Chapter 4:

Meanwhile, somewhere near Southbank, GA

An elderly man, tugged at his untidy, wrinkled but clean vest, in a vain effort to smooth it down. His whitespun beard was unkempt and needed to be combed, very badly. He pulled on his tweed jacket, and a harried expression played itself over his face. His crooked spectacles kept sliding down to the tip of his nose, which he annoyingly pushed back upward. He rushed out of the door from his domicle, muttering something under his breath. Experiments had to be done, and researched. Jonas was his latest and best study, out of a group of ten students, that exhibited unusual qualities in their classes. He had the highest ESP rating in the study group, which wasn't surprising, because Jonas was very bright. He was close to figuring out how to harness psionic ability. He just needed to modify the lab to probe Jonas' unconcious mind. He pocketed an antiqued gold watch in his hand, flipped the lid open, saw the time, and swore.

"Dammit, I'm late." He quickened his steps out of the apartment complex.

South Taphini - The Ship

Meanwhile, back inside the Ship's Interior Chamber, I stared in bewilderment mingled with confusion, trying to assimilate the three words that I had just heard. "You can't kill."

Conflicting emotions played across my face. "What? Why? People can kill. Why not us? Are we aliens?" I saw Adam staring at me with a look of disbelief, spurring a burst of annoyance to flit across my face. "Well?"

Adam shook his head. "No. We're human. Just the next step of evolution of mankind."

All my doubts faltered and faded away, as the presence of the others grew in my mind, to be comforting, and this way...I knew I would never be alone. I smiled tremelously at first, then more of a broader smile, slowly standing up, brushing the sandy dust from my pants.

Ami smiled softly, reaching out to my mind with hers.

Words flamed in my mind, Welcome to the group...

I staggered back against the force of his words, even if his words were pleasant, they felt like fire. I winced visibly and clutched my head with my hand.

Ami stepped forward with concern etched on her face, and reached out for my shoulder, whispering, "What happened? Are you ok?"

The searing pain, abruptly gone, caused me to exhale sharply, and blink rapidly. "Uh.. Yes. I'm alright. Just let me catch my breath." I opened my eyes to see Adam glance sharply at Ami, as if he were scolding her telepathically. I felt a sense of being left out, and clenched my fist sharply, unaware that a wind was swirling around my hand. "Stop that. I know I'm the new one here. But it doesn't mean you should just talk amongst yourselves while I can't hear you!"

Ami looked contrite as she laid her hand on my shoulder, as if to soothe my frayed nerves. "I'm sorry. We're sorry... It's just that...it's never painful to use telepathy, unless .. " I heard her stop in hesitation.

I looked into her eyes, puzzled, and cloudy. "Unless..what?"

Ami looked at Adam, who gave her an almost imperceptible nod. "Jonas... We usually have problems with our powers, if we've been drugged, knocked out and placed under sedatives, or overuse of our powers. It's...just really unusual for what happened, because you just broke out."

Ami continued, "No one has reacted like that from a telepathic greeting, other than when we've gotten into trouble."

A simple word emerged from my lips in half understanding, and half puzzlement. "Oh." The wind that had been forming in my palm was dissipating. At the back of my mind, I had been wondering what this wind thing was, with curiousity, and somehow the others didn't pick up on that.

Megabyte stepped forward, brushing his carrot-red hair back with a hand, and smiled gently. His words underscored what I thought was implied. That the Tomorrow People had a knack for getting in trouble, but it was almost always worth it. I noticed a momentary flicker of pain flit across Adam's face as Megabyte concluded his statement. Some others have been here? Then left? or died?

Adam stood straighter as he seemed to come to a decision. "Ok, guys. That's enough explaining for now. Let's try getting some practice."

I nodded uncertainly at Adam. Practice? I thought it came naturally

I glanced at Megabyte startled, as he grinned. "Haha... Naturally? That's new! Kid, no one gets these powers, and just instantly knows how to do it. With all skills, it takes practice."

I glanced down, half sheepishly, earning a small chuckle from Megabyte. As Ami looked at her watch, she swore. "Oh damn. It's late. My mum's expecting me for dinner. I gotta go! Later guys!" The other two smiled, and nodded. She stepped back and concentrated, and my nerves began to tingle with an anticipation that seemed to be as if I were teleporting, as she vanished from view in an implosion of air. At her departure, I swayed slightly, suddenly released from her exit.

Adam watched as the teleportation effect wore off, and focused on me. "Okay. Let's practice."

Three and half hours later, exhaustion overtook me, as I collapsed on the platform inside the Ship's Central room. Practice wasn't coming easy to me, as I thought it would. My ...telepathy was still erratic, and I couldn't teleport very well. At least not with how they normally did it. I could move things around very easily. That seemed to be a natural knack. I glanced at my watch, wondering what time it was. My eyes widened in shock as it was so late!

Adam followed my thought like quicksilver. "You need help getting home? You want one of us to come along to explain?"

I shook my head hesitantly. "No. I don't think so. I will explain...I think. My dad's going to freak though."

Megabyte muttered, "Who wouldn't?" I decided to let that slide for now. "So..how do I get home?"

Adam explained in words that made sense. "Just concentrate on where you were last. Think of 'home', and want to be there at the same time. Although...I don't know if you can yet. You're stlil having trouble." He looked doubtfully at me, as if trying to assess who I was, and what was going on.

Hyperawareness and static began to fill my senses, then my surroundings began to dissolve, for a mere moment, then with a loud pop, I was still in the Ship. My frustration began to well up from deep within me, rendering me angry...angry that I couldn't master a simple trick, like they could.

Adam's puzzlement was radiating from his core, then his face lighted up, as he had an idea.

"Jonas, don't try SO hard. You seem to be trying to push it too fast. Let it flow."

I heard his words, and wondered. I dimly remembered a wind swirling around me prior to me landing on the island. I smiled softly, as an instinctive feeling rose within me. "Okay. I think I can do it now."

As I tried again, hyperawareness of static began to form around me. I imagined a wind swirling around me, and the image of home loomed in my mind. Static enveloped me but not before startling the other two, with a sandstorm cylinder forming around my body. As I vanished, the sand started to drift down, as if a light wind had buoyed it until it settled onto the Ship's floor.

Megabyte scrambled backwards a few steps. "What the hell was that?" Adam stared at the spot where I vanished, with feelings of bewilderement and amazement, rendering him speechless.

"I don't know, Megabyte. I don't know.", was Adam's stunned reply after a few silenced moments.