The Darkness

Author's Notes, Comments, & Disclaimer

Another month is underway, and so is another story! At long last, I have another edition to the 'Edge of Forever' Universe. This is Kylie's story and will hopefully answer a few, if not all of the questions raised by "Only Child." Yes, this is the prequel to "Only Child" but it isn't necessary for you to have read that story to understand or appreciate this one. (This is also an old series story!)

I will be posting parts to this story twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays by midnight Eastern Time. So, if Wednesday or Friday roll around and the post hasn't been made, I give permission for someone to bug me. It is Christmas season in retail (where I work), so my schedule might get a bit hectic and I may get forgetful.

Thank you to my beta readers Beth Epstein and Rachael (with an "a") Bailey (both of whom continue to help me muddle through the final ending of this tale!)

Now the legal mumbo jumbo:

Disclaimer: The Tomorrow People and the characters of John, Elizabeth, Stephen, Mike, Hsui Tai, Andrew, and TIM do not belong to me. They are the property of higher powers, such as Thames Television and Roger Damon Price, et al. I am using the characters here without permission, but as usual, I promise not to damage them and to return them safe and unharmed when I am done with them. The characters of Kylie Morgan, Stade, & Victoria Rowan are mine. This story will be archived on the Tomorrow People Creative List Archive (http://www.xmission.com:80/~ladyslvr/TPFICT) run by Wendy Kelley and at my Edge of Forever web site (http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/9012/edge/stories/index.html) Please do not copy or distribute this story anywhere else without my permission.

As always, comments, questions, and general insanity are welcome.

Michele Mason (chelesedai@hotmail.com)

Chapter One

The woman ran a hand over the wet, tangled, ebony strands of the sleeping child's hair. The girl's breath came in short, sharp gasps more reminiscent of panting than breathing, an effect of her drug-induced slumber. The drugs coursing through her tiny body calmed and quieted her and blocked the telepathic abilities, but would not allow restful sleep. Restful sleep would have to wait until later.

The woman loosened the leather bonds that held the child strapped to the hospital bed. At the time they had been necessary, in her convulsive frenzy the child could have hurt herself or someone else. Now, however the telltale signs of bruising round the small girl's ankles and wrists made her wince.

So much for building trust and understanding.

Damn Stade. He couldn't wait--he had to prove that he was in control. And he had nearly cost them the children. No, the subjects, she corrected herself. These were subjects. She had to remember that. They were merely pawns in the game; they were parts in a puzzle.

"Amazing, absolutely amazing." The tall tanned man shook his head, stroking the silvery blonde beard. His dark eyes sparkled in child like amazement. "Did you see that Dr. Rowan?"

"You almost killed her, Stade." Victoria Rowan smoothed a few more strands of hair from the flushed face. The child was beautiful, a waste that she should be a part of the Project now. She was a symbol of the future, the product of interracial parents--she could have been a statement for the unity of tomorrow-- instead she would be a statement of power and control. Stade's weapon. Her weapon. The ultimate power behind the Organization. "You weren't supposed to use the psi-transmitter yet---"

"Did you see the way this one responded? The transmitter was only emitting at the lowest frequencies. I wasn't even certain that telepaths could hear it or be effected by it, but her response was so feisty, so ---"

"So in pain." Victoria spat.

"The KGB files implied that pain was a possibility. But with pain comes tempering, Rowan." Stade lifted the tiny wrist and read off the hospital I.D. tag. "Kylie here is our gem. Our diamond in the rough."

"And the others?"

"The transmitter will help us to develop their telepathic abilities over time. But Kylie's are there already. She is already one of *them*. Do you have any idea what this means?"

Them. They were called The Tomorrow People. According to the information Stade had acquired, *they* were a race of telepathic and teleporting beings. Many government agencies, American, Soviet, and British had information on them, but no one seemed to have complete files or even a last or most recent known location. Victoria wasn't one hundred percent certain that she even believed in their existence. She believed in test results and scientific probabilities. She believed in the film they had seen of the abilities manifested by certain Soviet Agents; and she believed in the Project.

There was no reason to doubt that psychic abilities could be developed and sharpened; however, there was no reason to believe that a race of beings could develop independently with talents as extreme as those declared in the reports. The reports declared these things, but not a printed word of it had been proven or verified scientifically.

But there had been those words the child cried out---Victoria shook her head to clear her thoughts. No, she was a scientist. The Tomorrow People were a fancy of Stade, not her. Her purpose was to develop the full telepathic abilities of these children, to mold them into the perfect spies and weapons of ultimate power. When that was done, the organization's power would rival that of any other secret government organization.

"It means that she has a tremendous amount of psychic potential. That is, if you don't burn it out or kill her first."

"It was merely an experiment, Victoria. I wanted to see if the engineering schematics for the transmitter were worth the price I paid for them."

"I am here to help you further science and the Organization, Stade. I will not help you destroy these children."

"These children are our subjects, or do you need to be reminded of that? It would be a shame if you were to begin to get attached." Stade's voice held a low threat. "After all, we sometimes lose subjects. Are we understanding one another Dr. Rowan?"

Victoria stiffened, turning to check the child's vital signs. "I understand you completely, Stade. But understand me as well--if you destroy these children, it may take months or years to get additional *subjects*."

"But it won't." Stade placed both his hands aside the sleeping girl's head, and gazed down at her. "This girl is one of *them*. She will bring the others to us. This will work better than we ever imagined."

"If she's one of your Tomorrow People, why haven't they come for her yet?"

Stade smiled. It did not reach his eyes, and made his face seem even more sinister. "Because, we got to her first. Be forewarned they will come. And when they do, I will be ready."

Chapter Two

Kylie didn't like this place. She didn't like the white tile floors that were always cold to her feet, she didn't like the blank white walls or the uncomfortable hospital bed. Kylie didn't like being here all alone, but most of all she didn't like the emptiness inside of her. For some reason she couldn't *feel* or *hear* anything like she used to. She could feel the cold floors and she could hear the television, but the other stuff was gone. Kylie couldn't tell if the nurse who brought her the applesauce and orange juice was happy or sad, and she couldn't hear people's "secrets." She couldn't hear anything except for what everyone actually said, and that wasn't much.

Kylie had a feeling that it had something to do with the shiny cold headband on her head. She had tried to take it off, but it made her head hurt really bad and she started throwing up. Only the mean people could take it off, and when they did it felt so good. When it was off she could feel and hear again. But they only took it off when they took her from The Dark Place and put her into The Room and made those horrible things happen to her.

Biting back tears, Kylie tried to forget about The Dark Place. The Dark Place was full of Darkness. She didn't know there could be so much Darkness. It was worse than not being able to see or hear. Ten times worse. One hundred times worse. She kind of floated there, only she could never feel her body; and there was nothing to see but Darkness and nothing to hear but The Silence. Kylie was always sick and dizzy when they pulled her out of The Darkness, and still they made her go into The Room.

She didn't like The Room either. The Room made her head hurt and then she would throw up. And there were monsters in The Room too, and lots of things that the mean people used to hurt her. No, she didn't like The Room, and she hated the Darkness.

The yellow-haired lady said that she was doctor, but Kylie didn't believe her. Doctors gave you shots when you sick, and put the cold step-on-scope on your chest and made you breath really deep. One time, the doctor put her in the hospital to take out her a- pen-dix, and her side was really sore, but mostly she slept a lot and got a lot of green Jell-O. Her doctor had never tied her to a bed with robes and put all those wiry things on her head and chest.

She flinched at the sound of the door opening.

"Kylie." It was the yellow-haired-not-really-a-doctor-woman. She recognized the voice. "They told me that you didn't eat breakfast or lunch today."

"I'm not hungry." That wasn't true. She was really hungry and the Fruit Loops had looked so yummy, and so had the peanut butter and jelly sandwich but if she didn't eat, they would have to send her home. The last time she didn't eat, she got a new Barbie and before that, she got a trip to the zoo. It always got her what she wanted. "I want to go home."

"I've told you before that we can't send you home until you're better. You're still very sick, Kylie, and we have to continue our tests so that you can get better."

"Then I want my Mommy."

The woman sighed. It was that same sigh adults always gave that made her mad. "Kylie, your parents are in heaven, remember? They were sick and---"

Kylie put her hands over ears and started singing. She didn't like what this yellow-haired lady was saying. The lady kept trying to say that her parents were in heaven, like Grandma Morgan, but Kylie knew that just wasn't true. When they took off the shiny thing and she could hear, she looked for them, and she always felt her mother crying. So she knew they were alive. But the mean people kept telling her lies, so she wasn't going to listen.

"Kylie!" The woman grabbed her hands, and jerked them down. Hard. "Stop it now."

"I hate you! I want to go home!" Kylie screamed the words in the woman's face. "Let me go!" She wiggled but the grip was iron- tight.

"I've had enough of this, Kylie. You are only making things harder."

Kylie saw the two men in the white doctor coats come in and she twisted harder, attempting to kick the woman's shins. She knew what the two men meant. They were going to give her a shot, and then take the shiny thing off.

Then they would take her to the room.

"I hate The Room! I don't want to go!" The five year old launched herself at the woman, grabbing a fistful of hair and taking a solid bite out of her cheek. She tasted something warm and salty, and jerked on the handful of hair. "I wanna go home! I hate you! I hate you!"

Kylie was still screaming and fighting when she felt the sharp prick in her neck.

* * * * *

"Looks like she got the best of you, Dr. Rowan." Stade raked a cursory glance over his assistant, settling beside her at the computer console. A one-way mirror separated them from the room below, where the tiny form of the five-year-old telepath squirmed against the leather tethers on the hospital bed. The child on the other bed, a pale blonde with dull blue eyes laid complacently on the bed, staring at the ceiling. It was quite a contrast. And it was particularly amazing that the child had such boundless energy after submersion in the sensory deprivation chamber.

Victoria instinctively raised a hand to her bandaged cheek. "She's a real hell cat. And she's a lot more difficult than the other children. Peter had to give her 10cc's of that relaxant, and she's still has the strength to struggle."

"Her telepathic abilities are almost at their peak, she is aware of things on a much higher level than the other children are."

"Then why do we continue with the others? Do they have any chance of being more than passive telepaths?"

Stade smiled and returned his attention to the console. "Watch and learn Victoria."

Victoria didn't watch Stade. Instead she watched the two girls in the room below. She knew that the electrodes attached to the girl's foreheads allowed for information to be monitored and fed to them. Right now, Stade would be beginning the initial stages of "molding" as he called it. The images of vampires and werewolves, and three headed ogres stalking the girls through underground mazes and dark woods were the nightmares of childhood. And Stade used them well. By simply watching the children, Victoria could ascertain which stage of the "nightmare" Stade had introduced and the intensity of that stage. She knew when Stade himself would "appear" in the nightmares and "rescue" the children if they were willing to cooperate.

Kylie never was.

Both children convulsed at the same time, their small bodies arching into the air. It looked as though some invisible force was attempting to break them in half backwards. The alarms for the monitors on their vital signs begin beeping loudly, and Victoria whirled to give Stade a brief and withering glare before turning her attention to the monitors. "What the hell are you doing Stade? The nightmare is too intense. They can't handle it!"

"I have linked their dreams together. They are now completely aware of one another. And, they have formed a telepathic link on their own." Stade raised a hand to quiet Victoria's protests. "Watch, now, my dear Dr. Rowan. Their vitals are returning to a normal state."

Victoria looked out of the window into the room. Stade was right. The girls' bodies had relaxed, and although she could see the perspiration that covered both children from where she stood, they no longer looked as though they were going to break their backs. Heart rate, breathing rates, all of it was returning to within a safe range.

She released a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. They simply could not afford to lose these children.

"Now, it gets interesting." Stade activated the psi-wave frequency transmitter and typed in the command to continue and intensify the nightmare.

The blonde girl screamed, her face a mask of terror. Victoria watched as her body convulsed and flailed, a froth forming at the corners of her mouth.

"No, no!" Victoria slammed her hands against the console. "Stade, stop this! You're killing her!" She reached for the console, only to be shoved roughly backwards. She stumbled over a low stool, and landed on her rear.

"This is science, Victoria. We are learning."

She could hear the child's screams. They were joined by a second set of screams which could only belong to Kylie. "Learning to do what? Kill children?"

Victoria picked herself up from the floor, intent on launching herself at the smug egotist seated behind the console. She never got that far.

The panel behind her erupted in a flash of sparks.

Her eyes went immediately to the room below.

The blonde girl had ceased writhing and tossing on the bed. Her vacant open eyes and the thin rivulet of blood coming from her mouth told Victoria that she was dead. Kylie writhed on the bed, brown eyes wide as a deer's caught in a car's headlights. The noises that came from the child were so purely animalistic and horrifying that Victoria's stomach clenched into knots.

'This is not right,' a nagging cried from some deep part of her.

Victoria immediately threw open the door to the control room and bounded down the stairs to the testing room. It took her only a few moments to administer the proper sedatives and send the child back to a drug-induced slumber.

"Do you realize what's happened here today, Dr. Rowan?" Victoria had not heard Stade enter the room.

Victoria nodded, her words bitter. "Yes, we've killed one child and practically killed another."

Stade ignored her words. "Kylie moved forward. The readings for her telepathic outputs just then were off the scales. By resisting us, she's becoming our prize weapon. She will be our greatest asset." The man turned his attention to the two orderlies. "Get the live one back to her room. And get the rid of the other one."

He didn't even spare Victoria a glance as he left the room.

Victoria watched in silence as the orderlies sedated Kylie and reattached the psi-dampening transmitter device. She was remembering the hatred in those eyes, and suddenly she wondered if perhaps Kylie Morgan was their greatest liability and biggest mistake.

Chapter Three

It was getting closer. Stephen could hear its clawed feet digging into the dirt as he ran through the tangled forest. He could smell it. Most of all, he could feel it. It had the taint of evil and fear; the bogeyman that every child's mother threatened him with. And where it was chasing him to . . .a deep impenetrable Darkness that he knew would rob him of his sense of self and awareness. But the alternative was to stay and face it . . .Stephen didn't like the alternative.

A small child ran beside him, with blue eyes and blonde curls. She reminded him of a china doll. Funny that he should think of china dolls when it was so very close to catching up with them. The little girl wouldn't make it; not unless he helped her. Her feet dragged, and she stumbled as she ran and wiped blindly at her tears. Stephen took her hand; it seemed the only reasonable thing to do.

Then he stumbled. The tree roots protruded from the dark ground beneath his feet, and wrapped themselves around his ankles. The little child followed him, tumbling to the dirt beside him, the wind knocked from them both. Heart pounding in fear, the stench of it so overpowering that Stephen was gagging for clean air; he worked to free his ankles from the deep branches. The tree roots had a mind of their own -- determined to hold him and keep him there.

It emerged from the shadows. Glistening claws and bright red eyes, snarling as it gazed upon its helpless prey. Moving with the swiftness of a cheetah, it moved forward, leaping toward the smaller and weaker of the prey.

"No, not her, me!" Stephen's screams were met with the creature's backhand. The only sound louder than his feeble protest was the death cry of the small child. . .

A sharp piercing scream broke the silence of the room, wrenching Stephen from the disturbing nightmare. Stephen wrestled with something that had wrapped itself around his lower legs, cutting off the circulation. It was soft and light in his arms and he nearly cried out in relief as he tossed the offending bed sheets aside. His heart was pounding and his body was covered in thin sheet of perspiration. His mind reached out, tentative fingers searching for the source of the scream, but already knowing the source came from the girls' quarters across the lab.

"Great," Stephen muttered, swinging his legs over the bed. "My first trip back to earth in a year and I start out having nightmares." 'At least I'm not the only one,' was the silent after thought.

[If you're awake, Stephen, you may as well join the rest of us.] John's telepathic touch was light, and slightly strained. Stephen didn't like the implications of that . . .or of the dream. If that was Liz, or the new girl, Hsui Tai crying out, and they all shared a similar or the same dream, well, that meant trouble.

The others were awake, or in various stages of wakefulness and gathered on the orange couches. Stephen still hadn't gotten use to the new set up of the lab; he liked it, it was more open and had a "home-like" feel to it, but it was hard to reconcile this lab with the memories of the old lab.

"Let me guess, a forest, a monster and a little blonde girl?" John asked as he scooted aside to make room on the sofa for Stephen between he and Elizabeth.

Stephen nodded, accepting the cup of tea which TIM wordlessly produced. "You think she's one of us?"

"It seems the only logical explanation--"

"But it isn't her!" The protest sounded glumly from the youngest Tomorrow Person. The boy slumped down in his seat, arms folded across his chest, his eyes flashing darkly. In that posture he reminded Stephen of someone familiar--a younger version of himself.

John sighed, setting his tea cup aside. "As you can see we are at a disagreement. Andrew was just about to tell us why he thinks the girl in our dream isn't one of us."

All eyes turned to the young Scotsman, who suddenly finding himself the center of attention, shifted uncomfortably. "I just know it."

"Then if you know so much, whose dream are we having?" The sarcasm naturally emanated from Mike. Mike enjoyed baiting Andrew nearly as much as Stephen had enjoyed baiting Mike, perhaps more.

"I don't know!" Frustrated, he glared challengingly at Mike. Stephen caught the edges of his annoyance and frustration before he blocked his emotions from the others. "I just have this feeling --"

"A feeling?"

"Mike." John's voice held a note of warning.

"What sort of feeling, Andrew?" Elizabeth was ever patient, her voice calming.

Andrew shook his head, but his face softened under Elizabeth's concerned gaze. "I can't explain it. I just don't think that this girl is one of us. Not the one in the dream."

"I have some news that might shine some light on this subject." TIM's dome lights flashed as he spoke. "There are several American newspapers reporting on the disappearance of a school bus full of children."

A ripple of surprise ran through the lab.

"A school bus?" Elizabeth's cry of surprise came first.

"School buses don't simply disappear," John added.

"That may be, but, apparently this one did vanish. Without a trace."

Stephen sat his tea cup aside. "That certainly sounds suspicious."

"But why would someone hijack an entire bus of school children in hopes of finding one Tomorrow Person?" Elizabeth's question was rhetorical.

"Perhaps they did not. This is merely speculation, Elizabeth." TIM paused, and Stephen imagined that if the biotronic computer had been human, he would have scratched his chin in thoughtfulness. "However, the situation is unusual enough to warrant investigation. Particularly since the telepathic signal seems to have emanated from a location close to the reported disappearance."

"You have a location and you weren't going to tell us, TIM?" Stephen leaned forward.

"I am not certain that I have a location, Stephen. I isolated a source only after I was alerted to the fact that many of you were sharing dreams. As I do not dream, I could not begin tracking until I was told that there was something to track. And because this girl has not fully broken out, it is even more difficult."

"I know where she is." Andrew's voice was so faint that Stephen almost didn't hear it.

If he almost didn't hear it, it was apparent that the others did not hear the youngest of their group at all. They continued talking.

John focused his full attention on TIM. "What general location do you have?"

A large video screen immediately came to life, focusing in on a map of the eastern seaboard coast of the United States.

"I know where she is." Andrew repeated his earlier statement a bit more loudly.

"Let me guess," Mike teased, "You have a feeling."

The boy was petulant. "I just know."

"I think it is better if we don't play a hunch on this one, Andrew." Elizabeth's words while maintaining their understanding, were also dismissive.

"You don't believe me." He muttered the words under his breath and stalked from the room.

"Should I talk to him?" Hsui Tai had been so quiet that Stephen had almost forgotten her presence.

"I think he'll be all right," Elizabeth assured her, staring after the long gone teenager. "He's been emotional lately. He just needs some time to relax."

"It's puberty," Mike joked. "Hormones."

Stephen couldn't resist a quip. "And you should talk?"

John cleared his throat. "Can we get back to the matter at hand?"

With that, the group returned their attention to TIM's projection map, all thoughts of one petulant and offended teenager temporarily forgotten.

Chapter Four

What amazed Andrew the most was that not even TIM noticed his jaunting out of the lab. Of course, jaunting back to Castle Forbes and around most of Scotland had probably helped distract TIM from his true course. They would probably all assume he was somewhere in Scotland, sulking it out. By the time they noticed him gone, it wouldn't matter anyway. Oh, John and Liz would more than likely give him a scolding that would make his ears and cheeks burn red, but he would worry about that when it happened.

If only they had listened to him. He knew where she was just as he knew the sky was blue and that the sun would rise in the east. It wasn't a hunch; it was some innate knowledge that he couldn't explain. This complex was huge, it would take them a good hour to locate her, particularly when she wasn't sending anymore, but in one instant, Andrew had complete knowledge of where she was and how to get there.

So, it was risky coming here alone. But he had a stun gun by his side. And who knows what could happen to her while John and the others talked and planned. Those nightmares were bad enough. And you didn't have those sort of nightmares if you were having a happy, stress-free life. Something bad was happening to their new Tomorrow Person. Of course, that was understood-- anybody who would hijack a school bus was pretty demented.

The others doubted him, and wouldn't listen. The fact that he was the youngest and newest of the Tomorrow People did not help matters any. If there was lesson fourteen years of life had taught him it was that youth and inexperience tended to add up to doubt and disbelief. It would not have been so bad if Mike hadn't taken advantage of the first opportunity to tease him-- in front of Stephen, no less. Well, they were all about to be completely amazed at what a mere fourteen-year-old could do.

She was on the other side of this door. Andrew glanced up and down the deserted corridor and shook his head in amazement. Obviously, however demented these people were, they weren't too worried about their prisoner breaking out. And he was pretty certain that they hadn't planned on him breaking in.

He jaunted easily into the room.

A small girl, maybe four or five, looked up at him with huge, doe like eyes and let out a small whimper. She was sitting on a hospital bed, hugging a teddy bear, but at his sudden appearance, she jumped off the bed and scurried into the corner.

Andrew kept his distance. He placed the stun gun on the bed. Kneeling down, he peeked around the bed to get a better view of her. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You're not a doctor?"

Strange question. Poor kid. These people probably convinced her that they were doctors. "No, I'm not a doctor. I'm like you."

She hugged the teddy bear closer. "I don't sound like you. You talk funny."

Andrew's response was loss as a ragged gasp broke free from his lungs. He was suddenly aware of being cut off from the others. The cut off was so sharp and abrupt that he staggered backwards in pain. One moment, he could feel the others; the next minute there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.

[John? Liz?]

No answer.

He tried again, concentrating harder. [John? Liz? TIM?]

Andrew tried jaunting, and again, nothing happened.

A ball of fear welled up in stomach. This was not a good sign. Maybe being the knight-errant hadn't been such a good idea after all.

The door opened to admit a tall woman with blonde hair tied back in a bun. She stared him up and down, and Andrew felt like a cadaver in the morgue.

"So, Stade was right. You do exist. The Tomorrow People."

"What did you do to me?" Andrew heard his voice crack and waver, his fear obvious. He saw the little girl out of the corner of his eye, shrinking even more deeply into the corner, a soft whimpering coming from her throat. But this woman wasn't concerned with a small child. She focused her full attention on the young man in front of her.

"It's a psi-damping force field. Didn't you stop to think that we might have surveillance cameras?" She paused, and smiled. It was a slow, menacing smile that made Andrew's blood run cold. "Welcome to the Project, my dear Tomorrow Person. I'm Dr. Victoria Rowan, and you and I are about to become very good friends."

There was a bright flash and then nothing but darkness.

Chapter Five

Andrew was no where. When he awoke, he was uncertain of whether he was truly awake or still sleeping. There was nothing that Andrew could see; nothing that he could hear. He was surrounded by an impenetrable black void of nothingness. He tried to move, but his body simply floated in the void. It was suffocating, the void, the darkness, but he had given up protesting long ago. Occasionally, he slept; at least he thought that he slept, but his dreams were wild and ragged, the detached images of a tormented mind.

Andrew was miserable. He was afraid. And he was alone. The psi-damping transmitter kept his thoughts in . . . and the thoughts of the others out.

Being alone in the darkness was worse than being afraid.

Concentrate, Andrew. There has to be a way out of this. He had been telling himself that for hours. He didn't really believe it anymore. But his rambling thoughts were all the company that he had in the deepening void and darkness.

He let himself drift, wishing that it was all a bad dream.

Who would save him now?

*****

Victoria watched the computer monitors in guarded silence, her eyes occasionally darting to the locked door across the room. Behind that door, the boy Andrew was in a state of deep sensory deprivation. His vital signs flashed on the computer monitors; heart beat, respiratory, brain waves, all carefully monitored. He moved between states of waking, sleeping and REM sleep, his REM sleep lasting longer with each phase. The monitors showed increased anxiety and elevated heart and respiratory rates.

His physical and mental state were bordering on dangerous stress levels, and that had her worried.

Stade believed that the sensory deprivation would make him more malleable, more willing to do as they bade.

Victoria worried that too long of an exposure to sensory deprivation would drive even a young, resilient mind to insanity.

The monitors revealed his movement from sleeping to waking again. His blood pressure increased, his heartbeat rocketed an additional thirty beats per second.

Victoria Rowan had enough. There were other ways to get the boy to help with the Project. Killing him, like Stade had killed that other little girl, was not the answer.

With very swift and deft movements, Victoria punched several access codes into the computer. She hadn't spent weeks gazing over Stade's shoulder and not learned a few things about the man. He was too smug, too arrogant; he believed himself to be superior to a mere woman, and took very few security measures. She knew his access codes, and each of his overrides.

She was beginning to know his mind as well.

Crossing to the door, she repeated the same steps on the computer panel plugged into the lock. Victoria knew that being pulled from sensory deprivation with sudden light and noise wasn't particularly the best way to do it, but taking the time to bring him out gradually would give Stade time to reappear. And she wanted this one on her side by the time Stade made contact with him again.

It took some time to get him relaxed and calmed down, and even thirty minutes after being removed from the chamber, he still shivered beneath two heavy blankets and squinted against the bright lighting of the room.

"If you want to help me, then let me go." Andrew hugged himself, not looking at her. "And let Kylie go while you're at it."

Victoria sighed. She hadn't believed this would be an easy conversation, but neither had she believed that it would be so difficult. She pulled a chair up across from the young boy. "You know I can't do that, Andrew, but if you work with me, if we work together-- "

"What? We can change the world?"

"But that's precisely it! I am part of a very important Project, at the heart of which is finding telepathic life, enhancing it, and-- "

Andrew's eyes met hers, a challenge burning in them. "You want to control us. You want to make us spies and assassins."

She shook her head sadly. That was the core of the project, but this young man simply did not understand. The Project was to create an army of telepathic agents, trained with the means of protecting and defending the world against terrorists, and if necessary, alien invaders. The results of the Project, those molded and shaped by it would be the perfect agents, loyal to their government and their cause. And with this army in control, the collective known only as the World Organization would have a weapon for peace.

However, when Victoria explained this, the young boy only gave her a pitying look, more wisdom than his young age should have allowed flashing in his eyes.

Andrew shook his head. "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"Why shouldn't I? I have been with the Project for years. I know it's the truth."

"And they say I'm na‹ve."

The sound of the door opening left Victoria with no time to respond.

Stade strolled into the room, his eyes moving back and forth between his assistant and the young boy. "Have you given up your feeble attempts to win him to our cause, Dr. Rowan? Do you now see why it is necessary to use stronger methods of persuasion?"

The young telepath glared at the man. "I don't care what you do. I won't help you."

"I think that you will have a change of heart."

The sound of Stade's voice chilled Victoria's blood. Somehow, she knew, things had just gone from bad to worse.

And she was powerless to do anything about it.

Chapter Six

[Andrew, can you hear us?]

With a final, defeated sigh, John broke the link. "It's no use. We can't contact him."

"It's so odd. It's like he's not there." Mike furrowed his brow in frustration. For all of his teasing of Andrew, he liked the kid and hated the thought of anything-- anything at all-- happening to him.

"It feels like he's being blocked somehow." Stephen avoided looking at either John or Elizabeth, his voice reflective. "Like some is using a psi-damping transmitter or volumin."

"What's a psi-damping transmitter?" Hsui Tai tripped over the words, pronouncing them slowly and with strong annunciation.

"It's a device that generates a force field that won't permit us to use our powers," Stephen explained. "It isn't very pleasant."

"TIM, do you have a location for Andrew?" John prompted.

The lights flashed as TIM spoke. "He was deep within the military installation. I have been scanning the area, and parts of it are impenetrable. I believe that there may be several psi-damping force fields in operation."

"They really want to keep us out, don't they?" Mike's mutterings were low, but reached the ears of the others anyway.

"I don't think that keeping anyone out is what these people have in mind, Mike." John's response was dry. "I think that they are mainly concerned about keeping people in.

"How close can you get us to that installation, TIM?"

Mike perked up. "We're going after him?"

"No, Mike. Liz, Stephen and I are going after him. I want you to stay here with Hsui Tai and continue trying to contact Andrew."

The crestfallen look on Mike's face didn't escape the attention of Stephen or Elizabeth. The two exchanged a guarded glance and began speaking at the same time.

"Why don't I stay here and help TIM-- "

"John, maybe Mike and Hsui Tai should go with-- "

John's eyes flicked back and forth between the faces of Stephen and Elizabeth. "Are the two of you trying to tell me something?"

Another look passed between the two, and Elizabeth took charge. "I was going to suggest that you take Mike and Hsui Tai along with you. Stephen and I can stay here and monitor the installation and try to reach Andrew."

John prepared to argue, but recognizing the determined look on the faces of the other two Tomorrow People, immediately changed his mind. He was quite certain that he could win an argument with Stephen, but winning one with Elizabeth was another matter entirely. Unfortunately, Andrew was in danger, and there was no time for him to try arguing with her.

Instead, he nodded, and curtly acknowledged their decision. "All right, then. Mike, Hsui Tai, grab a stun gun and come with me."

"He isn't very happy with us," Stephen remarked after the three disappeared from the jaunting pad.

"No, he isn't, but that's the way it has to be. He really has to start giving Mike and Hsui Tai some respect and responsibility." Elizabeth stared after the three now gone Tomorrow People for a moment longer, before returning her attention to Stephen. "I'm just glad I wasn't the only one who thought of it.

"Now, shall we try to contact Andrew again?"

*****

Three things were clear to Andrew: he was a prisoner, trapped without his abilities, Dr. Victoria Rowan was extremely na‹ve and Damon Stade . . . well Damon Stade was clearly a mad man, obsessed with control and domination. His could only console himself with the hope that the others would find him . . . eventually.

He sat quietly in the Control Room of the complex, watching and learning. After dragging him here and tying him to a chair, Stade had completely ignored him. Dr. Rowan looked at him occasionally, her eyes giving away what her words did not: she was terrified; whether she was afraid for him, afraid of Stade, or some combination of both, Andrew didn't know. However, her fear did not do much to make him feel any more secure.

[John? Liz?] He reached out again for their minds, knowing it would be futile. There was a metal device clamped to his head, which Stade had gladly described to him as a psi- damping transmitter. Stade had always supplied graphic descriptions of what would happen to Andrew if he attempted to remove the transmitter.

"Everything is in order, Victoria." Stade gave the woman a cursory glance. "Bring the boy closer. I want to show him how painful non-cooperation can be."

Andrew's mouth went dry at the sound of those words.

Powerless, with his hands tied and the psi-damping device firmly in place, he gave only minimal resistance as Dr. Rowan ushered him to the window of the Control Room.

His mind immediately recoiled at what he saw. The little girl . . . one of them, a Tomorrow Person, was strapped to the lab table below, wires and electrodes attached to her head and arms and chest. He didn't even want to begin to imagine what this mad man would do, or had done, to her.

"Let her go! You've got me. You don't need her!" Andrew tried to throw himself in the Stade's path, but was restrained by Dr. Rowan. The woman was stronger than she looked.

"I need both of you, young man." Stade's words froze the air in the room. "And if you won't help me willingly . . ." As his words trailed off, Andrew watched Stade's fingers dance across the control panel.

The heart-wrenching scream that came from the other side of the window nearly brought tears to Andrew's eyes.

"Leave her alone!" Andrew tore himself from Dr. Rowan's grasp, throwing himself between the control panel and Stade.

The scream cut off abruptly as the control panel erupted in a flare of sparks.

"Get back, boy!" With a growl and a simple swipe of his arm, Stade knocked Andrew backwards, sending him crashing to the floor.

The blow left Andrew momentarily stunned, a ringing in his ears. He took a few steadying breaths, as the room slowly came back into focus and the words of Dr. Rowan and Stade drifted to his ears.

"Gone? Where could she go, Victoria?"

"You fool! You're the one who believed so entirely in your Tomorrow People and you can't even figure it out!" Was it his imagination or was there a faint note of triumph in the woman's voice?

"She teleported. She's gone, Stade. She's out of your reach."

'Teleported?' Andrew's stomach clenched in a tight ball of fear. If she jaunted while breaking out, unguided and unsupported . . .he could hope that she jaunted to her home, or that the others heard or felt her; but somehow he doubted it.

"You have to let me go. I have to find her." Andrew cautiously pulled himself to his feet, making certain that no vital parts were damaged.

Two sets of eyes whirled to face him.

"If you think that there is any chance of your escape now that I've lost that child --"

"You don't understand! She's in danger! She could die."

Stade grabbed Andrew by the collar, pulling the boy close until his face was only inches from the Tomorrow Person's. "Let me explain something to you, boy. I am in charge here. My word is final. I don't care what lies you tell or what sad songs you sing for Dr. Rowan, I will not fall for it.

"Now, behave yourself , or there is one person who will die."

Heart pounding so hard in his chest that he was certain that Stade could hear it, his voice quaking, Andrew called the man's bluff. "You won't kill me. You need me alive."

Stade's response was to fling the boy across the room hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs but not enough to truly hurt him. "Get this boy out of my sight, Victoria. I will deal with him later."

Andrew didn't allow himself to breathe again until the Control Room door closed behind Stade.

"You know, Andrew, Stade isn't the sort of man you should make angry."

The boy on the floor did not dignify the woman's words with a response. He had just learned that particular lesson the hard way.

Chapter Seven

[Mommy! Mommy!] The panicked cry rang in the heads of Elizabeth and Stephen.

Stephen glanced at Elizabeth. "Did you hear that?"

The other nodded. "Let's link."

The Tomorrow People placed their hands on top of Tim, forming a bridge with their minds.

[Mommy!]

"It's her," Elizabeth realized, "TIM can you find her?"

"I am working on it, Elizabeth. Her brain waves are distorted however. I am afraid that she may be trapped in hyperspace."

"Hyperspace? Then we have to get to her," Elizabeth shuddered. She remembered her ordeal being trapped in hyperspace when she first broke out. It wasn't an experience that she cared to repeat; nor was it one that she would wish upon anyone else.

Stephen nodded his agreement. "How long does she have TIM?"

"Difficult to say. If she is as young as we believe, perhaps only fifteen or twenty minutes."

[Mommy!] The call came again, weaker this time.

[John, I think you should come back.] Elizabeth called to the mind of the absent Tomorrow Person. [We have a problem.]

[A problem, Liz? What sort of problem?]

[You mean you don't hear her?] Stephen asked.

[Hear who?]

[Hear what?] Mike added.

Elizabeth and Stephen exchanged a worried glance as the cry came again, a bit more faint than before.

It was Elizabeth who informed the others of the problem. [We may have a new Tomorrow Person. TIM thinks she might be trapped in hyperspace. Although I don't understand why you can't hear her.]

"You and Stephen are linked, this provides some strength," TIM explained.

"TIM, how close are you to locating her?" John stepped off the jaunting pad, flanked by Mike and Hsui Tai, and quickly assumed control of the situation. "It's a good thing you called us; if she's breaking out, she might need all of us."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I don't think that she's breaking out. I think that she's already broken out."

"And she is in a great deal of danger," TIM reminded the others. "She is most definitely in hyperspace."

[Hello?] Elizabeth reached for the girl's mind with her own, instantly aware of the child's name and fear. [Hello, can you hear me?]

[Mommy?]

[No, my name is Elizabeth. I'm a friend. I want to help you.]

[It's cold and I'm scared.]

"Continue to speak with her, Elizabeth. I am narrowing down her location."

Elizabeth nodded, only dimly aware of Mike and Hsui Tai replacing Stephen in the link. Stephen had already joined John in working his way into an AE suits.

She continued speaking to the girl. [Don't be afraid. Can you tell me your name?]

A pause in which Elizabeth felt her heart freeze. Then, softly. [Kylie.]

[Kylie. That's a very pretty name.]

[Thank you.] A pause, and then another soft touch came to Elizabeth's mind. [Lizabeth, I'm scared. It's dark and scary here.]

[Don't be scared. If you talk to me, then maybe you won't be afraid.]

[But I'm cold.]

[Don't worry, some friends of mine are coming to rescue you. Then you won't be cold anymore.]

[Who are they are?]

"I have narrowed her location down to a given sector," TIM announced. "John, Stephen, I will send you there, but will have to take life detectors with you."

Elizabeth cast gave John and Stephen a quick once over and smiled. [They're spacemen, Kylie. And you're going to be just fine.]

[I'm sleepy.]

[No, you mustn't go to sleep. It's very important that you stay awake.]

[But I'm sleepy!] The protest was petulant.

[Kylie, let's play a game, all right? Then you won't be sleepy.] Elizabeth's eyes pleaded with John and Stephen. She could feel the little girl drifting, and beginning to lose focus. Time was running out. "Hurry, please."

Stephen placed a gloved hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and smiled reassuringly. "We'll get her, Liz. She'll be fine." Then he joined John on the jaunting pad and was gone.

Kylie's voice was languid. [What kind of game?]

[A counting game. Can you count, Kylie?]

[Uh-huh. But I'm sleepy---]

[Kylie! You must stay awake!]

John's voice drifted through the conversation. [I can hear her, but I'm not receiving anything, yet. Stephen?]

[Nothing.] Stephen's tone was bleak.

[Who's that?] There was a new wakefulness in the young child's mental voice. Apparently, the voices of John and Stephen had gotten her attention.

[They're my friends, Kylie.] Elizabeth explained.

[The spacemen?]

[We're not really spacemen. We just look like spacemen,] Stephen informed the little girl with a soft mental laugh.

[How come you look like spacemen?] The lethargy was returning to the child's voice.

[Well-- Whoa! John! She's over here!]

[We've found her,] John's words were a welcome intrusion. [Bring us back now, TIM.]

The two had barely fully materialized on the jaunting pad before Elizabeth was there, taking the small girl from their arms.

Large, dark eyes stared up in wonder at her. "Lizabeth?"

"Yes, Kylie. That's me."

"Can I go to sleep now?"

The girl's words brought a laugh from everyone, relieving some of the tension in the room.

However, John's next words had a sobering effect. "Now, we just need to find Andrew."

Chapter Eight

Andrew sat in his cell and stared at the wall. There were other things to stare at, of course. There was the television and there were the comic books that Victoria had provided. However, he wasn't interested in television or comic books -- he was only interested in getting out of this place and rescuing Kylie from hyperspace. He hoped that the others had realized that she was there, but he couldn't be certain of it. He couldn't even be certain of whether or not the others knew that he was missing.

The sound of the door opening didn't even get a response from him. It was either the orderly coming to take away the tray containing his half-eaten dinner, Stade coming to threaten him some more, or Dr. Rowan and her misguided loyalty coming to convince him of the merits of the project.

"You didn't eat." Andrew could almost believe that Dr. Rowan sounded concerned.

"I'm not that hungry."

He heard the woman's movements. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her sitting on the bed. "You don't believe that I'm here to help you, do you? You don't believe that I'm the only friend you have here, Andrew. Stade will never let you go and if he tires of you, he will kill you. You are expendable to him."

Andrew pulled his chair around to look at her. "What about the project?"

"If it wasn't for the Project, he would have killed you already."

"You're not like him, though, is that it? You're not a killer?"

"I'm not. I am trying to help you. I am trying to keep you alive-- "

"What about Kylie?"

The woman flinched. "She's gone. She is no longer part of the Project. Probably safely at home in her bed, telling her parents stories-- "

"It's dangerous to jaunt unguided!" Andrew blurted. "She's probably in hyperspace. She's probably dead! And it's all because of you and your project!"

"Andrew, try and understand-- "

The boy shook his head stubbornly. He was tired of her rhetoric and propaganda. Maybe she believed her own lies, but he didn't. He knew the truth. He knew that this what the Trig worried about; this was what John and the others worried about. Being used as weapons by some misguided world power. "No, I don't want to hear anymore. I won't help you, don't you understand? You'll have to kill me before I help you."

He turned his back on her then, reigning in his temper. He didn't like being helpless; he didn't like being alone. He didn't like not knowing what had become of Kylie.

"Is Kylie truly in danger?"

There was something in her voice, a genuine reflection of feeling and concern which caused him to turn to her. "She could be dead."

"If I released you, would you give me your word to return here and tell me if she is well?"

Andrew hesitated. What sort of game was this woman playing? One minute she was trying to tell him the wonders of "The Project" and now she was willing to simply let him walk away? He didn't believe it. Not one word of it, not for one minute.

"And when I come back, what will you do? Put another psi- damping force field around me?"

Dr. Rowan shook her head. "We could meet somewhere neutral. You wouldn't have to come back here."

"Why?"

"Do you really see me as the sort of monster who could simply allow a little girl to die? I believe in the Project, and I wish I could make you see the merits of it, but I don't believe in Stade's methods."

"Then why are you here? Why do you work for him?"

"Because I don't have a choice. He's in charge and until that changes," Dr. Rowan stopped suddenly, clenching her hands in front of her. "I am offering you your freedom in exchange for knowledge. I want to know that Kylie is okay. And I want to know all about the Tomorrow People."

"So, then you aren't just being nice."

"You are so young . . . and so innocent, Andrew. You see the world as only black and white. No grays. Everything isn't always so clear cut, so evenly divided. When you're older, you'll know this. You might even understand why I am here, why I work for Stade."

Andrew shook his head stubbornly. "I'll never understand how anyone could work for a man like that."

"All you have to do is agree, Andrew. And you will have your freedom."

"I won't tell you anything about us. You have to know that."

"Stade won't give up until he learns everything there is to know. And his methods aren't particularly painless. I am offering you a much easier road."

"No."

Andrew took two steps back as the woman advanced, flashing a small silver disc in her hands. "What is that? What are you trying to do to me?"

"It's the key to unlock the psi-damping transmitter that you're wearing. As a token of my good will."

Andrew's eyes darted to her hand, keeping the distance between them. He wondered if she was telling the truth. He wondered if he could take the chance.

The opening of the door made the decision for him. There was a loud popping sound, and Dr. Rowan slumped to the door, her body quivering and convulsing. Damon Stade pocket a small gun and stepped over the body, pausing only long enough to gather up the small silver disc. When he looked at Andrew, his eyes were cold. "The woman was a fool and a liability. This would have never deactivated your transmitter.

"Perhaps now that you will no longer have Dr. Rowan to coddle you, you will be much more . . . malleable, shall we say?"

The young Tomorrow Person's eyes darted to the convulsing body on the floor and then returned to Stade. "You killed her!"

"I do not kill that which is of use to me and Dr. Rowan still has her uses." Stade smiled an oily, snakelike smile that turned his face into a mask of madness. "Let's hope that you learn a lesson from this, Andrew. As long as you are useful, I will keep you alive."

"I'd rather be dead."

"Be careful what you wish for, young man. You might just get it."

Chapter Nine

The surveillance camera swung on its arm, recording the empty corridor. It moved slowly, mechanically, its electric eye seeing and recording every detail of the hallway from left to right, and sending the information to the security room on the opposite side of the complex. The eye moved slowly to the right, having recorded the emptiness of the left corner, and therefore failed to record two figures materializing out of thin air.

[Keep an eye out for cameras,] John instructed Stephen, his eyes quickly darting around the corridor.

[There's one.] Stephen pointed out the device with a flick of his wrist in the direction of the rotating camera.

[Right, then. Let's time it.]

A few experimental jaunts and the two Tomorrow People were convinced that they could manage to elude the electric eye.

[Be careful,] Elizabeth's voice echoed in their heads.

The long, empty, medicinal smelling corridors reminded Stephen of a hospital.

[I was thinking the same.] John commented on the unspoken thought. [This must be the medical section of the complex.]

[More like laboratory section. You heard Kylie. Who knows what these people are doing to Andrew.]

[Let's try not to think about that and just focus on finding him and getting him out of here.]

Kylie's descriptions of the complex brought them this far and also alarmed them greatly. Using a child's vocabulary, she had described to them ghastly medical experiments and even homicide. They all agreed that it was very fortunate that her young mind could not grasp the true meaning and horror behind what she described.

Four turns and five minutes later, they reached a corridor lined with plain, sealed white doors. So plain that they seemed to faded into the surrounding walls.

[This has to be where they're keeping Andrew, John.]

[Yes, but which one?] John's agitation was felt by all the Tomorrow People as his gaze swept up and down the long hallway. [TIM, are you getting any peculiar readings from this area?]

TIM's voice sounded in their minds. [No, John, I am not. If Andrew is in this area, they have not blocked him with the use of force fields. We will have to assume they are suppressing his powers with some type of drug or device.]

[How about a random guess?] Stephen suggested, and then with a wry smile, he spun around to the door behind him. Kneeling before the door, he placed his hand up to the lock and concentrated intently on the mechanism within. After a moment, an audible click was heard in the corridor.

John raised an eyebrow. [I didn't think they taught telekinetic lock picking at the Trig.]

[No, I taught myself when Chelvarians kidnapped me.]

[What?] Several telepathic voices rang in Stephen's head at the same time.

[Later. I promise to tell everyone later.]

The first two rooms turned up empty and John was ready to move onto another corridor when a loud, frustrated wail rang out from behind one of the unopened doors.

Stephen and John exchanged glances.

[That doesn't sound like Andrew, Stephen,] John warned the other young man.

[And I suppose that you want us to ignore whoever is behind that door?]

[This is no time for arguments. We came to rescue Andrew.]

[Yeah,] Mike's voice interjected, [But what about the other kids? You want to just leave 'em there?]

[Mike,] John warned. [You aren't here. Stay out of this.]

[John think about what happened to Kylie,] Elizabeth's mental touch held its usual softness and understanding that was often far too persuasive. [If we can rescue the other children as well, I'd certainly sleep better.]

John couldn't come up with a reasonable argument for Elizabeth, which was just as well because by the time he was prepared to 'path back to her, Stephen had already opened the door and slipped carefully inside.

"Hey!" came Stephen's shocked yell.

[Stephen?] John hurried into the room, fast on the heels of the younger Tomorrow Person. What he saw almost brought a faint smile to his face.

Stephen was holding onto the wrists of a highly agitated woman, keeping her some distance away from him. The reason was immediately obvious-- she had a dinner knife in one hand. "Are you daft? I'm not going to hurt you!"

"You're not one of Stade's lackeys. Neither of you." She jerked, twisting free of Stephen's hold, backing up a few paces, her grip on the knife secure. Her blonde hair was in disarray, but she carried a presence of control. "Who are you?"

"Do you really think you can hurt someone with that?" Stephen asked, inclining his head toward the knife she was holding.

She rolled her eyes, "You might be surprised what I can do with this."

John didn't think that arguing with her about that would be a very good idea. Under ordinary circumstances, she might have been attractive, even pleasant; at the present time, however, he was convinced that she could be quite deadly with that weapon.

"We don't have time for this, Stephen. We have to find Andrew." John focused his attention on the woman. "We're going to get you and the rest of the prisoners out of here. Do you know where they are being held?"

"Andrew? You came to rescue Andrew?" The woman's eyes widened in surprise, darting back and forth between the two Tomorrow People. "You're like him, then? Tomorrow People?"

[She knows about us, John.]

John ignored Stephen. "How do you know about us? What do you know about us?"

The woman ignored the question, brushing past them to peer anxiously into the corridor beyond. "Those guns, do they work?"

"Who are you? And how do you know about the Tomorrow People?" John demanded.

She whirled back, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face and focusing on them with a set of very clear green eyes. "Look, there isn't much time. I can help you find Andrew, but on one condition-- You have to get me out of here." With a smile that didn't quite touch her eyes, she extended her hand. "I'm Dr. Victoria Rowan."

Chapter Ten

Stephen picked his chin up from the floor. He could barely say her name. "Dr. Victoria Rowan?"

There were some details that Kylie had been crystal clear on giving to them: the name of the blonde doctor at the medical complex had been one of them.

"Did I stutter?"

John found the words first. "Dr. Rowan, according to our sources, you're responsible for this. For what happened to Kylie and these other children." His tone was bitter, dark, and accusatory.

Stephen wondered if the light in the woman's eyes was his imagination.

"Then Kylie is all right? She didn't die horribly?" Dr. Rowan asked.

"I'm sure she would have if she had stayed here," Stephen muttered. "Do you really care?"

The woman heaved a sigh, her voice sharp. "In case it escaped the astute observations of you would-be heroes, I am a prisoner here too."

"Convenient," Stephen remarked dryly.

"Look, Stephen," Dr. Rowan dipped her head into the corridor again, then pulled the door closed, standing against it and blocking the two Tomorrow People in the room. "I don't know what you and your friend think, but I'm not going to make excuses. I've been with this Project from the start. I believed in it. But I don't believe in Damon Stade, and I don't believe what he's doing. If I did, if I was still on his side, I wouldn't be trapped in here."

John looked at her expectantly. "Damon Stade?"

Dr. Rowan nodded. "He's the one in charge. He orchestrated the kidnappings, the testing. He stole the information to build the psi-emitter--" She froze, her gaze turning inward. If she had been telepathic, Stephen would have sworn she had just iniated a telepathic conversation. But, in this case, he was more willing to believe she was making connections-- connections that might be vital to rescuing Andrew.

"My God! The psi-emittter! I have to destroy it before we leave." The woman yanked the door open, giving a tug on Stephen's arm. "Come on, we have to move quickly. I disabled my surveillance camera a while ago, Stade will be here soon."

She disappeared into the outside corridor without a backward glance.

"John?" Stephen looked to the elder Tomorrow Person.

"I don't know if we can trust her or not," John answered the unspoken question. "But at this moment she is our only lead to Andrew."

Dr. Rowan's blonde head poked back through the door. "What part of 'hurry' didn't you two understand?"

* * * * * * *

The corridor they found themselves in was almost identical to the one in which Dr. Rowan's cell had been. Almost. The most startling difference was the moment that they crossed into the corridor, their awareness of the world fell away. It was difficult to describe the feeling-- but both Stephen and John were aware of a sudden quiet.

"What's that?" Stephen looked around, trying to pin point the feeling.

"We just crossed into the psi-dampening field," Dr. Rowan explained as they moved down the corridor. "If you're like Andrew, then you're bound to feel the effects. He said that it was a bit-- unnerving."

[That's an understatement,] Stephen projected the thought at John, then cringed realizing the man could not receive the transmission. It even felt slightly unsettling to attempt the telepathic communication; he would put it akin to attempting to breathe in a fire or see underwater. Both of which were easier.

"A psi-dampening field," John spoke the words carefully, his brow furrowed. Stephen could tell the John had filed the information away for later use. "Is that similar to a psi-dampening transmitter?"

"Only stronger. Much more powerful and generated like a magnetic field." Dr. Rowan's words were smoothly delivered, almost as if she was delivering a lecture. "You'll have to work fast to get to Andrew." She stopped, holding out an arm to block their entrance into the next corridor. When she spoke again, her voice was a low whisper. "There are two guards in this hallway, and three surveillance cameras. We'll only have a few minutes before Stade and his goons get here."

"And then?" Stephen prompted.

"You're going to help me disable Stade's psi-emitter and get me the hell out of here."

"We are?" Stephen glanced at John over Dr. Rowan's head. He was beginning to think that maybe they should have left her locked up. Maybe Stade had gotten tired of her attitude.

"I help you, you help me. That was the deal."

"We never made--" Stephen was cut off by Dr. Rowan's hand clamping over his mouth.

"Stephen," she hissed, "Take a lesson from your friend. Shut-up. Now, let's get Andrew."

Chapter Eleven

The two guards were easily stunned, not expecting Dr. Rowan to step into the corridor. They also were not expecting the two young men who stepped into the corridor behind her. The key to Andrew's room was found on one of the guards and in a moment they were opening the door to the boy's prison.

Andrew looked up with wide, fearful eyes. The fear was immediately replaced with relief at the sight of John and Stephen. "John! Stephen! How did you find me?"

"We had some help," John explained. "Come on, let's get out of here."

"We can't jaunt."

"We can on the other side of the barrier," Stephen explained, giving the boy a gentle tug into the outside corridor where Dr. Rowan was waiting. He felt the boy shrink back at the sight of the woman.

"It was a trick!" Andrew yelled. "You and Stade tried to trick me."

"Andrew, Dr. Rowan helped us rescue you." John informed him.

"Yeah, right after we accidentally rescued her," Stephen added.

Dr. Rowan smiled. Stephen was surprised at how much the smile softened her features. He was also surprised that it seemed genuine. "I'm really on your side Andrew. I know how hard that is for you to believe, but--"

The loud blaring of an alarm interrupted her words.

"What's that?" John shouted over the alarm.

"They're onto us," Dr. Rowan yelled in return. She grabbed Andrew's arm tugging him down the corridor in the opposite direction than the one they had come from. "This way! the guards will be coming from that way!"

John and Stephen were left with no choice but to follow. The corridor ended in a large control room filled with computer equipment and machinery. The moment they crossed into the room, the Tomorrow People breathed a collective sigh of relief. The barrier did not extend this far.

Dr. Rowan closed the door behind them and settled down to one of the terminals, "I'll only have a few minutes. You should be fine now. Stade only has that corridor under the field's influence."

[John! Stephen!] Elizabeth's cry reached their minds.

[Elizabeth, we're all right now. We were behind a psi-dampening field, but we're free of it now.]

[And Andrew?] Worry tinged her voice.

Andrew smiled, [I'm fine, Liz.]

[Good. Remind me to scold you when you get back.]

[Shall I jaunt you home now?] TIM asked.

Stephen and John exchanged glances.

[Only Stephen and Andrew, TIM. I want to stay here a moment. Find out what this Stade was up to.]

[No way,] Stephen shook his head. "If you're staying, I'm staying." [We don't even know if we can trust her,] he added telepathically.

"The man has an ego the size of the universe," Dr. Rowan muttered, punching commands into the computer. "He never changed a single access code."

"Dr. Rowan, what were you and Stade trying to achieve here?" John asked, distracted by the woman's very vocal musings.

"Perfection. The perfect agents," Dr. Rowan never looked up from the computer terminal. "But Stade has taken the Project over. He's...dear lord, he's changed entire protocols. It's like he's trying to create-- monsters!"

"Monsters?"

"Killing machines." The woman looked up at John, her green eyes focused elsewhere. Stephen could see the thoughts flickering across her face. "That's what the psi-emitter is really for. He's trying to reshape them into killing machines. That sick son of a-- if I see him again--

"I have to destroy his data files."

One of the monitors in the room caught Stephen's eye. It showed the corridor they had just left and it was filled with four armed guards. "Uh, John, we're running out of time."

"Dr. Rowan, if you want to leave, we have to go now."

"Don't you see? He knows too much already! I can't let him keep this information." Dr. Rowan punched codes frantically into the computer console, ignoring the Tomorrow Person's plea.

"The information isn't important, Dr. Rowan. He can't use it against us because we won't be around." John's voice was laced with noticeable impatience. [What does it take to get through to this woman?]

[She has some strong convictions,] Stephen acknowledged.

[Then why is she working for a man like Stade?]

[She's confused. She means well.] Andrew's voice was soft, thoughtful. For not the first time, Stephen wondered what the woman had said to the youngster to have such a profound effect on him. And he wondered if it would be long lasting.

"Dr. Rowan, please. We have to go, now."

She ignored them, moving to another terminal. "He can use it against others like you. But I know how to erase his database. All I have to do is set up a computer virus to destroy every piece of equipment-- "

"It isn't important."

"It is! You have no idea what that man is capable of. You have no idea-- "

"You also have no idea what I am capable of Dr. Rowan." Stade's form filled the doorway, a gun flashing in his hand.

Before the Tomorrow People could react, the sound of gunfire filled the room.

Chapter Twelve

[She's got a gun,] Stephen told John, peeking up from behind the chair where the two Tomorrow People had taken refuge once the sound of gun fire filled the air.

[Yes, she does,] John observed, [And she's already done the damage.]

A quick survey of the room told Stephen precisely what the elder Tomorrow Person meant by those words. Dr. Victoria Rowan stood where she had been, gun in hand; the man known as Damon Stade lay on the floor in the doorway, eyes open, his shirt very quickly turning a sickeningly and dark purple.

[John, do you think--]

[I'm going to check. Why don't you see if you can get the gun from Dr. Rowan.]

While John made his way cautiously toward the fallen man, Stephen directed his attention to the kidnapper-turned-rescuer-turned-murderer. The woman, however, seemed nearly oblivious to his presence as he eased up beside her, hands lightly resting on hers. She was muttering beneath her breath, her hands trembling, eyes wide.

She was very close to shock.

Stephen slowly pried the gun from Victoria's trembling hands. She remained standing in her shooting stance, gun facing outward. The thing felt disgusting to him, he could feel the destruction in the weapon, he could smell the gunpowder in the air. "Give me the gun, Dr. Rowan."

"I did it. I shot him." Victoria's voice was weak. She hardly moved as Stephen plucked the gun from her fingers. Her eyes remained on the prone form of Stade, whom John was leaning over, checking for a pulse. "Is he---"

John inhaled sharply. He pulled his hand away from Stade's body and stood slowly. "He's dead, Dr. Rowan."

"No," Victoria shook her head.

"It's all right, you did what you thought you had to do," Stephen reached for her hands, attempting to distract her from Stade.

"No, you don't understand, Stephen." When she looked at him, her eyes were incredibly clear. She didn't look like a woman who had just killed someone, she looked again like the clinical doctor, diagnosing a problem. "Stade isn't dead. Men like Stade don't die. Their evil lives on and on, reincarted. It never dies."

"Dr. Rowan, we have to leave. Now." John spoke with authority. "You can come with us or deal with the police."

"I accept responsibility for what I have done," Dr. Rowan straightened her shoulders, the coldness and control in her voice matching John's. "I stopped Stade, and I will take the punishment that goes with my crime. But you two had better go. Quickly."

If either Tomorrow Person had any desire to argue further with the woman, the sound of booted feet storming up the corridors changed their minds.

"Good luck to you, Dr. Rowan," John remarked.

"And to you. Take care of Andrew and Kylie." Turning the woman strolled across the room, and with a last glance stepped over Stade's body and into the corridor.

Stephen and John exchanged a glance and vanished from the complex the same way they had come.

Chapter Thirteen

"How's Kylie?" John asked as Elizabeth re-entered the lab from the girls' sleeping quarters.

Elizabeth smiled. "Sleeping. I think she's starting to like it here."

"And why wouldn't she?" Stephen leaned back against the sofa, stretching out his long legs. "What's not to like?"

"Well, you for one." Mike quipped.

Stephen responded with a threatening, but less than heartfelt glare. "She's a sweet kid. I think it's going to be great having her around."

John raised an eyebrow. "Easy for you to say, you're not going to have her under foot all the time."

Elizabeth settled on the sofa between John and Andrew, and nudged John playfully. "You just don't like having to answer all of her questions."

"I've never seen a child that inquisitive in my whole life."

"And how many five year olds have you been around?"

"Personally, I think its refreshing." Stephen smiled. "We'll get used to it."

Mike stared at Stephen. "We?"

"I've decided to stay on earth for a while. The Trig has already approved it." Stephen shrugged nonchalantly. "I must have forgotten to mention it."

"Imagine that," John remarked dryly, but there was affection in his eyes.

"I have received news of Dr. Rowan," TIM announced.

Andrew looked up from the comic book he had buried himself in. Of all the Tomorrow People, he was most interested in the fate of the blonde scientist. "Is she all right?"

"The jury ruled her attack on Damon Stade to be self-defense and she was acquitted of second-degree murder charges; however, she was found guilty of obstructing justice. But she will not be serving any jail time."

Stephen looked at TIM. "Why not?"

"Because she has disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"TIM what do you mean?"

"What happened to her?"

The questions rolled out on top of the other. TIM waited until silence reigned in the lab again before continuing. "Apparently, the World Organization provided her with a new identity and a new job. Where she is, and who she is, remains a mystery."

"It's probably for the best," Elizabeth remarked, playfully tousling Andrew's hair. He dodged her, and shot her an indignant glare, returning his attention to the comic book.

"Liz," Andrew groaned.

"With all the publicity that went with the discovery of Stade's installation; well, it's better for her to pick up the pieces and start again elsewhere," Elizabeth continued as though she hadn't been interrupted.

"And I think it's safe to say that she will never look at telepaths in quite the same light again," Stephen added. "I guess it just remains to be seen whether this is for good or bad."

John folded the newspaper he had been reading and put it aside. "Well then, let's just keep our fingers crossed shall we?"

End