But I was not holding the ball. It was just floating in space in front of me. I could even smell the rubber in the ball. But it wasn’t floating, and there was no movement at all. It was locked in my gaze.
I blurted out, “Well, shit, Dayana!” Surprising myself, I immediately went silent but thought, What did I just say? Who’s Dayana?
I don’t know how long this moment lasted, but Mike saw this whole scene and exclaimed, “Holy cow!” That’s all it took to distract me. I glanced at him, and when I did, the ball fell to the floor.
Jane walked up, picked up the ball, and smiled. “Not bad for your first catch. Good reflexes.” She grabbed my shoulders to give me a friendly hug, leaned close to my ear, and quietly said, “Dayana? I wonder who Dayana is.”
I looked at Jane, but Mike yelled what I was thinking, “Not bad? That was freaking incredible!”
Over the next few weeks, Jane had a lot of other ways to test me. She had flash cards with different symbols on them—stars, circles, squares. She would hold one up with its back to me. I would tell her what it was. I don’t know what I was doing, except that I could see the picture in my mind. Sometimes, I thought that the image came from Jane’s mind. As if I was seeing what she was seeing! Very weird, but I never got one wrong! The same thing happened when we started to play poker. I could tell all the cards that Jane and Mike were holding. Jane even played the shell game with me. You know, she had three shells and put a pea under one of them and then mixed up the position. Again, I never missed.
Between actual tests, Mike and I would play catch in the hallway. He would use a catcher’s glove, and I would stand with my hands in my pockets. He’d throw the ball, and like the first time with Jane, I’d stop it in air in front of my face. But then I learned how to “throw” it back. To an observer, the ball looked like it would wiz back to him. It’s hard to describe what I was doing to throw the ball back. I was not picturing myself as throwing a ball like a normal throw. It was more like a two-handed basketball pass, only with no hands. Makes no sense, right? Don’t feel bad if you don’t understand it because I don’t understand it either. I’m just doing it, and I’m not sure I know how I’m doing it, but it works.
Then Jane arranged the best test. She got a gambling wheel from a casino. You know the kind that has numbers on them, and people bet on what number the wheel will stop at. The thing was so big she left it in the hall and didn’t try to bring it in the room. Mike picked the number 8 to bet on. Jane spun the wheel and instructed me to stop the wheel on that number. I looked at her, and she said, “Go ahead. Stop the wheel on number 8.”
I stared at the wheel. It was a little difficult to find the number 8, what with all the spinning, but I found it. I stared at the number 8 but also watched the little arrow that ticked as the numbers went by. The wheel slowed as eight was coming around. Closer, closer, and I thought, Stop. It did! The wheel stopped on the number 8!
I stood staring at the wheel while Mike laughed. “We will make so much money in a casino!” Then I looked at Jane. She was smiling but had a small tear forming on one eye. I stepped to her and hugged her, and she held me back.
I thought to myself, This is frightening. It scares me.
I didn’t say it out loud or even in a soft whisper. I thought about it, but Jane spoke quietly in my ear, “I know, sweetie. I know.”
I pulled away from Jane and stared at her. I was puzzled. Did Jane just read my thoughts?
“Dear sweet liebchen.” Jane smiled at me and used a German term of endearment.
She started to explain but didn’t speak. Instead, she was sending her thoughts to me, and I could understand everything she said, I mean thought, to me.
Throughout history, people have used many ways to describe us, you and me. We are adepts with special powers. Our kind have been revered and respected oracles, prophets, and soothsayers. We have also been fortune-tellers, palm readers, tarot card readers, and clairvoyants. Now we are new age paranormals claiming extrasensory perception…telepathy.
In the past, Jane continued, attempts were made to eradicate some of us. They thought we were witches, but now some know we are real. We are a genetic evolution to continue the survival of the species.
I have this position on the research team for two reasons. I was born into a coven. My ancestors represent a long line of adepts or witches. None of the adepts are men. All are female. My research has focused on studies dealing with paranormal psychology. My PhD thesis was “Testing Techniques in Applied Parapsychology Analysis.” I have written many papers on hoaxes and false paranormal claims, and I have written on true “unexplained” actions.
My skills and training came in high demand when it was discovered that the inhabitants of this new galaxy were telepathic. Several different groups, including mining corporations and the military, requested my help.
Please understand, liebchen, I don’t see myself joining the Nayleans because I am like them, but we are half breeds, so to speak, you and me. I sometimes wonder if we could be the ones that carry an “olive branch” of peace to the Nayleans.
Chapter 5
Lunch
One day, Jane came into my hospital room looking very professional in a brown business suit. “Let’s go out for lunch. Are you hungry?”
Panic flooded over me. I suddenly realized I had not been off this floor since my transformation began. All my rehab activity had been right here in my room or in the diagnostics room next door, and my workout tests were in the physio room across the hall. It had been a few weeks now, and I hadn’t gone any farther than that. Then it hit me! Other people would see me in my new altered state.
“Where do you want to go?” I asked meekly.
“The main cafeteria. There are several buildings to this research center but only one main cafeteria in the complex.”
I didn’t like that. “Will people be there?”
“Well, yes, this is a med science center connected to the army base. Lots of people work here.”
I was squirming. “Dr. Davis hasn’t cleared me to eat food yet.”
Jane countered, “Dr. Davis hasn’t cleared you for solid food yet. You can do pudding, Jell-O, yogurt, ice cream. You can just drink a soda. Come on, it’s a nice day.”
That did it, yogurt and Jell-O, not so much, but ice cream. But I hadn’t had ice cream in I don’t know how long. Even though it sounded wonderful, I balked. “I don’t know, ice cream is a lot of lactose.”
Jane smiled and nodded. “True, but it is chocolate lactose. You will even be able to get hot fudge lactose.” She held the door open, and as I walked out of the room, I looked at her. “There will be a lot of people there, huh?”
Jane pressed my back and ushered me out the door. “There are a couple of hundred people in the complex, and it is lunchtime. We might not get a table.” I was ready to turn around, but Jane took my arm, my real arm, and just walked me down the hall.
We went down a televator, the teleporting elevator to the main floor, and went out into the sunshine. I had to admit it was wonderful to see the world. I don’t know how long it’s been since I first set foot on that transport ship because that was the last time I smelled fresh air. It was wonderful!
Jane led the way to the next building and through the front doors. We passed people outside the building and in the lobby, but Jane just walked on. She looked forward as she walked, but I was looking at everyone else, and they were all looking back. I could tell they knew who I was, what I was. “Jane, I don’t know about this,” I pleaded.
Jane didn’t say a word and walked me through the doors of the cafeteria and to an open table. She smiled when she pulled out the chair for me. “You sit, and I’ll go get our treats.”
I lowered my head and sat, not looking at anyone. I could tell they were talking