Summary: A friend from John's childhood becomes a Tomorrow Person. But does he want their help?
DISCLAIMER: The characters of John, Carol, Kenny, Stephen, Jedikiah, Spidron , Harry Steen and Tim are the sole property of Thames Entertainment and Nicklelodean. This is not written to make money but to finally see a story that I've had in the back of my mind since seeing the series. Warren Gray is a character of my own, and is not to be used without first contacting me.
Authors Notes: I'm not one for long speeches so I'll get straight to the point. I am a fan of the 70's Tomorrow People. Although it has been over fifteen years since I've seen the show, the various Tomorrow People sites have rekindled my memories. I have seen some episodes of the 90's version but since I was in the military at the time, I wasn't able to see it like I wanted to. Maybe someday I will, particulary since if I'm able to write the stories that I want will eventually come up to the 90's. I would like to issue a profound thank you to Shaun, Wendy, Michelle and my friend Mike for letting me bug them about all this and responding to my questions about everything and anything and for beta reading my story.
In terms of continuity, the storyline of Advanced Warnings takes place between The Vanishing Earth and The Blue and the Gray and is rated a very tame PG.
This story may also be found on Micheles Jagged Edge site.
And of course, constructive feedback is welcome.
Enjoy!
Prologue
She had forgotten what weather in Chicago could be like. Windy, cold and raining. That was fine with her since it hid her tears. The surprise meeting with one of her family members hadn't gone all that well. But what did you expect after four years of almost total non-contact? With her personal business finished, perhaps for good, she got down to the official business at hand. She would've teleported but she suspected that their computer Tim would somehow know. So she chose to take a plane. After all the jaunting and faster than light travel, flying by 747 would literally be a vacation. As she was getting ready to buy her ticket a young man about her age passed by her. She felt herself get a prickly sensation on the back of her neck. This really surprised her. She knew that Steen told her that there were only four of them at the moment, unless...
End of Prologue
August, 1973
It was two thirty in the morning when the plane touched down. Warren never could seem to handle plane flights to good. Which he thought was ironic considering that he had the genes of parents whose home was in the sky. His mother was an airline stewardess while his father was an Air Force pilot. They had died in a plane crash coming from the states back to the Air Force base where his father was stationed at over in England back in 65. That was quite a year, Warren thought as the plane was making its maneuvers toward a terminal. So for the next couple of years, Warren was forced to stay with his weird aunt. During that time Warren started falling in with a bad crowd, living mostly on the streets. Getting in trouble. Using drugs. It had taken the combined help of a caring counselor named Job and letters from his friend John that helped switch his life around. So much so that he managed to graduate high school a year early and get a partial scholarship to a college. Within that one year, Warren went through many work-study programs and other educational programs. When the lawsuit against his aunt had come to a close and he was able to finally get his inheritance money, the first thing he did was buy a year at Oxford. They had a program there for minorities, maintain a 4.0 grade average and they would pay for the rest of your time there. Of course it was only for minorities who had at least a partial scholarship. So Warren hopped on the first plane out of Chicago.
Warren hoped that John had gotten his letter in time. He was afraid that he was going to beat the mail here. That's how quickly all of this had happened. He barely had time to say goodbye to Job, who literally threw him in the taxi to catch the plane. Warren wanted to get to England quickly so he could register in time for the program which had a deadline of another 12 hours. He didn't really have a plan after getting to England. Just get his two bags, hike it to the university and park his butt right on the doorstep of the deans office until morning. Then he would find John, whom he hoped would take him in until he got his money exchanged into pounds and found a room at the dorm. If not, hopefully a cheap flat somewhere.
The seat belt sign went off and everybody got up to get their carry-on bags from the overhead compartments. Warren stood up quickly, and just as quickly sat back down. This cold that he had coming here was definitely getting worse. Sore throat, sneezes, headaches. Warren hated getting sick. Especially now. This was not the time. He got up slowly this time and went for the backpack he had stored up in the upper compartment.
As Warren entered the baggage claim, he noticed a young woman about his age looking at him. The more Warren thought about it the more he realized that she had come all the way from Chicago also. Throughout the flight he had the vague impression that she was watching him.
Nice Warren, let's get a little paranoid now.
She nodded to him as she picked up her bag and proceeded on her way to the car rental place. She was nice enough. Having the same coffee-colored skin as he did and her hair combed down. He was about to say something to her when a hand clasped his shoulder.
"Long time no see Warren."
Warren turned around to discover John standing next to him. Warren immediately gave him a hearty bear hug, much over the protests of John who was having a hard time breathing. Warren finally put him down and gave him the once over taking notice of John's apparent embarrassment over getting a hug in public.
"It's a good thing we're not in France bro, or we would've had to kiss each other on the cheek."
John took the good-natured kidding aside.
"Hey, you're lucky your letter showed up today or I wouldn't even be here at such an atrocious hour. How was your flight?"
Warren sneezed. Right on John's jacket. Warren sheepishly apologized and took a tissue from his pocket and gave it to John.
"I guess I shouldn't have asked." John deadpanned.
***
The trip through downtown London was pretty laid back. Warren had slept through most of it. He didn't wake up again until they were at John's parent's home. The thought of a nice warm bed was very appealing to him. The rest of the time seemed to pass through a haze for Warren. Still sick with the flu, Warren only went out, with John's help, to register at Oxford. Then they hightailed it back to the Halloway residence where he literally stayed in bed for a couple days getting better.
Warren had some strange dreams during that time. He dreamt of that one girl he had noticed at the airport and hearing a lot of voices in his head. And every once in a while he thought he would hear John's voice talking to a couple of those voices. Once he could've sworn that a young blond haired girl of about 15 appeared in his room in a spectacular array of lights. But before he could say anything she apologized for waking him up and disappeared again. Warren finally woke up a couple days later. He felt pretty well except for the constant buzz in his head.
Probably the aftereffects of the flu. He thought to himself. He looked around the room as he got up to change into some clothes. He still felt a little light-headed but he managed. It looked like he was in the Halloway guest room. As he was putting on his clothes he heard a faint conversation going on downstairs. It sounded like Mr. and Mrs. Halloway were talking about their son John. Warren didn't like to eavesdrop but they were talking loud enough for him to tell that it had something to do with the friends that John hung out with.
That's interesting, Warren thought, John is usually on the straight and arrow when it comes to people. I wonder what kind of friends he has that would cause his parents concern?
Although he considered John a close friend, during the eight years that they kept in contact with each other by writing letters, John never mentioned any friends that he had. Warren had just concluded that John was an intensely private person. There were times in his letters that Warren felt privileged to read something about John that he knew John would never tell anyone else. As he was headed out the door, he remembered about his wallet.
At that moment an intense pain raced toward his head and only years of breathing techniques used in his self-defense classes kept him from racing toward the floor. He reached for the bed and sat down to regain himself. He sat there for a few moments taking slow, calculated breaths. It took a couple of minutes but he finally managed to ride it out. He took a deep cleansing breath and looked at where his wallet was.
Suddenly the wallet leaped off the dresser and smacked him right in the face. At the same time John had just opened the door. Warren turned his head quickly to the sound of the door but unfortunately he also lost his already precarious balance on the bed and slipped, landing squarely on his butt. John had a bemused expression on his face which just as suddenly turned to concern for his friend.
"Are you okay?"
An embarrassed Warren stood up with a lopsided grin,"Yeah, I just got up too fast." And I hallucinated that my wallet hit me in the face but we don't need to talk about that.
"Are you sure? Maybe you should stay in bed for a little while. You were pretty sick."
"John would you stop-" he searched for the word, "mother-henning me. I'm fine."
"Well breakfast is ready and if you're up to it, I'll show you all the changes that have happened to this fair city of London."
Breakfast was one of Mrs. Halloway's patented blueberry pancakes and her homemade syrup. They all caught up on current events and talked about how they missed Warrens parents. They were all extremely close during those times. Warren felt like he was home again. Although there were a couple times when John seemed to space out for a bit. Like he was deep in thought. >From what he noticed, his parents didn't seem to concerned and ignored it like it was a common thing. Afterwards, John and Warren left the house and headed in a roundabout fashion to the London Underground. It was a fairly hazy day and Big Ben chimed in at exactly 9:00 a.m..
"So, in your letter you wrote that you were going to major in medicine."
"That's right. I managed to get good enough grades to get a transfer here. Hopefully I can pull it off this year and Oxford will pay for the rest of my stay. And it's good to be back in England. During my time in the states, I never felt that my home was there. But you know all that. What have you been up to. Your letters were always rather vague. Where are your friends that your parents were talking about?"
John seemed almost evasive about that particular subject saying that they were all busy with their individual studies. Warren had the feeling that John was hiding something from him. But he dismissed it as too much time that had passed before them. They weren't the same people they were almost ten years ago.
It took another ten minutes for Warren to realize that they were going to an old haunt of theirs they had found when they were eight years old. It was an abandoned building that had always seemed to be on its last brick. Like it would collapse at any moment.
"Looks like you have a bit of nostalgia in you John. I'm surprised this building is still up and around."
"Not for too much longer, they're going to demolish this whole section and turn it into a parking garage for the business that they're building across the way." John pointed to a fairly modern complex under construction.
"Yeah that's really going to blend in with the rest of London," Warren said sardonically.
"Do you want a dog?"
"A what?"
"A hotdog Warren. Do you want a hotdog?"
"Sure, I'll come with you."
"No! I mean no, stay right here and take some pictures of our childhood playground." He handed Warren a small camera and went across the street to a street vendor.
Well he sure is acting strange. Warren suspiciously thought. Come to think of it he had been acting strange even before he had come back to England. It was like he was hiding something. But what? Warren proceeded to look through the camera lens and as he did, he saw the same girl who was on the plane with him. She was also staring right back at him.
During his street days, Warren had learned to be quite paranoid about other people, particularly ones who followed him. This girl he had never seen in his life, and it was real spooky that she was just standing there looking right back at him.
Warren started to traverse across the field to this mystery girl. As he continued walking, he felt a buzzing in his head. But that was okay since he was getting a little annoyed at somebody he never knew seem to follow him since Chicago. He was definitely going to have words with her. He was a little more than half-way to her when he noticed that the buzzing in his head had turned into voices that seemed to sound like they were from a football stadium. Warren turned around suddenly in confusion looking for the source. Nothing. Nothing at all. But they kept getting louder and louder. Almost deafening. Warren put his hands to his ears to keep the overwhelming stampede of voices out. But they seemed to have no end. If anything, they got louder. Deafening. Reaching a crescendo of voices. Of emotions.
Love.
Hate.
Anger.
Happiness.
They came from all directions. One sentence in particular seemed to be coming back to him.
[Break out] [Break out] [Break out] [Break out] [Break out]
For what seemed like an eternity, Warren was able to drown most of the emotions except for the voices that told him to break out. Warren couldn't understand what was happening to him and came up with the one emotion that helped him all his life.
Anger
[GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!]
It was like he had woken from a wild nightmare. Warren found himself on his knees as reality began to reassert itself. But it was like all his senses were on fire. Everything sounded so crystal clear. He felt like a flower that had just learned to blossom.
Footsteps.
Warren turned around to see John running toward him. For some reason he had instinctively perceived John as a threat and responded in kind by telekinetically flinging him back a good five meters.
[Carol, where are you? He's losing control!]
Warren was starting to freak out as the voices rose in his mind again. Instinctively again he pushed John back. But this time John was ready for it. Pushing back with all his telekinetic might.
"[John] what's happening [to] me?"
[Carol hurry up!]
[We're coming!]
Out of frustration Warren telekinatically threw a huge head-size rock at John. John barely was able to deflect it. Warren was going to try again when he heard something behind him. And then it seemed some of his strength seemed to leave him. He tried to get up but then he was surrounded by lights from every angle. He fell to the ground, his last image was that of four shadowy figures standing over him and then darkness swallowed him again.
***
John was pacing back and forth waiting for Tim's initial check-up of Warren. John had felt very badly about deceiving his friend like that. But it was the safest way that he knew of to get Warren to break out. At least he would be surrounded by people who had been through all of this before. He could remember how it was for him when he broke out. All alone. With no one to turn to. John ran a hand through his hair. More out of tiredness and exhaustion. It had been four hours since Warren broke out and had yet to come out of the effects of three stun guns trained on him. A voice woke him out of his reverie.
"Krikey, I can't believe it took that much effort to subdue him," said Kenny who was shaking his head.
Stephen agreed, "I've got a massive headache from when he yelled back. Can you believe he flung me back a good couple of meters? I thought I was going to pass out."
'I have finished my examination of Warren,' replied Tim.
John told Stephen and Kenny to pipe down as Carol came from the bathroom.
"Go ahead Tim, we're listening."
'Warren should be coming out of unconsciousness within the hour. His powers have not been affected. Although I will have a restraining shield around him when he wakes up, to keep him from jaunting accidently. It'll also keep his powers from hurting anybody including himself when he wakes up, at least until we have had a chance to talk to him and explain everything.'
"Thank you Tim."
John looked around to his friends. "There's nothing more any of you can do. If you want you can go home. I'll look after him until he comes to."
"John don't take all this responsibility on yourself," Carol responded, "We all had to go through the same thing. It was the safest way."
"That's right John. It's only been six months since all of you found me. I've accepted what I've become and I'm sure your friend will too."
John could tell that Stephen sounded very sincere saying those words that came out. He smiled.
"I hope he does Stephen."
"Well I'm going to take a nice long nap in my own bed. And if I'm right, everybody here is about as tired as I am."
Kenny stepped on the jaunting pad, "See you all later tonight." He disappeared in a flourish of lights.
Carol looked at Stephen, who in turn looked back at Carol. "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted."
Stephen walked up to the jaunting pad in a huff. Carol heard the familiar sound of the teleportation as she turned to face John. She chose her words carefully.
"John, I can understand why you're concerned for him. You've been friends with him for a long time but don't shut out the rest of us. We're all just as concerned. We're all that we have when it comes to this."
John let out a breath and preceded to sit down. He listened as Carol told him of all the fears and tribulations they all had to go through after they had gotten their powers. What society would think of them if they revealed themselves and what they could hopefully do for society when enough of their kind came into the world.
"Carol, I feel like I betrayed him. I should've told him," John looked at Carol as he bit out the words, "instead of chasing him like dogs chasing a fox."
There was silence in the lab for a couple of minutes as each mulled over the effects that the days events had brought them. Carol realized that John seemed overly concerned about his childhood friend. Carol realized that she didn't really seem to understand where all this was coming from.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?"
John looked at her with a puzzled look.
"Well John you've only mentioned him a couple times since we've met but you never told us how you two became friends in the first place."
'I would also be interested as well,' replied Tim.
"It was during the winter of 63'. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was cloudy and cold. Cold enough to be able to skate on ice at The Serpentine. It was so crowded. It was at a time when I was really having trouble fitting in with the classmates I went to school with. So I hung around this one group of kids who loved to make fun of anybody different. On that day, Martin, he was the ringleader, started pushing some of the other kids around. Tripping them up, yelling at them. Calling them names. He had zeroed in on one kid in particular, calling him names and trying to trip him up. But he never fell. Martin got the rest of us and we followed him. Martin pushed me into him and we both fell on our rumps. I apologized to him and he just looked at me and then skated off. Martin had a way with words even at an early age. He had managed to convince me Warren had insulted me with his silence and dared me to hit him. I should've known better but I went ahead and did it anyway. I clobbered Warren right in the chops. I'm sure I tagged him pretty good because he was rubbing his jaw. Anyway I thought right then and there that he was going to give me a good licking. And I'm sure he would've had we not heard the little girl scream. Both of us turned around just in time to see the girl go under the ice. Warren practically ran on top of me to get to her. I was right behind him. He jumped in the ice and managed to barely grap the girl's hand. I was one of the first ones there as he tried to give her hand to me. But the ice broke again and all three of us were in there. The water was so cold. Freezing. But with both of us we managed to get the girl onto more thicker ice. As I tried to climb up I lost my hold. I panicked and got caught underneath the ice itself. The next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital two days later. I found out later on that Warren had willingly dove underneath the ice to come get me. We were found about a good 50 feet away from where we had rescued the little girl. When he woke up a day later and was strong enough, I asked him why he had searched for me after the stupid way I had treated him before. He told me 'You're human aren't ya?'
Carol smiled at her friend who was finally opening up to her. She had realized long ago that John could be an intensely private person who had a hard time dealing with his own feelings. But she also realized that his story had jarred some memories of her own. John continued.
"Pretty much from that day on, we were friends. Oh, not all at once but over time. After a while we did a lot of things together. We complimented each others weaknesses and strengths. Don't get me wrong Carol. You, Kenny and Stephen are the best friends I've ever had, but Warren was the first one to actually become my friend before I became a Tomorrow Person."
John eyed Carol's red, tear-streaked face. He became concerned for his friend.
"It's okay John. I just wanted to say thank-you."
"Your welcome. I didn't realize that telling you this story would have such an effect on you."
Carol immediately came to the point, "When I was eight years old, I kept having horrible nightmares about falling into a cold dark place. As they kept getting worse the nightmares would change and I would find myself drowning in very cold water. My mother had told me then that I had nearly drowned in ice two years prior. The doctor had told her that I probably wouldn't remember any of it since I was so young. Since then, I've haven't had any more of those nightmares as much. But I always wanted to know who had rescued me. All I could remember were two boys but never the faces. Now I finally have a face to both of my heroes."
Carol reached out and grasped John's hand and held it tightly. John held her hand just as tight as their friendship. Which seemed to have been pre-ordained and sealed since before they first met. They remained like that for a couple minutes, enveloped in their special bond with each other.
[John]
[John is that you]?
John and Carol realized that it wasn't Stephen or Kenny talking to them.
"He's awake."
They went over to Warren and when they knew it was safe, Tim dropped the restraining field. Warren was given a blanket from Carol and John showed him to a more comfortable couch. Carol had Tim whip up some tea to give to Warren. All was quiet as they waited for Warren to take in his surroundings.
"Can I have another cup of tea? Whatever's happened to me has made my mouth so dry."
Another cup of tea was handed to him by a smiling Carol. Warren tentatively returned her smile and then looked questionably at John.
"Geez John, did I have a relapse?"
John looked at Carol who gave him a look of support. John realized that he would have to be straightforward with him. It would be the best way to tell him. And with Warren, you had to not beat around the bush.
"Warren, your're my best friend, so please believe me when I tell you this. What has happened to you was a life-altering experience. What you have become, what we are, is the next step in human evolution. We are homo-superior and we call ourselves the Tomorrow People."
Warren looked at John for a moment and couldn't help but to chuckle a little bit. The look on John's face when he told him was so serious and what he had just said sounded so out there, he couldn't help it. And coming from John like it did, it just sounded so comical. He chuckled out loud again.
Carol had seemed amused, "Well at least his sense of humor is intact."
John pleaded with Carol to be serious.
Warren looked around to Carol as if actually noticing her for the first time.
"Have we met?"
A slight redness had crept around Carol's cheeks as she responded to his question, "Yes. I'm afraid we have. While you were in one of your flu-induced hazes, I accidentally jaunted in your room. At the time, I hadn't realized that you were in there. And again, I am sorry."
Warren was puzzled, "Sorry? Sorry for what? Seeing me with my pants down? Well that's okay. People really aren't at their best when they're sick anyway."
Warren noticed that Carol was about to say something but she seemed too embarrassed. The color around her cheeks grew redder. He looked over to John who also had an odd look about his face. Then a thought occurred to him and he cautiously asked his question.
"I take it you literally, saw my pants down?"
Carol could only nod as she took a hand over to her mouth.
Warren let out a loud breath, "Great, I get to England all in a rush, get the flu, sign up in Oxford, get reunited with my friend, get shot at and have a girl see me naked all in 72 hours. Does anyone notice a pattern forming here?"
"Warren you need to listen to me. This was not a relapse. What happened to you was a break-out. One of the worse ones we've managed to date."
"What do you mean 'one of the worse ones?' and what the blazes is a break-out?"
John noticed that Warren's question came out more tense and with a hint of anger. John resolved to simply be straightforward.
"What I mean is, a break-out is when a Tomorrow Person comes into full contact with their powers for the first time. Yours was the worse because we tried once while you were laying in bed. But you were so strong-willed that the most we could do was keep you from jaunting accidentally."
John went on to explain what the Tomorrow People were, what they could do and how humankind would benefit from them once there were enough of them. It went on like this for a good ten minutes as both John and Carol took turns explaining to him all the good he could do with his powers, the rules and responsibilities associated with all this. He went through a range of emotions, from bemused to outright anger. Finally when he had heard enough he stood up. He needed to get a grip on things.
"Okay, okay, okay. Now hold on a minute. Let's go back a bit here. Are you saying instead of the flu, I was on the verge of breaking out, as you call it?"
Carol spoke up, "You were sick Warren, but you also were about to come into your powers. Sometimes when we're on that verge, one of our powers might manifest themselves every so often. Did that happen to you?"
Warren didn't answer her, he was still trying to soak all of this up. And the way they all, including John had chased him like a cornered animal, he wasn't about to trust them any time soon.
John caught on to his friends discomfort. "Please listen to me when I tell you that we all went through the same things that you're going through in your mind right now. 'Why me?' 'Am I some kind of freak?' 'Will my life change?' 'Will I be able to control my powers?' "
Warren looked straight in John's eye, "Well I must be some kind of freak since you had to get some four of you so-called Tomorrow People to literally knock me out."
John looked apologetic to his friend, "I am sorry for scaring you like that, but I will not apologize for what I had to do to save your life. Breaking-out is highly taxing on the body, during that time the mind is capable of doing anything. You could even jaunt into hyperspace while unconscious and be lost forever. Once you find out about all your powers and how to use them, you'll understand too."
"That's assuming I want to understand. So what do the normal people of the world have to say about this?"
John looked away, "For now, we keep our existence a secret."
Warren mulled over what John and Carol had told him and finally made a decision.
"I want out."
John and Carol looked at Warren like he had said something crazy.
"Are you both deaf, I want out! Now!"
"Warren you can't just stop being a Tomorrow Person. This is what-"
Warren interrupted him coldly, "What I mean buddy, is I need to take a walk, by myself to sort all this baloney you just shoveled me. Unless you want me to try and jaunt out of here on my own."
A door slid open from behind where Warren was sitting. He immediately got up and walked out without even looking back. John was about to go after him when Warren telepathically sent him a message.
[Don't follow me John. I'm not an idiot and I know you think that what you're doing is best for me. But I'm not a kid anymore and I do have a life that I'm just now barely starting to live. Just because I'm a Tomorrow Person doesn't mean that I can't have one. Does it?]
The last question stopped John dead in his tracks. He was still standing there a minute later when Carol put a comforting hand on his shoulder. She drew him back to a chair, then she took up another one and sat across from him. It was going to be a long night.
***
It was a couple hours later and all the Tomorrow People were in the Lab. Kenny was busy trying to teach Stephen how to play a chess-like game that had transparent pieces. Carol was busy doing her homework while John was, as always, deep in thought.
John was turning the conversation in his mind over and over again. He was starting to realize that maybe Warren was right. After all when he had broke out, as far as he could tell, he was the first. Carol came second and he felt that he had an obligation to teach her what he had learned from his powers. The same with Kenny and Stephen. But they were also still children. Warren was 18 and going to Oxford, already having his life planned and mapped out. But John also realized that his friend would make a good leader for everybody. Maybe he could even go away for more than a week at times while Warren would handle things back here. John knew it was a selfish thought and criticized himself for even thinking it. But he was only human and to constantly be on the lookout for more telepaths was practically 24 hours a day would tax anybody. A sudden commotion between Stephen and Kenny broke him out of his reveille. Kenny was telling Stephen to pay attention. Stephen complied but a minute later found himself staring at Carol again. There were times when John would forget that they were all teenagers. They all still had the same needs, wants, desires and dreams that came with being one. And from the looks of it, Stephen definitely had a crush on Carol. John supposed it was only a matter of time. After he had awaken from his breakout, Carol's face was the first he had seen. The first voice to comfort him. He couldn't tell if Carol noticed or refused to notice. John wondered what it would be like to really love someone. It wasn't because he never wanted to but it never seemed that he had time. Especially the past three years or so since he first brokeout. A voice inside his head interrupted his thoughts.
[John]
[Warren, I was afraid I wouldn't see you at all tonight. Where are you at?]
[I'm on top of Big Ben. The view is very nice up here]
[You're on top of Big Ben?! Did you jaunt?!]
John's thoughts were so loud that everybody had stopped what they were doing.
[Just come up here.]
John gave out an exasperated breath as he headed to the jaunting pad. Just before he left, he caught Carol's face which was full of concern.
"Is it Warren?" she asked.
"Yes it is. I'm going to have a good talk to him right now."
"Good luck."
It was windy on top of the antique timepiece. Warren was able to get a great view of the city as well as the sky. He could remember when him and his father would go off by themselves to talk about "boy stuff". He could remember his father saying that when he turned 13, then their special talks would be about "man stuff," since he would be going through that trying time called adolescence. A light appeared out of the corner of his eye and then a figure emerged. It was John. It looked to Warren like John didn't like having to come up to this windy part of the clock. He was fumbling around for his gloves.
"You would have to pick the coldest part of town," John replied.
Warren smiled, "Not as cold as that winter afternoon at The Serpentine."
"Been thinking back have you?"
"You could say its Carols fault. For some reason ever since I saw her, I've been thinking back to that."
John thought about telling him why Carol looked familiar to him but that could wait.
"I've been concerned for you friend."
"Yeah, I've been concerned for me, too. When I was little my father and I would go and find a good hill to have our talks. I figured that since this was the highest place. You get the picture."
John sat down next to him, "Yes, I see. So how was your first jaunt?"
"Oh, not to bad. I just almost killed myself that's all. I wanted to come up here so I figured that this would be a perfect test of my newfound powers. I jaunted and found myself in some odd place, oh yeah hyperspace, I think you called it. Anyway I was stuck in that place for a little while until I was able to really concentrate on getting out. Then I found myself up here."
John shivered as the night wind picked up, "Warren, I cannot stress enough about how these powers that you have, should not be taken lightly. I won't say how lucky you were about getting out of there without proper instruction. But you can't do this on your own. At least let us teach you some basics. If you want, it'll only be myself training you. But I can't have your death on my conscious because I wasn't insistent enough to make you understand the power your abilities have. I have a responsibility to the others and others like us who will break-out."
"I understand John, and you're right. I shouldn't be doing this alone."
This caught John completely off-guard. He had expected another argument or at the very least, some excuse to not want any of it.
"What made you come to that conclusion?"
"My past. It just seemed whenever I insisted on doing things by myself, I would get in even worse trouble. Like when I tried to help a friend overcome his drug addiction. Instead, I got hooked and he died anyway. Or like the time when I ran away from my aunt and found myself on the streets for a couple of years. I should've went to somebody on both accounts but I didn't and both times it almost cost me my life. I guess the third times the charm because I did it again with this jaunting thing."
John was looking out at the Thames River as Warren continued.
"I need to live my own life John."
"I realize that but-."
Warren interrupted him, "I also need help. I may go all stupid sometimes but eventually, I see the error of my ways and admit to them. No matter how stupid I may look. I need training in controlling my abilities."
John had a hopeful face, "Does this mean you'll be joining us?"
"Actually, think of me as a reserve. That part that you and Carol talked about with all of you actually seeing an alien civilization and fighting oddities like Jedikiah and Spidron is not what I had in mind, but I suppose I could be around if you need help. Besides, I never was one to walk away from a good fight anyway.
John smiled inwardly. "You made the right decision Warren. And I promise that we will not disappoint you."
"Sure you will," he said half-seriously.
They both got up and John handed a belt-like device to him. Warren asked him what it was.
John responded, "This is a jaunting belt. This will help you jaunt across long distances and Tim will be able to know wherever you are."
"So much for privacy."
"Ready to jaunt back to the lab?"
Warren wasn't listening to him. He was getting that odd sensation again that he was being watched. Was that girl still around? Warren relaxed, more than likely she was back at the lab waiting for both of them to come back. He wondered why John never mentioned her.
"By the way, if you like to fight sometimes, why didn't you hit me back when I punched you at the lake?"
"Well John, the face you made afterwards showed me that if I had even blew in your face, you would've toppled over. Besides it didn't really seem like you knew what you were doing anyway. Which brings to mind, do any of you know self-defense. Just because you can't kill anybody doesn't mean you can't defend yourselves does it?"
They disappeared into the night.
Epilogue
She watched as they teleported out from the top of Big Ben. Steen had told her that there were four telepaths living in London. But the teleportation signature that Warren left caused her some concern. During the four years she was off Earth, she had seen a lot of races able to teleport without using the wasteful lights that often came associated with it. Most races were able to find out the trick about it. But she also knew of a handful of individuals throughout the galaxy that could teleport without the lights right off the bat. Without even knowing how they did it. Those were the very rare individuals that the Federation watched, and feared for. But basically, her plans had pretty much remained the same. Although Warren would have to bear close watching, for if what she suspected was true and without the proper help, Warren would become a danger to himself and to others. For the moment, she would let them handle it. Even though she had been born here, this was still a closed world and she would have to follow strict protocols. She walked back to her flat, contemplating the day of that fateful meeting,
The Beginning