Disclaimer: I don't own the Tomorrow People. The characters of Adam Newman, Professor Gault, P.C. Holloway, and Sergeant Young are the sole property of Tetra, Thames, and Nickelodeon.
The characters of Peter and Eileen Newman are mine.
This has a mild rating for violence.
Telepathy is shown by [ ] and stress by **
This is my first fanfic so I would appreciate any comments or questions. I got this idea a while ago and finally had a chance to write it (and the guts to post it). I apologize for the cheesy title, but it just fit somehow. This kind of came about because of Gault's line "there wasn't very much left of the poor chap". So I got to wondering what would happen if the tp he thought he killed had actually escaped and it turned out to be Adam. This is also my way of explaining Adam's past. Also Adam had time after we first see him in the Origin Story before Lisa broke out we don't really know how much, except that he has time to learn to teleport and go get his stuff from home. So the first time he teleports in my story is when we first see him in the Origin Story itself. Other than that I need to thank my beta readers Krystle and Tina. ( Krystle especially because I converted her to the Tomorrow People!!!)
He'd been swimming off the coast of the Great Barrier Reef when the shark had charged him apparently thinking he was either another shark or lunch. Which ever it was Adam had frozen and the shark had gotten a good-sized chunk off of him before he'd had time to use the knife he always carried with him.
Ever since he'd felt isolated, alone. Because of it he'd grown a bit rebellious. He let his hair grow out to his shoulders, refusing to let his mother cut it, and withdrawn even more into his own world. His friends had visited at first but after a while they had become fearful of him for reasons he didn't know. Soon enough they had stopped coming all together.
He knew his parents were worried, but it didn't seem to matter to him anymore. Something was different with him now. It was if the people and things around him were no longer a comfort to him. He no longer felt at home here. He didn't know where he belonged but he knew it wasn't where he'd always belonged before.
Because of his behavior his mother had decided that he needed a holiday away from "home". Why she'd chosen London he'd never know but he decided he'd better make the most of it.
"Ready, dear," his mother asked him in her marked Australian lilt.
"Sure, mum," Adam responded automatically.
"Good I'll get your father to unload the luggage."
Adam looked up at the tall expanse of hotel they would be staying in. Well, he thought, at least it looked like a nice place.
He began to help his father unload the luggage from the taxi.
"No, son, it's all right. I can manage it," his dad told him.
"Let me help dad. I can do it, honestly," Adam replied.
His mother interjected, "let your father do it, Adam. This is *your* holiday, after all."
"Yes, I can get it," his father said.
"All right, dad," Adam said, giving in, " I'll go check us in then, shall I?"
"You do too much, you do know that, " his father said.
"Yeah, dad, I know, we've had this conversation before."
His father sighed and shook his head looking at his son. Adam could tell what he was thinking, that he, Adam, had changed so much since the accident. That he'd become so withdrawn. Have I really changed that much, Adam wondered, or are they just now realizing I'm not who they always thought I was?
It didn't matter. No matter what Peter and Eileen Newman would worry about their son. Adam supposed it was what parents did. But he sometimes wondered if they worried too much, or if there was a reason to.
"What do you say dad, shall I go check us in?" Adam asked again, pulling away from his wondering.
"Sure, son, if it will make you happy."
"Well," his mother said, trying to restore some vestige of normalcy, "After we check in, then we could perhaps go and get something to eat. Would you like that, Adam?"
"Sure, mum, whatever you like."
"Good. Well then, let's go inside, shall we?"
Adam nodded, still wondering why his parents looked so worried, or if it would do any good to tell them that he *did* feel different. No, he thought, it would only worry them more. And *that* he didn't need. ****
"Now, isn't this nice?" Eileen Newman asked, "A nice dinner together, in a nice restaurant, on our first day on holiday."
"It's absolutely lovely, dear," her husband replied, smiling.
Adam turned his head to look out the restaurant window, trying, and failing to block out his parents forced sounding voices.
"Don't you agree, Adam," his mother asked, trying to draw him out.
Adam wondered why they bothered to pretend everything was normal. "Yeah, mum, it's great," he replied softly, "It's just too bad it decided to rain."
His parents exchanged looks.
"Adam..." his father began. His mother shook her head warningly, but Adam hardly noticed.
Mr. Newman sighed. "Well, then, what should we have to eat?" he said trying to keep a normal tone of voice.
This time when they started talking, Adam was able to block out their voices.
All throughout dinner Adam was silent, brooding on how much his life had changed in the last few weeks and why his parents insisted on behaving as if everything were as it had always been.
At last it was time to leave.
Adam and his mother headed out of the restaurant in to the crowded rainy street. His father had said he would meet them at the car because he had to pay the bill. As they waited to cross the street to the rental car, someone accidentally pushed Mrs. Newman from behind. She slipped off of the rainy curb into the path of on coming traffic. She stared up, frightened of the large double-decker bus barreling down on her. Unthinkingly, Adam ran forward and knocked her out of the way and into safety. Now he stared up at the bus frozen in place. He knew no one could help him in time. He had to save himself, but he couldn't move! It's like the shark all over again, he thought, I'm frozen! I can't move! Just as the bus was about to hit him, it dissolved in a blinding flash of light. ****
"Oh my, God, oh my, God!" Mrs. Newman couldn't stop screaming. She'd just seen her son vanish into thin air.
Having watched horrified at what had taken place, her husband ran to her. In the distance, Police sirens could be heard.
"Are you all right?" he demanded of her.
"Oh my, God!" she cried again.
"Eileen, calm down!" he ordered her, "The police are here, tell them what happened."
She tried to take a deep breath, but it nearly caught in her throat. Finally she whispered to her husband, "did you see it too?"
"Yes, I did. I hardly believe it, but I did," he answered, "now, please, calm down, Eileen. Are you hurt? Can you stand up?"
"I'm fine, Peter," she said standing up, "now where are those police?"
They were led over to two uniformed officers, a black man who introduced himself as Sergeant Young, and his female partner, P.C. Holloway.
As quietly and as quickly as she could, Mrs. Newman began to explain exactly what had happened.
****
Adam awoke, soaking wet, to the pounding of the surf. Where am I, he thought, what happened to me?
He sat up, trying to get a bearing on where he was. Looking around him he saw that he had washed up onto a deserted beach.
Makes sense, he thought, as I'm soaking wet. I must have landed in the sea, somehow.
It had to be a dream he thought. How else could he have been about to be run over by a bus one minute and on a deserted beach the next?
Adam stood up wiping his hair from his eyes. Directly in front of him there seemed to be some sort of metal post sticking out of the sand. He felt compelled to go towards it. As he slowly walked toward it the compelling feeling increased. He began to run towards the "post". Once he reached it he dropped to his knees in front of it. Adam stared at it for a moment and then looked at the ground in front of him. There seemed to be a door or portal of some sort mostly buried in the sand. He began almost absently dusting the sand off of the door, realizing as he did so, that there seemed to be some sort of strange characters around the outside of it.
What a strange dream, he thought, why doesn't it end?
As he thought this the center of the door disappeared into a large black hole. Adam leaned forward and as he did so the opening sucked him in. He screamed as he was carried down a long tube, landing in a pile of sand in a large, dimly lit room.
****
This most certainly had better be good, Professor Gault thought. He had been asked by an old police friend of his to meet him down at his station. His friend, Sergeant Young, had said that he was working on an unusual case and thought Gault might be interested in it.
Gault entered the station and went up to the desk sergeant.
"Er, yes, I'm looking for Sergeant Young," Gault told the woman.
"May I ask who's enquiring?" she asked him.
"Tell him Gault is here to see him, John Gault."
"I'll ring him for you sir. He'll be with you momentarily."
Waiting for Young to appear Gault paced restlessly back and forth. As he did so he thought about the strange reason his old friend had called him. Apparently, yesterday evening, the teenaged son of a couple of Australian tourists had vanished. The unusual thing was that the boy had disappeared whilst about to be run down by a bus.
Gault certainly hoped that his old friend wasn't just having some sort of a joke on him. This could be the break he needed! If this boy had truly vanished then Gault might finally be able to get the proof he needed to show DSI that he was quite capable of working on this project. Who knows, he thought, they might even let me *head* the project!
"John?" The question interrupted his dreams of scientific glory. He looked up to see his old friend looking at him with puzzled expression.
"Ah, yes! Sergeant Young, how good of you to contact me!" Gault exclaimed excitedly to the other man.
"You do understand why I contacted you don't you John?" Young asked quizzically.
"Of course, of course!" Gault replied, "Something about a vanishing boy, yes?"
"Well, it's a bit more than that actually. According to his parents he simply vanished without a trace right in front of a bus."
"Yes, yes, you said something like that," Gault said impatiently. Why couldn't he just get to the point, he thought. "but perhaps you can tell me exactly what went on."
"Well," Young said giving Gault another puzzled look, "it seems that while the family was leaving a restaurant yesterday, the mother, Eileen Newman is her name, slipped off of the curb. Her son was quick to act. He pushed her out of the way of traffic."
"How very brave of him Sergeant, but perhaps you could get to the point," Gault interrupted, impatiently.
"Of course, I was just getting there. It appears that the boy was so frightened that he wasn't able to get out of the way in time. However, just as he was about to be hit, he vanished in a flash of light."
Ah! Now this was just what Gault needed! "Really? He actually vanished? In front of witnesses?"
" A whole street full of them," Young told him confidently, " including the boy's rather startled parents."
"Ah, yes, I begin to see, I begin to see!"
"Do you," Young asked. Gault couldn't tell if the man was relived or just being sarcastic. He didn't care either. This was exactly what he had hoped it would be!
Young cleared his throat, startling Gault, "You'll understand why I called you then," he asked, "I know you've experienced strange things such as this before."
"I most certainly do sergeant. But, well, might you possibly give me a suggestion as to where it would be best to start?"
"Well, perhaps you might like to speak to the parents? I thought you might be able to find a way to keep the boy from vanishing when he returns."
"Ah, yes! Certainly, sergeant, I think I might know a thing or two that might work."
Gault still couldn't believe his luck! This was getting better and better! He'd better have his equipment ready, though, for when the boy returned.
Young was looking at him strangely again, but Gault no longer even noticed. He could not wait to speak to the parents, which reminded him that Young was waiting for an answer.
"Er, ah, yes," he said finally, "perchance you could give me their information, the parents I mean, of course. So that I might speak to them?"
For the first time since the two of them had met, Sergeant Young smiled, "Of course, John, if you'll just have a seat for a moment I can go and fetch the information for you."
"Excellent! Excellent!" Gault said. What luck! he thought again.
****
Adam stood up aching from his hard landing. Where am I now, he thought, why doesn't this dream end?
He walked forward through a round opening into what seemed to be the central chamber of this strange place. In the middle there was what appeared to be a large tower with what looked like chairs attached, rather like a see-saw with the tower in the middle.
Where *am* I, he thought again. As before with the "pole" on the beach he felt drawn to central tower. Kneeling down for a closer inspection he noticed that on the platform-like base of the tower there were the same strange characters that surrounded the "door" outside.
From that same unknown impulse, Adam reached out and touched a random series of the characters. Instantly the central tower lit up and began to hum. Immediately Adam felt safe. Somehow, he knew, this was most certainly not a dream, and that, even if he belonged nowhere else, he belonged here.
For the third time since entering this strange place Adam thought, Where am I?
This time he got an answer.
[You are safe, and you are home. Welcome, Adam.]
Startled, Adam stared around him. That voice had seemed to be coming from the very walls of this place!
[It was. I was sent here to wait for you and your kind. I am glad my wait is over.]
[Who, who are you?]
[I am what you think I am Adam. I am an alien spaceship sent here for you and your kind]
[My kind?] he asked, hardly aware that he wasn't speaking aloud.
[Yes, your kind, the Tomorrow People, the next stage in your kind, human kind's evolution.......] The voice of the space ship seemed to fade.
[Ship? Ship are you there?!] Adam thought to it, starting to panic.
[Yes] the voice sounded tired, worn out almost, [I am sorry, Adam, it has been centuries since I last spoke this strongly. I do not know how much longer I will be able to do so. After that I will communicate as best I can, through feelings. I will tell you what I know and then, I am afraid, it will be up to you to explain it to the others. I will however, help you in other ways.]
[Others?] Adam thought, choosing this as the first of his multitude of questions, [There are others? Others of what? I still don't understand how I even got here, or why I can talk to you like this.]
[It is all right, Adam, as I told you I will explain. I was sent here to act as a beacon to your kind, to draw you all together, and teach you. But it has been so long since there has been any contact with the outside that I have lost some of my power. You will have to teach them when they come, Adam. You are, as I stated, the next stage in human evolution, you are a Tomorrow Person.]
"A Tomorrow Person?" He asked the question aloud. Yes. It had a ring to it. The words felt right. What was more, the feeling of belonging somewhere again, of being home, was steadily increasing. But the ship was going on.
[You came here by teleporting. You have the power to disappear from one place, and reappear in another. That is how you arrived on this island. Tell me, did something traumatic happen just before you arrived here?]
It was strange but Adam could hardly remember how he had gotten here. He was too fascinated with what the ship was telling him. And the feeling of being home had helped to drive the past away. Finally he thought to the ship: [Yes, I ...I think so... I can't seem to remember very well...]
[Place your hands on my base, on the characters and I will help you remember.] Adam touched the base of the central tower and the ship glowed brighter and began again to hum.
Suddenly, Adam remembered what had brought him here. The bus! His mother! She was about to be struck by a bus when he had pushed her out of the way! Then he was nearly hit because he couldn't move! Adam nearly panicked as he remembered all of this.
[It is all right, Adam, you are safe, you are with me.] The ship projected at him.
Almost instantly he began to calm down.
[Please ship,] he thought, almost desperately, [I have to go back! I have to make sure my mother's all right.]
[I understand, Adam, but you will have to have patients. I have much to explain to you and you must practice using your powers.]
[Practice?]
The ship gave off the feeling of gentle laughter. [Surely you did not think that you would know exactly what to do without thinking? Your first time was instinctual, due to stress, all abilities, no matter how natural they come to you. You need at least *some* practice. Like your telepathy.] [My telepathy? I don't understand ship, and I must go back.] The urgency was fading a bit now, but still Adam knew what had to be done.
[All in good time. As you can tell there are still things I must explain to you. You are the first and you must learn in order to help the others. Your greatest gifts are those of telepathy and teleportation. You are already practicing your telepathy with me, but in order to over come the pull of the beacon that brought you here, you must practice. Otherwise you will only end up landing back in the sea.]
Adam sighed, knowing that the ship was right. His urgency had faded but he did want to check on his parents, because he knew they would be worried about him. For now he must stay and learn how to use his new abilities.
****
It most certainly would be awful if this all turned out to be one big hoax, Professor Gault thought. So far his luck had been completely favorable. First his old friend, Young, had told him about the missing boy, then Young and his partner had contacted the parents and now the parents had agreed to meet with him!
He certainly hoped that they were genuine. Well, he would find out in a few minutes. They had agreed to meet him on the very street where the boy had vanished. In front of the very restaurant they had eaten in!
Gault checked his pocket watch again. Just a few more minutes. Ah, yes! Here they were! Sergeant Young and his partner, Sergeant Holloway, were leading them along.
"I say! Over here, old chap!" Gault cried happily. People stared at him but he didn't notice. Young waved to show he had heard although he looked as if he wished he hadn't. When he reached Gault, however, he greeted him cordially enough.
"John!" he said, "Here they are for you, Mr. and Mrs. Peter and Eileen Newman."
"Ah, yes, a pleasure to meet you!" The three adults shook hands.
"Now, if you don't mind. Shall we get down to business?" Gault asked.
Mr. and Mrs. Newman exchanged a surprised look. "Of course, professor," Mrs. Newman said, "what exactly do you think you can do for us and for our son?"
"Well, er, I do believe that I may be able to locate your son, and, baring that, I most certainly will be able to keep him from vanishing again. That is, long enough for us to get everything sorted out." Gault smiled trying to reassure them.
Though he failed to notice, the Newmans did not look very reassured.
"And just how do you plan to do this," Mr. Newman enquired quietly.
"Well, you see, I have a machine that will temporarily disorient the mind thus making it difficult, if not impossible to vanish. And while he is disoriented, we can put a portable device on him that will keep him from vanishing, without any further, er, disorientation."
Both of the Newmans looked apprehensive. Mrs. Newman asked finally, "Just what exactly do you mean professor? I don't understand. Do you mean to tell me that you would have to confuse my son in order to catch him?"
"Well, I... It would only be temporary. That way we won't frighten him. Then we can find out just exactly what happened and what it is exactly that he can do." Gault smiled again, feeling guilty this time. When you put it that way it sounded so cruel, he thought. Exasperating woman! I only want to find out what had happened to the boy!
"I can assure you madam, that it won't hurt him at all. And he will only be disabled for a few moments."
Mrs. Newman looked unconvinced. "But he would still be unable to move, or think wouldn't he?"
"Temporarily only, madam. And as I said, he would experience no pain what so ever. And we would only do this so that we wouldn't scare the boy off. I only want to talk to him so that I can understand what happened to him. Scientifically speaking, your son is an amazing person, if, that is what I think happened to him, really did happen."
"And there is no way that you can 'talk' to him without 'catching' him first? What would you do if you could, *professor*," the word was pronounced with enough emphasis to show what she thought of someone awarding him a professorship, " study him? Keep him in a cage perhaps?"
"Of course not! Never, my good woman, I only want to *talk* to the boy," Gault repeated. Really, he thought, an *exasperating* woman!
Mr. Newman looked appalled. Mrs. Newman gave Gault an acid glare which even he couldn't miss. "Really," she said, "and just where were you planning on setting up your equipment?" She pronounced the word as if it were not mentioned in polite society. "This is after all," she said, " a rather busy street."
"Well, er, if I were him," Gault replied wilting under her glare, "I would probably reappear as close as I could to where I started from, but somewhere a bit more out of the way. I...I would say that alley over there would be a prime spot for his return. There is a bit of a learning curve for this sort of thing, however." Gault pointed to an alley across the street from the restaurant.
"Well, *professor*, I think we've heard quite enough. We'll think about your offer. But I really don't think that we'll need your kind of help." Mrs. Newman glared at him again while Mr. Newman looked just as angry and disgusted as his wife.
Gault shrank even more from their furious looks.
"I think we'll be going now," Mrs. Newman said, "Coming Peter?"
"Of course, dear," he replied.
Mrs. Newman glared one final time and they strode off into the crowd. That left Gault alone with the two officers.
"Perhaps you've gotten in a bit over your head, old friend," Young said to him. He gave Gault a pitying look. "Let us go P.C." he said. P.C. gave Gault a puzzled look then hurried after her partner.
An *Exasperating* woman! Gault thought again, I was only trying to help! So much for luck! Now what am I to do? Wait and see if she changes her mind? Not likely! Ah, well, there isn't much else I can do I suppose.
****
The nerve of that man! Eileen Newman thought. Thinking that he could set a trap for her son! She knew that he wanted to study him and lock him up too. She'd be damned if she let that happen!
Her baby! Her only son! That man wanted to test him, trap him as if Adam were some common animal!
It wasn't as if anything that unusual had happened... The more she thought about it the less real his disappearance in a flash of light seemed. Could Adam have really disappeared like that? Wasn't it more likely that this was all some big mistake, or better yet, a joke? Couldn't it be that that professor Goat, or Got, or what ever his name was, had staged all of this? People couldn't really vanish into a flash of light could they? Especially not Adam!
But if that was true then what had really happened to her son? Scary to think about the other possibilities. She didn't want to think about them. She *wouldn't* think about them. But that meant that Adam really *had* disappeared in a flash of light. And that that silly professor was not only telling the truth, but was the only one who knew how to get her son back.
He had said that it didn't hurt to be kept that way and it would only be for a few minutes.... What else could she do? It seemed as if that over eager, foolhardy, black man was her only hope of seeing her son again. She had calmed down enough to realize that much. And she realized just how desperate her situation really was. It was just too bad that that man was her only hope. Any one but him!
Oh, well, she supposed she'd better convince Peter of it too, then they could both keep that man from testing Adam at least. She had also better apologize to that little man too. Then they could get on with the business of finding her son. Perhaps tonight even. Tonight would be the perfect time.
Yes, she'd better go and apologize to that silly little man so that they could find her son tonight. She'd be clear on one thing, though, no testing!
****
It's time to go back, Adam thought. He had, by his rough estimation, been on the island about a day and a half. Long enough for his parents to be thoroughly worried by now. Defiantly time to return. It was certainly too bad, since he had really gotten comfortable here.
It had taken a lot of practice but he figured that he should be able to return to London without landing in the sea again. He was getting quite tired of being wet. That and his favorite green shirt now looked as though it had seen better days.
[Well,] he thought to the ship, [I have to go back. I've stayed as long as can.]
[You will be back.] The ship told him confidently.
[How are you so sure?] Adam asked it, amused.
[I know it the same way you know that you belong here, Adam.]
It had a point. [All right, you're right. I suppose I'll be back.]
[Be careful, Adam, and come back safely.]
[Of course I will. And I'll be back as soon as I can.] Since I don't really want to leave here at all, he thought to himself.
[And remember that I will not be able to speak to you this clearly when you return. But the others will arrive soon enough.]
Thinking about loosing contact with the ship, Adam sighed. [I know.] he thought to it. [I really wish I didn't have to leave in the first place. I don't belong there anymore.]
[In some way you do belong with them, Adam, they are your parents after all.]
[Yes, but not like I used to.]
[Do what you need to do, Adam, and then you will be able to return.]
[You're right, ship. I guess I'd better go then. Goodbye, ship.]
[Goodbye, Adam, and good luck] With those words, Adam felt the communication link close. I'm on my own, I guess, he thought. With that thought, Adam concentrated on the alley he had chosen near the restaurant. He knew it would be safer than the street itself.
****
Professor Gault stood back and smiled at his work. Perfect! It was all perfect! After the Newman woman had called to apologize and agree to his help, things had moved swiftly. He had contacted DSI and they had sent him his equipment and all the men he would need. The only thing that exasperating woman had insisted on was that he was not to test here son. He was certainly more than willing to let her think that. He would deal with her and her objections later. Especially if this all went off without a problem. If everything went smoothly, as it certainly must, then DSI would deal with the woman and Gault would get his promotion!
He pulled himself away from his thoughts. "Careful! Careful with that!" he cried. Good Lord didn't these men know how to handle sensitive equipment?
Seeing that he was finally paying attention, someone to his left asked him, "Is all this really necessary, Professor?" Gault looked over at the person who asked him the question. Ah, yes! It was the annoying woman herself and her husband, that had been her other condition, to be there when they took care of her son.
"Of course, of course. All of this is perfectly harmless and, unfortunately, completely necessary. Don't worry, madam, I can assure you I believe I know what I'm doing. If you would just..." Gault made shooing gestures off to one side.
Mrs. Newman raised her eyebrow but said nothing as she did as he asked. It seemed, seeing that she had no other choice, she had decided to trust him completely. Brilliant woman!
"Everything's ready, sir." One of the men said to him. Gault looked up at the two laser arms that were aimed on either sided of the center of the alley. "Excellent! Excellent!" Imagine, he thought, he called me sir! "Now all I have to do is calibrate the machine!" He went over to what looked like a mixing board for sound equipment and adjusted some of the sliders. "There we are. No problems, I promise," he assured the Newmans. They just looked at him silently, seemingly afraid of all that was going on.
"Now, all we have to do is wait." They didn't have to wait very long though. There was a flash of light, in between the two laser stands as a vague person shape began to appear. As the figure appeared completely the two lasers shot out vague yellow beams, trapping the figure in place. The boy began to scream, obviously in pain.
"Adam!" Mrs. Newman shouted. Her husband was holding her back, keeping her from running forward towards their son.
"Uh, just a moment," Gault said, trying to keep the situation under control, "all I need to do is adjust this... there we are. No more problems, I promise."
The figure in between the two lasers had ceased screaming, but the right had laser had begun to smoke.
"Oh, dear," Gault said, "we are under a bit of a learning curve, but I'm sure I can fix this." As he adjusted another slider, the right hand laser exploded showering everyone with bits of debris, and filling the alley with so much smoke no one could see.
"Adam!" Mrs. Newman screamed again. This time her husband was unable to hold her back. She ran forward trying to save her son. "Eileen, no!" her husband shouted, chasing after her.
Gault watched as best he could through the smoke, frozen and horrified as the Newmans reached the center of the mess. Just as they reached it the left laser blew up too. The explosion threw them backward into the nearest wall.
"Good God!" Gault cried, for all the good it did him, able to move at last. He ran forward to see what had become of everyone. Around him his men were in a frenzy. No one seemed to know what to do.
As Gault reached the still heavily smoking debris, he saw that the two Newmans lay unconscious in a heap near the wall. They were both bleeding heavily. Oh, I do so hope they're all right, Gault thought franticly. Seeing what had become of the couple, Gault was curious to see what had happened to their son. He waved the smoke away as he leaned forward to look. All that seemed to be left were the boy's shoes, which had melted to the pavement. Goodness, he thought, there's not very much left of the poor chap.
What will I do now! he thought, once DSI hears of this, they'll never let me head the project! So much for luck! I have to try to keep this under control! With that, Gault started shouting orders to the frantic people around him.
****
Adam woke up, slowly and painfully. Wow, he thought, everything hurts. What happened? As he pushed himself up off of the sand, he remembered. He had teleported back to the alley and suddenly he had been in pain. He couldn't move or think, let alone teleport. What had happened, he wondered.
As he slowly moved up the beach towards the ship he thought hard about it, making his head hurt even more. He realized someone must have set a trap for him. That had to be it, they had laid trap for him and it had failed. When one of the lasers or whatever they were had blown up, he had been free. Instinctively he had teleported back to the only safe place he knew. The island.
He fell to his knees in front of the door, and was glad to be back where he felt he belonged. But as he began to wipe the sand off of the door he realized that eventually he would have to return to check on his parents. They would worry. For now, though, he couldn't bring himself to go back. He needed time here, where he knew he was safe. Perhaps he would bring his tent here and set it up to wait for the others to arrive. Yes, that would work, he could bring some clothes too. And, eventually, when he felt safe again, he would go to his parents and explain everything. For now though he would explore the ship some more. For now he would remain here, where he belonged.
END