An eerie, white light shone through Jade's window. She jumped out of bed and ran to look out. A stretch limousine missing a number plate was parked in the middle of the road aside of Jade's house.

"Why am I jumping?" Jade wondered, shaking her head.

She glanced at the clock. "What's a car doing in the middle of nowhere at 2 AM?"

The car seemed to be _pulling_ at her for some reason she couldn't possibly fathom. She somehow knew it meant trouble. Following Adam and Megabyte's constant warnings to always trust her instincts, Jade dressed and started to sneak out of her room.

(Jade Weston, go back to sleep,) Adam's thoughts rang out in her head, in his trademark Australian accent.

(But Adam, there's a mysterious car on my street.) Jade insisted.

(I know you live in a small village, Jade, but a car outside in the middle of the night is no reason to miss your sleep.)

Jade went to the window to send Adam a telepathic image of the car, hoping he would pick up on the same vibes that she was feeling.

(There's something very sinister going on here Adam. That car's important.)

(GO BACK TO SLEEP.)

(But Adam...)

(Look, Jade, I dreamt about you and that car. If you leave your room, you'll come to great harm. Stay put!)

(But, Adam...)

Adam decided he'd better placate her or she wouldn't listen. (Would you feel better if I came to check it out?)

(Fine.) Ami and Megabyte had both warned Jade that when Adam slipped into overprotective-mode, it was best just to give in (not that Megabyte practiced what he preached or anything).

Jade pulled the shades down. A moment later, Adam teleported in.

"Hullo," Jade sighed.

Adam hugged her, "Stay here. I'll go check it out."

"I'll keep an eye out," Jade raised her shade.

"Fine, but call Ami and Megabyte if I need back-up. _Don't_ come out yourself. Do you hear me?"

Jade nodded. He slipped out of her room, and snuck down the stairs to Jade's back door, then around to the front, where he hid in the bushes. A tall man stepped out of the car, carrying something that looked like the walkie talkies Jade had played with when she was younger. He was followed by a woman carrying a gun.

(Adam!) Jade cried out.

(I see it,) Adam reassured.

(Jade, are you all right?) Megabyte's voice was so concerned, she'd have thought it was AAdam had it not been for Megabyte's American accent.

(I'm fine, but...)

Megabyte didn't wait for Jade to continue, (Thank goodness! I had what I thought was a premonition-nightmare about you, Adam, and this creepy car.)

(A long, black stretched limousine missing the front number plate.)

(Yeah, how'd...,) Megabyte trailed off in mid-sentence as Jade flashed him an image of a rather frightening development. (I'll be right there. Stay put!.)

The woman outside had stepped into the circle of light from the car's headlights- it was Princess Diana of Wales. She raised the gun to her head.

Adam dashed out of the shadows and wrestled the gun away from her. The man with the walkie talkie grabbed Adam, trying to gain possession of the gun. Jade half wished the gun would go off in the struggle, taking out Adam's opponent, but after she considered the emotional stress he would suffer after such an occurrence, she decided it would be better if Adam managed to get the gun away from his assailant. The man seemed oddly familiar to Jade.

Megabyte teleported into the fray, managing to disorient the strange man long enough for Adam to get the gun away and point it at his assailant. Meanwhile, the Princess stood stony-faced in the midst of it all.

"Adam, teleport out of here," Megabyte ordered. "Let me handle this."

"Teleport?" The strange man's angular features narrowed in calculation.

"Way to go, Megabyte," Adam scolded, lowering the gun to rub his shoulders. "Let the whole world know, why don't you?"

Ami 'ported in and yelled, (Adam, get out of here.)

Adam's momentary distraction was all the man needed to knock Adam out, lift him up, rip something from Diana's scalp, open the passenger door and put Adam inside, jump in, and careen down Jade's street. (Jade started her teleport to the street below when Adam was knocked out, only to find him being placed in the car.)

"Adam!" Ami screeched after the car.

Adam's momentary distraction was all the man needed to knock Adam out, lift him up, rip something from Diana's scalp, open the passenger door and put Adam inside, jump in, and careen down Jade's street. (Jade started her teleport to the street below when Adam was knocked out, only to find him being placed in the car.)

"Adam!" Ami screeched after the car.

Jade, who was slightly more able to reason than the other two at the moment, ordered, "You two go after Adam. I'll get Her Highness home."

Ami and Megabyte teleported down the road, trying to catch up with the car or link their minds to Adam's unconscious thoughts and teleport him to them. The latter was highly unsuccessful, so they decided to concentrate on finding the car.

Meanwhile, Jade took Princess Diana's hand and teleported her to the lawn of Buckingham Palace where they were justifiably tackled by the guards. Once the still bewildered and disoriented princess was recognized, she and Jade were led into a room in the palace. A man, whose face was hidden by shadows, looked up.

"General, we found the Princess," one of the guards told him. "This young lady was with her, sir."

Jade took a deep breath, trying to decide whether it would be best to just clam up, or lie through her teeth.

"Tell me, Your Highness, what happened exactly?" the general asked in an oddly familiar accent.

"I- I don't remember, exactly," the princess was still very disoriented.

Jade felt a sudden twinge of guilt- being teleported about probably hadn't lessened Diana's disorientation in the slightest.

She wished she dared turn the lamp on so she could see who she was dealing with; maybe shift the odds a little more in her favor. Jade wondered if she should teleport out of there, and then realized that was the second worst thing she could do at this juncture (the worst being to pull a weapon on the Princess).

The General reached over and turned on the lamp.

"General Damon!" Jade exclaimed. She had never thought she would be so relieved to bump into any of her friends' parents; General Damon all ready knew about the Tomorrow People, and would be very willing to privately listen to an unofficial story.

"What's going on, Jade?" Megabyte's father was stern.

"I think I'd better tell you in private," Jade shifted from foot to foot.

"All right," General Damon replied, glad that getting Jade to trust him would not be so difficult as it had been the last time. "Take a seat, I'll wrap things up here, and we'll be ready to go in ten minutes tops. Oh, and if Megabyte's involved, we'll meet up with him at our place, all right?"

Jade nodded and then sat down.

(Megabyte? Ami? Any luck?)

(We lost them!) Megabyte's unhappy thoughts returned. (Turn up anything at the palace?)

(Just your dad. Guess he was called in to search for her for some reason.)

(The Brits seem to be more dependent on World Ex- good for the UN project, I suppose. You're going to tell him what's going on, I hope?)

(On the way back to your place. He said he'd be ready in ten minutes, tops, and you should meet us there.)

(That's Dad-talk for 2 1/2 hours, Jade. You should probably catch some shut-eye in the meantime.)

(Sleep? Who do you think you are, my father?)

(No, I think I'm Adam. Now get some sleep!)

Jade started to laugh, then stopped; was Adam going to be all right?

(Do you think we'll find him, Megabyte?)

(I won't rest until we do.)

(We'd better make sure he does,) Ami butted into the conversation. (If he dies of sleep deprivation, Adam will kill _us_!)

General Damon walked back into the room wearing his jacket, "Ready, Jade?"

"Yup," Jade bounced to her feet. (We're leaving now, Megabyte!) Jade followed up this statement with a mental raspberry.

(Well, wonders never cease.) Megabyte was surprised.

(See you there Jade.) Ami's thoughts were thoroughly amused.

Jade told General Damon the whole story on the way back to Megabyte's house. She was just explaining how she had teleported the princess home while the others looked for Adam.

"So did Ami and Megabyte find Adam?" the General asked as he opened the front door.

"No such luck, Dad," Megabyte replied from the front steps where he was sitting. "Do you know anything? Who this guy is? What he wants with Adam?"

"Aaron Dolerich is a very dangerous man. You three should stay away from him."

"Who? Minister Heseltine's secretary?" Ami inquired.

Everyone else looked at her like she was crazy.

"I had a British Government midterm the other day," Ami explained.

"Dad, anything you can tell us about this guy would help," Megabyte pushed.

"_Stay away_ from him," General Damon repeated.

"But Adam needs us!" Jade argued.

"I owe him my life several times over, Dad."

The general studied his son carefully, "What good are you going to do Adam if just get captured yourselves? The man is dangerous, I want you to stay as far away from him as possible."

"Why, Dad? What's up?"

"We have reason to believe that Dolerich has developed mind control. We're going to have our hands full trying to get Adam away from him. With a Tomorrow Person at his disposal, there's no telling what he might do. The best way for the three of you to help Adam is to get a good night's sleep and contact me if you hear from him."

"But..." Megabyte started- and was interrupted by a ringing phone.

General Damon answered it, "Hello... Oh, it's all right, Penny, I'm just getting in... Yes, Jade's here... Of course she's fine... Sure, I'll send her home momentarily..."

(We'd better act like we gave in and meet at the spaceship after Jade and I placate our parents,) Megabyte 'pathed.

Ami and Jade nodded, then each teleported home.

"She just left Penny... Oh, no problem, I understand... Good night."

****

Ami was relieved to find her mom still asleep and slipped downstairs to make herself a cup of coffee- she had a feeling she was going to need it.

****

Jade rolled her eyes in disgust as her mother hovered over her, making sure she actually put on her pajamas and went to bed. It seemed like a million years had passed before her mother was assured that she was going to sleep and left the room.

(Coming?) Megabyte asked impatiently.

(I'll be there in five minutes. My mum did a pajama check, so now I have to get dressed again.)

(All right,) the amusement was clear in Megabyte's thoughts, no matter how much he tried to hide it. (Hurry, though. I want to ask the ship to help us find Adam.)

Jade busied herself with dressing. She paused only long enough to toss a hand full of dime store bubble gum she had teleported to the US to buy.

'I might need the sugar rush later,' she thought. 'I'll just have to hope Adam doesn't ask me where or how I got it after we find him.'

When Jade 'ported to the mother ship, she found Ami and Megabyte waiting for her - sitting cross-legged on the floor.

"What's our next move?" Jade asked.

"Mind-merge. We can ask the space-ship to help us search the planet for Adam," Megabyte explained. "Sit."

They raised their hands, palms almost touching, and linked their minds together, reaching out, trying to locate Adam's mind in a sea of thoughts throughout the world.

Things were looking grim. They hadn't found a sign of Adam -- until his mind somehow found theirs.

(Ami, Megabyte, Jade?) Adam's thoughts were panicked. Adam's further contact was simply an image: Aaron Dolerich holding the curved metal he'd pulled from Diana's scalp, looming feet away.... one foot.... inches... reaching behind, and..... The image faded to black.

"Adam!" Jade nearly screamed.

(Calm down, Jade. Concentrate!) Megabyte snapped.

They tried to teleport Adam to the ship, but it was no use. It was if he was... blocking them!

"What's our next move?" Jade asked.

"Mind-merge. We can ask the space-ship to help us search the planet for Adam," Megabyte explained. "Sit."

They raised their hands, palms almost touching, and linked their minds together, reaching out, trying to locate Adam's mind in a sea of thoughts throughout the world.

Things were looking grim. They hadn't found a sign of Adam -- until his mind somehow found theirs.

(Ami, Megabyte, Jade?) Adam's thoughts were panicked. Adam's further contact was simply an image: Aaron Dolerich holding the curved metal he'd pulled from Diana's scalp, looming feet away.... one foot.... inches... reaching behind, and..... The image faded to black.

"Adam!" Jade nearly screamed.

(Calm down, Jade. Concentrate!) Megabyte snapped.

They tried to teleport Adam to the ship, but it was no use. It was if he was... blocking them!

Jade was constantly putting less and less energy into the mind-merge and more into not panicking. Ami noticed and broke the mind-merge.

"You're safe here," Ami gave her a quick, reassuring hug.

"You're with us," Megabyte added, echoing Adam's words from when Ami had nearly passed out from her first experience with mind-merging.

"What do you think is wrong with Adam?" Jade inquired.

"My Dad may be right, Dolerich may have control of Adam's mind," Megabyte replied.

"Is that possible?"

Ami clutched her neck, "Quite."

Jade shuddered.

"Now what?" Ami yawned.

Megabyte looked thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe we should teleport there and grab him."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Ami wondered if maybe Dolerich was prepared for that contingency.

"Do we have a choice?"

"No, Megabyte, not really," Ami replied.

"Let's go!" Jade jumped up.

"Not so fast, Jade. You're not coming with us," Megabyte pushed Jade on the shoulders until she was seated on the raised area that surrounded the column at the center of the mother ship.

"Yes, I am! Adam needs us!"

"He'd kill me if I let you come along."

****

At that moment, the object of this discussion was sitting in a chair, stoic and unaware of anything that was going on around him. However, buried down deep in his subconscious, part of him was still in control and restless.

(Ami? Megabyte? Jade?) The tiny part of Adam that was still himself wondered if his telepathic messages were getting beyond his own skull. If they were, he couldn't hear his friends' replies.

He decided the best he could do was bide his time- at sometime he might find a window of opportunity to either contact his friends or throw a wrench in whatever Dolerich was planning.

****

"Jade, you're _not_ coming, and that's final! What if Dolerich got all three of us, too? Then what?" Megabyte tried to reason with her.

"With all four Tomorrow People under his power, Dolerich would probably be able to accomplish whatever he wants," Jade looked down at her shoes as she spoke.

"So you'll go do something else for us?"

Jade nodded, her eyes lighting up.

"If you think you can manage it, you might want to pop over to The Houses of Parliament and see if you can dig anything up in Dolerich's office," Megabyte suggested. "Just promise to 'port out of there at the first sign of trouble. We don't want to have to tell my dad we're still on the case."

Jade nodded again, slightly disappointed. She wondered how on Earth she'd ever make "full TP" (whatever that was) if the others always got to do the fun - er, dangerous stuff. (Not that snooping around for answers wasn't important, it just didn't seem to have much to do with getting Adam back.)

"All right, Ami, if one of us runs into trouble, the other ports out of there," Megabyte turned.

Ami nodded. It was nice to hear Megabyte thinking rather than complaining for a change.

Jade 'ported away, presumably towards Dolerich's office.

"Here goes nothing," Ami said, with considerably less optimism than Megabyte.

They concentrated on where Adam was, and where they were, and tried to bring the two together.

They re-materialized quite painfully on the lawn of a house somewhere in Mulberry Village. The moment they fully arrived, loud, disorienting alarms started blaring. For a moment, Megabyte was reminded of Dr. Culex's flower pots, but he and Ami were able to teleport away shortly after the initial shock of materializing prematurely wore off.

When Ami and Megabyte returned to the ship, it provided them with its orange-juice like drink, and they sat down, trying to remember exactly where in Jade's village they had been.

****

Meanwhile, Jade had found Dolerich's desk, and was carefully rifling through his drawers. While there were many reports on various aspects of the economy -- book sales, the black market of Dr. Who serials, bubble gum production, and consumer confidence polls -- not surprisingly, there was nothing having to do with mind control or world domination; assuming, of course that this was Dolerich's goal.

As a last resort, Jade turned pages backwards in Dolerich's calendar. That day was circled in red, with a single phrase scribbled in the margin: "it begins".

"What begins? Jade wondered. Then realized that it probably referred to what would have been the apparent suicide of Princess Diana.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor. Jade quickly returned the calendar to the day she found it on. The footsteps reached the door. Jade shoved the chair back under the desk and 'ported away.

The janitor poked his head in and looked around. 'Empty, must've forgotten to turn the lights out.'

He turned the lights off and went on with his duties.

Back at the spaceship, Jade was incredulous as to where Ami and Megabyte had been (they had mind-merged and finally figured it out).

"Adam's being held in Humboe House?"

"Yeah," Megabyte replied. "Mr. Dolerich is holed up in Dr. Culex's old mansion."

"Let's go!" Jade said recklessly.

"Yeah," Megabyte agreed.

"Wait a minute, guys, we can't just teleport in there and get Adam," Ami reminded them. It was frustrating, they were the next stage of human evolution and they couldn't use their powers on a lark even to save their friend. "We need to think this through first."

Megabyte sighed, "Good point. I'm going to go see my dad, tell him what we've learned, face the lecture, and then see what he knows about that place. Maybe he'll even help- but I doubt it."

"I doubt he'd leave Adam with this guy, either," Ami added gently.

"Good point. Anyway, you two stay here, but try and get some rest. I'll be back soon," Megabyte instructed, then teleported away.

Ami wandered into the corridor at the far end of the spaceship, where Adam's nook was. It was more or less a separate room of the spaceship, except there was a tunnel leading out of each of the four walls.

"I bet Adam's got a couple spare pillows and blankets back here.... Oh, my goodness...."

Jade joined her, "I must've woken him up."

Adam's mattress, which looked like it had spent a previous life as a futon cushion, was spread out in the middle of the floor rather than folded neatly in the corner. His sheets were a mess- as if he'd been tossing and turning all night....

"Here they are," Ami said quietly, picking up a stack of pillows and blankets from another corner. Her movements were smooth, deliberate, as if she were extracting treasures from an Ancient Egyptian tomb.

Jade glanced around, noticing that Adam didn't have much in the way of homey touches, just a picture frame that housed a picture of Adam, Ami, and Megabyte on a stand in the corner. Adam had tucked picture of Jade that she had given him from her school picture packet into the side of the frame. As always, the drafting table, the purpose of which only Adam knew, was barren.

"Let's go," Ami pulled Jade back into the main room of the spaceship.

"Why do I feel so...." Jade shuttered, trying to find words for her emotions.

"Probably just hitting us that Adam's gone," Ami squirmed. She had a feeling that Jade, too, felt guilty for what seemed like a violation of Adam's space. (He probably wouldn't have minded, but Adam was a very private person, and his friends tended to respect that.)

"We'll save him, right?"

"I hope so," Ami tossed Jade a pillow and blanket. "We won't do him much good sleep-deprived, though; get some sleep."

"Now _you_ think you're Adam," Jade muttered as she lay down.

Ami decided not to validate that comment with a response.

****

(Jade?) Adam's thoughts entered Jade's subconscious like a bad plastic knife cutting through steak - it makes a dent, but it's not enough to cut the piece free.

(Adam?) Jade thought dreamily, trying to regain consciousness.

(No! Don't wake up! I can only reach you when you're sleeping and your natural shields are at a minimum. I tried to contact Ami, but her shields are stronger, even in sleep. Jade, tell Ami and Megabyte that they have to stop me.)

(Stop _you_?)

(Look, Jade, he's got control of most of my mind. I don't think I can even stop myself from k-... Just tell them, OK?)

(We'll rescue you, Adam, just hold tight. And Adam, I...)

(I know, Jade, I know.) Adam managed to send Jade thoughts of warmth and comfort before his energy was expended and the contact was broken.

(The inner part that was still Adam at this point was so exhausted that he retreated deep into his skull, to recuperate.)

Jade woke with a start. She found that Ami was stirring fitfully in her sleep, and Megabyte was leaning over her, a concerned expression on his face.

"Bad dream?" Megabyte whispered.

"Yes....," Jade started, then realized that, as much as she wanted it to be, it wasn't a dream.

She tried desperately to keep the panic from her voice as she continued, "No. It was Adam. He somehow could contact me only in my sleep. He said that Dolerich had control of his mind, and that we had to stop him from doing- whatever it is Dolerich wants Adam to do, we have to stop Adam from doing. He seemed so.... not right. He said we had to stop him, no matter _what_!"

"It's all right, Jade," Megabyte soothed. "We'll be able to stop him. I got the floor plans from my Dad. We should be able to find him, all we have to do is get into the house."

"Megabyte, I'm scared," Jade admitted.

'What would Adam do in a situation like this?' Megabyte thought.

He hugged Jade tentatively.

"Megabyte?" Jade was confused. Since she had broken out, Megabyte had been much more tolerant of her (unbeknownst to Jade this was mostly because she'd quit whining about wanting to be a TP so badly,) but the hug seemed a bit much.

"I was trying to think what Adam would do?" Megabyte shrugged.

Jade rolled her eyes. "What is it with you two and that lately?"

Megabyte shook Ami, "C'mon, Ami, time to get up. We've got to go rescue Adam."

Ami woke easily. "I sure could go for some breakfast."

As if on cue, a tray of what appeared to be oddly colored and shaped doughnuts and three glasses of the ship's approximation of Orange Juice appeared on the ship's "replicator" (the three elder TP's had nicknamed it after a long sleep-over involving one too many episodes of _Star Trek: The Next Generation_).

Megabyte picked up one of the confections and took a bite, "Wow! No wonder Adam never bothers with grocery shopping!"

The three Tomorrow People devoured their breakfast and teleported to Jade's house, where they walked to the hedge surrounding Humboe House.

(Okay, now what?) Megabyte decided that telepathy was probably the best mode of communication.

(Go up to the door and knock?) Jade responded fliply.

(And say, what? Hello, my name is Jade, a Tomorrow Person, I think you kidnapped my friend, Adam, can I have him back now?) Megabyte quipped.

They slipped quietly down the yard, using trees for cover.

(Stay here,) Megabyte slipped around to the back. (Looks like Dolerich is out.)

(Let's hope Adam's in,) Ami replied.

Megabyte reached out his mind into the house, (Someone in there's blocking me.)

(It's got to be him,) Jade was getting nervous. (Let's go, I'm afraid if we take too long, Adam's subconscious will do something stupid.)

(How stupid?) Megabyte inquired as he rejoined the two girls behind a tree.

(Terminally. Let's go,) Jade was anxious.

(Maybe you should stay here, Jade,) Megabyte thought. (This is no place for a trainee TP.)

(How am I ever going to learn if I don't get to go with you? Adam would let me go,) Jade tried valiantly.

(If Adam were here, he'd insist on going alone, and you're not coming,) Megabyte was adamant.

Ami decided that all three of them would be needed if they were going to help Adam. (Jade comes, let's go before I lose my nerve.)

(Here goes nothing,) Megabyte's thoughts were tinged with nervousness as they climbed the steps to the house.

(What luck! An electronic lock!) He passed his hand over the lock, and lights flashed, indicating the door was now unlocked.

(Shall we?) Megabyte opened the door, making a sweeping, theatrical gesture, pointing Ami and Jade towards the interior of the house.

They entered, and Megabyte followed.

(Darn it!)

(What's wrong, Megabyte?) Ami inquired.

(This is nothing like the blue prints I got in my Dad's office. It's not even what we saw the last time we were here! We'll never find him!)

(This way,) Jade led them through twists and turns throughout the mansion.

Jade came to a stop in front of a stone wall. At the left hand corner was an Egyptian sculpture that reminded Ami too much of Rameses Ak'Hara for comfort.

(Behind here,) Jade said definitively.

(You've been watching too many Bond pictures, Jade,) Megabyte replied.

(Wanna bet?) Jade replied. She lifted Rameses' nose and flipped a switch. The wall swung backward.

The Tomorrow People (minus Adam) walked through the doorway into a room filled with flashing panels, blinking lights, and whirring machinery.

Ami started looking over the equipment, (Maybe we can figure out what Dolerich is up to. Unless you have an idea where Adam might be, Jade.)

(Close, but far. I don't know,) Jade was frustrated.

Megabyte put a hand on her shoulder, (It's OK. You've done well.)

(Guys, come over here, look at this,) Ami was so excited, she was practically broadcasting.

Megabyte walked over evenly, Jade bounced a half a step behind him, grateful to be a part of the action for once.

(What is that? Greek?) Megabyte rolled his eyes, headed over to a desk, and started rifling through papers.

(Do you have any idea what language this is, Jade?) Ami was intent on knowing.

Jade squinted at the squiggles, (Only the faint notion that it's not from Earth.)

(Guys! It's Dolerich's plans. Legislation, it looks like he wants to take over Parliament and institute a planned economy. Wow, he must really like bubble gum, he wants to spend a lot of money on research and development for it.)

(Great, Megabyte. Do you really think that Dolerich kidnapped Adam just to make better gum?)

(No. Did you say those writings are not Terran? You don't suppose those green puffs of cigar smoke are back, do you?) Megabyte wondered.

"Of course not! Master Damtheissen is infinitely more powerful than those light-fearing wimps!" Adam's voice pierced the shadows behind them.

The three spun around.

"Adam! There you are!" Megabyte exclaimed.

"Shut up, Megabyte," Adam stepped out of the shadows, his arm outstretched, and his hand clasping- Ami couldn't believe her eyes.

"Adam, what are you doing with that thing?" she gasped.

"I don't know, Ami, what does one normally do with a gun?" Adam replied evenly.

"Adam! There you are!" Megabyte exclaimed.

"Shut up, Megabyte," Adam stepped out of the shadows, his arm outstretched, and his hand clasping- Ami couldn't believe her eyes.

"Adam, what are you doing with that thing?" she gasped.

"I don't know, Ami, what does one normally do with a gun?" Adam replied evenly.

(Oh, no you don't!) Adam's faint telepathic voice rang out. (Jade, the arc under my hair!)

Jade, who was closest to Adam, stood still, frozen in terror.

Megabyte decided now was a good time to stall, "Come on, Adam, calm down. You and I both know you're not going to actually use it."

"My orders are to kill you," the part of Adam under Dolerich's control replied.

(No! Don't you dare harm them! Ami and Megabyte? The two who pulled us out of Rameses's death trap remember? Our family for the past two and half years? Jade, who's adopted us as a big brother after only a few weeks? Don't you think we've lost enough family all ready? _Don't do this!_) Adam, the part of him that was still himself, was near panic.

At the same moment, Megabyte said, "So why don't you do it all ready? You can't Adam; you know it, I know it."

Jade, seeing her chance, inched closer to Adam, then ran outside his gun arm, and yanked a curved piece of metal out of his hair.

Adam shook his head to clear it.

"I'll take that," Jade took advantage of Adam's disorientation to confiscate the gun and toss it away.

"Jade, I- I'm," Adam began, not evven sure where to begin.

Jade hugged him, "It's OK, you tried to fight it."

Jade couldn't hide anything from Adam during the brief tactile contact.

"It's all right, you did well," Adam whispered, hoping this would calm Jade's fear. He desperately tried to block his own guilt to keep her from worrying any more.

"Megabyte, Ami...." Adam turned to them with a guilty expression as Jade let go of him.

"It's all right, you couldn't help it," Megabyte interrupted again.

Jade wandered over to study the machinery.

"Dolerich wants to..."

"Take over Parliament and the British means of production and increase research and development for bubble gum for some strange reason. We know, but why?" Megabyte replied.

"I'm not entirely sure. His workroom is through there, Ami, take Jade and go see what you can find out. That's the way in or out, I'll give you a shout if there's trouble."

(A shout? Are you sure that's wise?) Ami was incredulous.

"Keep the telepathy to a minimum, Ami, Damthiessen is a telepath."

"Is he an alien, Adam?"

"I'm not sure, I've never seen him. I'm positive he's not one of those green smoke things though."

"Hey, Adam, do you have any idea what the model propulsion system on this terminal is for?" Jade inquired.

Adam's eyes widened. It seemed that Jade had developed psychometry- the ability to receive impressions from inanimate objects. Apparently, this was her special gift (like Megabyte's ease with computers and Adam's slight healing powers- he suspected he'd burnt himself out healing that nearly-dead operative, but it was worth it).

"I take that back; Megabyte, go with Ami and see what you can find out. I'll stay here with Jade and see what else we can come up with."

"All right, Jade, what've you got so far?"

"Well, it's a model of some sort of propulsion system. For testing fuel or something. This panel simulates propulsion, this one fuel purification, and the one on the far right drinking water reclamation," Jade replied. "I wish I knew how I knew all this."

"I think you've found a new power," Adam explained. "I can't even tell you if the rest of us have it. Unless of course, you're picking up on telepathic residues I'm missing for some reason- probably your shields aren't so strong yet."

Adam could have been imagining things, but it seemed that Jade was standing a little taller.

"But Adam, what does all this have to do with taking over Parliament- or bubble gum for that matter? Dolerich can't be that hard up..."

(Dolerich is working for me,) alien thoughts touched their minds. (Turn around slowly please.)

They did. Jade wondered who this new TP was and why on Earth they would work for Dolerich. Adam, on the other hand, knew, somehow, that these thoughts weren't human.

As they turned around, they discovered that their assailant was a blue blob with an odd, threatening device protruding from it.

Adam grabbed Jade's shoulders and pulled her to him protectively. (Look, it's a hyper-intelligent shade of the color blue) Jade took advantage of the contact to 'path to Adam privately.

(What do you want?) Adam broadcasted on a wide band, hoping Ami and Megabyte would pick up on the "urgency" of his voice.

(The girl has something I need.)

Meanwhile, in the basement, Megabyte and Ami were searching through diagrams.

"I can't believe this, it's like Albert Einstein trying to teach relativity to a preschooler," Megabyte shook his head.

"What's it all mean?" Ami wondered. "Fuel must be dried while water is reclaimed for drinking purposes? Why would fuel have to be dry? And why use it as a source of drinking water? It'd be like drinking water run off of gasoline."

"Maybe there isn't enough water otherwise. But fuel and drinking water for what? Space voyages?"

"And what does this have to do with Dolerich and bubble gum anyway?"

(What do you want?) Adam's urgent telepathic "voice" rang through their heads.

Megabyte was about to 'path back when Ami stopped him.

"Whoever he's talking to is telepathic, anything you say that isn't on the narrowest of bands will be overheard," she reminded.

"So how do we find out what's going on?" Megabyte was getting cranky again.

"Mind-merge- try and link our minds to Adam's and Jade's- try and find out what's going on, and plan our next move," Ami replied, raising her hands.

Megabyte followed suit. They stood, arms outstretched, palms almost touching.

(And what's that?) Adam's telepathic "voice" led Megabyte and Ami directly to his mind.

Adam sensed their telepathic presence, and fully linked his mind to Jade's so that the four of them could communicate discreetly.

(The contents of her pocket,) the goo responded.

(Bubble gum, again? What is it with this guy and bubble gum?) Jade's thought drifted quietly through the mind-link, a sort-of "whisper".

(He needs something that can remove the water from his fuel so that the water is potable,) Megabyte replied in the same manner. (Bubble gum is certainly non-toxic, but how it could remove water from anything is beyond me.)

(You've never tasted the stuff,) Jade was only half kidding.

Adam decided he didn't want to take the risk that fuel purification was the only thing this creature wanted with Jade's gum, (What will you do with it?)

Sensing that Adam would be reasonable, the being lowered the device. (I will use it to refine the fuel for my spacecraft so that I may return home and give my report.)

(Which is?)

(That the Nghara* were repulsed by an unknown force-) the being paused as it extracted vital information that popped into Adam's mind- (no, by emergent, legally sentient life forms, you, in self-defense of your kind and your planet. My species will now respect the wishes of the Galactic Trig and treat Earth as a closed world.)

(What's legally sentient, and what's the Galactic Trig?)

(The criteria for sentience are self-awareness and telepathy. Until now, only the oceans, home to dolphins, were closed to my kind. As for the Galactic Trig, you'll find out when you're ready.)

Adam sighed, somehow, he knew that would have to do. (Jade, give him the gum.)

Jade pulled out three disks of colored foil imprinted with utterly inaccurate depictions of aliens and their spacecraft.

The being projected amusement as he snatched the coins out of Jade's palm, leaving her hand covered in blue goo.

(At least the Nghara never sneezed on me,) Jade cracked as she wiped the goo onto her jeans.

Adam smiled in spite of himself- at least Jade's sense of humor was more advanced than Megabyte's, even if she didn't quite know when it wasn't appropriate.

(What about Dolerich?) Adam inquired suddenly.

(I've wiped his memory of the mind control device and destroyed it. I'm terribly sorry about what he did to you, I didn't realize you were a telepath until after I heard you conversing with your friends just now. I'm afraid it'll be up to your officials and electorate to keep him from gaining any more power, though.)

(Fair enough,) Adam replied. He knew he should probably accept the alien's apology, but after what the mind control device had almost forced Adam to do his friends, it just didn't seem to be enough.

The creature threw a switch. (It is safe to teleport away now.)

(Thank you,) Adam 'pathed.

(Diplomatic representatives will probably follow when the Trig deems you ready.)

(What is the Trig?)

(All in good time, all in good time.)

The four Tomorrow People 'ported back to the spaceship.

Megabyte grinned, "We did it."

Adam sat down and buried his face in his hands, "I'm so sorry guys. I almost killed you, I don't know what I was thinking."

Jade sat down next to Adam and gave him a big hug, "_You_ weren't doing the thinking, Adam, it was Dolerich."

"I should have stopped...."

Megabyte came over and put a steadying hand on Adam's shoulder, "You did."

Adam laughed, "Hardly."

Ami walked over and started rubbing Adam's back, "And if you hadn't started raising such a fuss when the part of you that was under Dolerich's control had that gun trained on us, what would've happened?"

"I'd have shot...." Adam started, realization and relief sweeping over him.

At that moment, Jade yawned. Adam gently touched her mind.

"You need to go home and catch up on your sleep," he said, soothingly caressing her hair.

Jade snuggled against Adam's side, "What's wrong with going to sleep right here?"

Ami laughed, "I think she's got the right idea."

She sat next to Adam and leaned against his other shoulder.

Adam laughed, and slouched against the back of the raised part that ran around the column of the spaceship, getting settled.

Megabyte stretched out on the floor a few feet away, apparently not wanting to leave.

"Megabyte," Adam shook his head.

Megabyte sighed, got up, and stretched out so he was using Adam's shins as a pillow. "Better?"

"Yeah," Adam yawned, whether he was overtaken with the exhaustion of his three friends or completely wiped himself, he wasn't quite sure.

All Adam knew for sure was that he and his friends were safe once again, and that he felt secure for the first time in too long.

****
end

*This is the name given to the aliens in "The Living Stones" novilization.