New Neighbors

Chapter 30

T-8

Sally had slept for 36 hours after completing her training in her new ability and was still a little disoriented on awaking. The first thing she noticed was that she could "hear" Linda thinking about what had gone on the past 36 hours while Sally slept. Linda had only stayed on post for 12 of those hours before being relieved for a rest period. After an eight hour nap Linda had personally interviewed the two captives and had found nothing of interest or who, or what, had influenced them to attack the base.

Sally wondered how she had ended up in her bed without any clothes on; she didn't remember taking them off before going to bed. That could wait, how was she "hearing" Linda; Sally's quarters were supposed to be Psion proof, supposed to block that activity both ways. Sally thought about getting up and getting a fresh set of clothes from the closet when they just appeared at the foot of her bed.

As the warning repeated for the second time Linda came through the door with helmet on, weapon ready, and started scanning the room intensely. "I wish she would relax and quit pointing her weapon at me" Sally thought. Linda's weapon went flying out of her hands and came to rest at Sally's feet. Then Sally remembered that she was sitting there without any clothes on and that section 13-1 was her room! And that most of the containment team was male! In the mean time Linda sat down on the floor as if she was completely relaxed. Sally got up and quickly put her clothes on, and had just picked up Linda's weapon when five men came through her door and one of them fired a "glue gun" at her. The blob of "glue" stopped just short of Sally and fell to the floor; when a second blob was launched it too stopped and then bounced back to cover the five men, effectively immobilizing them.

"Luna, Holoform in the captain's quarters." Sally said.

Luna's holographic form appeared instantly and she was armed also. Five more people came through the door at the same time and pointed weapons at Sally. Luna instructed the new arrivals to hold their fire. "Linda needs to have her weapon if there is a danger here, maybe the intruder is invisible" Sally thought and at that second Linda's weapon returned to Linda who jumped to her feet.

"What the hell is going on here? I heard the alert about Psionic activity, Linda comes through my door throws here weapon on my bed then sits down in the floor as if stunned. Then these five come in shoot at me, twice, and now my AI is armed and five more people come in and point weapons at me. Someone better tell me what is happening." Sally said.

Luna lowered her weapon and replied "I detected the presents of Psionic activity in the room and issued the warning, Linda was doing what she was ordered to do protecting you. The Psionic activity was a type that hasn't been detected before; it was very strong since this room is second to only the Psion holding cells in strength. Physical and psychological scans show that you are Sally and have not been influenced by any detectable mind control. The sensors should have allowed me to know when you awoke but instead they detected your Psionic activity first and issued the alert. We thought you were under attack. The first containment team saw you with a weapon and reacted. That should have immobilized and shielded you instantly. Review of video scans from the past 15 minutes shows that you "willed" your clothes to you, which triggered the Psion alert. Then you took Linda's weapon from her. The first containment team's restraint was stopped not more than two feet from you as if it had hit a wall; the second containment restraint bounced off you and contained the team. How this happened I don't know; I will cancel the alert."

The second team lowered their weapons and one of them pointed the release agent at the first team so as to dissolve the "glue"; both teams left Sally's quarters. Linda removed her helmet and engaged the safety on her weapon, Luna's weapon just disappeared. Sally sat down at the desk and gave the whole situation some thought for a few seconds then asked Luna to closely monitor the Psionic activity in the room but not to issue an alert. Sally asked Linda to hold her weapon as tight as she could, and then thought about Linda's weapon lying on the desk. The weapon appeared on the desk in an instant.

"Luna, have we recorded any one with the telekinetic ability? That seems to be a part of my new skill. And why was I able to "hear" Linda while she was in the passageway?" Sally asked.

Luna took a few seconds to scan the records for the psions that had been captured and those who had developed the skill from the crew and could find no reference to telekinesis in any of the records. Luna told Sally and Linda that there was no record of that type of ability in the records and that a search of AL's original database showed that Captain Tuvok had shown a small amount of that ability but telekinesis was not a usual ability.

While Luna had been giving her report, Sally had been "playing" with different items around the room using her new found ability much to the shock of Linda who had found herself the object used for a target on several occasions. Sally acknowledged Luna's report and said she was going to Med Bay for another scan to determine what was different between her and the rest of her friends and family who had gained this ability. But first she wanted to see the two captives herself; with that said Sally, Linda, and Luna left for the brig.

Sally took an hour talking to the two captives and uncovered not a single new piece of information. The two of them had just decided to attack the base; they both had gotten that thought a few days prior to the attack. After that talk Sally went to the Med Bay for more in-depth scans that were to be compared to the scans of Amy, John, and the rest of the people who had developed the ability to use their mind more efficiently. Luna said that the comparison would take a few hours to complete and that news of this new development would be sent to the command staff (namely Amy, Nate, and Jones). Sally remembered that the lock-down was scheduled to take place within a few hours and she needed to check that everything was ready. Oh well back to work.

Sally told Linda to resume her normal duties, but to get some rest first. Sally and Luna went to the command center and got the latest updates from the centers on Earth. Sally contacted each center and spoke with the person in charge to reassure them that they weren't alone in this endeavor. Then Sally remembered the outgoing psychic message stream and asked if the relay point had been located and if so, had the origin been found? Luna said that the relay point had been traced to a small amount of space and that area was being investigated very closely. Sally instructed Luna that when the relay was found not to attack or disable it but to try and trace the incoming data stream to its source. Sally wanted whoever was sending reports to the enemy located and removed from the equation as soon as possible. Plus she was upset that someone had tried to attack HER base.

It was a couple of hours later when Luna reported that the relay point had been located, but the probe was continuing to search so as not to disclose that the relay had been located. The source was coming from two different areas, one on Earth and one on the moon! but not from the area of the base. Based on analysis someone sent the data from Earth and it was received and retransmitted from the moon to the relay point and then relayed out of the system on a very tight beam as a burst transmission. There didn't seem to be any set timetable for the transmissions, maybe the relay had a buffer that had to be filled prior to being sent. Sally had a squad of security officers join her and they went towards the source on the moon but in a round about way so it looked like a routine patrol.

It took about an hour before Sally and her officers were close to the lunar source. As they got closer Sally started "hearing" something, and that something wasn't onboard her craft. She had the driver to stop and then start a route around the lunar source and to close on it in a very slow manner. When they were about a mile from the source Sally had two of the security go EVA and approach the location on foot while she and the land craft continued but away from the source for a short distance and then stop.

Sally could not "hear" anything else at that point. She immediately told Luna that another transmission was going out and to find a way to block it. The two security officers reported that they had located the lunar source and it was an abandoned satellite that appeared to have crashed but had been reworked to function as a relay. They asked for instructions. Sally had to think real fast but told them to return to the "rover" as soon as possible and gave the coordinates. As soon as the EVA security returned, Sally and crew headed for the base at best possible speed.

As soon as she returned Sally had a conference call with Nate and Jones to give them the updated information. Luna then told the three of them that she had discovered that the only time the lunar source sent anything was when that side of the moon was in direct line with the relay in space, which was in about 12 hours. Sally had come up with a plan to capture the source on Earth, it seemed really hair-brained but she was insistent that it would work. They would allow this transmission, but Sally and a trusted team would covertly go to the center in Chile and attempt to find the traitor inside and to capture the one in route to that center. Sally also commented that for some reason the "voice" she heard was familiar but she couldn't place it. Nate and Jones both thought the plan was very risky but they concluded that that sector was Sally's responsibility and that they would support her in any way possible.

Amy was happy to a certain extent that Sally had joined that special club of new psions, but the timing could have been better as they were just a few days from launching an attack on the Empire and its allies. She also wondered how strong Sally would be in her ability; John was fairly weak after all. Jake was fairly strong as was Ted, but none of them seemed as strong as Amy.

The first thing on Amy's agenda today was the final preparation for the liberation of the Reptilian home world. That had to happen first since they would need the expanded ground forces that the reptilians could provide. The plan was fairly simple in that the Reptilian forces from Alpha would be the main force sent to their home world to convince the population to join the forces of Amy. Any Imperial forces would be either wiped out or captured, it was their choice Amy didn't care which way it happened as long as the Reptilians joined her. She knew that there would be Imperial ships in the system but they should not be much of a problem unless there were many of the Imperial psions onboard, the SuLak clones that is. The biggest problem was that John was the only one who had a connection with the Reptilian forces they would use. If something happened to John they could lose that connection.

Jake was the last one to arrive for the final assault planning session but he had some good news in that he had been able, with help from AL, to develop a new type of psionic shielding that would only allow incoming data and not allow any outgoing; that should really hinder the psions ability to control others. Also, he suggested that an EMP weapon be set off prior to the attack to remove the use of enemy communications and sensors. They could "harden" their own ships and equipment so as to retain full communications and sensors.

The liberation of the Reptilian home world took place the next day. Jake's idea about the use of an EMP weapon was very successful the few Imperial ships and any bases on the surface went dead within 2 minutes of the deployment. The psionic blocking shield was only partly as effective in that Amy's forces neglected to target the ground bases with this new shielding. The returning Reptilian forces had many losses, but not near as many as the Imperial losses. The after battle reports showed that there was not a single Imperial member left alive on the planet; it seemed that once the Reptilian forces overran a base all non-reptilian personnel were ripped apart literarily. A report from John said that his new friend Sleazy had been wounded and that when that happened his companions left nobody alive in that area. John also reported that the head Reptilian from Alpha had made arrangements for a meeting between John and the real Reptilian ruler.

It was just before the meeting with the Reptilian ruler that John was rendered unconscious by a sudden influx of reptilian thoughts and a single SuLak attack. The lone SuLak clone was "detained" by Sleazy via a heavy handed club. The major problem at this point was that none of the Reptilians trusted anybody but John to meet with their ruler. The problem was further complicated when a group of Marines descended to help John and were made targets by the reptilian ground forces. Sleazy was able to communicate with his people that the new arrivals were not the enemy but just there to help John so the medic assigned to the Marines was allowed to tend to John under the very watchful eye of about 100 Reptilian military, including the ruler. It was about two hours before John was able to think clearly and attempt to communicate with the Reptilians. The results were almost fatal, it seems that when John was over-whelmed by the reptilian thoughts his mind responded by strengthening his mental capacity to the point that John had to think very quietly and slowly to keep from injuring the closest Reptilians. John's thoughts were even heard by everyone in space the first time, this knocked Amy, Jake, and Ted out completely due to the overload.

The meeting was finally concluded and the ruler asked that John's commanding officer present themselves for a meeting. Amy was on planet within an hour of that request, accompanied by AL and a jury-rigged mechanical translator drone. As soon as Amy and party arrived she cautioned John to keep his thoughts to himself and explained what had happened as a result of his "accident". The Reptilian ruler even accepted being called "Ralph" since nobody could come close to pronouncing his name. Ralph wanted know why he and his people should help Amy in their fight now that the Imperial forces were gone. It took several hours to explain that if the coming battle went badly for Amy's forces that the Imperial forces would return and seek vengeance on the Reptilians and that things could be even worse than before. It was finally made clear when the returning general told his king that his troops would not stay, but would join with Amy to fight the Imperial forces; Sleazy even invoked his relationship to the royal family and explained, for the third or fourth time, what had happened to him and his companions under John's direction. Ralph finally accepted the proposal to join with Amy's forces, but said it would take several days to get the word out to the general population. AL had a suggestion that would speed the process along – they would transport the king's representatives to the different areas to explain what was happening and then John could just broadcast what ever Ralph had to say to the home world at one time. That was all it took for Amy to acquire about a million large Reptilian forces who would occupy three of the huge vessels in orbit around the planet. Sleazy was promoted to the equivalent of Major and assigned to John as a personal assistant and bearing Ralph's crest on his armor.

T-7.5

Sally, Linda, and ten well screened security people slipped into the Amyian center just outside Santiago Chile a little after midnight local time. They had arrived through an unknown entrance that had been setup by the local AI at the instruction of Luna. Sally's shuttle had just cleared the shields when she "heard" :

The rest was cut off as the shuttle landed.

Sally had the local AI locate all personnel that were on duty and moving around just to see who was where. She had not even notified the center manager that she was coming to visit, so this would really be a surprise. The local AI showed only ten people on duty and fifteen moving about the center. Sally also had the AI contact Luna for an upgrade to the shields, now all psionic activity was blocked, both incoming and outgoing. Each of the people on duty were approached and scanned by Sally personally. It was the last on-duty person, a janitor, which Sally discovered to be the one she had "heard" while landing. This person was not detained so he could continue to send information and thus allow for the possible identification of his "master" when he arrived. But the janitor was watched very closely by both the AI and security. The access codes to the mainframe were changed and set, for the time being, to only allow Sally or Linda access the control room. Now Sally met with the center's manager and explained about the surprise visit, but not told about the janitor. Sally explained that since all the centers were going into lock-down she was visiting each one prior to that event. When the manager asked why the lock-down Sally used the assaults as the reason.

"This should be very interesting" Sally said as she and the manager went towards the main entrance.

"Sally, the local AI and I have triangulated the source of the psionic attack suggest immediate security response and isolation of area with hard shields" Luna sent via Sally's subcutaneous transceiver. Sally also received the coordinates of the source which she gave to Linda with orders to capture and detain the subject; use of lethal force only as last resort. Sally also authorized the use of hard shields, whatever that was. Sally felt the first attack, but was able to resist the commands being sent. Then she tried something, she sent a mental command straight back to the source with all the power she had "FREEZE!!" Everyone within sight froze; as Sally walked out the main entrance she saw everyone except the security forces were frozen also. Sally's telekinetic ability reacted in defense mode when she was hit by the first bullet and she passed out.

When Sally came to a few minutes later she could see that there was not a single person standing in front of her, not even the special security she had brought with her. The only thing moving was a blurred shape that seemed to be bouncing around inside a 10 foot circle as if trying to escape. As Sally got back to her feet she noticed that there were many bullets lying on the ground and every one of them were flattened as if they had struck a steel wall. Sally went straight to Linda to check on her; as she ran towards Linda Sally called Luna for backup forces. When she got to Linda Sally found her friend was not hurt just knocked out, but starting to come around.

"What was that? What hit me?" Linda asked.

"I don't know, someone shot me in the shoulder and I passed out. When I came to my senses I saw you and all the others just lying there. I've called for emergency backup from Luna. How are you feeling?" Sally replied.

"I'm okay I think just had the wind knocked out of me. I thought you said you were shot, I don't see any wounds just a black spot on your shoulder." Linda stammered.

Once Linda was on her feet again both girls noticed that there wasn't a single tree, or building left standing in front of them. About that time five shuttles landed and discharged 100 Marines in full battle armor who seemed to move with determination and surrounded Sally and Linda in a very protective circle. The Marines not protecting Sally were covering what was left of the people outside the center, preventing anyone from exiting the center, and caring for the down security forces. Sally had five of the Marines to surround the figure still bouncing around.

"WARNING LOCK-DOWN IN 5 MINUTES. ALL PERSONNEL PREPARE FOR LOCK-DOWN" came over the loudspeaker system inside the center.

"Luna, hold lock-down at this center only on my authority" Sally said. "Lock-down hold enabled Sally" was Luna's reply.

"Luna, do you have any idea what happened here?" Sally asked.

"Sensors indicate that you happened. It appears that when someone shot at you your mind reacted and sent a telekinetic force wave out towards the source of the shot and it was of such force that it knocked everyone and everything down, except the being inside the hard shield. The wave traveled for a range of two miles in a 30 degree arc in front of you. The psionic sensors in the center have been put off-line due to the force of that psionic activity so close. All centers are now in lock-down except this one. Request permission to stun the being inside the shield" was Luna's reply. "Permission granted" Sally said.

The blurred form quit moving and became almost completely invisible; Luna removed the shielding once the area was surrounded by the Marines. It took a few minutes for Luna to find a way to deactivate the personal shields the being was using. Once the stealth shield was off the being was found to be only 4 feet tall. This was a big surprise to all standing there; the being was secured and loaded into one of the shuttles for transport back to the base on the moon. Sally, Linda, and her ten security crew went back inside the center and the janitor was placed into custody for transport to the brig on the moon. Sally had the center AI run a complete systems check and the faults were identified and corrected. After talking with the manager of this center the base was locked down and a complete scan of all personnel was started. When the scans found no further abnormalities in any of the personnel Sally and her crew departed back to their base. There was only 6.5 days left until the big attack on the Empire.