(Part 2)

Several months after the visit by the two dark-suited men, sent by a Professor Sandra Henderson of NASA...

"Hello, Jimmy..." spoke Prof. Henderson to the boy of 12. A true adept of all sorts!

"Am I... In jail or something? Did I do... anything bad?" Jimmy replied, anxiously to her.

Sandra gave the boy, now nearing the 'terrible teenage years' a smile, while nodding a silent 'No'.

"Jimmy, I cannot tell you how we learned of your abilities... with animals and insects... but you are a guest here."

"Then, why exactly... Am I here?" the boy queried. Was he now an experiment? As young as he was, he did grasp the 'idea'.

He had read about the first animals into space: 'Laika' the dog (Russia); 'Felicette' (France), 'Ham' the chimpanzee (America).

Was he being readied for some space-adventure? His aunt had not explained anything... She was under a signed oath to say nothing,

even to Jimmy, her precious ward and beloved nephew. And her 'son', as she never had ever married or had any children of her own.

Jimmy's aunt had been aware of the boy's abilities for years... She had tried to keep it all secret, but somehow certain people... knew!

#-#-#-#-#-#

Some weeks later...

The boy was progressing at an incredible rate. And he was able to do even things the newest A.I. technology had not

been able to solve, as of yet... The real reason that Jimmy had been brought to this facility in the South-Western desert.

"Good, Jimmy... You got the answer right away!" said Prof. Henderson. To this moment, she had been the sole person

to interact with the boy. This was deemed the best, as he had been home-schooled by his aunt, since Jimmy's real mom

had died some time ago: murdered by Jimmy's father, late one drunken night, when the boy was only 3 or 4 years old...

"Alright, Jimmy... Please see what patterns, if any, you see in these signals... The audio and the sinewave on the screen."

"Okay, mam..." he replied, quite happy to try. He got nice, small 'rewards' for all successes that he had. He had them often.

(To Be Continued...)