Chapter 26: New Deals

Brad (Lowenstein) POV:

I think the wheels have just fallen off our ‘Project’.

Or, at least the original premise thereof.

I’m in the minority on that belief, however. Make that, a minority of ONE.

Now, all of our fellow ‘helpers’ are either on Perdition Island or on their way there. That leaves my wife Brenda, ‘She-bera’ (Ibera’s doppelgänger) and me monitoring everything that’s going on.

And there’s been a bunch of very interesting interactions!

Annie and Lolita have been whisked away by most of the rest of the girls to discuss the particulars of their recently discovered and highly unexpected ‘pregnancies’. Both girls in question have been nervously eyeing each other, not quite sure what to say.

Brenda thinks that both of them are considering coming clean and telling their ‘sisters’ the truth.

I told her that I felt Lolita might but that Annie, being more experienced in the ways of the world, wouldn’t, just because of the repercussions they might face.

Brenda was watching them closely as I noticed our two lovesick fools totally forget they weren’t ‘Spirit Walking’ and one of them damn near caused a major kerfuffle.

Luckily, they both teleported out of there before they were physically discovered.

Chen, however, told his buddies he felt certain one of us, meaning the four of us up here at Ibera’s, were what Lonnie unexpectedly collided with. He said the reason he was certain was because he could actually smell their deodorant and aftershave.

Neither JB nor Darren ever wore an excessive amount of either, but, I knew they both used at least deodorant, albeit sparingly. And since none of the prisoners had used anything since they arrived on the island, Maxwell Lester and Blaine Murdock had also smelled it and had no trouble believing Chen was correct.

The unfortunate consequence of all this was, this was just one more ‘proof’ that they were all being watched. Deep down I’d been hoping by this point in our experiment the prisoners would have forgotten that we might be watching them. My theory is that if they know we’re watching, they won’t act the same way they would if they didn’t know.

I was just about to switch views to see what my intrepid bunglers were doing when suddenly Monte and his friends, Maggie, Bruce and Sheila materialized right in front of the group of aforementioned guys.

They were all startled, but, Chen barked out a laugh.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce CIA Secret Agent, William Monte, that huge guy there, and Agent Maggie Pendergast, the feisty brunette next to him, Agent Bruce Bixby and ... well, I’m not sure who the cute, little redheaded pixie is, but, you can bet she probably works with them!

“Monte, my big friend, what in THE HELL brings you to our humble island!? Aren’t you just a little ways out of your jurisdiction?” He chortled, amusedly, his right eyebrow raising.

Monte just grinned, “You should know? Wherever American lives might be in danger IS our jurisdiction, isn’t it?”

Chen laughed heartily, “TOUCHÉ.” Then he smirked, “but isn’t Agent ‘Straight-laced’ stretching the rules, just a little bit? I’ll bet your boss doesn’t even know you’re here, right?”

Monte clopped him on the back, also grinning, “Wrong again, Chen, Director Logan is fully in the loop on this!”

Chen looked completely gobsmacked, “Are you honestly trying to tell me that our illustrious Director really gives two shits about what might happen to all of us... ‘banishees’?”

Monte chuckled, “Until just recently? I won’t try to kid you. He couldn’t care less. However, after the last couple days, he has taken a keen interest in your situation. As you’re well aware, Chen, the CIA doesn’t need much of an excuse to organize a black ops mission, especially when there’s a great chance of gaining some valuable Intel.

“You see; we have a common enemy here. Some friends of mine, including this cute little redhead, whose name is Sheila, like you, have infiltrated the Gromorik’s base deep inside Russia. We have reason to believe that the Gromoriks are stepping up their operations with regards to capturing anyone with psychic abilities. We discovered they’ve been trying to build a weapon to not just nullify, but destroy, any and all psychic abilities that anyone displays or possesses.

“What we didn’t discover, until it was too late, was that the device you guys hijacked from that four-man Gromorik goon squad, was most likely a prototype of such a weapon. We have our very own expert on his way here to examine it and hopefully reverse engineer some kind of a defense for it.”

Chen was smirking and looking at his friends around the table, “So ... what, when you guys get that device, you plan on leaving us? Are we going to get any kind of reward for letting you have the thing?”

Monte just shook his head, “So, you don’t think all the goodies that Ibera just sent you guys might not be reward enough?”

Many of the guys around the table coughed back a reply and were looking at Chen with questioning eyes. Chen took a second to acknowledge their looks before saying, “Well, if you’re suggesting we could lose some or all of that stuff if we failed to comply, then yes, we will gladly give it to you. It’s just that, as you must also know, everyone here but Annie and Max, just lost all of the abilities that little Zeus, Apollo and Athena had given us. Is there any way we could possibly get those abilities restored?”

Monte smiled, “You just brought up the second reason why we’re here. Let me ask you a question, Chen. Have you ever met the guy who is the source of all of our abilities?”

Chen looked highly confused and befuddled. His eyes narrowed and he asked, “Originally, the abilities I had back on Earth, I got from my guy, who I didn’t think you were even aware of? Are you saying you knew Tsau Ni Ma?”

Monte chuckled again, “No. I’m not talking about your Catalyst, Tsau Ni Ma. I’m talking about the guy that gave him all of his abilities!”

Chen was stunned, “I always thought he developed all of his powers on his own!? Are you saying that he had a Boss?”

“Yeppur! Not that your boy paid a lick of attention to anything ‘his Boss’ wanted or didn’t want him to use them for! As a matter of fact, had Tsau NI ever gone and visited him, Zeus woulda stripped him of his powers fast enough to make his head spin!”

Chen’s eyes grew in surprise, “You mean our little Zeus gave Tsau Ni his powers, too?”

Monte and his crew laughed, “Um, no. The Zeus I’m talking about is the one who graciously sent his favorite little ‘friends’ here to try and protect you! I’m referring to the Zeus responsible for bestowing nearly all ‘gifts’ of Telepathic and Psychokinetic abilities anyone on Earth has ever had!”

Chen’s confusion deepened, “Wait a minute, if all of the powers came from your ‘Zeus’, then how did I get the ones I had before Tsau Ni disappeared?”

“Tsau Ni was one of Zeus’ Catalysts! Just like little Zeus did with you, a Catalyst has the ability to also bestow powers on those he or she sees fit. Those powers will only last as long as your Catalyst is alive or he takes them away from you. The second he/she dies, so does your powers. By the way, Tsau Ni didn’t just disappear. He was killed by a pterodactyl!”

“WHAT? I thought that Charlie guy must have killed him!?”

Sheila giggled, “Nope, actually, his brother, Bob WAS chasing him, trying to get him to go and see Zeus. He attempted to evade Bob by teleporting to different places, but, Bob instantly found him. Then, he tried teleporting back in time to like 75 million years ago. When Bob showed up there too, the poor bastard was so stunned, he didn’t notice he was standing right in front of a mother pterodactyl’s nest. Bob saw her coming and teleported back to the present just before Tsau Ni became her ‘lunch’!”

Chen was open-mouthed, “WAIT ... did you just say, Tsau Ni could teleport thru ... TIME???”

Monte grinned and nodded. “Yes, SOME Catalysts, especially those getting their powers before the last year or so, could travel through time! Charlie and Bob both can, too, BUT, Zeus is much more careful about giving that power out anymore.

“There are severe repercussions to be had if you go into the past and change anything! Some of Zeus’ ‘less scrupulous’ Catalysts managed to create a whole slew of alternate realities, thinking they could go back in time and alter the future. The truth is, YOU CAN’T. When you go back in time and change ANYTHING, you end up creating an ‘Alternate Reality’ instead. And the things you changed will NOT affect the ‘old or original’ Reality, or the one you thought you would be going back to. When you create an alternate reality, you’re stuck there with no way of returning to the one you started in!”

Everyone was looking massively confused.

And I was among them!

Chen had listened intently, but sighed, still looking lost, “Then ... what’s the point of going back in time? If you can’t DO anything?”

“Observation,” Monte explained, “If you were to be invisible, you could go back and see exactly ‘who’ really killed JFK. And possibly uncover the conspiracy, if there was one. Or, Chen, if you were careful, going back and finding out what the original deal was between our government and the Greyzarians?”

“Ahh, but, I just couldn’t CHANGE anything? Still seems kinda lame, if you ask me.”

Monte grinned, “And now you understand why that power isn’t given out like it used to be. The downside far outweighs the upside.”

As things settled down, Monte asked, “Now, as I had started to say, ‘Big’ Zeus wants to ‘interview’ some of you for possible candidates to be Catalysts.”

Before he could say anything more, Chen was grinning, “Am I ... you know, in contention? I’ve changed! I really WANT to do good now!” He unabashedly pleaded.

I had to wonder if Chen heard me laughing. Brenda was holding her sides and rocking back and forth in her chair.

Even Monte appeared to be smirking as he exchanged a glance with Maggie. “Well ... I do believe you’re name made the list! There are some conditions, however.”

Chens’ initial look of elation dissipated quickly, “Oh? Like what?”

“Well first, you need to be ‘nominated’ and seconded by the majority of the 22 in your group here. Then, you WILL need to pass Zeus’ interview. Is there somebody named George here?”

George looked stunned as Lolita was dragging him to his feet. “You mean THIS George?” She asked, brightly.

George seemed to need Lolita’s prodding as she coaxed him toward Monte’s group.

Monte chuckled, “Are there any other ‘Georges’ here, George?”

George smiled as he joined Monte then Maggie in a handshake, “Not that I’m aware of. It’s just that, I don’t know anything about psychic abilities!? Even this telepathy, that I admit I’ve enjoyed, I have no idea how it really works?”

Monte grinned, “Well, the good news is, you don’t have to understand HOW it works. You just have to believe and be willing to use your powers wisely if you pass the interview?”

While George smiled, Blaine, Steve and Max were acting like they’d been dissed.

Monte noticed and said, “I know many of you don’t understand right now, but, there are still some details that we, as a group, need to discuss. Like, do I have any ‘nominations’ for Chen?”

Many hands went up, far more than half.

Monte patted Chen’s shoulder, “Congratulations, your first hurdle has been crossed! Now, if I could have everyone’s attention. Nominations for George?”

Several more, mostly the girls, put their hands up. Monte announced that George would join Chen to go and be ‘interviewed’ to be Catalysts.

He looked around, finally seeing Chad Marek and Shawn Peters hiding behind some girls. He chuckled, “Marek, Peters, why are you guys hiding behind everyone?”

Chen whispered, chuckling, in Monte’s ear, “Um, I believe they think you might want to kill them!?”

Monte grinned and whispered back, “And you’d be wrong ... I need to make a point.”

As soon as Marek and Peters finished shuffling up closer, Monte chuckled, “What’s up? Don’t you want to be part of this discussion?”

Marek and Peters eyeballed each other, then Marek spoke, warily, “We’re not sure after everything that’s happened ... that you might not want to kill us?”

Monte smirked, shaking his head, “I KNOW Franklin ordered the hit. You guys were just following orders ... right?”

Marek was slack jawed, “You really don’t blame us!?”

“I’m sure you didn’t protest much when Franklin told you I was the target. But, when you guys saw that Bruce and my girlfriends were there, you SHOULD have refused to finish the mission. That’s what I’m most pissed about. I know that you and I have never gotten along, but, now, I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. Are YOU?” Then Monte looked at everyone, “Are all of you willing to put the past behind you?”

An enthusiastic ‘YES’ went up.

Monte nodded, smiling wide, “And ... if I asked how many of you would help your ‘Angel’ if you could, would you? No matter WHAT it was?”

“HELL YEAH!”

Monte grinned, “GOOD ... I’m going to test your promise! Linda, would you show yourself please? As your Angel, first?”

When Linda reappeared many were cheering. Even when she ‘changed’ back to her normal appearance, there were some ‘awes’, most not recognizing who she was.

Max exclaimed, “Linda? You’re just as beautiful in person as you were as an Angel! What could you possibly need OUR help with?”

Many were nodding their heads in agreement with Max’s statement.

Linda inhaled deeply, “I need help finding my husband! The damn Gromoriks kidnapped him and my sister-wife Mary and Mary’s baby, CJ. They want to experiment on them!”

I was looking intently, seeing many shocked and sympathetic expressions ... until Chen gave Monte a knowing look, then asked, boldly, “And what is your husband’s name, sweet thing?”

Linda’s shoulders sank, “Swenson. Bob Swenson, Charlie’s brother. Mary is Charlie’s wife and CJ is Charlie’s son...”

Chen smirked, “And, just why isn’t the ‘Almighty Charlie’ out helping you?”

Linda’s eyes welled up, “He IS ... or he tried ... he made a mistake and now we don’t know when he is.”

That sucked all the sound out of the area. Everyone was looking at each other in various stages of disbelief, until Chan gasped, “You mean WHERE he is, right? I thought you said ‘when’?”

Linda was sadly shaking her head, “Um ... no, he went into a wormhole when he shouldn’t have and now ... nobody knows where in time he ended up!? Or when we may ever see him again...”

Most everyone seemed dumbfounded with this revelation.

Chen had a faraway look on his face, “So, right now, on Earth, Charlie and Bob are just ... gone? Damn! The criminals must be having a field day?”

Monte huffed and smacked Chen on his shoulder, “You’re losing ‘interview points’ faster than water through a sieve right now, you know that, right?”

“Oh shit!” He gasped, “Come on, you KNOW Charlie and Bob PUT all of us here? Can’t you cut me some slack?”

Blaine and Steve had joined Max in surrounding Linda, telling her they would gladly do whatever they could to help.

Blaine said, “I told Elmer, numerous times, that we needed to cool our jets and just leave Charlie and his Family alone! When Guido told us he’d sent some of his guys out to wire their house to explode I knew he had just ‘poked’ the bear! And, sure as shit, within HOURS all of us were up at Ibera’s with no idea how we even got there!” He looked at the rest of his friends, “Look guys, our Angel, Linda DIDN’T have to come here and help us! Let’s not forget that. We could easily all still be writhing in pain! And Linda came here and saved Lolita and Annie’s lives, too.”

Steve tapped Linda’s shoulder, “Um, Linda ... is there any way you could tell who Lolita’s and Annie’s babies’ fathers are? I mean, most of us guys would really like to know?”

Linda looked conflicted. “I won’t know that for another week or so. Does it really matter? Won’t all of you love their babies anyway?”

George said, firmly, “Look guys, right now, we’re all one big ... mostly happy family. Let’s not get all obsessed about babies right now. Let’s see what Linda and her friends need our help with and work on that? The Gromoriks ARE also our biggest threat, so, at least in that, we’re all on the same side. Are we not?”

I saw Monte whisper to Chen, “Now see? THAT man knows how to score ‘interview points’!”

Chen huffed, whispering back, “Ugh, he’s such a brown-noser! I think Jasmine would make a far better candidate?”

Monte chuckled, “Don’t be so sure. Besides, wouldn’t you rather make Jasmine one of your ‘birds of a feather’, like your paramour, Annie?”

“Damn! Do you guys watch everything?” He rasped, still trying to whisper, “Or just the erotic bits?”

Monte bit back a chuckle, “Let’s just say, your ‘sexcapades’ aren’t on our ‘must see’ lists! What you and Annie managed to pull off yesterday? Well, that was most interesting!”

Just then, Ibera and a guy I didn’t recognize showed up out of the blue, startling everyone for just a second.

Soon, everyone was smiling or giggling when Monte opened his arms and Ibera bolted into them like a love-struck teenager!

Everyone was laughing or gasping, either knowing what was going on, or in stunned disbelief. Ibera turned a cute shade of crimson, then giggled, “Hi everyone! Sorry for jumping my big friend, Willie, but, I just couldn’t resist! I brought my friend Lars with me. Please listen to what he has to say. Okay?”

Those in stunned disbelief were mostly nodding now and slowly displaying cautious smiles.

Lars grinned, “Thank you for giving me your attention. Could I see that device that caused all the trouble?”

Chen smirked at Monte, who was still entangled in Ibera’s clutches, then said, “No problem, sir. Annie, would you be so kind as to port to our cave and fetch it for me? Please?”

Annie giggled then answered, “Woof-woof! Of course I’ll fetch it ... be right back!”

Many broke up laughing as Annie disappeared.

Lars put his hands up, “Thank you all. Now, I have some important questions I need to ask to help me analyze that device. Did everyone with advanced powers, who wasn’t in a protective bubble, lose them?”

Max came forward, “Um, not really. It was weird, I lost my telepathy until the Angel ... or, I guess it was Linda, ‘healed’ me. Then I got my telepathy back, and my TK was also back, or maybe just unaffected?”

Lars looked surprised, “Were you using any of your powers, besides telepathy, when the device went off?”

Max shook his head, “No, but I was using my telepathy. I was just sitting here with my friends when Blaine, Naomi and Steve were using theirs and suddenly fell to the ground in agony. When the, er, Linda cured them, though, theirs didn’t come back.”