The Tomorrow People are copyrighted by Roger Damon Price.
In the twelve years since he first teleported, Adam's life had changed immensely. Now twenty-nine, Adam thought back over the changes in his life as he sat in a lawn chair on the beach. Though everyone's life changed from seventeen to twenty-nine, how many people could say that they had Adam's experiences? Comic book super heroes, maybe?
He heard rustling in the foliage to his left. As the rustling got louder he could hear two muffled female voices. A few seconds later, two Central Asian teenage girls came into view. Adam had gotten to his feet, his body shielding the girls from a taser sitting on a lawn table behind him, while clearing his thoughts.
"Hello, I'm Adam Newman," he said. "Do you speak English?"
"I am Ester Smith," one of the girls said. "This is my friend, Rohini Prakash. She doesn't speak English." She continued, "So you are Adam Newman? It is nice to finally meet you. I have heard much good about you."
"Thanks. Are you girls from India?" he asked.
"Yes. Rohini and I thought a nice walk on the island would be ideal. With the time zone difference here we could spend our lunch break here and still be able to return in time to attend afternoon classes," Ester said.
"May I ask how you wound up with a Western name?" Adam asked.
"About a century ago, some Christian missionaries converted some people from India to Christianity. Those converts took Western names. I am a descendant of them," she said.
"Do all Christians in India have Western names?" Adam asked, intrigued.
"No. Some Christians do. Many do not. Some trace their religous heritage to the Apostle Thomas." Ester was interrupted by Rohini, who was saying something to Ester, telepathically. Though Adam didn't hear the conversation due to Rohini tightly focusing her communication, he had seen the look of someone using telepathy so many times, there was no mistaking it. If Adam really wanted to, he could eavesdrop, but that was rude.
"We really must be going," Ester said.
"Nice to meet you," Adam said and telepathically transmitted feelings of reassurance to Rohini as both girls teleported away.
There were a lot of Tomorrow People like Rohini. It seemed that over fifty percent of the approximately eleven hundred Tomorrow People did not speak English. Fortunately, many of the other Tomorrow People who were not native English speakers had studied English in their countries of origin, so they could translate. It turned out that telepathy was just talking without using one's mouth. If two Tomorrow People met without a common language, telepathy just meant that the difficulty in communication went from the vocal to the subvocal. Reading minds would show one's emotions, memories and sometimes intent, but humans thought in language, and without speaking that other person's language, reading minds only went so far.
When he had been in university, Adam had studied Chinese and Japanese ostensibly to go along with his degree in International Business, Megabyte had learned Spanish and Arabic as well as Computer Science and Law. He had just passed the bar last year and started working for the U.S. State Department. Kevin had studied Turkish and Aerospace Engineering. Ami and Lisa had learned French. Ami had become a nurse and Lisa was finishing her studies to become a doctor. Many of the other native English speakers had already known or had studied other languages. Despite the efforts of most of the Tomorrow People there were still a few Tomorrow People who spoke languages that no other Tomorrow Person spoke. The Ship helped, but it didn't communicate in words but in images.
Megabyte, you busy? he called out, telepathically.
Pretty busy. I'm in a meeting. What's up? asked the redhead.
Any word about Mohammad? Adam asked.
Not yet, but I expect it won't be long, he answered unhappily.
I'm on the beach. Joao is in the control room. I am expecting Carlos and Akira, shortly. Give me a call when you can talk, Adam said.
Are you armed? asked Megabyte.
Joao and I have tasers, Adam answered.
Good. I'll call when I can Megabyte broke off.
When there had only been the first twenty Tomorrow People, everyone had been nice to each other. Adam had thought that was just a part of being a Tomorrow Person. Even Lisa had never been mean, just distant. That illusion had been shattered when a thug named Arkady had teleported onto the island. He had tried to kill Adam. Arkady tried to threaten everyone like some sort of Mafia boss. Though he couldn't kill, he could intimidate and he threatened to get a non Tomorrow Person to go after Tomorrow People's family members. Fortunately, he really wasn't connected to the Russian Mafia. If he had been, Adam didn't know what would have happened.
Arkady had been killed about two months after his breakout by a Chechen bomb in Moscow. He had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Since the bomb had been left unattended, there had been no one's mind for Arkady to read. His death had happened so fast that he couldn't teleport away in time. Though Arkady had been the worst, there had been other bad ones.
He was distracted from his ruminations by a familiar splash. A new Tomorrow Person had just broken out. Adam looked to see if the new breakout needed help swimming. Over the years, several people had died because they couldn't swim and no one had been around to help them.
Swim toward the island, Adam said.
Adam didn't sense any panic from the young man, He was surprised, confused and a little angry. He started swimming toward the island. Adam was surprised, though. The new Tomorrow Person was a soldier. He was swimming in full battle gear. Adam was ready to go in and teleport the new man, Private Jake St. Mark, to the beach if he couldn't make it. It wasn't necessary. The soldier made it to the beach. He got to his feet as quickly as someone in full combat gear could.
"Where am I, Adam?" he asked belligerently. "How did I get here? Last I knew, I was in a firefight in Kirkuk and whammo! I'm in the drink! How did I know your name is Adam?" Private St. Mark stopped for a breath.
"You got here by teleporting here. You can teleport because you are a Tomorrow Person," Adam explained in a calm reasonable voice. He then went on to explain what the Tomorrow People were and that Tomorrow People couldn't kill.
"Hey, wait a minute," St. Mark interrupted. "I know that I can kill. I have done it a couple of times already. I was in a firefight just as I teleported which I need to get back to before any of my friends get killed. How do I do that?"
Adam was stunned by what the young man said. Jake looked to be a teenager. How could he have killed? "I don't understand. Maybe you could kill before you teleported, but you can't do it now."
:"If the Tomorrow People are so advanced, why do you have that taser?" Jake asked.
"Because I can't kill him either, but he has got to be stopped," Adam answered with a strained voice.
"Who has to be stopped?" asked Jake.
"Four days ago, another Tomorrow Person teleported for the first time, a sixteen year old Palestinian named Abdullah Mohammad. Yesterday, he tried to teleport a bomb into the ship and teleported out before it exploded. Another Tomorrow Person, Joao, had been standing behind Abdullah and was able to sense Abdullah's rage and intent before Abdullah teleported away. Joao teleported the bomb into the sea and barely got away before the bomb exploded.
"You think this guy's going to try something..." Jake was interrupted by a flash of light. Two Middle Easterners teleported onto the beach. One was a carrying a machine pistol and the other a taser. With shouts of, "Allahu Akbar!" they turned their weapons on Adam and St. Mark.
Without thinking, Jake shifted to his left, firing a three round burst from his machine gun. The first two rounds struck the man with the machine gun, one of which hit his heart, killing him instantly. The third bulled struck the taser wielding youth in the shoulder. As he fell, his head struck a rock and knocked him out. His aim had been excellent, though. Adam lay unconscious, having been hit by Abdullah's taser.
Adam! What is going on, out there! The ship is going crazy! Suddenly, three men teleported onto the beach. Jake swung his rifle towards them but sensed no malevolence, swung it back toward the unconscious youth. Before he had teleported, Jake's telepathy had always been how he could tell if the person in question wanted to try and hurt him or not. Everyone in his squad had assumed, as had he until a few minutes ago, that he was gifted with a really strong sixth sense for danger.
"This guy will just bring more shooters," Jake said with his finger on the trigger.
One of the men, Carlos, said matter as a matter of fact, "You can't kill him, Jake. Tomorrow People just can't kill." Carlos didn't make a move towards him, neither did Akira nor Joao.
Jake pointed his rifle at Abdullah. He tried to pull the trigger, but couldn't. He kept trying. They were right. He couldn't shoot him. This is nuts, he thought. I just did it. A Tomorrow Person can kill. I just did it! Suddenly, Jake's face relaxed. He lowered his gun and stepped back a couple of steps, while closing his eyes.
"It is okay, Jake. We will think of something to do with him," Akira began as Jake swung the gun up and let loose a three round burst into Abdullah. As he fired, Jake collapsed to his knees, dropping the gun. He looks up at the shocked faces of the three Tomorrow People.
"I need to get back to Kirkuk. I am sure my squad is looking for me. How do I do that?" he asked.
Later that day, after returning from his patrol, Jake lay on his bunk thinking. He had killed three men today, two of which he couldn't talk about. He had been right. The squad had been looking for him. Since no one had seen him teleport, he had claimed to have been separated in the firefight. Since he had been in several firefights before, everyone knew that he wasn't a coward, so they accepted his story at face value. Fortunately, no one thought to ask why his clothes were wet.
Jake can you talk? Adam asked. Just think your answer to me in a complete sentence.
Can you hear me? Yeah, I can talk, Jake answered.
I hear you. You're doing fine, Adam answered.
I guess that the others told you what happened? Jake asked.
Yes. You want to talk about it? Adam asked.
Not really. You know that I had to do it. He would have just brought more killers, Jake said.
We know. We would like to talk to you about how you were able to do it. None of us believed that it could be done. Will you come to the island? Adam asked.
Jake paused for a moment before answering. I don't want to go back to the beach.
I understand, Adam said. We can meet in to the ship.
I don't think that meeting in the ship is a good idea. I'll explain why, later, Jake said.
After further discussion, it was decided that Jake would try to teleport to Waimea Bay in Hawaii and Adam would teleport him to someone's home. It was 2 a.m. Hawaii time, so no one should see them teleporting. Jake had sensed that Adam was a trustworthy man. If Jake didn't sense that, he wouldn't have gone. They had agreed to meet in five minutes. Jake took his sidearm, slipped in to a room that he could lock the door and teleported early.
He had been to Waimea Bay once, when he was thirteen. In the wee hours of the morning, it looked very different than the time his family had visited there during their one trip to Hawaii. He found a spot where he could observe the other Tomorrow People without being seen. At night, the teleporting effect would be easily to see. Though Adam may be trustworthy, Jake St. Mark had little doubt that there were most likely to be others like Abdullah Mohammad. Any soldier in Iraq learned to always consider the possibility of a trap when going into the field. Though Jake was only seventeen and had been in Iraq for two months, he had become a quick study on how to survive.
Five minutes later Adam and a disheveled young Asian woman appeared on the beach. They were speaking telepathically, but Jake could pick up their conversation. Why did this new Tomorrow Person refuse to come to the island? It's way more private than anywhere else!
I have my reasons, Jake answered.
She looked at him in the moonlight. Next time Haole Boy, pick a better time of day instead of dragging people out of bed. I have exams. Good night! With that, she teleported away in a huff.
"I had to wake her. She is much nicer in the day time," Adam said.
"Most people are," he said. "So, um, where are we going?"
"Maryland. It is the home of friends of mine. They live about forty miles from Washington. The others are waiting, there," Adam said.
"And the others are..."Jake asked.
"We don't have elections, but there are people who have been very active in watching the beach for new Tomorrow People, helping the younger ones, dealing with the crises, taking the risks, that sort of thing. I have invited some of those people to the meeting. They will relay what needs to be said to others as needed. Are you ready?" Adam said.
"I guess so," Jake said.
"Good. Now I have to ask one question in advance: have you told anyone about us?" Adam asked. There was seriousness in his tone.
"If I told my superiors that I could read minds, I would be a guinea pig for the rest of my life." Jake answered. Adam stared at Jake. Jake knew that Adam must be reading his mind. Jake didn't resist. He had spoken the truth.
"That's right. We don't want to wind up that way either. In fact, we have had to go to some extraordinary lengths just to prevent that from happening. Let's go then." Adam reached out his hand. Jake took it and the beach was empty of Tomorrow People.
They teleported into a modest sized dining room. From there, Jake could see that the living room was full of people, all in their twenties, sitting and talking. Since no one seemed to react much to the teleportation, it was obvious that these were Tomorrow People. There were about twenty-five people in the living room. The curtains were drawn. It wouldn't do to have a passerby to see someone though a window teleporting. Though they didn't react to the teleportation, when they saw who had arrived, everyone got quiet.
"Thank you for coming," Adam said, while going to the front of the living room "All of you know what happened by now. A new Tomorrow Person, Abdullah Mohammad, brought a non Tomorrow Person to the island to try and kill us. Our newest Tomorrow Person was able to kill him. He is an American soldier, serving in Iraq. He graciously agreed to come and talk with us about what happened." Looking to Jake, he said. "Jake you are among friends here. Your telepathy will reveal that to you."
Jake took a deep breath and walked to the front of the living room to face his audience as Adam took a seat. "Hi, I'm Jake St. Mark. I suppose you want to know how I was able to kill those two guys." Jake hated public speaking. It made him extremely nervous having a room full of people staring at him.
"Tell us what exactly happened, Jake. Start from when you landed in the sea," an African American woman, Lisa, said. .
Jake felt a wave of reassurance from her and it was quickly being sent by everyone in the room. Jake started by telling how he had been in a firefight in Kirkuk and in the stress of it had teleported into the sea. Everyone nodded at that point, which confirmed his suspicions. When he got to the part of the story of the shooting, everyone was hanging on every word.
"When they appeared with weapons, I didn't think about it. Targeting and firing was totally reflexive. When I tried to fire the second burst, I couldn't. Then something clicked. I had heard someone say that the ship was going crazy. Maybe the ship was stopping me, telepathically. I like to read science fiction so I have read a lot of stories concerning telepathy. I got this idea from some of the stories that I read. I lowered my gun, stepped away from the ship, which I hoped would encourage the ship to let up. I also tried to make a telepathic wall. Then I tried real fast to get off the shot before the ship could stop me. I went to my knees, but I got the shot off. That's what happened," Jake explained.
Everyone in the room was silent. No one said anything verbally or telepathically for several seconds. Jake could hear rain striking a window, while everyone considered what he said. Finally Joao spoke up
"Everyone wants to examine the ship when they teleport to the island for the fist time. We show them the doorway into the Ship, they go on the ride down the tube.." he began.
"…and the Ship inserts some kind of hypnotic suggestion that prevents killing." Lisa finished.
"That's why I didn't want to go back to the island. If I'm right, going into the ship would mean that I'd have the same kind of hypnotic suggestion put into me that you have. As a soldier, I can't allow that to happen," Jake said. "It was hard enough to get the shot off, anyway." He added.
"There is a flaw in your reasoning," Adam said. "I was attacked by a shark. I tried to kill it, but I couldn't. I hadn't been in the ship yet. It was just seconds before I teleported the first time."
"You may have just frozen," Joao answered. "It happens to a lot of people when exposed to a seriously violent event, for the first time. With all the stuff that has happened since then, isn't it possible that you just assumed that it was part of being a Tomorrow Person especially if the ship is encouraging nonviolent thoughts?"
"Then how do we teleport? How do we read minds? How do we do all the other things that we do if we are not the next step in human evolution?" Adam asked testily. He was not taking this conversation well. One did not need to be a telepath to see that he was in denial. He had spent his whole adult life as a Tomorrow Person, believing himself to be the first of a new species of man. Jake killing someone had rattled him badly. If the Ship was responsible for blocking the killing impulse; well that didn't stop him from being a Tomorrow Person, right? He could still teleport. He was telepathic and he could sometimes heal others. He was the next generation of humanity!
"Uh, Adam," Johannes, an Afrikaner from Pretoria said. "We've known each other for about ten years and you are a good friend, but I have never believed that we were the next stage in human evolution. I don't believe in evolution. I am not the only one who doesn't, either. Vivek and I have used some of our profits from the stock market to open a small lab to do genetic testing of the Tomorrow People."
Johannes and Vivek, a South African man of Indian descent, had both gotten advanced degrees in genetics. Most of the adult Tomorrow People had used their telepathy and networking among one another to become very wealthy in stocks. It wasn't illegal because no regulatory agency knew to make any rules concerning telepaths.
"I'm assuming that you are being careful about who has access to your material," Megabyte said from the back of the room.
"Of course. Except for my mother, only Tomorrow People know of the research," he answered. "As you know, part of our facility is working on a type of cancer research. That is what the public sees. Vivek and I are just a couple of rich geneticists who are trying to cure cancer."
"I knew that you guys were doing cancer research. I didn't know that you were researching us. Have you found anything?" Megabyte asked.
"Megabyte, our guest is thirsty," said a brunette, Amanda, who came into the living room. "I have coffee, OJ and doughnuts on the dining room table. Help yourselves. Let's stop making Jake feel as if he's in the Inquisition."
After getting a snack, Jake found himself in a group that surrounded Johannes. He was interested to learn what Johannes had to say. Megabyte, Amanda, Kevin, Adam and Akira were in that group among others.
Johannes took a drink of coffee and said, "Like I was saying, human beings have a lot of genes and DNA that we really don't know what it does. Vivek and I have found six strands of DNA that seem to be active in us that aren't active in the main population. How they were stimulated is what we are trying to figure out."
Adam relaxed visibly. Everyone knew what he was thinking, so in order to not look foolish, he held his peace. Jake was mildly impressed by Adam's self control.
"Why a wrecked ship?" Kevin asked. Everyone looked at him as he took a breath. "I watched a documentary recently regarding Agent Orange and about long-term birth defects. What if, when the Ship was spiraling down Earth's gravity well, it was venting something? What if that something is what stimulated those genes? What if the reason that we go to Ship is that it is still venting whatever it is and we are somehow attracted or drawn to that stuff? We all feel the slight tug to teleport back to the Ship. With experience, we've all learned to ignore it, but we can always feel it."
Jake cleared his throat. "Um, may I ask a question?" When the group looked at him, he asked, "Since you knew that you were Tomorrow People, it sounds like a lot of you have been making moves that will make you leaders of your countries, right? What if that was the plan all along? Stimulate the genes that give us our powers, organize us by putting out a homing beacon, get us in the ship to have us blocked from killing and made pacifistic, let us think that we are evolved, then when we become most of the leaders of the world, invade. Think about it. Earth would be paralyzed!"
The room was totally silent. Everyone had heard Jake's hypothesis. Suddenly self conscious, Jake said, "I think I would like to get some more juice." He went to the dining room, got some juice and entered the kitchen to get away from everyone's stares.
A couple minutes later, Megabyte and Amanda came in the kitchen. They both smiled. Jake listened with his mind and felt their encouragement. He smiled back.
"Your welcome here Jake," Megabyte said.
"That's right, Jake," Amanda added.
"Thank you. Are the others mad at me?" Jake asked.
"They are seriously rattled, but I don't think that anyone will hold a grudge for long," Megabyte answered. "After all, that is not something we can easily do, whether you are right or wrong."
A Turk walked into the kitchen, Mehmet, and said, "I hope that you understand that most Muslims do not want jihad against the United States."
Jake could see the sincerity in the man's mind. In spite of all of the new revelations, Mehmet was concerned about how Jake perceived Islam. He thought a moment before answering, "Mehmet, every soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan believes that 99 percent of the Muslims don't want jihad against the United States. If jihad were the goal of most of the population, we could get nothing done."
After a second Megabyte said, "You may as well say it. We all got it from your thoughts."
Jake said sheepishly, "I have got to remember that you can read my mind too. Okay, here it is; I believe also that there are powerful forces within certain Muslim countries that do want to promote a low level jihad against the United States. They know that the liberal media will help them. I also believe that certain Muslim countries are turning a blind eye to Muslims killing Christians who are citizens of their countries for being Christian. In my book, Sudan is number 1 on that list."
"Well, I am pleased that you don't think that Turkey is the worst country," answered Mehmet.
"Oh no. Turkey has one of the better reputations for religious tolerance for Christians. Since you can read minds, you know that I am telling the truth,"
At that, Mehmet smiled and offered his hand, "Nice to meet you, Jake," he said. They shook hands and Mehmet said to Megabyte and Amanda, "I must return to Istanbul. We have been given much to consider tonight. Megabyte, nothing will be decided tonight or should I say today? It is morning here, but night back home. If anyone has anything worth repeating, please let me know."
"Certainly, Mehmet," Megabyte said.
Mehmet nodded respectfully toward Amanda, "Amanda, you are a wonderful hostess, as usual."
"Thank you Mehmet," she answered.
Mehmet teleported.
"I'd better get back before I'm missed," said Jake
"Okay, but we want you to visit," Amanda said.
"Remember, with telepathy, you can call anytime. We want you to call, but the Tomorrow People have a little etiquette thing you should know. For emergencies, call anytime. If it is not an emergency, please consider the time zone that the other person lives in. No one likes being awaked by a phone call at two in the morning," Megabyte said.
"Okay, that makes sense," Jake said.
"If you want, we can give you a call about this time tomorrow. That will be Sunday evening your time, Sunday morning our time. Is that good for you?" Megabyte asked.
"That would be great," Jake said. "Would you ask Johannes to give me a call, too? I would like to hear more about his research."
"Johannes would be happy to talk to you, Jake." answered Megabyte.
"Okay, visualize where I need to be and push," Jake said, repeating what Carlos had told him on the beach about 16 hours ago.
"That's right," Megabyte said.
Jake teleported back to Iraq.
Several days later, Megabyte, Lisa and Kevin teleported to the beach where it had all started. They were worried about Adam. Since the meeting at Megabyte's house, Adam had closed himself off from everybody. Joao had seen Adam on an outcrop about a mile east of the beach and he thought that Adam might be the most receptive to the other original four Tomorrow People. Megabyte suggested that the three walk up to him, instead of teleporting.
As they approached Adam, he looked over to them and said, "I'd really like to be alone, now."
"He's spooked us all, Adam," Lisa said.
Adam didn't answer.
"Adam, if you didn't believe that you were a Tomorrow Person, would you have saved my life during that Culex mess, or the time you helped save Lisa's mother if you only had your powers without the idea of being a Tomorrow Person?" Kevin asked.
"Huh?" Adam looked a little confused.
"Why did you save my life?" Kevin pressed.
"Because you were a little kid and you needed help and..." Adam faltered.
"…and because you wanted to help?" Kevin interjected.
"Of course," Adam answered forcefully.
"Adam, people look up to you because you want to help people, mate," Kevin said. "For the most part, we all have pretty much the same abilities. You have known for a long time now that being a Tomorrow Person doesn't automatically mean people stop being selfish. You knew that a long time before Abdullah and Jake came along. Arkady, Leo, Francine, Hee, and Tran are just a few that have either been total pills or are totally ignoring the rest of us."
"I guess that I've always hoping that they would have to come around, like Lisa did," Adam said.
"I didn't 'come around' Adam. I wanted to help, but I was underage and I still had a lot of growing up to do. It would have driven my mom nuts if I had been saving the world with you when I was a teenager. When I think of the fact that we have Lady McVeigh along with several other of our enemies stashed on that island for what amounts to life, just to protect ourselves and our families..." Lisa said.
"How many times have we saved the world, from one threat or another over the years, Adam? How many people have we helped?" asked Megabyte.
"Our lives are a lie," Adam said despairingly.
No one spoke for a few seconds. "So what are you going to do Adam? Are you going back to Sydney and work on your business and stop helping the Tomorrow People? If you want to do that, I am still your friend, but even if I'm not evolved, I'm staying because I think that the world is a better place for me using my abilities to try and help. Amanda agrees. So do Joao, Johannes, Akira and Yukiko, Ryu, Vivek, Lasse, Ami, Jade and a whole bunch of other people. We are stronger with you than without you, but we will go on," Megabyte said.
"What if Jake is right? That the Tomorrow People are a type of Trojan Horse designed to paralyze Earth?" Adam asked.
"Now that we are considering that possibility, we can prepare for that contingency," Megabyte said.
Hey you guys! Joao's voice called telepathically. We just found two new kids hiding in the Ship! Young kids. Ami is talking to the girl in French The new girl is probably from Africa. The boy is an East Asian. He looks like he is about nine. I have never seen anyone that young teleport before! Liu tried to talk to him in Mandarin, but with no luck. He is calling in the other East Asians to see if someone can talk to him. Thought you'd want to know! Joao broke the contact.
"Well Adam, We are going to meet the new Tomorrow People. Maybe you can talk to him in Japanese. Do you want to come?" Megabyte asked.
After a second, Adam said, "We should ride the tube into the ship. We don't want to frighten the kids worse than they already are. I'm glad we replaced the sand at the bottom of the tube with an air mattress." The four friends walked across the beach to the Ship.