout out this promising aspect. He takes on the name of Henderson, and the role of a Caretaker, so as to slip among the people of the planet with ease. Thus, in the first episode of the Series, Sarah’s Landing, one of the last surviving vestiges of an earlier era situated along the rocky coast of New England, becomes the village where Henderson begins his mission. * * * Ten years before the twenty-first century people began to disappear without warning, vanishing before the eyes of their spouses, their lovers, and their friends. Fifty-one years into the new millennium, Joshua Morgan, special investigator for the Alien Intelligence Team of the Space Intelligence Command (SICOM), comes to this place out of time, this New England village called Sarah’s Landing. Somehow Morgan knows that hidden among the archaic weather-beaten wooden buildings of this village lay the key to where those people had gone. His interest is not totally official, for Joshua Morgan, scientist, biologist, and astronaut, has himself lost friends, has in fact almost been one of them. He was to be the lead biologist on the maiden voyage of the Earth Star-1, the most important deep-space mission yet. But hours before the flight, he is stricken with a serious viral illness forcing him to stay behind. And Earth Star-1 vanishes. Joshua Morgan, “scrubbed” from the most ambitious deep space mission yet, is temporarily assigned to the Space Intelligence Command’s (SICOM), Investigative Branch to solve the mystery of these disappearances. He must determine the thread between a Centuries old mystery, people vanishing before the new millennium, a lost star-ship in deep space, and a New England village, a place out of time, called Sarah’s Landing. In his search for answers, Joshua stumbles upon a mystery dating back 111 years to Einstein’s Electro-Magnetic Field Flux Theories, and our initial experiments with inter-dimensional travel. During his search for the truth, Joshua meets and falls in love with Alexandra, a telepath, who senses danger in Joshua’s life. The first inkling of the Alien bond manifests itself in Alexandra’s dreams after her lover, Joshua Morgan, disappears while she is away from Sarah’s Landing. * * * The story begins in the year 2055, and weaves around Sarah’s Landing, one of the last surviving vestiges of an earlier era. Unknown to most of its inhabitants, it maintains an unusual bond with an alien city, and its unseen planet light years away, in an undiscovered galaxy the New Englanders have not been privy to; and with it, its people…the empathies and Telepaths of Theon. It involves a race of beings whose telepathic, telekinetic, and psychic abilities are more powerful and far-reaching than anyone could have imagined. In the obscurity of deep space, this shrouded planet (Theon) is quietly sending a technically superior force to search the universe for compatible life forms. The aliens, who call themselves Theonians, have become victims of their own advanced culture and are facing extinction unless a solution can be found. While on Earth, they assimilate among the people of the planet with ease and are undetectable. Earth Star-I’s historic flight is in response to a message sent by a newly contacted star in the vicinity of the Reticulli System, 37 light years away. The ship is equipped with two propulsion systems; one for physical space travel, the other, an untried hyperspace drive system capable of traveling faster than the speed of light. The second system designed by Allen, Joshua’s replacement, is a device for dimensional and hyper-dimensional transitions capable of transporting ship and crew light years away, almost instantaneously, eliminating the meaning of time and space as we know it. But there is a danger. If the starship breaks through the barriers of light velocity without reaching hyperspace instantaneously, the ship and its crew will either disintegrate or wander forever between the corridors of time. Seconds after hyper-drive ignition, the Lunar telescope records a light flash of tremendous proportions. The ship and its crew go silent. There is no word, just loud crackling static then dead silence. Houston attempts to launch a rescue mission. The plans for the propulsion system have mysteriously disappeared. During the course of his investigation, Joshua is drawn to Sarah’s Landing by an inexplicable gut feeling. The only office space available to him is in a musty old mausoleum, that not even the ‘natives’ would enter. He believes that there is a link between this quaint village and to the people, who have vanished, as well as to the 111-year old mystery, and to the enigma of the ship’s disappearance. For several months, Joshua’s probing in Sarah’s Landing is stymied when he meets and falls in love with a beautiful, redheaded telepath, Alexandra McKay. She senses that as long as he stays in ‘that building’ his life is in danger. But she cannot persuade him to leave. When she embarks on a weekend trip, Joshua is forcefully reminded of his purpose. During a violent electrical storm, he willingly moves through a disappearing door, a portal, transporting him to a cryogenic lab on a different planet. Here he is held prisoner until his transformation. He develops new abilities and incredible alien powers. Given a choice to join the aliens or face entombment, he joins them hoping to escape. * * * Upon her return to Sarah’s Landing, Alexandra, Joshua’s psychic lover, searches frantically for him. Henderson, the caretaker of the old building, arouses suspicion as to Joshua’s disappearance and he is arrested. He inexplicably disappears from both sight and mind of all but Alexandra. She soon discovers this devious character is her alien nemesis, responsible for the strange happenings in Sarah’s Landing. In her waking hours, Alexandra tries desperately to find Joshua, enlisting the aid of Lieutenant Henry Jacobsen, of the Space Intelligence Command, only to have her efforts blocked at every turn by Henderson, her strange, devious nemesis, who is responsible for her many bizarre nightmares. After his own investigation as to the whereabouts of Joshua proves fruitless, Lt. Henry (Harry) Jacobsen, Joshua’s closest friend, arrives to help. Although eager to be of service, Harry is far more interested in Alexandra. He spends all his spare time with her and hopes for more. Unknown to her, Henderson’s prime responsibility is twofold: stop Alexandra from using her psychic powers to contact Joshua and, stop her from learning of the existence of the Alien Planet. But Alexandra is determined not to be dissuaded. She pushes ahead and succeeds in thwarting Henderson. Successfully contacting Joshua, she brings him back to her for almost twenty-four hours. She discovers the existence of the alien planet and ultimately places herself, her unborn child, and Harry Jacobsen in mortal danger. * * * Alexandra McKay and Lieutenant Henry Jacobsen, of SICOM, as far as they knew, are the only two Earthlings, presently residing in Sarah’s Landing, who were aware of the extraterrestrial tie. Harry, concerned for Alexandra’s safety, decides, for the present, to keep what he knows about the Aliens and Sarah’s Landing to himself. During his efforts to help Alexandra search for Joshua, he grows to love her and Joshua’s unborn son. Alexandra, although fond of Harry as a friend, a brother, has only one love in mind - Joshua. * * * Joshua is fascinated by the Theonians, who materialize and dematerialize with little effort. One night while imprisoned in his living quarters, Joshua suddenly hears Alexandra, and realizes they are capable of linking their minds across the vast reaches of space. Heron, Theon’s Leader, sends his daughter, Adrianne, to meet with Joshua. Adrianne befriends Joshua without divulging her identity. Due to her youth and inexperience, Adrianne unwittingly allows Joshua to escape to her planet’s surface. In the alien’s inhospitable atmosphere, Joshua almost dies before discovering the lost ship and the identity of the young scientist who replaced him on the flight. Shocked by his discoveries, he teleports back to his living quarters. Confusing Adrianne long enough to access her mind, he learns his friends no longer yearn for Earth and he is meant to ‘join’ with her to be the new Leader of Theon. Joshua learns from Adrianne, that long before he came to be on the alien planet, the Theonians, under Heron’s leadership, were searching the galaxies for intelligent beings. Upon their discovery of the blue planet, Beam Ships and transporting sensors were sent to various locations on Earth. Activating their long unused sensors, accidents began to happen and citizens of the Planet Earth began appearing on the surface of Theon. Many of the transplanted people suffered severe damage in the process. Out of compassion, those afflicted were entombed in Theon’s cryogenic laboratories. Survivors were allowed to establish an Earth Colony on Theon. Heron orders the deactivation of the sensors. * * * As the years pass, a puzzling pattern emerges. The children of the Earth Colony are unaffected by the centuries of genetic engineering practiced on Theon. A practice, which, after a period of time, was the cause of a gene mutation, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of Theonian children. Theon’s survival is at stake, Heron orders the sensors reactivated. He sends Henderson along with Allen, one of the Colony’s children, an ingenious, brilliant, young scientist, to Earth — to bring back healthy specimens and a new leader for Theon. * * * In the time it has taken Joshua to find the link between Sarah’s Landing, the missing people, Earth Star-1, and the alien impact on the 111-year-old mystery, he has become sympathetic to Theon’s cause and has ‘joined’ with Adrianne. A quadrangle develops when the main characters are helplessly caught in the entanglement of an affair that spans two different planets light years apart. Joshua has discovered that his love of both women has resulted in two sons — siblings — one from the alien planet Theon, and one from the planet Earth — empowered with their father’s mind-linking capabilities not only to their father and to their mothers, but to each other as well across the vastness of space. This phenomenon results in the safety of both planets being compromised and is now susceptible to detection by an ominous dark force. * * * All of this, together with Heron’s disclosure of the danger from an outside galaxy, a danger, which could destroy both Earth and Theon, adds to Joshua’s struggle with his decision on whether to return to Earth. Believing he has only one choice left to him, he teleports to Earth to explain to Alexandra what his decision must be. And that is the way things stand as the Telepaths of Theon begins slightly before the time of Andrew’s birth.
Chapter 1 Sarah’s Landing, Earth The weeks were rushing by and Alexandra was getting bigger and bigger. The townspeople under the leadership of the owl-faced Postmistress, Emily Pritchard, were now looking at her with a mixture of contemptuousness and fear. “What do you suppose her baby will look like?” ‘Old-Lady’ Pritchard asked the tall, burly, full bearded General Store Proprietor, Ebenezer Grayson. “I hear her talking to ‘it’ when she doesn’t think anyone can hear her,” a woman customer volunteered. “And,” another added, “she acts as if ‘it’ answers her.” “Well, I don’t believe the stories we’ve heard,” ‘Old-Lady’ Pritchard interrupted. “Lt. Jacobsen is the father of her child and she is trying to make it out to be the poor soul who disappeared. I don’t believe that one for an instant!” “Well what is she staying here for?” Ebenezer Grayson thundered. “Why doesn’t she go back with her Lieutenant when he leaves?” “I think she’s trying to shame us all for the way our town acted when her ‘friend’ disappeared, don’t you know,” Emily Pritchard answered. Then she added haughtily, “Flaunting her ‘condition’ and allowing the Lieutenant into her home whenever he comes to town, so it would appear he’s not the real father! Harrumph!” And so it was with most of the townspeople. Alexandra, and her unborn child, became their favorite subject for gossip. * * * The stories spread by the women in the town reached Alexandra. She did her best to ignore them and tried to avoid running into them whenever she went into town to shop. Most of her daylight hours, when Henderson was not harassing her, were spent walking along the shoreline, afraid to climb or walk along the rocks above, afraid something or someone would cause her to fall and injure Joshua’s child. On nights she could not sleep, she wandered along the lonely beach, staring at the stars trying to contact Joshua and hoping he would answer her. She sorely needed a friend. All of her friends had long since left town and gone their separate ways. They had begged her to leave with them, but she would not. Sarah’s Landing was the only place she felt close to Joshua. With the exception of her doctor and the two police officers, no one in town spoke to her, afraid too, afraid of what might happen if they did; and she felt desperately lonely. One afternoon, when she was at her lowest ebb, a messenger rapped furiously on her door and scurried away after leaving a long white box, in the hallway, at the foot of her door. When she answered the door, she was surprised to see the white box sitting there. Looking around for the person who delivered it, she saw no one. She reached down to retrieve the box. Taking it inside, she cautiously looked at it before opening it. Not knowing who could have sent it, she wondered if Henderson has something to do with it. “It would be just like him to drop this at the foot of my door and disappear pretending someone else had sent it to me.” I’m almost afraid to open it, she thought. If it is from Henderson it could be a bomb. She shook her head. No, not even he would stoop that low. She finally decided it was safe enough and gingerly opened the box. A dozen of the most beautiful red roses she had ever seen greeted her. The card inside read, “Thought you could use a little cheering up…will call tomorrow. Love, Harry.” His timing could not have been more perfect. Tears ran down her face when she heard his voice the following day and saw his smiling face on the vicom unit. He said he had a few days off and if she was up to it, he would like to come up and visit. She answered first by telling him how happy his roses made her, and how much they lifted her spirits. His smile deepened, delighted he had pleased her. And when she added she could not wait for him to get there, his heart soared. Harry made it a point to send flowers or telegrams just to cheer her up and called as often as possible between his brief visits. He had a long leave coming up in a few months. He planned to spend it all with her. She did not object. She liked Harry, he was a good friend. He was thoughtful, considerate, and always seemed to know the right time to call or drop in for a brief visit. She knew he hoped for more. If it was not for Joshua, things might have been different. Harry’s visit was all too short. To Alexandra, it seemed as if he had just arrived, when he had to leave and she was alone again…Alone to face the town and Henderson. * * * Henderson, the Elder’s right hand man, had been constantly harassing Alexandra, with occasional periods of abstinence in order to throw her off balance. And its effects were beginning to show on her. His unnerving calls, intermittently spaced during her waking hours, coupled by his deliberately disturbing her sleep with bizarre nightmares, were finally wearing her down. He was desperate. He had orders to force her to relinquish her claim on Joshua, and to that end, he obeyed them with an insatiable degree of enjoyment. But now he was running out of time. “Stop it! Stop it!” she screamed wildly. “No more! Please…no more! What are you trying to do…kill us both! Stop!” Her screaming woke her. She was covered with perspiration. Her damp hair was strewn across her face in stark testimony to her terror-filled night. Henderson’s retreat was swift. All he wanted her to do was release her claim on Joshua. He had felt closer to success than he had ever felt. “But, kill them? No!” That was not his intention. It was never his intention. “It must not happen. Let her rest awhile. He was so close to success, so very close. The Council will be pleased,” his smile was malevolent. She was weakening. He would return again, and this time he would succeed. He admired her strength, in spite of himself. She had been a worthy opponent, for an Earthling. She had been able to pit her power against his, all this time. He marveled at her resiliency. But now, he had the upper hand. In the final outcome, he was going to win and she would eventually learn to forget all about her Joshua. There was no way she could beat him now. Her long pregnancy had taken its toll on her frail body and she was in no condition to resist his powers any longer. Soon she will deliver and after all, the baby is Joshua’s. What more could she want? She would always have a part of him with her. “Rest, sweet adversary, rest…Tomorrow will come soon enough for both of us.” Her tired, swollen body rebelled at her attempts to stay awake. She was afraid to sleep. Afraid he might return. But her eyes refused to stay open. She felt herself going, and abruptly opened her eyes, the cold sweat of fear adding to her apprehension. “I must stay awake. Don’t go to sleep. He’ll come back…,” she repeated over and over to herself, until intermittent, restless, sleep periodically overcame her objections. Morning light was a welcomed sight. She felt safe at last. Somehow she had managed to make it through the night and her fears had subsided to some degree. Comforted by the rising sun, she turned on her side, pulled the extra pillow closer to her for comfort, closed her eyes, and slept peacefully for a few short hours. * * * The urging beeping of her vicom unit, archaic by present standards but not for Sarah’s Landing, aroused her from her deep sleep. A few moments passed before she realized what had awakened her and stumbled out of bed to answer it. She reached for her robe drawing it around her swollen body, and brushed the hair from her eyes as she approached the unit. The two-way link-up made it possible for her to see who was calling, before she answered it. But she could not get a clear picture of who her caller was. She waited a moment before pushing the receiver button, and the audio-visual signals filled the room with a loud whine. “Hello? Hello?” she said sleepily. “Who’s there?” Ear-splitting static was her answer both off and on the screen. “Why does this have to act up now?” she fumed. She tried adjusting the dials, but only succeeded in making matters worse. “I can’t see or hear you,” she apologized. The noise deafening, she covered her ears and shouted, “There must be a lot of interference this morning, you’ll have to try later.” She pressed the off button, relieved that the sound had stopped, shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. Yawning widely, she let her robe drop to the floor as she stumbled back into bed. She drew the blankets up around her neck and quickly fell back to sleep. She awoke with a start. Turned her head toward the opened bedroom door and stared into the next room at the vicom unit. She held on to the blanket for support, unable to take her eyes away from the now blank screen. “It was him!” she whispered, shock registering on her face. “He’s starting it again!” The sudden beeping of the unit made her jump. It startled her so much, the baby within her jumped, too. She did not dare move and held her breath. It could beep its head off, for all she cared she was not going to answer it. The insistent beeping confirmed her suspicions. “It is him! No one else would hang on this long waiting for me to answer. Even Harry would have given up long before this. It has to be him!” She exerted every ounce of strength within her to pull her eyes away from the screen and scrambled out of bed. Stumbling and fumbling, she hurriedly dressed. She was not going to stay in that apartment one moment longer. She had to get out. Running out of her bedroom, she came face to face with the screen. Temporarily frozen before it, she could swear she saw Henderson’s malevolent, smiling face appearing through the maze of dark, turbulent, swirling clouds that somehow materialized around it. She gasped audibly, clutched at her throat and ran completely terrified through the front door and into the relative safety of the streets. But she was not going to be able to escape from his threat for very long. She heard his laughter all around her and his voice calling to her to run wherever she wanted. “Run, my pretty adversary, run! I promise I will find you wherever you go, you can’t escape me. Run, run,” his laughter echoed after his words and she could feel the blood within her run cold. * * * Blindly running down the street, Alexandra desperately tried to think. She had to find someone who would listen to her. Someone who would help — But who, where? There was not a soul in town who did not already believe she was crazy. Her breathing was heavy and labored. She had to find a place to rest; a place where she could sit; a place where she could think rationally. She crossed the street to the nearest building and leaned her tired, heavy body against it, desperately sucking in the fresh air for her screaming lungs. “Alexandra!” Panic seized her when she heard her name. She whirled to face the caller. She did not have the strength, or breath, to run anymore. “Hey! Alexandra!” he called again, waving his arm to attract her attention, though he was the only other person on the street at the time. She could not have missed him. He jogged toward her, calling her name, and waving his arm. His broad smile radiated from his handsomely tanned face. She stared at him unbelievingly, as he rapidly closed the distance between them. Her heart leaped. Next to Joshua, he was the only other man on Earth she cared to see right at the moment. “Harry!” she cried for joy. “Harry!” her voice failed her. Tears stung her eyes. Just when she needed a friend, there he was. She could not believe her good fortune. He caught up to her. Standing before her and grinning from ear to ear, he casually said, “Hi!” as if he had been there all along and she happened by. When she did not respond immediately, his grin faded and concern slowly spread across his face. He saw the tears in her eyes and the trace of panic, which had not quite disappeared before he reached her side. “Alexandra?” he asked puzzled. “Aren’t you glad to see me?” “Yes! Oh yes, Harry! You have no idea how happy I am to see you especially right now!” she cried. “Then why the tears?” he asked suddenly concerned. “And why the panic? For a moment there, I thought you were going to bolt on me.” “Oh Harry, hold me! Put your arms around me and hold me tight!” she pleaded as she moved close to him. “Gladly lady,” he grinned, “But what will the neighbors think? Out in broad daylight like this?” He laughed lightly, drawing her closer and wrapping his arms around her. He rested his head on the top of hers and tightened his hold on her. He would hold her forever like this, if she would only let him. “What is it honey?” he whispered. “What are you so terrified of?” She shook her head, but did not answer. She felt safe and secure in his arms and did not want to move from them. He removed one arm from around her, and with his free hand tilted her head up so he could see her face. “Whatever it is,” he said gently, “can wait until later. What I want to know now is, have you eaten? I haven’t had a chance, and I’m hungry as hell. Join me?” He searched her face for her answer. And before he could stop himself, lightly kissed both of her eyes, sought her lips and held them in a long passionate kiss. He felt her body go limp in his arms and his spirits soared. At this moment she was his. He cursed the awkwardness of the moment. Any other time, any other place, he might have pushed his advantage, but now! Here! On the street! His mind reeled with the possibility of making her truly his. The magic of the moment passed all too swiftly. He reluctantly pushed her from him, placed his arm protectively around her shoulders and gently guided her toward Sarah’s Landing’s coziest restaurant. * * * Alexandra toyed with her lunch until Harry, reaching across the table to take her hand in his, insisted she eat every morsel of food on her plate, if not for herself, then for her unborn baby. After all, he told her, the baby was dependent upon her for food, and even if she did not feel like eating did not mean the baby was not hungry. She laughed, in spite of herself, and had to admit he was right. She savagely attacked the food on her plate until she had consumed every bit of it. “Feel better,” he asked, after she had finished. “Yes, much,” she answered smiling at him. “I wasn’t the object of that attack, was I?” he asked grinning. “You! Of course not!” she answered shocked. “Why would I want to take anything out on you?” “Want to tell me about it?” he asked gently. “Not here,” she answered, “and not in my apartment either!” she added vehemently. “I don’t want to go back there! Not right now. Maybe not ever!” “My place then,” he volunteered. She nodded her approval. Harry, watching her face intently, called the waitress over, paid the bill then deftly guided Alexandra out of the restaurant and toward his rented rooms. * * * Once he had her settled on the couch in his apartment, he offered her a drink, to put her at ease. Accepting his offer, she smiled at his obvious embarrassment. It was one thing to offer refuge when one is in a public restaurant, but quite another in the stark reality of one’s own private rooms. Studying him over the rim of the glass she now held in her hand, as she sipped her drink, she could not help but think if it were not for Joshua, she could easily love him. But then, it if were not for Joshua, she might never have met him. She thought back to the day when she first met Lt. Henry Jacobsen, Investigative Officer of the Space Intelligence Command and how shocked he was, when she informed him Joshua was her baby’s father. Joshua, the object of his search, transported by Aliens to their planet, had managed to elude them long enough to return to her, for almost twenty-four hours, before they came for him again. Her smile was warm as she absorbed every inch of him. His handsomely tanned face; the effects of the sun lighting his hair; his long lean body, virile, alive; and what was more, right there in the same room with her. If she was not pregnant, and due any time now, she could easily be persuaded. She was that vulnerable, and she knew he knew it. He was not unaware of her appraisal of him or, for that matter, that she was carrying another man’s child. But he could handle it. He loved her, pure and simple, and the child she was soon to have. He could easily raise him as his own, after all, it was Alexandra’s and it was not as if he did not know who the father was, or what he was. Joshua had become as much a part of his life as Alexandra had. He wanted to comfort her, protect her, and make her his for all time. “Harry?” her voice broke through his reverie. “I’m curious. Why did you come back to Sarah’s Landing?” “One reason only,” he replied earnestly, “to be with you.” “To be with me?” she echoed. “Why?” “Yes!” he answered emphatically. “I knew the baby was due around this time, and I thought you could use a friend. Actually more than a friend, if you get my meaning,” he added smiling at her. “I do, Harry, really I do. But what if you’re too early? What if it’s a week away, or maybe two or three?” “I don’t care if it’s a month away. I’ve got two months leave and I’m spending it here with you. Why do you think I rented these rooms instead of a motel room?” “I didn’t know. I was wondering?” “Well you don’t have to anymore. I’m sticking with you, whether you like it or not. So you might as well get used to having me around. Now what was it you couldn’t tell me in the restaurant?” His voice was demanding. He wanted an answer now. Alexandra smiled at his forcefulness, and wondered about her shy Lieutenant. She motioned for him to sit next to her and after refilling both glasses, he did so willingly. She drew in a long, deep breath, and exhaled slowly. Then picked up her drink and swallowed several sips before he reached across and took the glass from her hand. Deliberately, and methodically placing it on the table, he turned toward her and ordered, “Now, Alexandra! Now!” She told him everything that had happened to her up to and including the moment he shouted her name. “No wonder you reacted the way you did, when I called,” he whistled. “That settles it. You’re staying here!” “You’re out of your mind! I can’t stay here!” “You’ll be out of your mind, if you don’t,” he argued. “I can’t be much help to you if you’re there and I’m here. Now can I?” “No, I guess not,” she agreed. “It’s settled then,” he nodded firmly. Harry accompanied Alexandra to her apartment where she packed a bag and picked up the necessities she would need while she stayed with him and for her impending trip to the hospital. After which, he ordered her to take a long nap, because he felt she needed it. “Go to sleep!” he grinned. “I’ll keep watch.” Gratefully accepting his offer, she promptly fell into a quiet restful sleep. He stood watching her for a few moments, bent down then gently kissed her sleeping eyes, and quiet lips. He kept the door open when he left the room, so he could be at her side, immediately, if she needed him. Picking up a few magazines to thumb through, he sat down in a chair closest to the room she was in to begin his vigil. While Alexandra slept, Henderson returned to begin, what he hoped would be, his final assault on her. “I told you I would find you,” his voice penetrated the deep recesses of her mind. “You should know by now you can’t hide from me. I could find you no matter where you went.” His smile was malicious. “Did you really think the Lieutenant could stop me? He won’t even know I’m here. Scream all you want, Alexandra, no one can hear you. You wouldn’t listen to me, now it’s too late. Not even your son will be able to help you. Obey me, Alexandra. Obey me, or you might lose him.” Alexandra’s screams went unanswered. Harry, sitting in the next room, heard absolutely nothing. He periodically looked up from his magazine at her only to see that her sleep was undisturbed; she had not moved; all was quiet and peaceful; and when he did, he smiled at her fragility. Believing all was well, he returned to his magazine until it was time to check again. And all the while Alexandra, unable to move or cry out, was fighting a losing battle for her survival, as well as her son’s. * * * Morgansphere, Theon… It was Joshua’s unborn Theonian son who had a hand in stopping Henderson. Adam, attempting to contact Andrew, heard Alexandra cry out. Frightened by her cries, he reached for Joshua. “Father, what are Henderson and the Council doing to Andrew’s mother!” Adam cried alarmed. “What do you mean son?” Joshua asked puzzled. “Andrew said Henderson’s terrorizing his mother. He’s been doing it for a long time and he’s doing it more and more now. Andrew’s afraid his mother is awful sick. Henderson won’t leave them alone. Andrew said Henderson calls his Mother all the time and he won’t let her sleep. Andrew has tried to stop him but he can’t, he needs your help, and he needs it now, Father! Make Henderson leave them alone.” “What! Andrew is calling for help you say!” Joshua demanded. He could not get used to the idea of carrying on a conversation with his unborn son, mental or otherwise, and it always shook him when he heard his son’s thoughts forcing their way into his mind. He knew it should not disturb him, there was nothing unusual about it - at least not on Theon - and certainly, he’s been here long enough. It was different with Adrianne, at least she was there, and he could see her, but Adam was still inside. “Yes, Father, he is!” Adam persisted. “Stop Henderson, now Father! Please!” “Adrianne! Did you hear?” “Yes I did, and our son is right. I hear them communicating with each other. Alexandra does need you help. She’s been weakening under the strain, and it could be dangerous for her, for both of them.” “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” he demanded angrily. The tone of his voice stunned Adrianne. “I thought you knew!” “No!” he exploded. “I didn’t know any of this was going on. Adam!” he ordered, glaring at Adrianne, “Tell Andrew not to worry. Henderson won’t be disturbing either one of them ever again. I will personally see to it!” “I will Father, I will tell Andrew if I can. The last time I tried to reach him, it was very difficult. He was very weak. I think it’s affecting him, too.” “That is true,” Adrianne volunteered. “He didn’t seem to be as strong as he had been on their previous contacts. I hope it will be better once Henderson stops. I’m beginning to become concerned for both of them. I’m sorry I didn’t bring it to your attention sooner myself.” “I’m sorry too Adrianne. Very sorry you didn’t. But I’m going to take care of Henderson right now. While I’m gone, I don’t want you to go into the laboratory for any reason. I don’t care what it is. I don’t want either one of you anywhere near it.” “Why did you have to bring that thing in here?” she whispered alarmed. “Why couldn’t someone else experiment with it?” “Because…I’m the one…experimenting with it. There is nothing for you to worry about, as long as you stay out of there. The energy shield will keep it all contained. Now stop worrying about it.” Joshua answered annoyed. “I wouldn’t have even brought it up to you, if I didn’t know you were curious about what was going on in there. You just might take it into your head to see, if you thought I wouldn’t be around to stop you. So stay out of there, hear?” “Yes I hear you perfectly well, you don’t have to shout.” “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to, it’s just that…” “I know. Be careful Joshua,” she warned, “the Council is going to back Henderson. They will not like your interference.” “I don’t care what they like!” he retorted angrily. “Henderson better stay the hell away from Alexandra if he knows what’s good for him. And that goes for Heron and the Council too!” he added emphatically. “I only wish I had known about it sooner. I could have put a stop to it earlier.” “Alexandra didn’t tell you?” “No she didn’t. At least I don’t think she did. Probably because I’ve been so damn busy searching for an answer to Theon’s problem, I didn’t pay attention to what she may have been trying to tell me.” He was upset with both Adrianne and himself. “If anything happens to either one of them, it will be my fault for not listening. But I promise all of you, the Council will pay for it!” he added menacingly. “Joshua!” “What is it?” “Nothing…,” She was afraid to say anything further. Afraid she might anger him more. “Just be careful.” “Don’t worry. Nothing is going to happen to me.” Her obvious concern for his safety cooled his anger. With a reassuring smile, he kissed her warmly then he blinked out.
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