A Whateley Academy Tale

FIRST DAY

by Starwolf

September 7thThursday

 

I had to run like mad after my alarm went off. Lucky for me that I didn’t have to worry about my hair because there was only had enough time to rinse off and get ready for my early morning flight class. I decided to dress in shirt and jeans since I didn’t know exactly what we would be doing.

Angel almost got plowed over on the way out of the cottage. It was still kind of shadowed but fortunately she seemed to shine anyway. That was how I saw her before running into her.

“Where are you going in such a rush so early in the morning Tennyo?”

“I have to get to the early flight class. Sorry about almost running over you.”

“Well, stick with me and we can go together.”

“You’re taking the flight class too?”

“Not exactly. I’ve already taken the beginning classes. I’m in the advanced class now. We are expected to help train the newer classes as part of our training. I’m afraid that I am one of the few willing to give up some of my morning to do this.”

“Well, I for one am glad. It’s nice to know someone I know will be there and I would much rather give up some of my morning so as to have more time after classes to do other things.”

“A girl after my own heart I see.” Her smile was very nice and I relaxed and matched strides with her. I had to stretch a bit because her legs were longer than mine. I saw some guys that looked like they had come off the stage for Men In Black, but they didn't try to bother us and Angel ignored them so I did too.

Soon we reached Laird Hall where the classes would be held. A Mr. Buttons was to be our teacher. Angel was to be his assistant. Besides me there were nine other students in the class, ten if you counted the winged horse. It seems no one else wanted to get up this early.

We were an interesting mix. There was another winged boy, but he had bat wings. Then two who had some kind of rocket belts and a girl with a rocket pack. Another girl had a broom and one boy was dressed like some kind of futuristic pilot. An oriental girl had a winged horse with her and kept talking to it in low whispers. It almost sounded like the horse was whispering back. There were two other boys who looked fairly normal if you can call camouflage and biker outfits normal. The biker had a cool looking contraption that looked like a motorcycle without wheels.

   

 Mr. Buttons introduced himself and Angel. He then went down a list and called off code names. Besides the ones who were here, he called five others who obviously weren’t here. Bat boy was called Silver Wing. The two boys in the rocket belts were called Thomas and Nathan. The girl in the rocket pack was their sister Theresa. They were the Stratosphere Siblings.

    

The girl with the broom was called Hexette, and the pilot type of guy was called Mechano Man. Light Ling was the name of the girl with the horse and the horses name was Storm Bolt. The camouflaged boy was called Shaper and the biker was called Chain Gang.

“Good morning everyone. My name is Eugene Buttons. I’m going to be your Flight instructor.” He paused for a moment to allow us a chance to appreciate the joke. Angel just looked embarrassed while the crickets chirped.

“Ahem. Anyway, we are here today to learn what we will be doing for the next semester. Does anyone here know what the purpose of this class is?”

The boy in camo raised his hand. Mr. Buttons nodded at him.

“To learn how to fly?”

“Partly. Anything else?”

Hexette raised her hand.

“Yes? Young lady.”

“To learn how to fly better.”

“That too. Another?”

    

Everyone just shifted and looked around at each other. I finally raised my hand.

“You are Tennyo aren’t you?”

“Yes sir.”

“I saw you last night. You were very impressive.”

Everyone else started to giggle and I started to blush as I realized that his statement could be taken in more that one way.

He was blushing a little also.

“I mean, for those who don’t have minds in the gutter, that she was flying very well. Now, you had something to add to our lesson?”

    

“Uh, yes sir. I thought we were here to learn about flying and about the rules of flying so that we won’t become a menace to all the other people who will be flying also. It’s not like we will be the only ones out there.” I silently thanked Mr. Bellows for his hints the day before.

“Correct! Did you all catch that.”

The others stood there looking at him, waiting for him to explain.

He sighed. “You are not the only people in the sky out there.” He pointed up.

“You are here to learn to fly and to learn to fly better and understand your own abilities and limitations better. But, you are here especially to learn the rules of the road. And don’t fool yourselves. There are roads up there and rules governing how they are to be used.”

“If you look up you can see three contrails. Those are up high enough you probably won’t have to worry about them. But you need to know, just in case your paths do cross, what they are doing and why.”

“There hasn’t been a major accident involving a flyer and a big aircraft, yet. But that is probably only a matter of time. We are going to try to beat the odds for as long as possible and try to see to it that it never happens. As it stands now, there have been some occasions involving smaller aircraft. We want to prevent these also.”

“A large part of your training here will revolve around gaining the knowledge of at least a small aircraft operator. The minimum necessary to gain an aircraft operators license at least. To that end we will proceed to pass out the necessary text books.”

The next several minutes were spent making sure we each had what we would need for our studies. After that was taken care of and our homework schedules had been received he had us gather around again.

“As I mentioned before, learning about the rules of flying is important. Important also is your ability to use it. To that end, I will be talking to all of you. We will be classifying how you fly and the best ways to use and improve those abilities.”

“How you fly in some circumstances is obvious. Hexette here uses her broom. Hexette, do you use a spell or do you just concentrate on it to fly?”

“I usually just have to think of it.” She was looking a little shy at the attention. “Uh... I can increase speed and the like by reciting some spells though.”

“You can cast a spell my way anytime Babe!” That was from the biker.

Hexette glared at him and a small spark suddenly snapped him in the butt.

We all laughed as he danced around for a moment.

“That will be quite enough you two. Settle down now.”

    

“I will expect everyone to take the class a little more seriously in the future. Miss Hexette, we can go into more detail later.”

    

“Now that you have our attention Mr. Gang, maybe you could tell us a little about how you fly.”

Glaring around at us and rubbing his backside he told us about how he made the bike and how good and fast it was. I think he was stretching the truth a bit, but that was probably just the way he was.

It went on like this for the next several minutes. I think the most interesting one was Shaper, who could shape himself into all sorts of shapes and could even imitate animals. He was taking this class to learn how to fly with some of the shapes he could take.

“Last but not least we have Tennyo. Do you know how you fly?”

“Uh no sir. I just do. I think of going somewhere and it just happens. Sometimes I don’t even need to think about it. It’s like it comes to me naturally. It’s just a way I move, like walking or running.”

“Hmmmm.  Can you give a small demonstration?”

“I think so. Flying is one of those things I do good. What do you want me to do?”

“Do you just fly?” 

“No, I levitate and the like also. It’s like gravity for me is the way I want it.”

“Really? Can you show us?”

“Okay.” I walked to the side of the building. Then I stepped up on the wall and walked up it and stood there, looking as if I was standing normally. Then I drifted out parallel to the ground and hovered near Mr. Buttons. He checked out the area around me with something like a hand held metal detector.

“That’s odd. There is some electromagnetic disturbance, but I think it’s more of an effect, not a cause.”

    

“An effect?”

“Yes. I don’t think that what you are doing is an electromagnetic talent. It’s something else, almost like you are somewhat separate from reality as we know it. It does impinge on our reality somewhat, but this shows more as a disturbance. What happens when you move faster?”

I took off fast and close to the ground. The faster I moved the more dust, leaves, and stuff whipped up around me. I then looped up and over and came down fast. I landed right next to him in a tornado of debris.

“That’s what I thought. The more energy you use the more disturbance you cause. But it remains totally localized.”

“What does that mean?”

“What other things do you do?”

“I make energy swords and blasts, but I’m not very good with them. They’re not very reliable or controllable.”

“Unusual, but I think you might be some kind of warper.”

“Warper?”

“Yes. You probably dislocate yourself somehow from our reality in order to move around. This would also explain why gravity doesn’t affect you the same as us.”

“Is there any way to find out?”

“Yes. We have ways of testing this. You will probably be tested thoroughly in the next weeks. We will know more after that.”

He stopped to write some notes and then turned back to the class.

“Okay everyone. That was a good start. We won’t be having the lab portion of the class this weekend. That will be starting in the next week.”

“The remaining days this week and the days of next week will be spent learning what you can do and how we can plan to use your abilities better. You have also been given homework. Please have the forms you have been given filled out and give them back to me tomorrow. They will be necessary for your applications for pilot training.”

“You will be expected to obtain your pilots permit by the end of the semester. If you do, you pass this course. If you don’t, you fail. It’s as simple as that. In the process, we will also study your flying talents and how to understand and improve them.”

Mechano Man raised his hand.

“Yes?”

“What if we already have a pilots permit?”

“Then we will see what you already have and work on your pilot ratings. We will determine if you pass or fail based on your advancement there.”

I had to ask. “Ratings?”

“Yes. Pilots have ratings for different types of aircraft and conditions in which they can fly. Hopefully you will get more than just a pilot certification out of this. Much of that will be discussed in your reading assignments. I suggest that you read those first and bring any questions that you have to our next class. See you tomorrow.”

We rushed off to get ready for breakfast and our first period classes. I was starting to wonder if I was going to be able to keep up this pace. If we were going to be fighting off ninjas all night and working like mad to pass our courses each day I was going to get real tired real soon. In fact, I already was.

Angel and I rushed back to Poe. After a quick goodbye we went or separate ways. I wouldn’t have time to shower but I did change into a uniform before we all headed out.

Everyone in our group seemed a little tired, but we got several compliments for our work last night as well as a few complaints for being so noisy doing it. All of this was in good humor and helped us get started on a good note.

I drew the usual attention from those who didn’t know me yet as I ate a great deal more than it seemed possible. But everyone else who knew me just ignored it. I didn’t see Harry anywhere and wondered how his first workout in martial arts went.

All of us new students got to see Mrs. Carson, the Headmistress at the First Assembly meeting before the start of our first regular classes. She gave us the ‘It’s All Up To You’ speech and she also made some comments I’m sure were subtle references to the scuffle we had last night. We did have a little fun doing the MST3K routine that Toni thought up to make it more bearable. I can’t remember having as much fun in a meeting like that before.

From there we went our separate ways to our classes.

My first period was Advanced Genetics taught by Dr. Wayne Reynolds in Dunn Hall. Dunn Hall was next to Siegal Hall and was the library as well as the biological studies building. I wasn’t sure what to expect. He was an older man, apparently in his fifties or sixties, balding, but aware and attentive to the class. He was dressed in a tan suit that looked somewhat out of date.

He was working at the chalk board as I came in. I found a seat close to the front and off to the side. He ignored everyone coming in until the bell rang. Then he turned around and looked the class over.

“Please move up and to the center.” He used his hands to indicate where he wanted us to sit.

I moved to the center in front of him on the front row.

He smiled at me and looked up at everyone else. “See, this young lady isn’t afraid of me. Come on. I don’t bite. Move closer. My throat isn’t getting any younger and I don’t want to strain it any more than I have to.”

They slowly moved up and tried to fill the seats farthest away but still in the area indicated as acceptable.

“Very well. Please remember where your seats are. You will be expected to take them promptly and be prepared to work. We have a lot to cover and not much free time.”

“You are here because you have shown some interest and competence in the study of the building blocks of life as we know it. What you have not been told, is that we really don’t know much about these building blocks and how they do what they do.”

“Don’t let that interfere with your decision to take this class. It is important for you to learn what we do know and what we need to do to learn more.”

The rest of the class was spent getting our text books and assignments. Even as tired as I was I found myself fascinated by his eagerness to teach. He was constantly giving out information as he gave out the texts and papers. He radiated enjoyment in what he was doing. I have to admit that I liked him a lot better than a lot of teachers I had previously.

The bell rang and I found myself regretting having to go to my next class.

“Remember to read the first chapter and be ready with questions. See you tomorrow.”

He smiled at me again and turned back to the blackboard where he had been working as we came in.

    

I now headed for the class I was certain that I would hate the most for the whole year. I hate math. I’d done fine with the basics. They made sense. But for some reason, the higher types of math just didn’t click in my brain.

 

I was okay with generalities but had problems with specifics. Give me the formula and the information for it and I could work it. Ask me to apply the formula to a problem where I had to decide where it needed to be used and I was usually lost.

And here I was, in the math rooms in Siegal Hall. Facing my nemesis. I was more worried about this than I had been facing the sword of that ninja.

Dr. Timothy Winslow was in his late twenties or early thirties. He was dressed casually in a white long sleeve shirt and dark slacks. I think he must have had a tie sometime this morning ,but it wasn’t in evidence now. He was sitting on his desk waiting for us to come in.

I was going to try to get a seat in the back, but as soon as I entered I was sure he was watching me and I ended up in a seat in the front row again. I sat there fidgeting while everyone else trailed in.

“Welcome to the most hated class in the universe! My name is Dr. Timothy Winslow and I am to be your torturer for this period in purgatory.” He did this all with an evil grin and chuckle.

“Now, in my experience, there are two major reasons a person has a problem with mathematics. The first is a simple lack of training. This can usually be overcome by finding what the person hasn’t learned yet and filling in the gaps.”

“The second is a difficulty in understanding a concept. A form of dyslexia so to speak. This is more difficult to work with but we can usually find a method to compensate for this when we understand what the problem is.”

“There are other reasons also. Mr. Tyler! Will you please share that note you and Mr. Owens are passing around? I’m sure that it doesn’t have much to do with what we need to study here.”

We all turned in our seats to watch the two young men in question who were unsuccessfully trying to hide a note that got away from them and sailed to Mr. Winslow’s outstretched hand.

“Let’s see... ‘That’s one of them. I vote for Negligee Nightingales.’ I believe this is your writing Mr. Owens? And the writing underneath. Oh yes! Definitely Mr. Tyler’s excuse for handwriting. ‘I like Bathrobe Babes.’ This doesn’t sound like anything that we will be discussing in this class does it?”

Both of them shook their heads while several of the others in the class grinned and giggled. I just felt like I was glowing red, Whether from embarrassment or anger I wasn’t too sure.

“I trust there will be no further interruptions of this nature. I really don’t want to have you in this class again because you can’t pay attention to what is being taught. This is a serious class that is intended to help you overcome a handicap that can cripple you in this modern world.”

“The rest of this class will be spent distributing the texts and taking a small test that I have prepared to determine your knowledge and failings. Please hurry as you will want all the time you can get.”

He proceeded to pass out textbooks and a one page test with 25 questions. I was able to figure out about half of the questions right off as they dealt with pretty simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The rest seemed to require some kind of formula to solve quickly. These I was lost on but I kept working at them until I managed to get answers to another six before he asked us to return them.

“I am going to evaluate these tonight. I want you to read the first chapter in your texts and be ready to answer my questions tomorrow. Please be ready to work. This is serious business. See you tomorrow.”

Ignoring the many subvocal mutterings, he watched as we filed out to our next classes.

Very happy to get away from there I headed to the next class, Power Theory 1. It was also in Siegel Hall. I thought I saw Jinn heading away as I approached the classroom.

As soon as I entered, I ducked to one side and looked around. I stayed where I was until I saw a familiar tall shape and made my way over to him. He waved as he saw me coming.

“Harry! It’s good to see you. How are your classes going so far? Can I sit here?”

“Please take a seat. I’m fine. Classes have been okay so far, but I’m going to be sore for a long time from the martial arts class. Now that those answers are out of the way, I want to know if that was you last night making all the noise?”

“Uh...Yeah. But it wasn’t only me and we couldn’t let them run off with the bust of Poe. We had to do something about it and stop them.”

He was looking a little nervous.

“What?”

“Uh. Were you guys really naked?”

“WHAT!?!”

The crowd of students coming in had all turned to look at us.

Blushing like mad I turned back to Harry. “Where did you hear that?”

“Some of the guys heard that some of you were naked in the fight.”

“In their dreams. We were dressed in our bathrobes because there wasn’t any time to get dressed differently but we were never naked.”

“Okay, I was just asking. You don’t have to take my head off.”

“Right. Hey, it wasn’t that noisy was it?”

“Well, the yell just about lifted me to the ceiling, and I thought that last bang was going to break my window. It did break a few that were facing that way and Lifter was almost blinded by that flash. He was seeing stars for the rest of the evening because he was looking right at it when it went off.”

“Sorry.”

    

“Class. Please give me your attention.”

We were interrupted by an incredibly dull monotone voice. It belonged to our teacher. A Dr. Filbert Quintain. He managed to take a subject that promised to be very interesting and made it so dull I was struggling to stay awake from the very beginning. If Harry hadn’t been there to keep me awake and vice-versa I probably would have missed it when he called my name towards the end of the class.

“Miss Wilson?”

Struggling to not yawn I stood up and faced him. “Yes sir?”

“Please meet with me after the class ends. I have some questions for you.”

“Yes sir.”

I sat down and wondered what I had done to deserve being called to see him after class. Some of the others were actually asleep. He hadn’t tried to call them.

“Are you in trouble?” whispered Harry.

“I don’t know. Be quiet before we get into real trouble.”

“Okay.”

The class finally ended and Harry said he would wait outside for me. After everyone had trailed out I moved down and faced Dr. Quintain.

“Yes sir?”

“I heard Dr. Buttons talking during staff breakfast. I wanted a chance to see you more closely.” He seemed a lot more animated than he had during the class.

“Would you please levitate for me?” He had picked up a wand similar to the one the Mr. Buttons had used.

I levitated about a foot off the ground and he waved the wand around me. He checked the readout several times and then asked me to move around the room fast enough to stir things up. He continued to use the wand as I sailed by.

“Most interesting, I think he may have something there.” He turned back to me. “You don’t think you could....”

“I’m sorry sir, but can I go to lunch now?”

He seemed startled out of his thoughts. “Oh..Oh yes. I’m sorry. Please go now. But, would you be willing to run some tests for me later? I think you are just the person who can help me with some of my theories.”

“I’ll be glad to help you sir, if I can. But I do have to be going now.”

He seemed a little disappointed but waved me out. I didn’t waste much time and met Harry outside.

“What was he talking to you about?”

“He just wanted to ask me some questions about my flying.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It seems that I have an unusual way of flying that they want to study.”

“Are you going to do it?”

“What?”

“Let them study you?”

“Yep. I want to learn how I do it also.”

“Be careful, Okay?”

“Why?”

“My dad says these scientist types get a little carried away sometimes and can hurt you without meaning to.”

“I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”

“Okay, let’s eat!”

“Lead on! You’re the big boy here.”

He managed to plow us a way to the cafeteria and we got a lunch while we discussed our classes. He had enjoyed his and didn’t feel threatened like I did about his English course. The Advanced Physics made him very happy but only confused me. He seemed to feel the same way about my genetics course.

The others from Team Kimba were there also. Nikki didn’t look so good. I offered to walk her back to her room so she could lie down for a while. She said she didn’t need the help and headed back to Poe. I did see her talk to some guy on the way out. Maybe he was in one of her classes.

We finished our lunches and headed to our next classes. We would meet again in Powers Theory Lab.

Home Ec was taught by Mrs. Braithwaite. It was actually a fun course and I found that my many chores that I had done at home stood me in good stead. At least I knew how to do laundry and cook some.

 After introductions, she quickly gave out some aptitude tests to see what we might know and using these she arranged us in groups of four students each. Two boys and two girls in each group. We then received our work assignments and homework.

Powers Lab at this time was just a repeat of the morning except that we were promised that the next classes would be held in some of the testing areas so we could get a better idea of what our powers were and how to classify them.

I promised to talk to Harry tomorrow and headed to the martial arts class in Laird Hall. I saw Jade, Jinn, and Hank there but wasn’t able to talk to them then.

The more experienced of us moved into positions when we came in next to the matts after taking off our shoes. As soon as the bell rang our instructors entered the room. One was a tall African-American woman and next to her was an older oriental man.

Amanda Tolman was the name of the woman and she instructed us to buy gis and sit in the seiza position next to the mats when we came in the future. She explained that we would be trained in a variety of ways and with weapons. The idea being to train us to be more aware of our surroundings and situations and to use them to our advantage.

She explained that the ‘capture cage’ would be used to simulate a device that would indicate defeat if we were put into it. It made sense to me but one of the students didn’t get it and got knocked out as an example of overconfidence. She also allowed as a student could transfer to a normal class if they didn’t want to take this one.

This sounded just like the kind of class I would need. She also used several scenarios to make us understand that we would need to think a little differently in order to pass in this class. She then introduced the oriental gentleman as Tatsuo Ito who had been a high level black belt in shin-shin toitsu before starting his own school.

Hank became his first victim, I mean student demonstrator. Wow! He could move! And he obviously had his plans made and executed beautifully. It was a wonder to watch. I had my doubts as to his being merely human though.

After the demonstration, we settled down to training. Most of the training was so the Senseis could check out our current level and type of training. They hadn’t had time to reach me before the class was over so I had a chance to do a few katas and exercises.

Then Tolman Sensei showed us girls the showers and assigned us lockers. I had a chance to ask her some questions.

“Sensei, a moment of your time please.” I bowed as I said this.

“You are the one known as Tennyo are you not?”

“Yes Sensei.”

“What do you need to know?”

“Sensei, I have both a karate and judo gi available to me. Is there a preference as to which gi I should wear?”

“Either will be fine as long as you have no emblems or school logos on them.”

    

“Thank you Sensei. Neither has anything on them. Sensei Tanaka didn’t believe in letting anyone know what you were trained in before a match.”

“Sensei Tanaka? In what schools were you trained and what belt have you achieved?”

“Sensei, I was trained in Ishun-ryu Karate and Judo. I achieved Gokyu in each. Sensei Tanaka didn’t want us using colored belts. She felt they were not a true measure of a students talent. We were expected to wear only white belts as we were all students at any time.”

“Didn’t some of the students complain?”

“Only those who were in it for the obvious recognition. Everyone else was happy to get the training she could give us. I enjoyed the training and perfecting techniques myself.”

“Techniques?”

“Knowing them helps, perfecting them makes you more effective. As Sensei Tanaka always said.”

“Very well. I will look forward to testing you tomorrow.”

“Thank you Sensei, I look forward to the opportunity.”

She left to continue her duties and I decided I would bring my judo gi tomorrow. I was looking forward to training here. They obviously took training seriously and I hoped to learn a lot more here. It sure beat math all hollow.

XXXIII

JUST HANGING AROUND: September 7th

Supper was very appreciated. I got two full platters full and was actually getting a little comfortable. We headed back and settled in to get our homework done.

Nikki still wasn’t feeling too good, but after we got some ice slivers into her, she helped us with a problem in the study area.

One problem was space. I could float around and not take up much room, but I couldn’t put anything down. The rest of us had similar problems. Eventually we worked out a solution that could only have been done by all of us working together.

With Jinn holding things for us, Fey lighting the area, and Ayla supplying some hammocks we ended up forming ‘Kimba Corner’. Kind of corny, but the name stuck as corny names seem destined to do. Mrs. Horton actually took a picture of us for the scrap book.

Eventually, I actually finished my homework. I was feeling pretty good about it as I headed back to our room to put my books away.

 XXXIV

TESTS ARE A PAIN: September 7th/September 8th Friday

There was a man in a suit outside our room as I approached. He looked at a picture that he had on a clipboard. He then looked at me and waited for me to approach.

“Miss Billie Wilson?”

“Yes?”

“We are sorry for the inconvenience it may cause, but your testing schedule was moved up due to an unanticipated vacancy in the program.”

“Testing?”

“Yes Miss Wilson. All our students are expected to undergo evaluative testing. Most of them receive at least some of that before coming here. You on the other hand had received almost none of that beforehand. This has made you a priority on the schedule. I’m afraid that it my take several hours.”

“What about my classes?”

“You will be excused from any classes that the testing interferes with. All instructors will be informed as necessary.”

    

“Can I leave a note for my roommate and drop off my books?”

“Yes, if you hurry. We must be in the medical wing in half an hour.”

“Where is it located?”

“It is adjacent to Area 77 where some of the testing will be carried out.”

“Okay. Just let me drop off my books and leave a note for my roommate.”

I opened my door and put my homework on my desk. Jade had wandered off and I didn’t know when she would be back. I wrote a quick note explaining where I was going and why. Then I locked the door and followed the man to Siegel Hall and into the lower areas.

When we got down there he led me to a secure door that opened to the card he ran through the reader. He then led me to a station where several medical techs were standing. One of them turned to us as we approached.

“Miss Alice Tennyson?”

My guide answered. “No. Miss Tennyson was injured in the late martial arts class and was unable to make it. We are substituting Miss Wilson here. Here is her file. “Good evening Miss Wilson.”

    

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He turned and was soon gone.

“Miss Wilson?”

“Yes?”

“Please come with me.”

I was taken to a room where I was put through a thorough physical. I was told that they wanted to confirm Dr. Tanaka’s findings. They had some problems drawing blood though. They eventually found a needle that could penetrate my skin. I didn’t remember Mr. Tanaka having so many problems.

When they finally drew the blood there was another problem. It would evaporate shortly after it was drawn. Whatever was in the vial would simply disappear right before their eyes in about a minute. In fact, when they got one that could be sealed, it imploded.

They managed to get some of the tests done by having the equipment on hand and doing the tests immediately as the blood was drawn. They thought I might have AB+ blood. But they weren’t sure.

They asked me several questions about my period and sexual activity. I was expecting my next period about two weeks from now and my sexual activity was zero, even if they found it hard to believe. They allowed me to put my clothing back on and told me to wait in another room while they determined the test results were. At least from what they had been able to collect.

While I was waiting I heard a muffled conversation down the hall. Something about a laser test having been scheduled for someone. It was about eleven o’clock and the shift was changing. Then a man in a lab coat appeared in the door.

“Miss?”

“Yes?”

“This way to the testing area. Please follow me. I’m sorry we are running so late. Someone was supposed to bring you to us.” He kept glancing at me. “You look better than we were told to expect. You are certainly not plain.”

“Thank you. I think.”

He led me into another secured area. After traveling through several corridors we came to a larger door. My guide waved at a camera and it opened into a wide corridor about 100 feet long. We moved to a door about half way down. This one was similar in construction to the last one in that it was a sliding door about two inches thick.

At the far end of this corridor was what looked like a heavier double door with cameras also. My guide waved in that direction and the door in front of us opened. He guided me into a very large room. About fifty yards long, twenty yards wide, and ten yards high.

We were in one end with three large metal plates that looked to be set in the floor. Each appeared to be six feet by six feet and maybe one half to three quarter inches thick and made of metal. At the far end were several pieces of equipment. Two large and eight smaller box like machines set on heavy tracks that looped around the floor, up the walls, and over the ceiling. They seemed to be moving slowly in a random fashion.

“Okay. This is where I leave you. Remember to put on a good show. I understand that there is a large audience tonight and we don’t want to disappoint them do we?”

“What?”

“It’s all in your contract. Don’t tell me you didn’t read it?” He was closing the door as he spoke.

What contract? I moved over to the door. It wouldn’t open. I pounded on it. I suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

“Hey! What do you mean! I don’t know what you are talking about!”

I looked around, trying to spot a way out. I was trying to discover what was going on also. I felt a tingle from the door and a voice came over some kind of intercom.

“Security measures are in place. Ready to start Alice?”

“Hey! Stop this! I’m not this Alice person and I don’t know what is going on! Let me out noOOWWW!!”

I felt a burning pain across the top of my right shoulder and the fabric of my uniform in that area caught fire. I dropped and rolled in pain, which was a good thing as several red beams played across the wall were I had been standing.

“C’mon Alice get with the program! People are paying a lot for this show. Beginning second attack sequence, increasing output ten percent, automatic power and rate increase to level ten by tenths for duration of program. Switching to AI control. How’s the feed Ted?”

“Perfect Jim, we’re getting excellent feed from all cameras and the AI is handling everything smoothly. No one will notice a thing.”

I was screaming at them the whole time they were saying this. “LET ME OUT! THIS IS A MISTAKE! YOU”VE GOT THE WRONG PERSON!” My shoulder was on fire and I was in tears from the pain.

“Hey Ted. I’m getting feedback on my end.”

“Don’t worry, It’s just the intercom between us and three. It’s stuck somehow. It won’t affect the program and I can fix it in plenty of time later. Look sharp. Our window is coming up. AI on line and ready to roll!”

“Let me out you idiots! LET ME OUT!” I was panicking. I just wanted out and was kicking at the door.

Jim’s voice came over the intercom again. “Stop your whinning you wimp. You were so sure you could handle this. It’s time you earned your pay. Recording starting in three, two , one...ACTION!”

My sense of self preservation took over and I dived behind the closest piece of metal as there was a flurry of activity from the machines and several bright red streaks of light hissed by me. I didn’t know what to do. The idiots controlling this apparently didn’t have a clue that they had the wrong person. I curled up and screamed.

“STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IT!”

Something in my manner must have started to get through to them.

“You know Jim, I don’t think that kid is faking. Are you sure you got the right person?”

“Well...Her name was on the clip board and she was the only one there.”

“She doesn’t quite match the description either does she?”

I might have felt better then but the lasers hadn’t stopped firing and the plate was heating up fast.

“GET ME OUT OF HERE!”

“Damn! Okay Ted. Turn off the AI and shut down. They’re going to have to switch to an alternate.”

My moment of relief was short lived.

“Hey Jim! The AI isn’t shutting down. It’s not answering commands!

“What?! Just turn off the power to it then!”

“I can’t do that. Security will be sure to pick up that sudden a cut off. They’d be here in minutes!”

I added my vote at the top of my lungs.

“SHUT IT OFF! SHUT IT OFF NOW!”

“Isn’t there another way?”

“Maybe. Let me work on it.”

“NO! STOP IT AAAEEEGGHH!”

The first shot to penetrate my shield had missed me but spattered me with drops of hot metal. The second almost simultaneous one had passed lengthwise right down my right calf. Fortunately I can fly or I never would have moved in time to the next shield before this one collapsed.

I managed to get to the next shield with a few more burns in my uniform and a burn on my left hand. This shield wasn’t going to last long. The lasers were getting stronger and I didn’t think they would have to heat it up to punch through this time.

“SHUT IT OFFFF!”

“Shut up kid! We’re working on it! Hey Ted. Can’t we cut this intercom?”

“Not now. I’m busy. It’s going to take a few minutes to make sure security doesn’t catch on.”

They didn’t care about me. By the time they got around to just turning it off I could be dead.

There was a slight decrease in the rate of fire and I got a real bad feeling. I chose that moment to dive for the next cover. It cost me another burn on my right leg but at least I wasn’t there when the concentrated blast hit the one I had been behind and vaporized most of it.

I had reached the end of my rope. I couldn’t run and they were not going to turn it off. Panic became rage. Using the small respite the last of my cover gave me I gathered up energy and turned on my tormentors.

The AI had adapted to my run and hide tactics and was preparing for the end when it would blow the cover and me away. My attack caught it by surprise. I popped up into the air, flying and dodging. I didn’t think I could get close enough for hand to hand. I had to try what I did with Warp.

“YEEAARRGH!” Somehow it worked. I felt the power gather in my hands and then I released it all at once at one of the larger machines. They hadn’t learned to dodge yet. There was a very satisfying KABLAM!. And the piece of equipment exploded, taking two other smaller ones with it.

The room started to fill with dust and smoke.

I could hear Ted yelling something about losing projectors one, seven, and eight. But, I had seen a new opportunity. The loss of those projectors left a hole in the fire of the others. I reacted and surprised myself by moving up to the other large one fast enough that they hadn’t been able to follow me.

I had another problem now. I had charged up my hands again, but I felt that I was too close to fire and I hadn’t formed a sword. In desperation I tried something else. I punched the machine while concentrating on pushing the energy at it at the same time.

‘KAPOW!’ The machine shattered with a bright flash and flew to the other side of the room in pieces. I almost got hit by one of the other projectors in my surprise. I then dodged to another one and used my left hand to smash it.

I was now close to them. An advantage in that they apparently were programmed to not shoot each other so this slowed them down a little. A problem also because now the fire was coming from several directions. Dodging like mad I proceeded to release several bolts at the now dodging machines.

I got two more this way and only collected another wound on my left thigh. In the back ground I could hear Ted and Jim yelling about not being able to see anything that was going on and wondering how they were losing so many projectors.

I formed a sword in my left hand now and kept powering up my right to shoot blasts and punch if I got close enough and couldn’t use my sword. I was so mad I was ignoring how tired I was getting, but I knew I would have to finish this soon.

Pushing myself to my limits, I finished off the last four machines in a flurry of punches, slashes, and blasts. Then it was quiet except for Ted and Jim’s cursing and the popping and crackling of flames and sparks.

The room was obscured by smoke and dust but for some reason I wasn’t coughing or choking as I got my strength back. I headed for the door.

“What’s going on in there? I can’t see a thing!”” Jim was sounding a little panicked.

“I don’t know! The sensors are out and I can’t see anything either!” Ted didn’t sound much better.

“Wait Ted! I can see her! She’s near the door and she’s got some sort of glowing thing in her hand.”

“LET... ME... OUT... NOW!!”

“No way Jose! Not like that I’m not. You just cool your heels while we get settled in here.”

“Hey Jim! Maybe you better let her out. The readings in there aren’t to healthy right now.”

“No way. You see her. We let her out and you can be sure she will be after us in a moment. Let’s use the time we have shutting this stuff down and getting rid of it.”

“GRRRRR!! I said NOWWWW!” I had powered up my right hand again. ‘KABLAMM!’ The remains of the door hit the far wall. I had a good idea where they were.

“SHIT! Lockdown Ted! Lockdown NOW!” There was a definite tone of panic

 XXXV

 MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH: September 8th

So far this evening had gone smoothly. The ringing had finally faded from his ears and he was considering if a second cup of coffee would be too much this early in the evening. Chief Delarose had been in this position for years and he still didn’t know if there was any time that was safe to relax. But he was also sure the doctors would get after him if he started drinking too much coffee again.

At least it was unlikely that something major would happen tonight. It wasn’t often that major events happened back to back. He had almost decided that he might not need it when Dan Moore in Interior Monitoring beeped him.

Suddenly he didn’t need the coffee to get a burning sensation in his stomach. He hated that feeling. Maybe he was psychic after all. It was almost never wrong. Something was going down.

“Yes Dan. What is it?”

“Sorry to bother you with this Chief, but I’m getting something unusual from Range Three in 77.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve checked it several times to be sure, but it looks like the monitor and sensor feed from that area is being blocked or modified in some fashion. I’m pretty sure that something is happening there but I can’t tell what yet. You might want to send someone over to check it.”

“Is there supposed to be anything there?”

“There’s nothing scheduled. While there’s always the chance that we weren’t informed, I think it unlikely under the circumstances that they would be concealing it at the same time. You aren’t testing us are you?”

“No. The thought crossed my mind but I decided against it for some reason.”

“Uh Oh! I hate it when you do that Chief. It’s almost scary.” Dan had been at Whateley even longer than the Chief and had developed a healthy respect for the way he did things.

“Yeah. Me too. Who do we have on call?”

“Squad Four is on standby and Five and Six can be ready in five.”

“What about support?”

“You think it’s that bad?”

“Let’s just say that I don’t want to take any chances. Who do we have?”

“Stormwolf, Mindbird, and Thunderfox are all on call and can be ready at least as fast as Four.”

“That’s good. They’re all very reliable. I feel a bit better now.”

“Call them out?”

“Not yet, send Four over and put them on alert. Tell Five and Six to stand up and make sure one of them is heavy.”

“Yes sir! Four out to check and others on alert, one heavy. Alert support. Anything else sir?”

“Not yet. This is probably nothing...What the!”

Several low alarms were sounding and red lights were flashing.

“Frank! I’m getting a transmission from Range Three Control! I’m patching you in.”

“Please! Someone help us! She is breaking through the door! She’s going to kill us! Get help here fast!”

Dan interrupted. “Range Three, this is Security. Who are you and what is your situation!”

“Security! Thank God we got through! This is Ted Levine. I’m here with Jim Thorson. We were doing some unscheduled testing for Medical when the girl we were testing went berserk! She’s trashed Range Three and is breaking in here. You’ve got to stop her! She’s insane! She’s just going to kill us!”

“Who? And what kind of power is she using?”

“We aren’t sure. Alice Tennyson we think, according to the record we have. But she doesn’t quite match the description and her powers seem different. This one has some kind of energy blast, super strength, and a weird sword that is cutting through our door now! You got to help us!”

“Hang tight. Help is on its way!”

Dan used a separate channel. “Chief, Four is on its way. I’m alerting the others to go now. What else should we do?”

“I’m going over now. Tell Four to expect me. Who do we have?”

“Harris with Kretch, Willkinson, Breen, Grimes, and Randall.”

“Good men. I’ll be right over. Tell them to wait for me.”

“Is that a good idea?”

“Something about this stinks. I want to be there when this goes down. Get Erickson over there too. On the double!”

“The computer geek?”

“Just a hunch. Get him.”

“Okay Chief. He’ll be on his way shortly.”

“Good. I’ll have my portable, keep in touch.”

Range Three wasn’t too far from Security and he was there even before Squad Four by about ten seconds.

“Harris! You and Willkinson, stunners, Everyone else Semi with heavy rounds. You will not fire unless the stunners are ineffective. Grimes. I want a reading on the other side of the door pronto.”

Grimes plugged a small hand held into a jack near the door control pad. A few quick buttons pushed and he had a readout of what was on the other side.

“Sir! We have a lot of smoke, CO2, and CO. About 110 degrees. I recommend support respirators and enhancement goggles.”

“Masks everyone! Damn! We can’t use gas. Be ready with those stunners. Grimes. How is the door?”

“No problems there sir! We can open it anytime.”

“Can we help?”

The three figures of Stormwolf, Mindbird, and Thunderfox were in the corridor with them. Dressed in their combat suits and helmets with masks they looked ready to go and radiated confidence.

“How did you get here so fast?”

“Trade secret.” Stormwolf grinned as he said this.

“And if you told me you would have to kill me, right?”

“Sorry about that Chief.”

 “Okay. I’ll let it go this time. Mindbird, I’m really glad to see you. You couldn’t give us some idea of what we are facing could you?”

“Already on it Chief. I can tell you this right off. That’s one pissed chick in there. I don’t think she wants to kill anyone, but she is looking for some major payback.”

“You can’t get more?”

“She’s got an unusual mind. Kind of hard to touch. Almost dual in nature.  I can tell you the other stuff so easily because she is radiating so hard.”

“How about the two in the control room? How are they?”

“Frightened silly but okay for now. I think they are as afraid of what you might find as they are of that girl almost.”

“Really?”

“You couldn’t take it to court of course, but they seem kind of shifty.”

“No more than that?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Yeah. The code and all. Dan. What do you have?”

“She isn’t Alice Tennyson. Alice is in Melbourne with a broken leg. Broke it in gym this afternoon. The two in the room are techs. Generally used for maintenance in 77. They are not scheduled to be working now. The only one I feel she might be is Billie Wilson or Tennyo. She is scheduled for medical testing now but is currently unaccounted for.”

“Isn’t she the one with the sword last night?”

“Yep.”

“Damn!” He had seen some of what that sword could do and didn’t want to have to hurt the girl if he could help it.

    

“I’ve met her.” Stormwolf had stepped forward.

“You have?”

“Yes, yesterday at lunch. She did seem to be something of a hothead but this doesn’t sound quite like her. Can we try to talk with her first?”

“It’s risky. Are you sure?”

“I’d like to try.”

“Okay. But if things go bad we aren’t holding back.”

“Wouldn’t want you to. How about I go in with Mindbird and Thunderfox to back me and let me know what progress we are making and you cover us with stunners and heavier stuff.”

“Just don’t cross our lines. Do you need respirators?”

“No. Our helmets will work fine.”

“Really compact. I’d like to know how that was done.”

“You’d have to talk to Thunderfox about that.”

“And then you’d have to kill me, right?”

“You got it. Sorry.”

“Okay. Grimes. Get ready on the door. After we are through I want you to cover our rear. I don’t want any surprises. NOW!”

The door popped open and the three heros were through in a flash and headed for the end of the corridor where a dull red glow with occasional bright flashes was coming from. Smoke came pouring out and even with the assistance of the mask sensors, vision was unreliable except for short ranges.

“Dan!”

    

“Yes Chief?”

“See if you can force some clear air through here. And see what has kept the fire systems from operating.”

“I can try to increase the power to the fans and see if we can force some of the smoke out of there. Something has screwed up the fire systems. I think it may have something to do with the fact that there are unprotected techs in there and the computer will not risk suffocating them with the Halon. It looks like it tried to start and then the seals were broken on the secured area and it shut down to protect them.”

“Can we override?”

“Not until we get the techs out. After that the system should operate properly.”

“Okay. We’ll see what we can do on this end.”

 While he was talking to Dan, they had moved up to the halfway area and the remains of the door to Range Three. Most of the smoke seemed to be coming from there and there were glowing areas to the rear that were probably fires.

“Kretch.”

“Sir?”

“Cover this door.”

“Yes sir!”

“The rest of you form up on me. Remember, no shooting unless I tell you to.”

“Harris.”

“Sir?”

“If the three up there can get the girl calmed down I want you and Willkinson in the control room ASAP and secure it. You have my permission to put the two in there to sleep until next week if they try anything screwy.”

“Yes sir!”

They were close enough now to see that Stormwolf and Mindbird were talking to someone in front of the door. Chief Delarose could see an almost complete circle of light, almost four feet in diameter, in the door. Faint yelling could be heard on the other side.

As he got closer, he could make out some of what was being said on the other side.

 XXXVI

BACK TO THE SHOW: September 8th

I was sure they were behind that door. The sound of the intercom faded out as I headed down the corridor. This door was larger than the others. There was a camera over the top of it and it swung to point at me.

“LET ME THROUGH!”

I heard several large bolts sliding into place. They weren’t going to be reasonable about this. I tried the various buttons first. Then I tried to push it open. Punching it only gave me a pain in my hand. My sword scarred the metal, but it would take forever to chip through.

This just made me angrier. Then I had an idea. I put the tip of my sword on the door and concentrated on pushing the power at the door in a small area as I pushed the tip into the door. To my surprise the sword slowly penetrated the surface and rivulets of melted metal ran down the door in front of me.

Soon I felt the sword penetrate through and I started to work the sword around in a circle. First to the right until I reached the bottom of the arc. Then I reversed and moved back to the top and started cutting to the left. I was almost around the other way and I could feel the plug starting to shift.

    

I was getting really tired now but I could hear the screams of the two jerks in the room on the other side of the door. They seemed to be yelling at someone to come and stop me. I would stop all right. Right after I gave them a taste of what I had just gone through!

“Billie.”

“What? I’m busy here!”

“Billie, please stop.”

Suddenly I realized that the voice was coming from behind me. I released the energy of the sword and pulled it around my hand and spun around. Facing me were three figures in costumes I didn’t recognize. They looked to be semi armored combat suits with full face helmets. They had some kind of stylized ‘B’ on the forehead and chests.

The suits emphasized the fact that the one closest to me was a man and the two behind him were women. I was really tired now but I would fight them too if they tried anything.

“C’mon Billie. You don’t have to do this.” The guy in front wasn’t being at all threatening and the other two were holding back. I could see other people moving up from the corridor, but they were holding back also.

“Calm down Billie. Nobody here wants anyone to get hurt. Please tell me what happened.”

The voice sounded familiar and I wanted to trust him, but I wasn’t going to drop my guard just yet.

“Who are you? And why should I stop? Do you know what they did!?”

He moved closer but kept from making any kind of threatening move.

“No Billie. I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

“Who are you?” I didn’t realize it at the time, but just pulling away from what I was doing was starting to allow me to calm down a little.

“Oh. You probably don’t recognize me with the mask. It’s me, Adam. Remember at lunch yesterday?”

“Adam? What are you doing here, and dressed like that?”

“Chief Delarose called me and the others here in to help with a reported disturbance. I’m a Peacekeeper, remember?”

As he said this he waved back the way he had come. I now recognized one of them as Chief Delarose. A small thread of worry began to worm into my consciousness. Then someone on the other side of the door started to yell.

“What is going on out there? What are you doing? Shoot her and get us out of here!”

“Grrrrrr!!” My rage was back in an instant. I spun and punched the plug in the door.

‘KASMASH!’ the plug crashed into the room and the two techs I assumed to be Jim and Ted dived behind some consoles and started screaming again.

“BILLIE! DON”T! PLEASE!” Adam was right behind me and when I turned I could see he was ready to fight. The two behind him had moved in to support him and I could see the security people taking up firing stances behind them.

I was so tired. I had used up a lot of my energy in that last punch. I felt tears starting in my eyes an tried to hold them back.

“Tth-they almost KILLED me! They wouldn’t stop. Even when I begged them to. They’d m-made a m-mistake and wouldn’t shut the program down b-because they didn’t want S-security to know what they were doing.”

    

“They were g-going to leave me in there and let t-the machines kill me because if they shut it d-down you would f-find out what they were d-doing. I-I had t-to f-fight my way out!”

While I was telling Adam this, Harris and Willkinson dived past us and into the room. Jim and Ted popped up. Jim heading towards the two security men while Ted made a dash towards the largest panel of controls.

“Hurry up you fools! Stop her before she goes berserk again!”

Harris and Willkinson had their orders and they knew if Jim said much more I would probably go berserk anyway. They did what they had to.

    

“FREEZE!” Yelled Harris.

“You idiots! She’s behind you! Shoot...”

‘KAZZAPP!!’

Both the techs were covered in blue sparks, they stiffened and fell flat on their faces.

I heard Harris mutter. “Oohhh, that’s GOT to hurt.”

I giggled. Then I started to cry.

“C’mon Billie. Let’s get out of here.” Adam had taken my right arm and Mindbird had my left.  They began to lead me away and down the corridor. As we left I could here Delarose talking to someone.

“When is Erickson going to get here? Five minutes? What’s the hold up? Oh. Good idea! Tell him to get anyone he needs to help him get it here faster. Say! Thunderfox. Would you be willing to look around here to see if there is anything odd about the setup in here? I’d appreciate it if you could assist Erickson when he gets here. He’s bringing a portable computer lab.”

His voice faded out and I concentrated on walking. It was about all I could do now. As we passed the wreck of Range Three’s door I heard a conversation coming from some of the security people checking it out.

“Hey Brad! What’s it like down there?”

“Looks like someone had a war here! What’s it like your way?”

“About the same. What were they throwing around in here anyway?”

“ Besides the equipment? I don’t know but it sure made a mess of things!”

“You can say that again!”

Their voices faded as we moved down the hall.

XXXVII

AFTER THE SHOW: September 8th

Adam and Mindbird led me out of there and back to Medical. Adam went to get a doctor. I was starting to get hold of my emotions again. I was also starting to get worried about what had happened.

I turned to the helmeted girl. “I’m in trouble, aren’t I?”

“Oh. I wouldn’t get too worked up about it. Parts of campus are always getting blown up!” As she said this she removed her helmet. She had blond hair and beautiful green eyes. Her sense of humor radiated from her face.

“By someone like me?”

    

“You, or somebody, or something else. A large part of Laird Hall was leveled a few years back by a giant robot that malfunctioned. That’s why we have a new annex there.”

“Oh. Uh by the way, my name is Billie Wilson, but I’m also called Tennyo.”

“I’m Dale Townsend, I’m also called Mindbird.”

“You read minds?”

“Does that bother you?”

“Not really. I got kind off used to it. Mr. Tanaka’s ability probably saved my life.”

“Mr. Tanaka?”

“Yes. He can read minds also. When I changed, he was the only one who recognized who I really was. He was able to get me back with my family.”

“Changed?”

“Uh yeah. I kind of thought that with your ability...”

“That I would know all your secrets?”

“Uh yeah, kind of.”

“Listen Billie, you have a very unusual mind that is very hard to pick anything out of. This Mr. Tanaka must be exceptional to get that kind of detail from you. I’d probably have trouble getting all that from a normal mind, much less yours.”

She smiled and put a hand on my shoulder.

“So you see. Your secrets are safe from me. I was hoping you could tell me something about this change though. There is a lot of emotional power wrapped up in it. I have to admit to being curious.”

“I don’t know what I can tell you at this time. Some of it has to stay secret for now.”

“I understand Billie. What can you tell me?”

“Well, this change happened very suddenly this summer. I didn’t always look like this.”

“I can imagine. It’s hard to adjust?”

“You could say that. It’s more like I don’t have much experience and I’m in the process of learning a lot of new things.”

“Experience? That’s an odd way to put it.”

    

“I can’t really go into detail now, sorry.”

“Well, it’s okay with me if you were a plain Jane before. You more than make up for it now.”

“I wasn’t exactly a plain Jane.”

“Oh really? What exactly were you?”

“I don’t know how to say this. It can be kind of embarrassing.”

“Maybe I can guess. What cottage are you assigned to?”

“Poe.”

She looked at me for a long moment. “Hmmm.. I know a few girls from there. But you don’t quite fit the bill for most of them. Not quite the same at all. Though there is Zenith, not the same either, although there are some similarities.”

“WAIT! No Way! Wow! It fits you so well. I might never have guessed. Just this summer?”

“Yep.”

“What’s it like?”

“I really couldn’t tell you yet. I’m still learning so much that I haven’t had time to think it through. I think I kind of like it. At least a lot of it. But, strange things keep happening. I really need some time to adjust.”

    

“Your secret is safe. I don’t think anyone will guess what’s going on.”

“Thank you. I’ve kind of wondered.”

“Don’t mention it. Hold on. Adam is bringing in a doctor and nurse.”

Just after she said that, Adam led a Dr. Polland and Nurse Garrett into the room.

“What’s going on here. What happened to you?” Dr. Polland said this as he got a look at me.

Adam spoke up. “This is the young lady I told you about. She had a rough time in Range Three.”

“Looks like she’s been in a war. What happened?”

“We think the Range malfunctioned and Billie here was inside when it happened.”

    

“That’s the laser range isn’t it. What about the safety interlocks?”

“Apparently not functioning at the time.”

“How did she get out?”

“You could say that she got herself out.”

“Can you give any more details?”

“You could talk to Chief Delarose. He might have more information.”

“Okay. I think I might do that. Now young lady, what is your name?” As he started to question me, the nurse went to a computer station in the room and started to enter information.

“Doctor, she was in earlier getting some preliminary tests done.”

“Good! What do we have on her?”

“Not a lot.”

“What!?”

“It seems that there were some problems with some of the testing and almost nothing was determined beyond some general information on her background and some basic physical information. They were trying to decide the best way to get more information when she disappeared from the waiting room.”

He looked at me.

“Someone came and took me to the area where this happened. I thought he was taking me somewhere for more tests. By the time I figured out that they had the wrong person it was too late and the lasers had started firing at me and they wouldn’t stop it and let me out.”

“And after that?”

I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t know what I should say.

“She proceeded to totally wreck Range Three and was trying to get at the guys who started it when we showed up and talked her out of it.” Adam apparently had no trouble telling this to the doctor.

“Sounds like you had a rough evening. Would you object if we check those burns?”

I just shook my head and he carefully started to pull the cloth away from the burn on my shoulder. I tensed, afraid of how it would feel. But it didn’t hurt.

    

“That’s odd.”

“What doctor?”

“I would expect the wound to be far worse, But it is almost nonexistent. There isn’t even scabbing or scaring.”

He proceeded to check the rest but only the burn on my right calf still hurt and that was apparently healing quickly also. Dr. Polland made certain to time the rate of healing as he watched it.

Adam asked the question before I got up the courage to ask why myself.

“Why are you timing the healing?”

“One, I want to note the rate so we have that in our records. Two, I want some idea of how serious the wounds were in the first place. And the only way I can do that now, short of injuring her myself, and I understand that might not be the healthiest idea, is to extrapolate from the healing rate and the condition of the wounds now.”

“Will that help?”

“Any information we can get will help. Standard measurements and testing methods obviously aren’t going to work. We are going to have to develop new ones if we are going to get anywhere with this student.”

He continued to monitor me until the wounds had faded away.

“Well. I can’t find anything else to worry us at this time. Miss Wilson has healed in a spectacular fashion. I wish more of my patients could heal like this. It would make my job much easier.”

“Thank you doctor. I’m sure Chief Delarose will want a complete report as soon as possible. I think we better get Miss Wilson back to her cottage now that we know that she isn’t in any danger.”

“Very well. Miss Wilson, I am releasing you to these two people. We will reschedule further exams when we have decided how we will conduct the testing. Please be more careful in the future. You could have been very seriously wounded.”

“Yes sir.” I was way too tired to bother arguing with him.

Adam had been talking to the Chief on and off with a portable communicator. He had me describe what happened to me in my own words and relayed them. Now he got some orders and shut down the communicator.

“Chief says to take her home for now. If he has any more questions he will arrange to talk to you personally. By the way, they’ve got the fires under control now.”

“Good.”

“Come along, well get you there safely.”

They escorted me all the way back and saw me to the door where Mrs. Horton, who seemed to know them, took over and escorted me to my room.

I stumbled to my bed. Jade stirred for a moment, looked at me with uncomprehending eyes, touched some clothes, and went back to sleep. Jinn rose up and filled the clothes. Apparently, a speaker disk was with them as Jinn started to question me. I filled her in briefly and then collapsed on my bed.

XXXVIII

 

THE BEAT GOES ON: September 8th Friday

I woke up to my alarm and dragged myself to the showers to clean up. I still wasn’t very conscious as I headed back. Everyone seemed to be staring at me, but I was too tired to care.

I made it to all my classes but I didn’t remember much of what went on other than each of my teachers pretty much left me alone. I also remember being very hungry at meal times and I’m not certain how much I ate but people seemed to draw back out of my way when I was eating.

After supper I finally started to take more notice of what was going on. Nothing was going to interfere with my dance class. It was going to be held in the new annex of Laird Hall. I’d remembered that Mr. Lodgeman wanted me to wear my gown so I came in that.

I was nervous and it didn’t help at all that I became the center of attention as soon as I entered the room where we would be dancing.

“We aren’t going to have to dress like that are we?” One of the girls who had arrived before I did managed to communicate an incredible amount horror at that concept.

That was it! No one was going to make fun of this like that. This was serious fun and deserved respect!

“Don’t worry yourselves. You only wear something like this if you can!” I did a nice glide and twirl out to the center of the room. “Of course, you have to know how to first!” I smiled at her and curtsied.

“Now Tennyo. I’m sure there was a time not far in the past when you wouldn’t have been able to pull that off. Give them a chance to learn and see just how much fun it can be.”

Mr. Lodgeman and Miss Rogers were watching from the back of the room. Harry was with them and looking very uncomfortable in a great tuxedo looking suit.

“Harry! You made it! Boy, am I glad to see you!” I skipped over and gave him a hug.

He seemed to be speechless. It must have been the suit. He had probably never been so well dressed in his life. It was enough to make anyone nervous. Even me.

“I hope I can do this gown the honor it deserves.” I smiled at Miss Rogers.

In a more serious tone, Mr. Lodgeman began to question me.

“Billie. Are you okay?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, the reports I have received indicate that you were involved in a struggle last night that left you with some serious injuries.”

“I’m better now. A little tired but I’ll be fine.”

“Just tired?”

“I heal very quickly. Everyone says so.”

“Billie!” He was getting a little exasperated. I could tell.

“Really! I’m fine! Look, you have a class to teach. This isn’t the best time, okay?”

He looked me in the eye for a moment, then sighed. “Okay, for now. But, I want a full report after this class.”

I didn’t have any choice but to agree. I wasn’t looking forward to having to explain myself. But, after all, it really wasn’t my fault.

Except for the nervousness I felt about what I was going to tell him later, the class was all I could have hoped for. We didn’t do much at this time as most of the class was introductions and assigning of homework. I did get to show off a bit with Mr. Lodgeman. He could make a paraplegic look good. And when he and Miss Rogers danced everyone went silent. Their skill really showed, even for those people without any background.

After the class, I had to explain everything that had happened. At least what I knew about it.

“Billie. What am I going to do with you?”

“What? I didn’t do anything! Well... I mean I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just protecting myself...mostly.”

“You’re a trouble magnet. Did you know that?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“It means that things keep happening around you and if you don’t learn how to take control of them, they are going to take control of you.”

“What does that mean? How could I take control of these happenings?”

“Billie. You are going to have to learn what you want to accomplish. And when you know and understand that, then you will be ready to take control of your life and make of it what you will.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Sigh...No, I don’t expect you do. It’s a little early for that. Now listen to me, this is very important. I am going out west to talk to the others. There is too much I don’t know about this situation yet.”

“What I want you to do while I am gone is try to stay out of trouble. But, if you can’t I want you to think very carefully about what you want. The actions that you will take from that point on will be very important and you will only be able to achieve your true goals if you know what they are.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“Billie, It’s never easy. But it’s impossible if you don’t have a good idea where you want to go and where you are headed.”

“So... You want me to decide what I’m going to do with my life?”

“It’s a little too early to decide what you are going to do with your whole life. What I do want you to do is decide now how you are going to live your life to the point where you can make those decisions.”

“I-I’m not sure what you mean, but I will try to stay out of trouble from now on.”

“Don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep. Trouble is going to find you no matter what. It’s how you are going to handle it that will make the difference. Remember, your not all alone in this. I will leave Miss Rogers the means to contact me in case of an emergency. Don’t hesitate to get help.”

“I won’t, I promise!”

“Good, that’s the spirit. Now I have to get going. I’ll probably see you sometime mid week. Good luck! You’re probably going to need it. Oh. What did you do with the uniform you were wearing when you had that little altercation with Range Three?”

“I still have it. I was hoping Miss Rogers might be able to fix it.”

He looked at Miss Rogers and she just shook her head.

“Well don’t lose it. You may need it later.”

“Why? If it’s ruined, what use could I have for it?”

“Evidence.”

“Evidence?”

“Yes. With your healing abilities, it might be hard to convince people just how much danger you were in without that suit. Don’t lose it.”

“Okay. If you say so.”

“I do say so. Now, go out and try to stay out of trouble for a while.”

“Thank you...I think.”

“Don’t mention it.” He waved as he left the room.

“I-I’ll walk you back if you don’t mind?” Asked Harry.

“Thank you, but I don’t need an escort if you don’t want to.”

“It would be an honor if you would please let me.”

“Way to go Harry! Keep up the good work like that and you will go far. Billie?” Miss Rogers was looking at me.

“Yes ma’am?”

“It would be impolite to refuse the escort now.”

“Yes ma’am. Harry?”

“Yes?”

“I would be honored by your company.”

He smiled and offered me his arm.

As we left Miss Rogers called to us.

“Be ready for Monday. We’ll really get going then.”

“Yes ma’am!”

The walk back was very interesting. I should be concentrating on what I was going to do for the next few days. I would have a whole weekend to catch up on things. But, all I was thinking about was that it felt really nice to be walking arm in arm with Harry. There was a huge difference in our sizes, but somehow we managed to coordinate our walk and not trip over each other.

Nothing happened to interrupt the walk and soon we were in front of Poe. I suddenly found myself in a real conundrum. What was I supposed to do now? For a moment I just stood holding his arm as the panic started to build.

“Uh, Tennyo?”

“YES?!” I jumped when he spoke to me and answered a little louder than I should have.

“Do you have to hold on so tight?”

“What?”

“Your really strong and your grip is really kind of tight?”

I realized that I had a stranglehold on his arm and that he might be getting a little uncomfortable. I let go and stepped back and stepped on my gown and started to fall over. He caught me before I even started to try levitating.

“You okay Billie?”

“Yeah. I’m okay.” My voice had gone very high all of a sudden. “Uh, Harry?”

“What?”

“What do I do now?” I couldn’t think of anything else to do.

“Well, I’ve never been in this position before. But according to my sisters...”

“Hey! You have sisters, don’t you!” I saw a ray of hope, Maybe they had passed on some wisdom to him.

“...We should elope, and get married, and move to Canada.” He even said this with a straight face. All I could do stare at him as he stood calmly watching me.

“You...You...” He stood there with his chin in his hand, concentrating hard. Then looked up into the sky.

“Of course, we would have to go south first to get married and they might not allow us to if we’re this young unless you were pregnant or something like that....”

“I...But...We...”

“And if we did that, it would probably be easier to go to Mexico, but the standard of living is so low there that it would probably be worth the risk to try to make it to Canada anyway.”

About this time I had gotten over my surprise enough to realize that while he was saying this in a perfectly calm voice, he was trembling with some kind of suppressed emotion. And I began to realize what that emotion was.   

 “Why you little...” SLAP!! I open handed him on his arm.

“OW!” He staggered back and started to laugh.

“I ought to blast you into the next state! What’s so funny!”

“You-you sh-should have seen your face!”

“You’ll be lucky to ever see this face again you, you...”

He sobered very quickly. “I’m sorry Billie, I just couldn’t help myself. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just can’t help myself sometimes.”

I stood there huffing for a while and allowing him to apologize several times before I felt like talking to him again. While he was doing this he also explained that his sisters hadn’t been very forthcoming with information on boy-girl activities and he really didn’t have a clue as to what to do next.

Great. He not only didn’t have any information for me , but I had also managed to make a fool of myself at the same time. I could just cry. To my surprise I could fell tears rising in my eyes. What was happening to me?

Harry put his arms around me as I stood there sniffling. “I’m really sorry Billie. I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

I just leaned into him until I had control of myself again.

“I’m sorry Harry. I shouldn’t have gone off like that. It’s just...”

“I know. It’s really hard for you. I can’t imagine what it is like for you. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t. Stop saying your sorry. Your right, it was pretty funny. I’m just all emotional all of a sudden. I’m sure we’ll laugh at this some day. It’s just so strange now.”

“Okay, sorry.”

“Sigh.”

“Harry?”

“Yes Billie?”

“Do you have to keep holding me?”

He sprang back. “S-sorry!”

“Harry!”

“What?”

“C’mer!”

“Huh?”

I popped up to his head height, grabbed his head with both hands, and planted a quick smootch on his nose.

“There! Do you think that will do?”

“Uh..I..Well..”

“I take that as a yes.”

He just nodded.

“Okay, I’ll see you later then?”

He nodded again.

“And Harry?”

“What Billie?”

“Thank you, and you can call me Tennyo.”

“Sure B..Uh Tennyo. Anytime.”

“I’ll see you later then?”

“Okay.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

I skipped up to the door and turned to look back. He was still standing there, so I waved. He waved back and headed towards Twain. The trip upstairs was uneventful until I ran into Toni yelling something about a naming party with pizza. She was taking orders.

XXXIX

PIZZA: September 8th

“I’ll have Hawiian, you know, the type with ham and pineapple.”

“Okay. How many slices?”

“Forget the slices. Order me two larges.”

“Two whole pizzas?”

“Yeah, unless you feel like defending your own and everyone else’s. I’m feeling kind of hungry all of a sudden.”

“You sure?”

“Yep, bring it on!”

“Okay. I’ll let you know when and how much after I check with everyone else.”

“Fine. I’ll meet you in Kimba’s Corner.”

“See you there.”

I hurried to our room and quickly changed to a more comfortable set of sweats. I didn’t want to risk any of my new clothing on this adventure.

I arrived not too long after Toni and paid her what the pizzas would cost as well as some for a tip. Then I settled into an upper corner, read some of my homework, and waited for the pizza to arrive.

Two guys started to make out right beneath me and I was starting to wonder how I could get them to go somewhere else while I studied when Ayla walked right through the wall next to them.

“Holy Shit!”

I had one of the hardest times of my life not laughing out loud as the two lovebirds fell over each other in surprise.

    

“Hey bitch! Your not supposed to be using your powers like that! Someone could see you!”

She gave them one of the best cold stares I have ever seen. Suddenly she clapped her hands to her face, put a look of horror on her face and exclaimed. “Oh no! I forgot!” and ducked back through the wall. The two of them just stood there with their mouths open as I nearly strangled trying not to totally lose it.

They had started to glare at me when she leaned back through the wall.

“There, is that better boys?”

“That’s not funny bitch!” Their surprise and anger had gotten the better of them and they started to get belligerent. Big mistake. Ayla was right in front of them in a moment and the floor started to creak.

“You got something to say to me boy?”

“We’re not afraid of you! Don’t try anything with us. Right Jeff?”

“Uh, yeah! Not afraid. Not afraid at all, Kenny.”

I thought this was going too far and decided to take a hand in it myself. I stood up on the ceiling so my head was level with theirs and right behind them.

“But you should be. You should be very afraid.”

At that point I think they realized that they no longer out numbered their opponents and that we had them surrounded.

“But she shouldn’t be doing that. She’ll get us all into trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it guys. It’s just one of the phases she’s going through. Back up and get out of here. I’ll take care of things from here. Move! Now!”

They moved off, looking back several times.

I turned to her and looked her in the eyes. Her feet on the floor and mine on the ceiling.

“You okay Ayla?”

She glared back at me. “Phases?”

“Hey. I had to use something they could understand without too much effort. You know how it is trying to communicate with guys.” I had to grin. “Dense, you know.”

“Yeah. Real dense.” She grinned back.

Looking a little troubled, she asked me a question I didn’t expect. “Did you think I needed help there?”

“Uh, no. I just thought it would be the best way to make sure that my pizza wouldn’t be delayed. Really!”

“Right! Well, thank you anyway.”

“Don’t mention it!”

“Okay. I won’t. Do you think the pizza will be here soon?”

“I hope so! I’m getting hungry!”

“We wouldn’t want that to happen!”

“What does that mean?”

“We saw what you did at dinner.”

“So?”

“Let’s just say that we don’t want to get between you and your food.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

“Humph!” I went back to my studies and waiting for the pizza. I didn’t think much of it at the time but I saw the two guys talking to Mrs. Horton a little later.

The pizza finally arrived and it seemed to take forever to get it sorted out. I finally had my two boxes and ascended into the corner again. It would have been nice to have a drink, but it would have been almost impossible to handle under these circumstances.

I finished the first pizza in a matter of minutes and was well on the way to finishing my second. I began to wonder if everyone else was going to finish theirs. It would be a pity to waste any of this pizza and it wasn’t like we had a lot of extra refrigerated space. I would have to see if anyone wasn’t going to finish theirs or maybe not pay too much attention to what they had.

Eventually we got around to why we were here. Apparently, we were expected to have code names and those would be used in any articles the newsletter would print on us. Fey and I already had our names but Ayla, Toni, Hank, and Jade didn’t.

   

I suggested a few names. For Ayla, I suggested Phases, it seemed appropriate after what had happened earlier.

For Toni I suggested Chi Master, which everyone thought was to pretentious, and Chi Dragon. Of course, I suggested that if we used that one we were going to have to teach her how to cook.

I thought of Thundercloud and Powerlift for Hank

The only name I could think of for Jade was Dual.

By this time, we were approaching lights out and we called the meeting to give everyone a chance to think over the names and possibly think of some new ones. We decided to head for bed and get ready for the weekend.

XL

A LONG SATURDAY: September 9th Saturday

One of the nice things about the weekend is the fact that I didn’t have to be anywhere until breakfast. And anyone who feels breakfast isn’t important hasn’t had to deal with me after I miss it. What was even nicer about this Saturday was the fact that I didn’t have to be anywhere except for the meals.

So, of course, the first thing it does after I get up is rain and thunderstorm. In the halls. I’m busy dodging small lightning bolts and mean thunderpuffs,(smaller than thunderclouds but still kind of hairy), when Toni pops out of Ayla’s room and lets me know that it’s probably Nikki on the rag.

Well, I guess I’m the one with the most experience in these matters. I ducked,(there is some kind of symmetry to that as I dripped into my room), into our room and grabbed my emergency kit. I was determined to never get caught without the basics ever again and I always carried it with me when I was out. I had some Pampronol in it even though I haven’t found anything that works with my physiology.

Buy the time I got to the bathrooms the weather in the halls had settled into a drizzle. Nikki had suddenly realized what having PMS meant.

There is no good way to explain the feeling you get when you suddenly realize that you are female, with all that implies. To top it all off, this would occur when you are in no shape to decide what color of shoe you want to wear, much less deal with the life changes you are going through.

I had to let her know in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t alone and that this too would pass. At least until next month. I let her know that I could help her with this. It means the world when you realize that someone else can help you.

She was upset about several things, which wasn’t unusual considering her current condition. She had obviously not been getting good sleep either. This was having a detrimental effect on her appearance and she was very aware of that. I couldn’t help pointing out that this was a sure sign that she was finishing her transition to female.

Ayla assured her that we would all help her with the problems that she would be facing. I suggested that for the first part of that we should finish getting cleaned up and then I would help her in her room. I headed for a quick shower and then back to my room to get the things I would need. Fortunately, I’m something of a packrat and I had plenty of the necessary things. After this I was going to have to stock up some more though.

When I got to Nikki’s room I told the others to leave us alone for a while. Now was the time to go into the details that make living with the monthly visitor possible. It’s a clever opponent and persistent, but if you are prepared you can handle it. I just wished drugs worked as well for me as they did for others. I wish someone had been able to tell me these things before it had snuck up on me.

Nikki was waiting for me. I could tell that she wasn’t any too happy about this and I couldn’t say as I blamed her.

“We need to talk, hon.”

“Yeah, I know.” She was managing to look even more beautiful every day. I was exotic, but she was hot. If I didn’t have some idea what it was costing her I would have to be jealous. She gave me a look that let me know that she must feel a lot like I did about some of this.

We had a long, interesting conversation, with her tunrning several interesting shades of green at times, especially when we got to the tampon demonstrations.

Then somehow, a pillow fight started, which was probably a good thing, because Nikki had been clouding up again and I was fearing an imminent thunderstorm in the room brfore things lightened up.

After that, I asked her for some help on a subject that really had me embarrassed.  My own lack of knowledge regarding female fashion and how to go about getting clothes that would look both good and appropriate for me, not to mention how to wear them so they looked good.  Let me just say that she jumped at the chance to help and leave it at that for the moment.

I excused myself after that happy thought and made my goodbyes and headed out to try my luck at finding some of the things I would need for school and enjoyment later.

After leaving the room I waved at Toni to let her know that it was ok. I then headed out to see about a few of the things I wanted to follow up on.

I spent the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon finding out that I would need a permit to fish and that I would have to get that in town. It was very frustrating because I still couldn’t get a pass for the shuttle into town and I didn’t feel that it was important enough to bother Miss Rogers with. At least not yet.

At about four o’clock, I got a notice to report to Admin. I figured it would be about my pass to use the shuttle. Instead it was Ms. Hartford, with a nasty smile on her face and a notice for me in her hands.

“Miss Wilson, I’m glad we could meet again. I’m terribly sorry, but I must deliver this to you. I wanted to make certain that you got it and I want you to sign this receipt for it.”

Or past meetings and her current attitude did not inspire any confidence in me. I decided to remain cautious.

“What is it?”

“This is just a receipt showing that you received this notice. The notice has to do with some of the unfortunate occurrences over the past few days. I suggest you read it carefully. If you chose to, you can read it here, if not, and you have questions, I will be here till 6:30 PM.”

Her attitude made me think that she would enjoy seeing me read it and I had no intention of giving her satisfaction in that regard. This was starting to make me nervous and I wanted to get out of there quickly. The receipt was just that and I signed it and headed back to Poe. I didn’t like the way she had smiled at me and I didn’t wait to get to our room to open the notice.

It was on Whateley stationary and was short and to the point.

Dear Miss Wilson,

Many students who come to Whateley have come here to find methods of controlling their powers and talents so as to not be a menace to those around them. We at Whateley pride ourselves on our ability to find the best methods of doing so.

    

There are some situations that arise occasionally that require us to take steps to protect the students, faculty, staff, and or grounds. These situations sometimes require us to make special arrangements to meet the needs and safety of all the concerned parties.

    

Miss Wilson, it has come to our attention in the last few days that your abilities and possible lack of control of them, may pose a considerable risk to yourself, others around you, and the grounds themselves. It is our opinion that moving you to facilities that would better fit your situation may be in the best interests of all concerned.

    

To this end, arrangements are currently being made to move your residence to Hawthorne Cottage which is equipped to handle such situations with less risk to all concerned parties. Please notify Administration as soon as possible of your current status and ability to transfer to Hawthorne.

We apologize for any inconvenience,

– Whateley Administration and Operations –

Signed: Ms. Amanda Hartford, Assistant to the Administrator.

Apologize for any inconvenience my ass! All I wanted to do for a moment was go back and give Ms. Hartman a piece of the situation all her own. Then, as I realized that many people in my immediate vicinity were leaving quickly for other vicinities, I also realized that it wouldn’t help at all and that Ms. Hartford was probably prepared for that as well.

What could I do? I fell into a stupor of thought and slowly made my way back to my room. At least it was for the moment.

When I got back, Jade was there. I must have spooked her a bit, because for a moment I thought she was ready to attack me. Maybe somebody had told her I was dangerous and she was afraid of me too. That thought hurt and sent a bit of panic up my spine.

I couldn’t keep the shakiness out of my voice.

“They’re going... to transfer me into Hawthorne.”

She did one of the nicest things anyone had ever done for me. She jumped over to me and hugged me, hard. I needed that very badly at that time. I was also a little embarrassed because I had thought that she might be afraid of me.

“What are we going to do?”

“What do you want to do, Billie?”

“You mean besides kill Ms. Hartford?”

“Yeah. Something a little more constructive than that. Billie?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, maybe it would be a good idea not to talk about killing people. At least for a while.”

“Do you think I could get away with dismembering them? Just a little?”

“Well, maybe. As long as you keep it to just a little.”

We were both silent for a moment. Then we started to giggle. That went on for almost a minute. In that time I had a chance to think about what Jade had just told me and remember that Mr. Lodgeman had said the same thing.

“Okay Billie. What do you want?”

“I want...” I thought of Jade and what a good roommate she was. I thought of Nikki, Ayla, Hank, and all we had been through in such a short time. I thought of all that we would be doing in the future. “I want.. TO STAY RIGHT HERE!”

“You sure about that?” How someone so young looking could keep such a deadpan face in such a moment was beyond me. All I could do for a moment was glare.

“Yeah. I’m sure. Now what can we do about it?”

“Maybe we should talk to Zenith?”

“Who?”

“Zenith. She is one of the upperclassmen here in Poe. I’ve been told that she is the one to go to in situations like this.”

“She’s here?”

“Upstairs.”

“Well let’s go girl! Times a wastin!” I had a goal now and I wanted to get back to Ms. Hartford before she left her office.

I went zooming up to the third floor and asked one of the girls there if she new where Zenith roomed. She pointed up the stairs and I hurried up another flight. When I got there there was only a boy walking towards the bathrooms.

“Hey! Hold on a moment!”

He turned to look at me and for a moment I thought he was going to run for it.

“Which room does Zenith stay in?”

    

He just looked at me in indecision for a few moments and the door of 208 opened and a really good looking blonde in a sweat suit stepped out.

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m Billie Wilson, and they are trying to railroad me to Hawthorne. I’m told that Zenith is the person to see in these situations and I’m trying to find her. Can you help me?”

“Who’s trying to railroad you and why?”

“I’m pretty sure that Ms. Hartford is trying to railroad me and I think they are using the excuse that I’m uncontrollably dangerous.”

“Are you?”

“What?”

“Uncontrollably dangerous.”

Every time this came up I got a flash of the scene from Aladin were the guards pull back from Abu when he grabs a sword. Then the leader reminds them that they all have swords.

“I may be dangerous, but I’m NOT uncontrolled.”

She smiled then.

“We can probably work this out then.”

“We?”

“Oh, let me introduce myself. I’m Zenith.” She stepped forward and held out her hand. “It’s okay Brad. I can handle it from here.”

The boy I had been asking shrugged. “Ok, if you say so.” He headed towards the bathrooms, keeping an eye on us over his shoulder.

I took her hand which had an unusually strong grip. “I’m Billie Wilson. I’m also called Tennyo.”

“And who is this?” She was looking over my shoulder.

I turned and saw Jade coming up behind us.

“This is Jade, my roommate. Jade, meet Zenith. She thinks she might be able to help us.”

“Whoa, hold on a moment. I don’t know that I can help you yet. Let’s step into my room and get the details.”

She lead us into her room and had us take the two chairs while she sat on her bed.

“Say, aren’t you two with the ones who had the run in with the Ninjas? Kimba’s Commandos or something?”

“Uh, that would be Team Kimba.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. They’ve been calling us worse.”

“I know, I’ve heard some of them. Anyway, good job on protecting Poe. You could say we owe you some.”

“We would have done it anyway. You don’t owe us.”

“First lesson of survival. You don’t have to push it or collect on them, but never give up a favor if you don’t have to. You never know when you will need it. That said, let’s get down to business.”

We showed her our notices and explained some of what had been happening the last few days. I was amazed how she was able to get a lot of information in a short period of time. Something in the way she questioned us just seemed to bring the details out.

She did seem a little hesitant about our gender changes though. Maybe they made her uncomfortable.

“They haven’t had a hearing on this yet?”

“A hearing?”

“Yes. In all situations like this they are supposed to have a hearing to determine all the facts and determine the best way of handling it. Sounds like they are trying to railroad you after all.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Yes! We need to hurry and catch Ms. Hartass.. I mean Hartford, before she leaves her office tonight. Let’s go!”

She could move fast. We were barely able to keep up with her on the way downstairs and I had to grab Jade and fly to keep up with her on the way to Admin.

We got there as Ms. Hartford was leaving. She wasn’t happy to see Zenith. There wasn’t any love lost between them.

    

“Ms. Hartford! Can you please explain why you are doing this without having had a hearing first?”

“Well, if you must know. We felt that it was in the best interests of the school to do the safe thing and then worry about the hearing. We could always make other arrangements if the hearing indicates it.”

“I’m afraid that I must insist that the proper procedures be followed here. We all know that it would be far more difficult to set things right after the moves.”

“What about the safety of the school and students?”

“I see no reason to take such drastic measures at this time. A hearing would allow us to determine exactly the best course of action. I’m afraid that I must insist on this.”

She glared at us for a moment. Then she sniffed with disdain.

“Very well. You can have your hearing. Tomorrow, at 4:00 PM. But be aware, you are responsible for anything that happens because you wouldn’t follow the safest course.”

“Save it for the hearing. We’ll see you there.”

“See that you do.”

Ms. Hartford stalked off while we stood there watching her out of sight and thinking about what she had said.

“Okay, you two. I want you to go back to Poe and stay out of trouble. What she said about getting into trouble now wasn’t all bull. It could cause us trouble later.”

“What’s the hearing going to be like?”

“Read up on it in your introductory packet. It will be in the Disciplinary Section. I’ll need to talk to Chief Delarose and Adam and get more details. You two better get going. Supper will be soon. Be careful! I don’t trust old Hardcase for a moment. She’s got something up her sleeve.”

“You think she planned this?”

“Hard to say. She might just be taking advantage of the situation. She usually won’t take chances if she doesn’t have to. This is probably just an easy way for her to get at you without much risk to herself.”

“Can’t anyone do anything about her?”

“Not as long as she stays in the rules. We have to get going. Remember, be careful and don’t get into any trouble. Bye now. I’ll see you about 3:00 o’clock and take you to where the hearings are held.”

“Bye.”

“C’mon Billie. Let’s go.”

“Wait. I better make a phone call first.”

“Who do you want to call?”

“Miss Rogers, she can get hold of Mr. Lodgeman and let him know what is going on.”

“Isn’t he out west somewhere?”

“Yeah. But he still might be able to do something or let us know if there is something we can do.”

I used the public phone near the Store. I got an answering machine and left a message with what few details I had. I hoped she would get it in time.

After that we went to Supper. Oddly enough, just after we arrived, Mindbird showed up and ate with us. Thunderfox bumped into us on the way back and asked me a few questions about what happened on Thursday night. She left after we reached Poe.

Mrs. Horton met us at the door and asked to do a quick inspection of our room. After that it was like several people were just dropping by to see how we were doing. There wasn’t any chance for us to get into any trouble. We were too busy socializing with a lot of the residents who dropped in to say hello.

We finally got to sleep. I almost expected people to look in occasionally to make sure we were okay.

XLI

THE HEARING: September 10th Sunday

Sunday morning was a blur. I was getting anxious and my stomach was twisting and I could only eat one full platter at both breakfast and lunch. I was definitely off my feed and very nervous.

I read what the Packet had to say about these hearings. About all I could remember was that there had to be at least three Supervisors, one of which had to be with administration. There were a lot of other bylaws, etc., but I just couldn’t get into them.

Finally, three o’clock rolled around and Zenith came to take us to where the hearing was going to be held. It was in the Admin building and downstairs. The room was probably used as a classroom at other times. The podium had been converted into a long table facing the audience. Some of the forward seats were for the concerned parties. The rest was for any audience.

I found out later that the reason that there was not many people there was because it had been declared a closed meeting, and only people directly involved were allowed in. When we got there, Ms. Hartford was setting up on the right side as we faced the table for the Supervisors. She had a small table in front of her. She gave me a smile that made me almost go for her when Zenith stopped me.

“Don’t let her get to you like that! It’s what she wants. Don’t give her the satisfaction!” Zenith had grabbed my arm before I could do anything. She guided me to a small table set up to the left, had me sit and started to bring papers out of her briefcase and arranged them on the table.

“I hadn’t had a chance to tell you yet, but I think we have a good chance here. Just sit tight and let me do my work. Behave yourself and act assured. That will be your best defense.

We waited there without talking for what seemed forever, but was really 20 minutes by the clock. It must have been broken because I was sure I aged noticeably during that time.

Then Mrs. Shugendo came in and took the center chair of the table facing us.

Zenith perked up. “That’s good news for us. Mrs. Shugendo will be completely fair about this.”

My heart rate soared as the implications of what she just said sank in.

“You mean that there might be some who won’t be?”

She looked a little uncomfortable for a moment.  “Some of the supervisors are...Umm... Prejudiced, towards some of the students. And there are some who can be swayed by outside factors.”

    

“You mean some won’t like what I...am? Or can be bribed?”

“Well, yes, sort of. But don’t worry! They still have to answer to the other Supervisors and their decisions can be over ruled if their decisions aren’t supportable.”

“How many will be here?”

“At least three, one of which will be Mrs. Shugendo. There may be more than that if they can get here. I sent messages to any that I thought would listen to our side.”

“Do you think they will get here?”

“Hard to say. It was short notice and I couldn’t be sure that they would all get their messages on time.”

Just then, a middle aged man in a pinstripe business suit came in and sat down to the left of Mrs. Shugendo.

“What about him?”

“That’s Mr. Merrow, he is a lawyer who represents some of our more...colorful alumni and sponsors.”

“Colorful?”

“Let’s just say that they have a need for a good lawyer on occasion and leave it at that, shall we?”

“Will he hinder or help?”

“Depends on what his agenda is.”

“His agenda?”

“He probably won’t do anything that would embarrass his clients. But if he is being paid off in some way he might be trouble.”

“That makes me feel sooo much better.”

“Don’t worry, It’s not likely that you have drawn that kind of attention yet.”

“Yet?”

“I have faith in you. I’m sure you’ll find more trouble to get into soon enough.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Uh oh!”

“What!?”   

A tall thin man in a dark ministers suit had come in and sat down on Mrs. Shugendo’s right side.

“That’s the Most Righteous Reverend Darren Englund. A real pain in the butt bigot. He represents some of the ultra conservative types who feel that our powers are either gifts from Heaven or Hell. He is the type who feels that if you don’t agree with him on everything then your powers are from Hell and you should be reeducated or locked up.”

“I take it he won’t be friendly?”

“He does have certain prejudices about the nature of men and women.” Zenith seemed to get a little uncomfortable with the subject. I figured they had not gotten on well in the past.

Ms. Hartford stood up.

“I believe that we can get started now.”

 

I looked at Zenith and raised an eyebrow in question. She stood up herself.

“Shouldn’t we wait to see if anyone else will show up?”

Ms. Hartford turned and spoke with a perfectly civil sneer.

“I have it on good authority that none of the other supervisors are able to make it to this meeting today.”

“Your sure of this?”

“I made a point of tracing everyone. No one else is even close to the campus.”

“Well, if you're sure. Then we should get started.” Zenith wasn’t too happy about this, but there wasn’t much that we could do about it.

Ms. Hartford signaled to a man standing in the back and the lights behind us dimmed and the lights over the front brightened.

“Now we can...”

There was a commotion in the back that interrupted Ms. Hartford’s spiel. Several people were coming in at the back of the room.

“This is a closed meeting! What is the meaning of this interruption?” Ms. Hartford was definitely displeased.

   

 One of the figures moved forward out of the shadows. It was Mr. Lodgeman.

“Sorry to break in like this. I had to pick up a few people on the way back. I thought we would have a little more time.” He was smiling as he moved forward towards the table in front.

“What is the idea, coming in like this?”

“I am one of the Supervisors, and I did receive a message to attend this meeting if I could.”

“You were in California. How did you get here?”

“A friend gave me a lift. I’d have changed to something a little more appropriate, but I didn’t have much time. The message had been a little delayed before it got to me.” As he explained this he moved to the front and sat to the left of Mr. Merrow.

Ms. Hartford seemed a little shaken, but determined to move on.

“Very well, then we should get started, before we are interrupted again.” She was looking daggers at Mr. Lodgeman who was blithely ignoring the attempted psychic murder.

“By all means. Let’s get started.” He smiled at her chargin.

“Well then, we are here today to determine the best method to assure the safety of our students and properties. More specifically, what the best means of containing the dangerous tendencies of one Billie Wilson, sometimes known as Tennyo, will be.”

I didn’t like the sound of that at all. It sounded like they were going to shut me away somewhere and throw away the key. I would have jumped up right then, but Zenith grabbed my arm and held me down.

Then she stood up.

“I was unaware that the need to do this had already been determined. What has been done by Miss Wilson that would require such extreme measures?”

“I think everyone here is familiar with the recent activities of this person.”

Mr. Lodgeman spoke up. “Ahem! I would like to be informed of what has happened if you don’t mind. I have been absent for a few days now.”

“You were here when these occurrences happened. I don’t see a need to waste our time here.”

“Please humor an old man and his notoriously bad memory.”

    

She glared at him for a moment.

“Very well. Do you want it in chronological order?”

“If you would be so kind.”

“This young...lady, is very dangerous and a risk to all around her. Do you really have to waste our time like this?”

“We are responsible for the well being of all our students and it would be a great injustice if we don’t do our best to see to it that they have freedom from unnecessary harassment and meddling by us in misguided attempts to protect them.”

“You would risk the well being of other students, just to protect this one?”

“You have yet to show that this student is an unreasonable threat to the others. Just calling her dangerous is not a good enough reason. We are all dangerous in our own ways. In what way is this student so much more dangerous?”

“She is an uncontrolled troublemaker. It is only a matter of time before someone gets seriously hurt or killed by her.”

“You have no proof of this. What makes her so different from the others?”

“The many violent encounters she has already participated in make it clear that she is unruly and a risk to other students.”

“Can you please elaborate for us. I am unaware of any such encounters that would make this obvious. The encounters I am aware of have all involved a need for self defense. We do try to teach that to our students.”

“This student practices a lot of self defense. She is well ahead of the average student for such encounters.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. She injured a fellow student seriously enough for him to require medical attention, less than twenty four hours after her arrival here.”

“Do you mean Hamper? I believe that Billie was acting in the defense of herself and one of the other students.”

“There is no evidence for that story.”

“Ahem!” Zenith interrupted the argument. When she got their attention she proceeded.

“Can we please have a quick accounting of the events leading to this hearing and argue the merits of them afterwards?”

Ms. Hartford was not happy at being interrupted, but she then listed several occurrences that had been reported to her.

“We have the report of the attack on the student at the station in town. There is a report of an attack on another student the next day in Twain Cottage. A student reported a near assault at lunch on Thursday and two students reported a threatening encounter with both Miss Wilson and a student called Ayla on Friday evening in Poe Cottage.”

“These are in addition to the assault on the Ninjas Wednesday night and her assault on two technicians Thursday night. I should point out that the property damage from that assault was very extensive. Far beyond what one might expect from such a young lady who was only defending herself.”

She proceeded to give some details for each of these. I didn’t like the way she was describing the incidents and she certainly had a way of slanting the facts so that it sounded as if I had caused the confrontations. Only Zenith’s constant efforts to keep me seated kept me from speaking out.

I hadn’t realized that someone was keeping such a close watch on me and what was happening around me. I started to feel a little paranoid. If I hadn’t been so angry about what had already been going down I might have had something to say about that.

“I believe that this is more than enough reason to take a cautious approach with a student who is obviously is both dangerous and not in complete control.” Ms. Hartford summed up her small speech with another cheap shot. “I think that we should stop wasting your time and continue with the outlined plan to handle this situation. We have carefully considered our options and this will be the best way to handle all the possibilities.”

I was wondering if the outcome had already been decided and that this was just a show to add credibility to their actions. I was going to stand up and get a last word in when Zenith pushed me down hard and stood up instead.

“I think it would be wise to look into these accusations more closely first.”

Ms Hartford sneered. “What more could be added? The facts speak for themselves.”

“I’m afraid that you apparently don’t have all the facts yet, Ma’am. I think that when the rest of the facts are known, you will find that the outlined plan currently being implemented will not be for the best for the students or the school.”

How she could be so polite and calm like this I just didn’t understand. But it seemed to have the right effect on everyone. At least they seemed to be willing to listen.

    

“What other facts could possibly affect the outcome here?” I wanted to know that myself. I let Ms. Hartford do the asking though.

Zenith smiled.

“ I’m glad you asked. First, the incident at the station. The only witnesses of this are the people involved and I don’t think any of us want to play finger pointing games. The only sure thing in that case is that the student involved, while suffering some discomfort, will be just fine and maybe better off in the future if he learns from this opportunity.”

“Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not advocating this, I just feel that there is no way to know for sure, and until otherwise, it will be a waste of our time to pursue this.”

Before Ms. Hartford could put in a word, Zenith moved right along. She would make an excellent lawyer one day. But I didn’t want to insult her by saying so.

“The second incident you mentioned should be looked into a little more closely. It seems that Miss Wilson encountered one of our students who is known for his, how shall we say this, excessive zeal in protecting his friends from females in general, and good looking ones in particular.”

“But...”

“Now, now, Ms. Hartford. You had your chance, now it is time to fill in any blanks that were left.”

“As I was saying. We have the signed statements of most if not all of the students present and they all agree that the gentleman in question made the first move and that Miss Wilson was restrained in her handling of that situation. Going so far as to smooth over a possible assault charge that might have been leveled at the young man if Miss Wilson hadn’t been so understanding of the particular history of the young man in question.”

“I also have signed statements to the fact that the incident in the cafeteria was not so serious as it may seem at first. It was a simple disagreement over seating and a misunderstanding that was handled quickly and without any violence at all. It shouldn’t have any influence on what we are considering now.”

Ms. Hartford was steaming, but she knew better than to try to interrupt again.

“The incident in the sun room of Poe was just a turf war that goes on all the time in these cottages and I have Mrs. Horton’s signed statement to that and her belief that no violence was likely there and that Miss Wilson only acted to AVOID any trouble with the students involved in the incident.”

“What about the two major incidents then?” Ms. Hartford finally got a word in, but I think it was because Zenith let her.

    

“You can’t tell us you believe that this Tennyo didn’t use deadly force with possible risk of serious or fatal results in those situations?”

“Well, in the first incident with the Ninjas, we have verifiable reports from trained security personnel that Miss Wilson only got involved after there was a definite risk to her friend, but that after she disarmed her opponent, someone we have good reason to believe would not have been as chivalrous in reversed circumstances, she refrained from using that same deadly force to hurt her opponent and merely held him until security could take over.”

“And the explosion afterwards?”

“That was a manifestation of why she is here. Her inexperience with her powers led to the unfortunate end to the evenings adventures. And even then, she did so in a way so as to reduce the risk to others around her.”

“This is supposed to put us at ease?”

“Yes. She has shown very good responses to situations that could easily have resulted in much worse damage and injury. With some training I am sure that she will become a credit to our school and community.”

“That’s all very well up to that point. But what about the incident at Range Three? Her response to that was hardly a reasonable response. Look at her. Can you tell us honestly that she was in such danger that the destruction of very valuable equipment and the threat to two employees was justifiable?”

    

“Yes. I have medical testimony from the doctor who treated her afterwards, that the only reason she is here with us today and not still in medical care, is because her healing factor is incredibly high. In fact, Dr. Polland states that he has not seen an unassisted healing factor that high before.”

“Further, he states that from his examination of Miss Wilson at the time, the wounds he examined were serious and potentially fatal in other circumstances.”

“Give us a break! We are all aware of the safeguards put in place for this equipment! You can’t expect us to believe that she was ever in any real danger.”

“On the contrary. I can show that Miss Wilson was in extreme danger of her life. And only the fact that she was able to neutralize that danger saved her, and probably many more potential victims of that trap.”

“Trap? What are you talking about? Are you saying someone was trying to kill her? And that this also constituted a threat to others?”

“Maybe we should let Chief Delarose fill us in on those details that you don’t have as yet?”

“What other details?”

    

A figure had moved up from the back. As he moved forward, I could see that it was Chief Delarose. He had a file with him. He moved to a table where he could face everyone and spread out the papers he had for easier access.

“Let’s let the Chief explain please. Chief?”

“Thank you. I understand that you need to know why Miss Wilson was in such danger in a facility designed with safety in mind?”

“Yes. We need to know this.”

He looked around the room. Then he took a deep breath.

“The information you are receiving now is confidential and anyone caught giving out this information before it is supposed to be released will be in serious violation of the law and will be punished. Anyone who feels that they can’t keep this secret should leave now.”

He waited a short while. Then he took another deep breath.

“Very well. We know everyone here and by staying here you have agreed to this policy.”

He waited a little longer. Then started into his explanation.

“As you may or may not know, the two technicians in the control room were actually going to broadcast a demonstration of powers by a Miss Tennyson. One of our upperclassmen who it is now known, got extra income on the illegal broadcasts of fights with both live and mechanical opponents. Fortunately for her, she broke her leg in gym the afternoon of her next broadcast.”

“How can you be so sure of this?”

“She has cooperated with us ever since she found out about the existence of these games. She is actually an agent for us and was gathering evidence for us when this happened. We think that someone may have found out and was arranging an accident to finish her off.”

“That’s all very interesting Chief, but still doesn’t explain how a safety system I helped design could possibly be used to kill or even seriously injure a student. I assure you I know computers and I don’t see how it could be done.” Ms Hartford seemed very sure of herself, now that she was on her own ground.

“It would be very difficult and I believe almost impossible, and under most circumstances I would agree with you Ms. Hartford. I know how good you are with computers. With the time and equipment that they had I don’t think they could have done it. Besides, we have questioned them thoroughly, and don’t feel that they intended any harm to anyone. They were simply doing their job.”

“Then how can you say that they or Tennyo here was in any danger?”

“Have you ever heard of a Palm?” He was looking right at her when he said it and because I was staring at her too, I saw her gasp and go white.

“A...a Palm?!? That’s impossible! He’s dead!”

I had no idea why she was so upset about this Palm thing, but it sure had her shaken up. I think she had forgotten about the hearing. She was almost in a panic.

“So you know what a Palm is?”

“Y..yes. I know what a Palm is. B..but he’s dead! I saw the body! They have all been destroyed!”

He nodded his head.

 “You're that Hartford then. I kind of thought so. I would appreciate your help after this to make sure we got the whole thing out of the system. Your firewalls are good but there was still some penetration. At least enough for it to try and kill Miss Wilson anyway.”

“I.. I will be glad to help you in any way that I can. But I still don’t know how it is possible. He’s dead I tell you. I saw the body. It was positively identified. By DNA even.”

“I can’t help you there. I just know that what we found in the Range control computer was a Palm and the FBI has sent me a notice that there has been at least one other incident involving one in the last year. They are very interested, as they believe that whoever supplied the two techs with that laptop probably knows where it came from and might help them track down the source of these new ones.”

“Would you agree as an expert, that the Palm might be able to override the safety measures?”

“Of course. A Palm could always do that. There would be no stopping it if it was a Palm.” She thought for a minute and then seemed to remember why she was here. You had to admire her sense of purpose.

“That could explain the need to stop the lasers, but not the threat she was to the technicians. Weren’t they trying to stop them themselves? Why was she threatening them if she hadn’t lost control?”

“That was the AI. It was mixing up the communications between them. I have listened to the recordings, and I would have been ready to kill them myself if I had been in her shoes. You have to give those Palms credit. They always play a deep game.”

“Actually, in the end, it worked against it. The fact that she opened the door allowed us to get in quickly enough to find and stop it before it had a chance to spread. If we had to wait until we got it open, who knows what would have happened.”

Ms Hartford was back to worrying.

“Are you sure you got it?”

“About as sure as we can be. That’s why we want you to look into it. If I’m right, you are the best we could get for this.”

“We need to get moving then. Let’s finish this now. How do the Supervisors vote?”

I don’t think her heart was into it but she was determined to finish it.

“All in favor of continuing as planned please raise their hands.”

The Reverend Englund had been glaring at us the whole time. He didn’t hesitate a moment and raised his hand. Mr. Merrow looked over at the others and then raised his slowly. Neither Mr. Lodgeman or Mrs. Shugendo even moved.

“Well, it seems that we have a tie vote.” She smiled. “In that case the, the rules state that the current option holds.”

I was about ready to scream and go after her, and wipe that smug grin off her face, when there was another interruption from the back.

“Now don’t be too hasty Dear!” An older woman that I suddenly realized was Mrs. Potter was walking to the front.. The odd thing was that I wasn’t certain that she was talking to Ms. Hartford or me.

“What now!?”

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