Chapter 5

Posted: August 27, 2006 - 11:34:19 am

After going inside to the lobby, I made my way to a chair and sat for a moment. I quickly connected again with the girl who had been with Mr. Wilshire. She was in her office, and the nameplate on the desk said Courtney Smythe, special coordinating director, whatever the hell that was. I checked on Mr. Wilshire's location, and he was at his home out in the boonies.

The first thing I did, was ask to see Ms. Smythe. The next thing was that her beauty in person was an almost psychical thing. She was absolutely beautiful. She had a lovely voice, and she spoke with a British accent. Everything about her was adorable. She escorted me to her office and I sat where she indicated, with the door to her office behind me.

"So what can I and the hotel do for you Mr. Garner?" she asked in that British voice of hers.

Chills went through me and I was finding this disconcerting. I definitely needed a girlfriend!

"I find myself in a rather strange position. What I am about to tell you is totally confidential, and if you tell anyone about it, it can get me into a lot of trouble," I started.

She nodded and waited for me to continue.

I took a deep breath and plunged in. "I have an ability which is unique, as far as I know. I work for Homeland Security, and Tom Wilshire was brought to my attention a couple weeks ago," I paused here.

I could see just a slight tensing around her eyes, but she stayed cool. I was impressed with her control.

"My ability is that of making a connection to someone anywhere in the world from just studying a photograph of that person. I was given a picture of Mr. Wilshire to look at and tried to make the connection, but I got nothing. Nor did I get what I normally do for someone who is dead.

"I told the gentleman from one of the US government's agencies that this Mr. Wilshire was dead, because I received and was getting nothing. Well, thats not a hundred percent true. I was still actively seeking, but I was already over the normal time it takes me to check the entire world. So I told him Mr. Wilshire was dead.

"I assumed that was the end of it, and a couple weeks went by until I had cause to look him up in a Boston newspaper's archives, via the internet. As soon as I saw the photo of him with the accompanying article, the connection was almost instant. He was there!

"Not only was he there, but you were in the car with him. You two were driving down I-70, headed into the city. I watched as he let you out of his car at this very hotel. I followed him mentally through several stops. Then, low and behold, after a stop at an old car shop of some sort, he disappeared. He reappeared in a barn at," I gave her the address and waited.

"I don't understand. What is it you want from me Mr. Garner?" She said tightly.

"I would like you to arrange a meeting with Mr. Wilshire. I need to contact him, speak with him. I mean him no harm, nor have I informed my superiors at Homeland security, or this other agency that Mr. Wilshire is back on my radar so to speak," I said.

She glanced behind me. Since I had not heard the door open or close, I kept my attention on her.

"I'll take it from here, Courtney," a voice said from behind me.

I jumped to my feet, and turned around. There was Tom Wilshire, standing right in front of me. He had something in his hand that he held out. He looked at it, and then put it in his jacket pocket.

I was looking at a man several years older than I was. He looked to be in good shape and was about the same height as I was. We stood there, looking eye to eye. I caught the motion of Courtney moving off to the side of the room.

"Hello, Tom. I was just asking Courtney here to arrange a meeting between us," I said, a bit unsure of myself now that he was there.

"I heard. So what can I do for you, Mr. Garner was it?" He asked me.

"Well, I know for a fact that you were at your home because I checked just before I came into this office. I have been in here, what, five minutes? Yet here you are, in a place that takes well over thirty minutes to drive to, from where you were. I am not here to make trouble for you. I have never met another 'talent' before, though, and I am curious. I know you can teleport, but I think thats only part of it," I finished awkwardly.

Now that I was confronting him, it seemed all my thoughts were a confused jumble. I had thought I knew what to say and how to pursue this, but now that the reality of the situation was here, I was stumbling.

"I repeat, what do you want from me," Tom asked me again.

I was stumped. What did I want? I hadn't really thought it out yet. I just knew I had wanted to make contact.

"After Mr. Smith from the CIA gave me your picture to study..." he interrupted me.

"Smith?" Tom queried in a musing tone, then described Smith to a T.

I nodded and he grinned. He had an engaging grin.

"He was always too serious to believe. He really is one hundred percent into the whole spy thing. Glad I'm out of it," he said the last almost to himself.

"Tom, can you two take this somewhere else? I really need to get some work done," Courtney spoke up from the corner she was standing in.

"Ms. Smythe honestly, I am not going to harm you," I told her when I noticed where she was.

"Oh, I know you won't. I just wanted to get out of Tom's way in case he does something to you," she said smiling.

I raised an eyebrow at her. Bloodthirsty little thing.

"Wow, I hope to get a girlfriend like you some day," I said in an admiring tone of voice.

She grinned at me.

"I think we need to adjourn this to somewhere more quiet, Mr. Garner," Tom told me.

"Glad too. Just so you know, I took precautions. I can guarantee I was not followed nor do I have any electronic monitoring devices on me anywhere. I bought all new clothes a new wallet, and left all my old stuff somewhere else," I told him.

"I know you're not. That thing I put in my pocket was a scanner, and it said you were clean. And now," he paused.

One second I was standing in Courtney's office in the hotel, the next second I was in a private home. Tom was sitting across from me on a couch and there was a coffee cup in his hand, and another on a saucer across from him on a small table.

"Coffee?" he asked me.

"What?... How?... Where?" I spluttered.

What followed was a strange story indeed. He seemed honest about it. An ability to view the past! Man! I would love something like that, and to be able to travel instantly to anywhere he had been. But to travel into the past! And a place he stored things, including people, called 'the between'. Thats where he stuck me while he checked me out and made the coffee. I had never even noticed. Then he brought me through to his home. We talked for a longtime, and I got to like him.

"So there I was, trying to help out against terrorism, and the government swooped down on me, and next thing I know, I am working for them whether I want to or not," I said, and Tom nodded.

"I am familiar with that syndrome. I was lucky enough to be able to get out from under them. They all think I am dead now," Tom said with a sigh.

"Yeah, well, some of us weren't so lucky with talent apparently. To bad we're not related," I mused out loud.

"What do you mean?" I was asked curiously.

"Well, an art major at a library thought you and I were related. She first noticed our heads were shaped similarly, then when I looked at her, she said our eyes were almost the same and our noses. If we were related, I might have gotten some of your abilities too," I sighed.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, I kept having a feeling like I had seen you somewhere before. Now that you mention these similarities, I can see them," Tom spoke thoughtfully.

"Do me a favor? Let me take a DNA sample. I too have never run into anyone with abilities other than myself, and you have me curious as well. I can have an answer to several questions for you quicker than you think," Tom asked me seriously.

"What would you need? Saliva sample? Blood sample? Feel free to take either," I replied.

He took a swab of the inside of my cheek, and then he took a couple drops of blood the old fashioned way, sticking my finger with a needle.

"Back shortly. Make yourself at home," he said and vanished from my sight!

He came back a few short seconds later. I had hardly had time to absorb the fact that he had left when just as suddenly, he was standing there in front of me again.

"Jesus! Where did you go?" I asked with an explosive breath.

"Well, first I stepped back into the past a short distance, then I followed a fracture line to an alternate reality, where I had some genetic testing done. That particular reality is not as reluctant as ours when it comes to cloning and using Stem cells to regenerate damaged nerves.

"Who are your parents, Scott? Are you adopted by chance?" Tom asked me.

"No. As a matter of fact, I have seen the video of my Birth. My mom was definitely the one who delivered me. Why people video themselves giving birth, I'll never know," I said with a shudder.

"I hate to tell you this, but our paternal markers in the tests indicate we have the same father. The man you grew up calling your father is not your biological father. My dad is. I'm sorry, Scott. My dad could not seem to keep it in his pants, for some reason. I have one half sister that I know of, and now with you are on the scene, well, it makes me wonder," Tom said sadly.

I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach. I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me, and I fumbled for my coffee cup. Tom watched me from his side of the coffee table.

"We're related?" I asked dumbly.

"No doubt about it. The testing done in that reality is much more sophisticated and in depth than the ones we do here, but yes, we are half brothers," Tom stated baldly.

"I need to call home," I mumbled.

"Feel free to use my phone. My computer can monitor the call to make sure it is not being intercepted by any outside sources," Tom said with sympathy.

I nodded and made the phone call. My mom answered.

"Scott! What a pleasant surprise," my mother said after answering and hearing me.

Ten minutes later I hung up. I felt a little better for having spoken to her, but still shook up. Tom was staring at me intently.

"It seems my dad caught the mumps in his early twenties. He is sterile and unable to have a child because of that," I answered numbly, then continued.

"They went to a sperm back in the eighties, and I am the result of the donor. Mom and dad wanted a child so badly, that they went the sperm bank route," I finished.

"Well, I'm sorry to have caused you this trouble. But in all honesty, it's nice to have a brother. Especially one who understands my circumstances, and even has similar abilities" Tom said.

The phone rang, and it was Courtney. She was ready to come home, and wanted to know if everything was straightened out. Tom told her he had news, and would be there in a sec. He hung up, disappeared, and was back with Courtney, just that quickly.

"Courtney, meet Scott Garner, my half brother," Tom said as soon as she saw I was sitting on the couch.