Synopsis:

Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Fifty-Six

Cathy met Kim at the next town as planned. Cathy had a million questions about this gift business. Kim took Cathy to a small, nearly deserted café, where they could talk in relative peace.

"The gifts or powers you have, seem to be a result of wearing the Krin, more than having a Shelke built body. They are more correctly a psychic ability that humans under the age of 30 seem to be able to develop. Human females in good health seem to get it first, and then those transgendered men who get a female Shelke body are next, followed by healed female bodies, either with or without a Shelke body. Men get it last, if at all. It helps if they spend time as females using a Shelke form. The longer time as a female, the quicker any abilities show up. So far, each tend to get two powers, one of which might be stronger than the other, but not always."

Here, Kim paused, taking a sip of her coffee, as she looked intently at Cathy.

"You humans are amazing; we never expected to find such a race with the potential to achieve so much. And to think we nearly missed seeing you bloom as you did," Kim sighed.

"What do you mean- missed?" Asked Cathy.

Kim explained about Scott, William, Kevin and Daniel finding the truck and then the Krin and how they were nearly became candidates for the glasses, when her colleagues wanted to stop the four from learning more about the Shelke.

"If they hadn't passed the tests we set them, none of us would have found out about these powers and would have been less able to defend against the eventual arrival of the Nemesis.

"I'd like to meet all of them to give my thanks," Cathy said earnestly.

"Well-" beckoned Kim, leaning towards Cathy and whispering something in her ear.

"Roight, I'll let a few people know," Cathy promised. "Oh about gifts? What do you think I have?" asked Cathy, changing the subject, by telling her what had happened in the eatery.

"Well, it looks as if you might have some sort of hypnotic power, from what my people have informed me.

"I don't have a freeze power?" Asked Cathy, sounding disappointed.

"No, when we used our spectralisers to make them forget the incident, they unfroze; possibly because it overwrote the command you had given them."

"So because they forgot me giving them the order, it no longer affected them?" Cathy prompted, clarifying things in her mind.

"We believe so."

"Crap, then I didn't need to call you out, I could have told them to just leave me alone," Cathy said disgustedly.

"True, but you weren't to know that, my pilot thought you handled things well," Kim placated her.

"That reminds me, what was that with the fist? Is he auditioning for the next terminator movie?" Cathy asked, having to explain it to Kim.

"I'm afraid he's been corrupted by your movies. It's hard to get a sensible word out of him, unless it's a line out of an action movie," Kim laughed.

Cathy laughed with her, as she fiddled with her coffee cup.

"What about my handling of the leader? It seemed like I wasn't exerting much strength when I held his arm," Cathy questioned, getting back to the subject of her gifts.

"You may have gained extra physical strength that you amply demonstrated, by tapping your Ki or Chi as some pronounce it."

"You mean like Bruce Lee and that Kung Foo stuff?"

"Yes, although you don't have to yell like he did," Kim grinned.

"Thank God for that," laughed Cathy.

"The Shelke body you have is stronger than the equivalent in human terms. You still have the power to generate Ki, but in your case it gives you extra strength for sustained periods, than just the usually burst of power, that martial artists use," Kim postulated.

"So when does my X-ray vision kick in?" quipped Cathy, grinning at Kim.

"Hey, don't laugh, I wouldn't put it past your race, to eventually come up with something like that," Kim giggled, only half joking.

Once they had finished their coffee and sandwich. Kim walked with Cathy to her truck. Cathy sighed as she went to examine the damage caused by the motorbikes, when the bikers had scraped alongside in their attempt to stop her. Cathy took a second look and a third, trying to see the scratches she'd found when she had parked it, only an hour ago.

No scratches. The truck was as pristine as when she had bought it.

"Huh? Whoa!" Cathy exclaimed in puzzlement, before turning to Kim. Seeing the grin on Kim's face, Cathy knew she'd been had.

"Is this MY truck?" She asked quizzically.

"Yes and no," Kim laughed, enjoying the moment. "You own it, but it's a Shelke built replica of the original. It has optional extras that should help next time you decide to take on another gang of bikers."

Cathy was lost for words, she tried to unlock it with her key, but found it didn't fit. Turning to Kim, she saw a key on a plastic looking fob, which had several buttons on it. Kim handed it to her, explaining what it did. Cathy pressed the button that opened the door and disabled the anti theft mechanism. Before she could climb in, Kim had her look at the improved paint job. Having approached the truck on the shadowed side, it looked like the deep metallic blue, which Cathy had selected in the showroom. When they walked around to the side the sun was reflecting from, the colour started changing to a purple then to a red colour where it was in full sun.

"WOW! That's fantastic," gushed an awed Cathy.

"Okay let's look inside and I'll explain everything," Kim urged.

"Wait, what about my cat Roadblock? She was in my truck!" Cathy exclaimed panicking at the thought of losing her.

"She's okay," laughed Kim, "although the verdict's still out on the one that exchanged the truck," she chuckled. "You sure she's not part tiger? It's a good job we are tough, she protected her territory very well," smiled Kim.

"Well I know she's big,, but the tiger only comes out around strangers she hasn't been introduced to," Cathy laughed, as she saw Roadblock stand up to look as she heard her mistress's voice.

"Well if you introduce us, I'll show you the extras we installed," Kim grinned.

Cathy leapt to obey, wondering what could top that paint job. After the cat was introduced to Kim, she showed Cathy how to change the truck into a sleek low hung Jaguar XJ220S TWR. Kim said that the original Jaguar specs had the twin turbo V6 reach a top speed of 230 mph, but using Shelke technology, it would top 350 mph, while still looking the same under the hood.

Cathy drooled, and was further amazed when shown the colour bar control that selected any colour for both truck and Jag at a touch of a finger. Kim told her of a new option, which would allow her to either keep her present form, or an alternate form when switching from one to the other. Whatever form she became, would be stored in her Krin for future use. Before Kim allowed Cathy to get on with her journey, she showed her where the laptop was secured in the glove box in a non-space storage pocket. She suggested that the extra Krin could be stored there, as it was keyed only to her touch.

"Um, what will happen to Roadblock if I use the change form option?" asked Cathy.

"She will stay a cat, although her breed might change, as long as your new form is female. Should your form become male, then she will become a dog of random breed, depending on circumstances," answered Kim.

While Cathy was playing with all the knobs on her transformed ride, Kim slipped away to deal with another crisis back at the condo. When Cathy looked to thank Kim again, she saw she was alone. Shrugging, at Roadblock, she started the Jags engine and gunned the throttle, loving the throaty sound of the supposedly twin turbo V6. She pealed out with a chirp of tires, heading back on track to meet her friends, revelling in the feel of this attention getting exotic import.

"It purrs just like you," she told her cat, who ignored her in favour of getting comfortable on the leather seat.

Only one incident occurred on her way south. She had opened the car up, along a straight stretch of road that went for miles, its seeming endlessness, shimmering into the haze in the hot afternoon sun. A lone cop, basking in wait for the unwary racer, was half hidden in some mesquite alongside the road. Cathy flashed past, at around 300mph, the built in radar detector had given her a warning, but by the time she had figured out was the warning sound meant, she was already past the cop. Knowing she was caught, she floored it, adding another 50 mph to her already rapid speed. She laughed as the cop car pulled onto the road and then seeing her race away, give up the chase before it had started. Cathy punched the button that changed the jag into the truck again, once she was out of sight, knowing she couldn't outrun the radio message she was sure was being sent. She passed easily through the roadblock set up 10 miles down the road. She felt a little sorry for the cop who had radioed in. who would probably be taken to task about sleeping on the job and reporting figments of his imagination.

Knowing Cathy was safe, now she knew about her gifts and having a Shelke built vehicle, Kim flew back, to get to the others at the condo. She wondered at the variety of the gifts showing up, and wondered what Cathleen's would be when they manifested. There was one strange thing about Sara; she only had one currently, although she had used another for escaping being shot at, unfortunately it never stayed with her longer than for that one instance, whereas all of the others now had two, so why hadn't Sara manifested her other power? Kim pondered on that as she returned to the condo

Jenna was feeling much better when she woke early the next morning, so much so, she decided to go for a morning swim before the others woke up. She slipped out of bed, brushing Richards's lips with a soft kiss, before looking for that swimsuit she'd seen yesterday in her explorations. She found it and shed her nightie, before slipping on the pink and purple Lycra one piece. She took a towel before heading down to the near deserted beach. Only near because she wasn't the only one with the same idea. Sara was just putting her own towel down as Jenna approached.

"Hi! Great morning, isn't it?" Jenna called, walking over to put her towel down as well.

"Sure is," was Sara's unsurprised answer, as she turned and greeted Jenna with a smile.

Jenna remembered that Sara had an empathic gift, and had probably felt her emotions as she had approached.

They both wandered down the water's edge, where the calm ocean was licking at the beach with a soft susurrus of sound. No words were spoken, as none were needed to enjoy the glorious rays of the morning sun. They swam, making small talk, getting to know each other better on a personal level. Sara asked Jenna to be one of her bridesmaids, and for Cathleen to be the ring bearer, explaining that she would also be Julie's bridesmaid as well.

Jenna was tickled pink, by the offer, and accepted it immediately, saying it was a great honour. Sara went on to explain the unique aspects of the upcoming wedding, as the left the ocean and went to lie on the towels for a bit.

Jenna gigged at the idea of an all female wedding party, saying it was an excellent idea. She then sighed and looked a little sad.

"What's up sis?' Sara asked, feeling Jenna's emotions clearly, feeling her sadness and regret.

"Oh I just wish I'd had a church wedding, but we were in a hurry, so we just had a civil one." Sara thought for a minute, before setting forth a proposal to Jenna.

"How about renewing your vows with us, and make it a triple wedding?"

"With Richard as a bride too?" Jenna asked, seeing where this was leading.

"Yup, as a bride," Sara answered with a grin, as she explained that some of the brides would be sporting something special in their panties.

"It would be a different sort of experience for him, I guess," laughed Jenna.

"Exactly, that's why I decided to do it this way," Sara explained. "Do you think he'll go for it?" Sara asked hopefully

"Well, if I put it to him in the right way, I'm sure he'll rise to the challenge," sniggered Jenna, thinking exactly what it was, that would be rising.

"It takes a special man to become a woman," mused Sara, thinking of her own special man.

"Yes it does," agreed Jenna, already planning what she and Richard were going to wear.

Sara got up and said she was going to make breakfast for the others. Jenna suggested they have it at her place, as a thank you for the previous night. Sara thanked her, but declined, saying that as it was the first meal in their new home, they should celebrate it together without a load of strangers butting in.

"Tomorrow then," suggested Jenna, seeing the sense in Sara's words. "Oh, and you're not strangers, not after what you have done for us, either directly or indirectly. We can never repay you for the gifts you have given us," Jenna said with tears in her eyes.

They hugged each other, before parting to head into their respective properties. Sara eyes were decidedly on the moist side, as she headed inside to start the mornings chore of breakfast. She heard the TV on low, as she entered the door. Popping her head around the corner, she saw sleepy Maggie curled up on the sofa, with the kitten curled up on her lap purring softly as Maggie stroked its coat

Sara smiled, and started making pancakes, knowing that someone's nose would lead them into the kitchen on tiny feet.

The tiny feet came and went, followed by bigger feet, as the smell wafted upstairs and enticed the appetite belonging to those feet. Luckily the supply of pancakes didn't run out till everyone was filled.

"Tomorrow, it's somebody else’s turn to do breakfast," stated Sara, finally sitting down to eat her own meal.

Later on that day, discussion about Jenna's powers seemed the main topic, once Jenna came over to visit again. Sara had Jenna try to repeat yesterday's experience, now she knew the trick of returning. Jenna was reluctant at first, but saw the logic in mastering her gift, for the future.

Jenna found the whole thing becoming easier, and quicker, the more she did it. She found she could control the size of the sphere of influence down to a few yards, which looked odd when some of her friends looked like statues, while those out of reach moved normally. When Kim arrived back that evening, she had a few suggestions for Jenna to try the next day.

Kim had taken Sara aside and asked her about her only having one gift. Sara was surprised, saying she hadn't even thought about it.

"I thought that when I used that power to stop bullets hitting me that it was my second gift, but when I couldn’t make it happen again, I thought I was destined only to have one power."

"No I don’t think that was your second power, but more of an adrenalin enhanced power. Like when a woman lifts a car off her trapped child, the adrenalin kicks in to enable an ordinary person gain superhuman like power. You will get a second power. It’s just a matter of when," Kim informed her.

Although Sara should have manifested her second power soon after her first, there was still no sign of it. Kim was puzzled; surely the second gift should have shown itself by now.

"I can sense something, now that you mention it," Sara told her, thinking it odd that it hadn't occurred for her to seek it out. "I can't seem to get a grip on it, all I feel is a sense of dread when I do."

"Would you like me to use the glasses on you to see if I can nudge it?" offered Kim.

"Sure," answered Sara, trusting Kim implicitly.

Kim put Sara under, after shooing the others out of the room. She worked her magic on Sara's subconscious, before bringing her back.

"Whoa! What a trip. I feel like my brains been turned inside out," joked Sara, once she woke.

Kim was silent and pale looking, and avoided Sara's eyes.

"Well, what is it?" Sara asked, feeling around for the supposedly awakened power.

"I can't tell you, I can't take the chance that you'll find it," Kim eventually admitted, sending chills down Sara's back.

"Why not?" She asked tremulously.

"If it manifests, it will kill you." Replied Kim, her words impacting Sara's brain like hammer blows.

To be continued.

  

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 © 2005 by Prudence Walker. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, and compilation design) may be printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without the express written consent of the copyright holder.