The Psionic Thief Page 6

  “Y’all don’t have to come, but I can guarantee we’ll be safe up there until the sheriff gets bored. Once we get settled in, I can keep us fed and comfortable… not only that, but I bet most of you would actually enjoy the heck out of fishing for trout in my lake.”

  “Count me in,” Charlie said. “I used to love going fishing with my pop before he went away. He used to tell me I had a real knack for it.”

  “I think it might look suspicious if we all disappeared at once,” Sue said. “I’ll volunteer to stay here and guard our stash of canned food since you guys won’t need it with all the fish you’ll be catching.”

  I had no doubts about how well she would ‘guard’ our food stash, but I had to admit she had a point; we couldn’t always travel as a group or it would get noticed. In the end, Sue and Sam both decided to stay here while the rest of us holed up in the hills.

  It was a little late to get moving, so after a can of dinner we all simply crashed for the night. I knew I had my work cut out for me getting them through the woods tomorrow and needed as much sleep as I could get.

  ***

  I was completely exhausted by the time we crested the last ridge before my private retreat. I knew it was gonna be tough, but I never imagined my friends would turn out to be such whiny little bitches. It was both annoying and frustrating.

  Every stubbed toe, every mosquito bite, every little thing that inconvenienced them in the slightest turned into an instant ‘Claire, can you…’ plea for help. I was the youngest out of all of us making the trip and was I whining? No, I went ahead and did what needed to be done.

  Still, we finally made it with plenty of time to get things in order before it got dark. Charlie was completely entranced by the lure of fishing in the lake so I set him up with a good bamboo stick and line, and let him at it. As a bonus, he was foraging in a strawberry patch while waiting for the multitude of fish he was sure were just fighting to get on his hook.

  Billy and Joey were on firewood duty and after fumbling around for a while, they managed to get the hang of finding good, dry deadwood. Once I was sure everyone was getting things done, I grabbed a few handfuls of sparrowgrass and flew up to the cave to start getting things organized.

  Over all of my past visits I had made a comfortable little bed area for myself, but the rest of the cave had a rather rocky floor. It took close to an hour before I was able to fix the problem by removing the most obnoxious rocks and then leveling the area with sand I lifted up from the shoreline.

  It looked pretty good to me, but considering how much my friends had whined on the way up here, I decided to go for broke. I directed Billy to a spruce tree with nice plump branches and told him to chop that sucker down. The springy boughs layered under a tarp would make a mighty fine bed for us.

  I had to keep a pretty close eye on him since he never chopped down a tree before, but by giving it a good mental nudge as it started to fall I made sure he didn’t kill himself. While he stripped the branches I started lifting up the firewood they had piled at the base of the cliff.

  They had gathered far more than I could have in an equal time, so I only lifted up enough to get us through the night and then brought Joey up so he could pile it nice and proper. I left him to take care of that and took myself back to Billy’s branch work.

  It seemed like he was sure getting the hang of it fast since there was already a huge pile of boughs for me to bring up. It took another hour before I was satisfied, but the end result was four beds that were fit for a king.

  Charlie managed to catch six good sized trout plus a huge bass… even without the rest of our supplies we would have been eating fine tonight. With all of his fish added, we stuffed ourselves until we couldn’t move and simply vegetated by the fire afterward. Life sure could be good sometimes.

  I wanted to hit the hay, but I still had one last chore to take care of before bed; I needed to try and contact Sue and Sam to find out if the cops were on to us. I warned everyone I needed quiet, and that anyone who bugged me would get tossed.

  They knew I wasn’t serious about throwing them out, but they acted like they were scared, so they promised to behave; it was kinda fun. Fun aside, I settled myself down into our fine new bedding and got as comfortable as possible before trying to reach out with my mind.

  Ok, the fun was definitely over. I found myself working harder than I ever had in my entire life to reach my friends back in town. After about a bazillion years (Charlie said it was only twenty minutes, but he can be dumb sometimes) I finally made contact with Sam.

  “Claire?” he said, sounding both surprised but relieved. “We’ve got a whole slew of problems happening.”

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “Did they make us somehow?”

  “I think they got Sue. There was a big stink about the B&E this morning and the description matched her close enough to generate some interest. When she tried to run, the interest turned into something more.”

  “Dang it,” I swore. “Why did she try to run? All she had to do was laugh at them and she woulda been fine.”

  “Who knows what she was thinking, or even if she was thinking at all. All bullshit aside, though, she’s either in the sheriff’s jail or far, far away. Either way means she’s up the creek without a paddle and there’s not a lot we can do about it.”

  “I can’t maintain contact much longer tonight. Find out what you can and I’ll contact you tomorrow.”

  “Gotcha, babe… I’m on it. This is Sammy-boy, signing off.”

  “You’re such a dork,” I said, as I broke contact.

  The long distance contact gave me a massive headache, but I tried to ignore it so I could get some sleep. It looked like we had a disaster on our hands, but there was nothing I could do right now except wait.

  Waiting sucked.

  Chapter 10

  Linda: A Better Plan

  “Move the light more to the left,” I said, trying to make out a water damaged section of the codex that was particularly tricky.

  “Stop… hold it right there. Mark, get the picture from this angle and we’ll have the last piece of this part done.”

  “It looks good,” Mark said, after taking a few pictures. “Let me dump these in the computer and we’ll see how things come together.”

  I looked over the first section in satisfaction while Mark updated our digital copy. The black light Carl picked up had done the job admirably, and I hoped it would work on the rest of the damaged areas.

  “Yup,” Mark said. “That’s the last missing piece we needed for the first part. You now have a complete chapter to work with, or whatever they call it.”

  “That’s what I was waiting for,” I said, barely able to contain my excitement. “Transfer it over to my machine and I’ll get started on it while you two work on finishing up the rest of it.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” they both said, in unison.

  In anticipation of when I could get started translating, we had moved the codex upstairs. This gave the boys more room to lay it out and work with lights and camera angles. Most importantly, it gave me back my office so I could work in solitude.

  The job would be hard enough as it was, and I didn’t want any distractions while I was concentrating on it. Looking at Mark’s computer, I saw I had about fifteen minutes before the copy would be complete so I went to the kitchen to fix myself a nice big glass of iced tea.

  In addition to temporarily moving Mark out of our office, we had set up an extra computer with two huge monitors just for displaying the digitized manuscript. This way I could use my regular machine for any online references without having to mess with the codex machine.

  “The copy is done,” Mark sent to me. “It’s in your hands now, dear.”

  “Thanks, hon.”

  I took a deep breath and sat down at the computer to open the file; it was show time.

  ***

  My back and neck ached, my butt was numb, and my head was killing me… I also had a huge grin on my face. I had att
acked the codex by starting with the easy symbols I knew from my studies and had gotten a surprising amount of translation done.

  It wasn’t even close to being complete enough to make any sense out of it, but in a single day I had gotten around a third of the first section finished. The rest would take a lot longer, of course, but I was still incredibly proud of what I accomplished so far.

  I was reluctant to stop while I was on a roll, but I needed to stretch and get something to eat. Seeing that it was almost midnight surprised me, but was the last bit of motivation I needed to let it rest until tomorrow. I would have to try and remember to take several short breaks throughout the day or I would really be hurting by the time I was done.

  I cast out with my mind to see if Mark was still awake, and found him out back in the hot tub. A nice hot soak sounded like just the thing to help relax my stiff muscles, so I quickly changed and went to join them.

  “It’s alive!” Carl exclaimed, as I stepped onto the deck.

  “Partially alive,” I replied, not having enough energy to think of a wittier comeback.

  “How did it go?” Mark asked, rising to extend a hand to help me climb in the tub.

  “Pretty good… I lost track of time, but got a lot done.”

  “You haven’t eaten since this morning; you must be starved.”

  “I could definitely use something in my belly. While you’re up, get me a glass of wine as well, please.”

  “Sure thing,” he said, as he climbed out and began drying off.

  As the hot water and pulsing jets began to work their magic on my muscles, I wondered if I could somehow set my computer up here. It was a nice thought to daydream about, even if it wasn’t very practical.

  Mark returned faster than I imagined possible, bearing a bowl of Brunswick stew with a salad and the requested glass of wine. After profuse thanks, I dug into it like the Tasmanian Devil, and to hell with what they thought of my table manners; I knew they would understand, and I was absolutely starving.

  It probably wasn’t good to gorge myself so fast, but sometimes you just have to say ‘screw it’. Once I finished inhaling my dinner I tossed back the rest of my wine, accepted a refill, and lay back to relax a bit before the expected inquisition began. Sure enough, once I was finished the questions began.

  “So… what exactly does ‘pretty good’ mean in terms of translation?” Mark asked.

  “It means I got a fair chunk of it done, but it was mostly the easy things like numbers and stuff. The rest won’t be as easy, but it’s going faster than I initially estimated. How did you two do with the rest of the codex?”

  “We got quite a few sections to come clear under different lighting, but not all of them. There are some chemicals we could try, but we were both reluctant to try them on that weird Mayan paper.”

  “The Mayans called it huun and they would make it from the bark of the amate wild fig tree as far back as the fifth century. It was pretty good stuff back in the day and was even better than papyrus; it was a superior writing surface and far more durable.”

  “Sounds like good stuff, but I’m not sure how it would react to chemicals designed for papyrus, rag, or skins.”

  “I think trying it would be a very bad idea. Remember that we only have this thing on loan, and if we damage it in any way, there’s no chance of replacing it.”

  “Yeah, we’ll figure something out eventually. Speaking of figuring something out, we were talking to the sheriff earlier and came up with a plan that might help him get a look at our psionic thief,” Carl said.

  “Oh?”

  “Since this thief seems to be taking out the surveillance cameras inside, we suggested he have some hidden and monitored cameras outside places that might be targets.”

  “That’s kind of a shot in the dark, but I guess it’s better than nothing.”

  “That’s only the first part,” Mark added. “I’ve wanted to practice my astral projection and this will be a good exercise. I can do a few laps around town and take a close look at any group of human auras that seem out of place.”

  “That still seems like a slim chance to me, but it can’t hurt. I assume if you see them you’ll head back and call the sheriff?”

  “That’s the basic plan. I’ll try and get a good look at their faces so we can get some solid ID’s, then flip back home and call it in. The rest is up to him.”

  “Good… I don’t mind helping a bit, but we have to get this node problem figured out.”

  “Carl and I have been tapping into the node every chance we get, and we’re almost ready to try interacting with it. We’ve just been waiting to see what kind of wisdom the Mayan translation will give us.”

  “We may not have time for a full translation, so go for it; don’t let fear and common sense hold you back.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence… I think.”

  ***

  I beat Mark into astral mode by about three minutes; it was a small thing, but it made me feel a bit better that I could do it. Neither one of us had had much of a chance to practice lately, so I wanted to join him and stretch my legs, so to speak.

  Going astral was always a fun experience, since it gave me a chance to go flying without the chance of being seen. It was extra fun when Mark went astral with me, since we could talk to each other as long as we kept in contact.

  I let him do the ‘driving’ tonight so I could just relax and enjoy the flight; he was the one with the plan anyway, so it made sense to me. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

  “Where are we off to first?” I asked, once we both had our bearings.

  “Straight to town so we can try and figure out a route that’ll take us past each of the potential targets the sheriff thinks are most likely to be hit. Once we get a look at them, we can start watching for anyone in the area behaving suspiciously.”

  “What constitutes suspicious behavior these days?”

  “Well, if we have a bunch of people hanging out around a closed store, it might raise an eyebrow. If we actually see them breaking in, that’ll probably raise both.”

  “Point taken… I don’t plan on sticking with you all night, but if we do happen to run into the thieves while I’m still with you, I’ll try and follow them while you alert the sheriff.”

  “Sounds good,” he agreed.

  “Then lead on, MacDuff.”

  “You do know that’s probably one of the most misquoted Shakespeare lines in existence, right?”

  “Whatever,” I said, anxious to get started. “It fit the moment, and was meant to get your butt in gear. Speaking of which…”

  “Ok, ok, we’re going… hold your horses.”

  Without further ado he brought us through the side of our house, and after gaining a bit of altitude, sent us winging straight toward town. I always loved flying at night… especially in astral mode when the whole world came alive with all the auras of nature. Even insects that usually annoyed me became beautiful, looking like little glowing stars.

  Once we got closer to town, the bright yellow auras of living creatures increased by an order of magnitude. Not only the glow of bugs and little forest critters, but larger and brighter auras from dogs, cats, and people.

  Once we hit the edge of town, Mark steered down Main Street and took a little circular flight over each of the places he wanted to watch tonight. By the time we hit the end of the strip, I was appalled by the number of places he would be attempting to keep an eye on.

  “How are you ever gonna be able to watch all those places at once?” I asked.

  “I don’t have to actually watch the buildings; I just have to watch for people in or around one of them. If I see one of the potential targets with a group of people sneaking around, then it’s a good indication I found the right spot.”

  “Ok, so let’s say there are some people behind a closed store, another on the front street, and a couple more down the block who’re just standing around and perhaps keeping watch… that would be the suspicious be
havior you’re looking for, right?”

  “Yes, I think that would qualify as suspicious,” he chuckled.

  “Then look to your left.”

  “Holy crap,” he exclaimed. “It’s them.”

  “Good eye,” I said, amused.

  In a maneuver that would have pulled several G’s if our bodies were corporeal, he wretched us into a sharp turn and headed down to the store I pointed out. He stopped our flight directly above the store and slowly took in the scene.

  It looked like there were six of them working together. There was a watcher out front, a scout at the end of each block, and three in the back parking lot, who would presumably be the actual thieves. They seemed to be fairly cautious and made sure the area was clear before one of the people out back sprinted forward and took up another hidden position.

  “This has to be it,” Mark sent to me. “But I can’t get a real look at anyone’s face. All I see is bright light from their auras, and dark shadows around them.”

  “I think it’s worth calling the sheriff over. Head back to let him know what we’re seeing and I’ll keep an eye on them.”

  “I’m already gone,” he sent as he let go of my hand and let his astral-self snap back home.

  I was watching a steady stream of canned goods float into the bushes behind the parking lot when a sudden mental scream of ‘scatter’ sent me reeling in pain. It was so unexpected, I lost partial control of my astral flight and found myself back home floating above my house.

  I was tempted to try heading back to follow the thieves, but knew it was futile; they were already scattering and it would be impossible to pick those specific people out from the crowd. With a sigh that almost felt real, I let my astral form float down through the roof and toward my bedroom.

  As I passed through the attic room where the boys had been

  working on digitizing the codex, a patch of moonlight shining on it caught my eye; something was different with it. I halted my downward progress and floated closer to it.

  Yes… it was different. The moonlight was illuminating a part of the blank backside of the book, but it was no longer blank! Glowing in the moonlight with an actinic blue that practically leaped off the page was a whole new set of runes. Hidden, psionically attuned glyphs.