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  At this close proximity I didn't risk reading her thoughts; it was possible she could pick up on it.

  She reached the bus stop a few minutes later. I could have been a gentleman and offered her my seat, but it seemed more prudent not to give away my identity quite yet.

  After a few minutes a bus approached, which posed a problem: would I actually get on this bus and ride with Lynne to wherever she was going? I didn't have any currency from this world, so I couldn't pay for a ticket as I entered the bus.

  Also, she'd be getting on the bus before I would, so going through the front door of the bus after her wouldn't be a good idea, either.

  Luck was on my side; this particular bus was rather large, and it had two sets of doors, one at the front and one at the middle.

  It pulled to the curb, and the passengers in front of me, including Lynne, headed to the front door; I waited a moment for them to board, and then I entered through the middle door (Lynne had taken a seat close to the front of the bus, and she was looking out towards the street).

  As I stepped aboard the bus, I saw that I would have a bit of an obstacle; there was a bar blocking my way, with a fare collection machine.

  Not stopping to really think, I pressed my hand against the bar; it raised a moment later.

  Machines listened to me, now. This was good to know.

  I took the first seat I came to and sat down, opening up my newspaper.

  So far, so good, and Lynne still didn't appear to be aware of my presence.

  We rode for quite a while, at least 45 minutes, before Lynne finally stood as the bus slowed to the next stop.

  I wouldn't be able to leave through the door I came in, though; apparently it was only one way, for some reason.

  A few other people stood up, and when the bus pulled to a stop they all headed to the front to exit, with Lynne at the head of the line.

  I left last, hoping there wasn't any kind of bulletin out against me, with my picture plastered all over this world. Thomas, I was sure, was cocky enough to think he had seen the last of me after banishing me from his world.

  The crowd dispersed, heading in different directions; Lynne started walking down the street towards a residential area, and I followed her.

  She must have been really lost in thought as she never turned in my direction; I wasn't very far behind her, maybe a couple dozen steps behind her. Most people registered the sense of other people in their proximity, but Lynne never seemed to notice.

  Just to be safe, I fell back, putting several yards between us.

  We were walking into an area with lots of apartment buildings and the occasional house; it reminded me a bit of the neighborhood I lived in, in my own world.

  Up ahead I could see a bar or pub, and I wondered if that was Lynne's destination; after a few moments she confirmed this by opening the door and stepping in.

  I followed.

  * * *

  The place was quiet, with only a handful of people inside, sitting at tables. There were a couple of pool tables in the middle of the room, and off in a corner was a section to play darts. Soft music played through a sound system.

  Lynne took a seat at the bar; I presumed her to be a regular, as the bartender, a young man in his 20s, handed her a pint of beer.

  As she sipped on her beer I took the empty seat to her left.

  “Hi Lynne,” I said.

  She hadn't even turned to look at me as I sat down; she did now, and her eyes opened wide.

  “Charles,” she said, and at least she kept her voice normal. “How...no one ever gets out from that portal.”

  The bartender had wandered off to deliver drinks to one of the tables; thankfully he wouldn't be eavesdropping on this particular conversation.

  “Hi Lynne,” I replied. Her hands shook as she raised the glass to her lips. “You may be tempted to do something right now, like let someone know I'm here, but for now we're just going to talk, okay?”

  “Just talk,” she replied, and her hands calmed.

  “When we're done, you're not going to have any recollection of this conversation.”

  She nodded. “Right. I'll not remember it.”

  “Very good,” I said. “As far as how I got out, that's not anything to be worried about, let's just say it could be done, but that's not important.”

  “Not important,” she agreed. I had to be careful with this; I could question her and she'd just respond by telling me what I wanted to hear, rather than actually giving me accurate information. Having the power of persuasion had its advantages, but it wasn't very useful if you just got someone to say something because you told them what to say.

  For the moment I turned off that particular ability, and when I did I could see Lynne's eyes clear, from a kind of blank stare to something both terrified and furious.

  “What do you want from me?” she asked. Her hands were shaking again.

  “I just need some basic information, Lynne. I figured you'd be the best person to help me out.”

  “What makes you think I want to help you?” she asked.

  “Well, I certainly could make you help me, and there are other ways I could get the information I need, but I'd rather not have to resort to those methods.”

  “Thomas is going to find out you're here, do you really think you could just show up and not have anyone know?”

  “He's not going to find out anything, Lynne. To his knowledge no one has ever escaped from that hell-hole he sent me too. Why would he have any reason to believe I'd bust out of there?”

  “With you he isn't sure what to expect, and he does think it's possible for you to escape. The whole country is going to be monitoring your tracking chip. It's not going to be long before you're found, and instead of banishment, the punishment would be a bit more permanent.”

  “Not very worried about that,” I replied, which was true as I had disabled that tracking device. But were there other methods used here? Video cameras with facial recognition software? I supposed it was possible, but not much of a concern. “What I need to know, Lynne, is how many people like Melissa your boss has working for him. I need to talk to these folks, just like we're talking.”

  “I have no idea,” she lied. I didn't need any kind of ability to tell that she was lying. “I'm just a lowly agent, I'm not privy to information about his special ops agents, it's above my paygrade.”

  But as she said this, I could read in her mind the fact that she was thinking of these individuals, and in doing so it allowed me to hone in on their thought patterns. It was a backdoor, and it worked. However, I only had a clear impression of one individual – and it wasn't Melissa, but someone even more powerful than her.

  “That's fine, Lynne,” I said. “You need to watch yourself with this guy Thomas. I don't know what he did to you to get you on his team, but he'll toss you into that banishment portal if you cross him, and if that happens, I doubt you'd be able to get out of it, and I'm not likely to come chasing after you to rescue you.”

  It slowly occurred to me that no one was moving in the bar; as I quickly glanced around I could see that everyone else appeared to be frozen in place; even the beer the bartender had been pouring into a glass was suspended inches away from the beer mug. Apparently I was doing something with time without even thinking about it. It was a frightening thing to consider, because I had no idea the extent of this power. Still, it was better to be chatting with Lynne in private.

  She had noticed as well. “You can stop time?” she asked. “Not even Melissa can do that.”

  “It doesn't matter,” I told her. “I'm going to leave now, Lynne, and everything here will return to normal, and you're not going to recall that we had this chat.”

  She nodded. “Right, I will not remember us talking.”

  “Good,” I said. “Back to your beer, then.” I closed my eyes and returned home.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Having retrieved the presence of the “special op” agent, as Lynne called them, I was able to concentra
te on that individual. And while I could essentially track their whereabouts and hone in on that, I wasn't able to get a clear impression of this individual; I was, after all, using Lynne's mind to track this person, but I didn't dare risk doing more than that, or sending my mind out directly.

  I had no idea what I would be going up against, or what this person would be capable of, but it would be suicide to go up against Thomas with the full force of his agents behind him; even with all I could do, I doubted I could stop all of his people.

  Concentrating, I was getting the impression that my target was not only alone, but in a secluded area. That would help. It was time to pay this person a visit.

  I tried to make my appearance at a prudent distance; could this individual sense me, and would I know it if they tried?

  We were at a beach, and it must have been a private beach since no one was here – lots of sand with the waves lapping to the shore, but empty of people.

  The ocean here was a brilliant shade of blue, and much different looking than what I had expected of what would have been the Pacific Ocean in my world.

  The sun shone brightly and it was quite warm, although a breeze was blowing that kept the temperature from getting too hot. It was very peaceful here.

  That sense of peace didn't last very long as I suddenly could feel someone in my head, and while I tried to block out this intrusion, I couldn't tell if I was successful.

  I could see my target down the beach, so far away they were just a speck. Surely I had been spotted by now, but if so, no action was being taken.

  At this distance, I couldn't tell if this individual was a man or a woman, and for the moment I was content with not knowing.

  I would have enjoyed just sitting on the beach and enjoying the breeze, but it was time to get to work.

  I headed down the beach, and proceeded undisturbed until I was about 10 yards away from this special op agent of Jeff Thomas.

  I was finally able to get a look at this individual, a young woman who looked to be 18 or 19 at most. She was sitting on a beach towel, dressed in a simple shirt and skirt combination; I could see she had buried her toes in the sand.

  “Hi,” she called out to me, holding her hand up to her eyes to block out the sunlight. “You escaped!”

  “Hi,” I replied. I stopped. “Yeah, I got out of there. A living death wasn't on my to-do list that morning.”

  She laughed. “Oh, that's good! Jeff will be pleased to know you've returned.”

  I sent my mind out to her. “He doesn't need to know anything.”

  She laughed again. “Nice try, but that doesn't work on me. Why don't you come on over here and let's chat, I don't want to have to scream at you.”

  I could see in her mind that she had some kind of barricade up, but sometimes even the best security systems had flaws.

  I headed towards her, and she patted the sand next to her, where suddenly another beach towel had appeared out of nowhere. I sat down.

  “Nice beach,” I said. “Nice and quiet. And private? Are you the only member?”

  “No, it's not private, I just like to make it look that way.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Really? How do you do that?”

  “There are people here, I just...shifted them a bit out of reality. They don't know anything is different.”

  “That's quite impressive,” I said. I glanced around and discovered I could sense these people; it also became clear in my mind that I could return them to this reality, if I wanted to.

  She shrugged. “It helps when I want some privacy.”

  “You weren't all that surprised to see me,” I said. “I've never seen your face before, I take it Jeff has briefed you on me?”

  “Yes, there's a group of us that he sat down with, so we know all about you.”

  “You know what he told you,” I replied. “I'm surprised you're on his team...sorry, I don't know your name.”

  “You don't need to,” she replied, smiling.

  At that moment I could see the flaw in her mental security; her name slipped out.

  “Sara, is it?” I said.

  She didn't respond, but I could see the confirmation in her eyes.

  “Well, Sara, I can tell you that what Jeff Thomas lies if it suits his agenda, and I'm sure what you were told about me doesn't actually match the truth.”

  “He told us you're dangerous.”

  “I'm no more dangerous than you are,” I replied. “How'd you get mixed up with him, anyway? You're young, shouldn't you be doing something else? Maybe going to college?”

  “I don't need college,” Sara said. “What I needed was someone to help me deal with this...power inside of me, and Mr. Thomas was able to work with me, to help me master it. And now I can put this ability to good use by helping my country.”

  “Help it by throwing innocent people into cells? And then standing by and doing nothing when those people are just transported to a world where they slowly suffocate?”

  She laughed. “Of course, every prison in this country is filled with innocent people. No one ever commits crimes. Who admits to being guilty?”

  “I'm sure you could easily figure out that I'm not guilty of anything,” I said. “But I'm not going to give you access to my thoughts. The bottom line is Thomas could just as easily as captured you and threw you into that cell, if he wanted to.”

  “Well, he hasn't. He's helped me.”

  “Sara, maybe you can help me. I need to find the other agents, the ones like you. Like me. We shouldn't be working against each other, we should be working together.”

  “I'm sorry, that information is classified.”

  I sighed. “Sara, that would leave me with the option of forcing that information out of you, and I don't want to do that, but for my own safety I need to locate the other agents.”

  “I'd like to see you try,” she said.

  “You don't really want me to try, do you?” I said. “I know you think I can't, but I know that I can. Help me. And I can help you. Thomas doesn't have any kind of ability, he doesn't know what it's like. He may have helped you with some things, but don't you think I'd be a better teacher?”

  She looked doubtful for a moment. “Mr. Matheson, I don't know you; why should I trust you? Jeff Thomas has been a good boss and mentor. I have every reason to trust him. I'm sorry, I can't help you. If I were you I'd leave. I'm going to be letting him know about our little chat.”

  I felt bad about what I had to do; she was just a kid. I reached out to her mind, hitting that mental barricade she had put up. It was tough, but I had discovered the weakness to her barricade and was able to exploit it to get through. It was a memory, this weakness, and I was able to trigger it in her mind; once I did, the barricade came down. After a moment I had the information on the other five special op agents.

  “You'll not remember this little talk,” I said, a bit sadly. “You'll just remember enjoying a quiet afternoon at the beach.”

  “Yes, a quiet afternoon,” she responded, her eyes cloudy as she gazed blankly at the ocean.

  I stood up. “So long, Sara.”

  I blinked and returned home.

  * * *

  Another thing I was able to gleam from Sara was the fact she hadn't worked for Thomas very long, so I didn't get into discussions with her regarding the kinds of backup plans I knew he'd have ready; surely he anticipated the possibility that I would escape and would be wanting to deal with that.

  Now that I could track the other five agents in my mind, I discovered I could put up my own mental barricade; I would need to reach out to their minds to get a sense of what they were doing, and each time I did I could feel them in my mind, digging around and trying to get a sense of who I was.

  It was difficult as these agents were even more powerful than Sara, and there were a few moments where I was certain my own mental barricade would come tumbling down.

  I was able to keep the barricade up, and I made sure that I didn't have any kind of weakness that could be e
xploited. That was one thing I could have taught Sara about.

  Still, it proved to be challenging, and it ended up being along wait before I was able to get a sense that one of them was finally alone.

  It was time to pay a visit.

  CHAPTER TEN

  My next target was enjoying a fast-food lunch, and to my amusement it was at a chain that also existed in my world. That would have made an entertaining addition to the “billions and billions served” claim.

  He was roughly my age, bespectacled, and balding. He didn't look like much of a threat in a hoodie and jeans.

  The restaurant was crowded but large, and there were several empty tables near to this fellow.

  Not that I was able to reach them.

  As I was scanning the interior, all the customers and staff stopped moving, frozen in place.

  I was, too.

  I could almost move.

  The man stood up and placed his hands in his pocket. Grinning, he headed towards me. “Ah, the infamous Charles Matheson! Jeff thought you might free yourself from that portal.”

  He passed someone holding a large drink container, and pulled it from that person's hand; he took a drink.

  “Cat got your tongue?” he asked. He had reached me and peered into my eyes. “Can you even hear me?”

  I could, but thought it might be prudent to pretend that I couldn't while I tried to figure out how to free myself.

  He poked his fingers at my eyes and seemed satisfied that I didn't blink; I was a bit surprised that I couldn't blink.

  “I take it you've come to take on your betters?” he asked. I wasn't sure why he continued talking when he thought I couldn't hear him. Maybe he liked the sound of his own voice.

  “No matter,” he continued. “You're here now, which was a stupid thing to do. There's a huge reward for you, and I intend on collecting.”

  He droned on; what I was seeing in my mind was an image of an hourglass on its side, and I was attempting to turn it upright, which was proving difficult, especially with his annoying voice and commentary. Maybe he thought of himself as one of those bad movie villains who needed to reveal all of the details of their elaborate plan to take out the hero.