Boucher's World: Emergent Read online

  Chapter Three

  THE DOOR ANNOUNCED THEM, THEN ALLOWED them entrance since they were expected.

  They walked into Maggie Lowry’s cheerful little craft room and Jade stopped, watching her work.

  Tally sat down beside her, gazing up at the Leader.

  Maggie looked up from her weaving. “Good morning, Jade, Tally,” she greeted them with a smile.

  Jade had called late yesterday evening and said they found something they thought was important. She’d listened, then decided they needed to come in to make an official report.

  She was doubtful that what they’d seen was actually what they thought it might be but it was unusual and, she thought, important enough to be checked out. And there was the matter of them saying they had gotten through a Dim Spot. That in itself was something that would definitely have to be verified. These two weren’t especially prone to exaggeration but perception could sometimes be mistaken.

  As the selected Leader of Village Twelve, she was responsible for anything that happened - or was found - in and around Twelve, and unusual findings needed to at least be examined even if they were eventually found to be erroneous.

  She’d thanked them for calling to let her know about it, and told them to come in the next morning to make an official report.

  Jade looked at the Leader, warily. She knew Maggie must’ve wanted them to come in so she could do a verification scan on them. A report such as this one would require it. At least she’d gotten them the next two days off - with pay.

  She lingered near the little stool beside the door and tried to compose herself. Scans made her physically ill.

  “Good morning, Mom,” she answered, a bit nervously. She didn’t want to be psyscanned.

  Tally nodded at her,

  “Give me a minute, I’ll be right with you,” she said.

  She stopped her loom and stared at the wall hanging she was trying to get finished for the town fair. She looked critically at what she’d gotten done to date. It would do - if she could ever get enough time to actually finish it. She shook her head with a rueful smile.

  There was always something that came up when you were village Leader and also on the ruling council. She sighed. She had two years left on her stint as village Leader. She was going to be glad to turn it over to someone else.

  She still had four years left on her ruling council term though, and she was going to be even happier when that was up. Serving on the ruling council held a whole different set of stresses to say the least.

  Jade walked over to the loom and stood beside Maggie, looking at the piece. It was gorgeous. It was an image of one of those mythological birds of Earth, a peacock with its tail fanned out, standing in front of a flower garden. Maggie was weaving it into a deep blue background. She was still working on the feathers of the tail but Jade could see how wonderful it would be when she finished.

  Whatever differences they had, they came together in at least this one area: art - and her Mother was truly good.

  “Very impressive, Mom. I love it,” she said with admiration.

  “Thank you, Jade. So far, I’m pretty pleased with it myself.” She gave her a side-ways glance. She was a little startled to notice Jade was now taller than she was. Well, predults did grow when you weren’t looking.

  “I just hope I get the chance to finish it.” She turned and headed for a side door.

  “You and Tally come with me. You know the routine so let’s get on with it.”

  They followed her out and into her office to the right of her workroom. It contained a neat desk holding a pink ‘phone and a hologram port, a large locked cabinet, several shelves filled with books, a colorful, striped armchair and a comfortable looking burgundy couch. There was a one-by-one foot box of Redi-Damps and a one gallon silver pail sitting beside the desk.

  She indicated Jade and Tally should take the couch while she went around her desk and pulled paper forms out from one of the drawers. She sat down in an old fashioned leather chair with casters and pulled it up to her desk, laying the forms down. She eyed her daughter and her foster child.

  “Okay, which one of you wants to go first?”

  Jade hated being scanned. She didn’t suppose anyone actually liked it, after all, it meant you had to drop your shields and someone else was looking into your mind, and even if that someone was just looking to verify something as simple as “do you eat cabbage“, there was a chance they would get other information you hadn’t intended to give.

  Anything other than what they were officially looking for had to be ignored, of course, and usually nothing else was seen anyway. No, nobody liked it but everyone understood the necessity.

  People were scanned all the time for various reasons, such as for jobs - especially if it was a job in security - or to obtain credit. She and Tally had been scanned when they got the mortgage for their cottage. Scanning was not a big deal, usually just a minor annoyance. But in her case, she was going to have one wronking, huge headache afterwards. She always did.

  She was one of the few people who got that unfortunate side-effect, and - oh joy - it came with nausea too. Because of that, as much as possible, she avoided involving herself in things that required scanning. The last time she’d been scanned was when she and Tally hired on at Nuisance Apprehenders, Inc., two and a half years ago. Though she’d passed the scan, she was so sick afterwards they’d almost not hired her anyway.

  She’d had to get a letter from the village Healer certifying her illness was a result of the scan and was a rare reaction and she was otherwise very healthy.

  Maggie couldn’t scan her without her consent but if the Leader said you needed a scan to verify anything, it was in your best interest to go ahead and give it if you wanted to be taken seriously. And Maggie knew she would get sick too. She wouldn’t be doing this unless she thought it was important.

  Tally gave an audible sigh. He was well aware of how Jade reacted to psyscanning.

  Jade scooted over as he stretched himself out on the couch. He didn’t get sick from scans but he did like to make himself comfortable first.

  Maggie nodded and went through the required questions involved in getting consent to perform the psyscan, then leaned forward and had Tally scanned in a few seconds. She was good.

  Some psyscanners had to be in actual physical contact with the subject and took a lot longer - some took several minutes. Maggie could have scanned them from anywhere in the house, as long as she had them in sight, and probably from anywhere within a couple of blocks of the house, though she may have had to take several seconds longer to do it from that far off. The only one who could match her was Sparrow, their Elvwist friend.

  Tally hopped down from the couch and stretched himself from front to back.

  Journey was a female Cat friend of his that he always looked up whenever he was in town. He brushed past Jade’s legs, stopping to give her a reassuring rub.

  He left.

  Jade eyed her mother with resignation. “I’m ready.”

  Maggie gave her the consent speech, got up, picked up the Redi-Damps and the pail, lifted off a red flowered bib apron hanging on a hook on the cabinet, pulled it over her tunic and sat on the couch beside her. She looked at Jade with sympathy.

  “You know I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it was necessary, don’t you?”

  Jade grimaced. “Yeah, Mom, I know. Just get it over and done.” She didn’t mean to sound so short, she just wanted it finished.

  The headache hit immediately, as bad a one as she ever remembered getting. The next thing she knew, she was lying in Maggie’s arms who was singing one of her calming songs and wiping her face with one of the Redi-Damps. She had removed the apron, and the pail was nowhere in sight. Jade caught a fading whiff of vomit.

  She sat up slowly, wincing a little. Her head was still hurting, though not as badly, and her mouth tasted like crud. This time, her throat was hurting, too.

&n
bsp; Damn! she thought, how much did I throw up?

  She was startled to see Tally sitting in the armchair watching her, golden eyes flashing sympathy. His friend, Journey, sat beside him, her beautiful green eyes filled with concern. Her golden fur shone in the light from the early afternoon sun coming through the window behind the desk.

  When had they gotten here? She looked up at Maggie and was startled to see tears in her hazel eyes. Her caramel hued face looked flushed.

  Shards. What the hell had happened? She realized there were other people in the house. She checked. Aunt Rachel was in the kitchen along with Uncle Morgan.

  “What happened, Mom? Did I pass out or something?” she rasped out.

  Shards, her throat was sore! That was new, and though she had done so once before, she didn’t usually pass out from this. And her mom had been crying. Maggie wasn’t quick to cry.

  The last time Jade remembered seeing her do that was when she and Tally were moving out of the house after she’d reached predulthood four years ago. And then it had just been a little misting up - they had been the last ones to leave home, so that had been understandable. They’d probably been tears of joy anyway.

  “Yes, you did, sweetie. I want you to just sit here for a while. Don’t try to get up yet. The scanning was especially hard on you this time. You’ve been unconscious for an hour. I’ve sent for the Healer to look at you - just to check you over,” she added at the frown on Jade’s face.

  “I think you’re okay, I just want to be sure. He was a bit tied up when I called but he’ll be here shortly.”

  Maggie got up and placed a pillow under her head. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get you some tea. Rachel is here and she’s made a pot.”

  She left out before Jade could ask anything else.

  Jade looked over at Tally and Journey. She was baffled. She’d been passed out that long?

  “Hi, Journey, haven’t seen you in a while. How’s the family?” she got out around her raw throat. She liked Journey. She was a real sweet Cat and pretty, too. She thought Tally might be courting her rather than just playing around, as he usually did.

  “Just fine, Jade,” Journey purred out.

  She had an unusual voice for a Cat. It was soft, and though a little high-pitched, didn’t sound yowly as most Cats did. She usually vocalized instead of using mind-speak as she didn’t mind using her voice.

  “Are you better now? Tally and I heard you and just had to check on you,” she said with concern.

  “Heard me?”

  said Tally, sympathetically.

  Jade was appalled. She’d been screaming? Shards!

  “Um, sorry guys, I didn’t mean to upset anyone. Why is Uncle Morgan and Aunt Rachel here?”

  “We could hear you all the way in the park, Jade, but you mind-screamed too. They heard and came to see what was wrong,” answered Journey.

  Tally tsk’d, mentally.

  She’d mind-screamed? She shook her head - carefully.

  “Gods! I hope to never have to get another psyscan as long as I live!” she groaned. She winced because it hurt her throat.

  Maggie came back in carrying a ceramic tray holding a small white teapot and a cup. She was followed by Morgan and Rachel.

  “And I agree with you there, little Monkey!” said Morgan.

  Monkey was his pet name for her, from when she was small and used to climb all over everything, including him. She’d learned in End School that, back on Earth, a monkey was a type of small creature that lived in trees and had a long tail. There had been an image of one salvaged from the old records that survived the Turmoils. It was pretty cute. Apparently, though, the ancestors hadn’t brought any of those creatures with them from Mother Earth.

  Morgan Sams wasn’t really her uncle the same as Rachel Duncan wasn’t really her Aunt; that’s just what she called them. Rachel was Maggie’s best friend and fellow council member, and Morgan was godfather to her and her brother, Alex. He and her late father, Daniel, had been best friends.

  “Hello, Uncle Morgan, Aunt Rachel.” She winced again at her ragged throat. At least the headache was almost gone.

  They come over to the couch and each dropped a kiss on her forehead as Maggie helped her sit up for her tea. She was glad for the tea. It would help her throat.

  “Maggie told us why she was scanning you and Tally,” said Rachel, “and although we agree she needed to, we’re sorry it’s made you so ill, honey.” She squatted down and gave Jade a hug, a few strands of her blonde hair drifting forward and tickling her nose.

  Morgan leaned over and hugged her. His blue eyes were filled with worry - but also with excitement.

  “Yes, it was necessary to officially verify your find, Jade. As soon as you feel more like talking, I want to hear exactly what you saw out there.”

  Jade felt someone at the door moments before it announced the Healer.

  “Okay, everybody out,” said Maggie. “The Healer is going to want to do a physical scan of Jade, just to be on the safe side. She’ll talk to everyone later.”

  Rachel dropped another kiss on her forehead, Morgan caressed her cheek and they went out the door. Tally and Journey followed them out. Maggie met the Healer in the entry and ushered him in, then left the room, closing the door.

  “Good afternoon, Jade,” he said. He pulled Maggie’s leather chair over to the couch and plunked himself down.

  He pulled his satchel over his head and set it down beside the chair. He smiled at her, his dark brown, almond shaped eyes crinkling up as he looked down at her. His string straight hair was pure white.

  He was getting pretty old now, but still got around well, his senses still sharp. Jade knew he was in the process of training a young Healer to take over for him. That thought made her a little sad. She really liked the old guy and he was a good friend of the family. He was a kindly person and an excellent Healer. He had been their Healer for as long as she could remember.

  “Hello, Healer Chen.”

  Her throat was feeling much better since sipping the tea. She smiled at him as he leaned forward and placed one warm hand on her forehead, pulling up her tunic to place the other on her stomach. He closed his eyes briefly, then opened them back up and looked at her with the oddest expression.

  Uh-oh. She didn’t like that look.

  “Is there something wrong, Healer?”

  He shook his head slowly. “No, nothing’s wrong, Jade. Physically you are fine. I see your throat’s a little irritated but that tea you’re drinking will take care of that. And your headache’s fading too, so you don’t need anything for that.”

  He hesitated for a moment, then said, “You’re…how old are you now? Eighteen? Okay. Well, then, I hope you don’t mind my bringing this up but your fertility inhibiter will be coming up for renewal sometime in the next few months.”

  At the tight look she shot him, he smiled, gently.

  “Don’t worry, dear. As a Healer, all your secrets are safe with me. I find it a good idea, though, to remind young people to not neglect this item. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who forget to keep up with it. Oh, one question though: have you recently manifested any esas?”

  Jade was surprised by the question. What did that have to do with anything? Esas, or extra-sensory abilities, could manifest in Humans any time after the age of eleven, though everyone was born with telepathy, or mind-speak. All of her friends had gotten at least one by the age of thirteen, adding several more by the time they were sixteen.

  Everybody knew she had none.

  She shook her head. “No, Healer. I guess I could be one of those few people who never get any but if so, it won’t be a problem. I’m getting along just fine the way I am.”

  She swung her legs down off the couch and sat up. A thought struck her.

  “Um, do you think that may be why I get headaches when I’m scanned?”

  The Healer chuckled and shook his he
ad. “No, it wouldn’t cause that kind of problem. I have to be honest with you: I don’t know why anyone gets headaches from that. Elvwists never react that way and it only affects the rare Human such as, unfortunately, yourself. It has always been a puzzler, and we’ve been looking for a remedy ever since Humans Changed but so far - nothing. No, I was just curious - about your esas, I mean.”

  He looked at her oddly again. “And you’re sure you don’t have one yet?”

  Jade shook her head again. She knew Healers could sometimes tell when someone had gotten an esa, but in this case…

  “Don’t have a one, Healer, and last time I was tested - right before I left End School - once again, the tester didn’t find anything. Or any potential either, though he said that wasn’t unusual.” She grinned. “And as usual, he said he couldn’t even tell I have telepathy.”

  She had been esa tested several times in Childhood’s End School, each time with the same results. She hadn't been tested since leaving there four years ago, but then there hadn’t been any reason for doing so.

  Healer Chen smiled. “Well, we know you have that, Missy! That mental yelling you did earlier was heard all over town. I’ve had a number of people call my office wanting to know if you’re all right.” He reached down, picked up his satchel and stood to leave.

  “You’re fine, dear. Just take it easy for a day or so and drink lots of that tea you’re sipping on. Get plenty of sleep too. Oh, and don’t get any psyscanning done for a while.”

  He didn’t have to worry about her doing that ever again if she could help it.

  She saw the Healer to the front door, then headed for the kitchen.