The Empath Cycle: 1949 In The Beginning

"You may be right Sarah. With all the 'impossible' successes you've achieved with your 'special project', it is coming to sound a bit ridiculous. At least, now that you can publish, your research will be accepted in the scientific community so they will become 'possible'."

"I'm not too sure about that. Let's wait and see. But first, what do you say we take our people to a place where they won't mess with the neighbors' emotions."

"Mother! Here we are yapping and I completely forgot about them. Where are they?"

"The reason you forgot about them is that Martine is doing her job admirably and that she's calmed them or you would be hard pressed to keep from crying yourself. I don't think we'll need to sedate them, but I'm glad you're here and that you've brought the most stolid orderlies we have. They need emotional calm most of all."

All they heard as they entered the room were soft cooing noises from Martine and giggles from the other three. They were in such a tangle on the bed that if it wasn't for the different skin tones, one would have been hard pressed to determine where each body began and where it ended, much less the route it took from one end to the other.

The four were hugging and kissing and caressing each other in a loving manner, no more. Sarah was glad that Martine had remembered to keep things on an even keel.

"Sarah, they are all naked. We can't take them outside like that and it's going to be even colder up in St-Jovite."

"I know, but there's no way we'll be able to dress them. At least, we can put some shoes on and we'll wrap them in as many blankets as we can. Please go tell the boys to back up the ambulance as close as possible to the door and to crank up the heat. Also, tell them to bring out the mattress from the other room. It's going to be more comfortable than the carpeted floor for the long ride. Come back here when everything is ready and bring their shoes, they're strewn all the way from here to the living room."

When Karen had left, Sarah sat on the bed and looked at her wives with a mixture of love, pride, and sadness. When she saw the frown appear on all three brows, she ruthlessly suppressed this last emotion as she had taught her therapists and their support staff. She gently stroked their hair and leaned until her mouth was close to Martine's ear. She was proud of her when she saw that the woman was deep in her supportive trance. It would make things easier.

She whispered softly, but clearly. "Martine, listen to me. Listen to my voice. Help is here. We will take you all up North where it's nice and quiet. You remember the place, don't you? I need you to tell them we are going to play a game. My girls like games. You will all put on some shoes and get in a warm and cozy vehicle. Then we are going to take a nice ride to Ari's chalet. Remind her that it's a nice place and that she likes it there. Nod if you understand. Good girl, keep it up, Martine, you are doing fine. Everything will be all right soon, I promise."

Rising, she kissed Jules and Ari softly on the head. She was reassured when that elicited sounds of pleasure and a gentle wave of love from the women. Unfortunately, she couldn't tell from which women they came from

"Okay boys. We are all ready out back. Jimmy, you know where we're going, don't you? Good. Now I need you to remember the special training you received. We have three of our special girls with us and they are not sedated. I believe everything will be fine, but you need to be on the lookout for extreme feelings and watch each other. If you feel that it's getting too much, pull over. No sense in killing us all for no good reason. It's early enough that there should be only minimal traffic. So get us there as fast as possible, but this is not a race. Don't jostle them unnecessarily."

Sarah went to the rear, jumped in and closed the doors. Karen knocked on the partition, signaling to the orderlies that they were ready.

Once they had gotten in the warm ambulance the three women had whined until their shoes were taken off, so Martine had followed suit. Now all four were cuddled with the thick blankets over their heads, covering them completely. Sarah and Karen could hear them giggling and Martine cooing softly as she did her best to keep them occupied in nonsensical 'games' while keeping things from heating too much. The van was as psychically isolated as possible, but even a close-mesh Faraday cage had its limits. Parapsychology science was still in its infancy, after all.

"The omega team will come up in the morning, but I forgot to tell them that there are three girls with us. I hope they understood when I said to call to tell the university Ari and Jules would not be coming in until further notice."

"Trust your team, Sarah. You trained them well. They will understand that we need more people without leaving the clinic understaffed."

"I know. I know. I just never planned for two full blown talents to emerge at the same time and to incapacitate our best empath along the way."

Hearing the whimpers emanating from the squirming bundle, Karen looked more closely at Sarah. Seeing her shoulders shake in incipient sobs, she took her in her arms and murmured affectionately. "Sarah, center yourself. They need you. They love you as much as you love them, but you won't help them if you don't get a grip on your own feelings. Breathe with me. Yes like that. Remember who you are. They need you now more than ever."

When she felt herself sufficiently under control, Sarah squeezed her mentor to signal her readiness. "Thank you Karen. You know I need you close to me. You have been my rock when I would have crumbled under the strain in the first years. To everybody else, I am the boss, the teacher, the cold and detached scientist, but you know better, don't you? Why didn't we stay together after the war, baby? I've missed you so."

"You know why, darling. You have dedicated your life to finding a way to bring Arianna out of her repressive state. I understood that because it's a part of you and I fell in love the whole of you, not only your gorgeous body. But enough of that. You need to be the scientist for them. They need you. They need us. We are a team and don't you forget it, missy. Breathe with me. We must find our center as we always have. And no, you cannot fondle my breasts this time. We don't need to set them off and get in an accident because our driver has his hands on his partner instead of on the wheel."

They giggled as they went through their breathing exercises and centered themselves for their charges.

They were met at the gates of the estate by the caretaker.

"Good morning, Miss Sarah. Mister Monroe called and told us you were coming with Miss Arianna. But you are in an ambulance. Is she sick?"

"No Gilles, she is only slightly incapacitated. You remember the girls I brought last time I was here? Well, we just found out that she is special like them, only more so."

"Of course. We always knew that Miss Arianna was special. The missus has already started the coffee and she will make breakfast whenever you wish. I have lit all the fireplaces to get the place warm until the gas heaters can catch up. If you need anything, just call and I will be over."

"Thank you, Gilles. When you go to the village later for the supplies, we should be at least ten, but more could come and go during the next week or so."

"No problem Miss Sarah, I can go back anytime if more is needed. Mister Monroe said to get whatever you asked for. He also said that if you needed something special that was not available up here to call Henry at the main house and that he would send it over."

"You are a prince, Gilles. Now we have to get them settled in. I'll see you later."

Jumping on the driver side running board, Sarah grabbed a hold of the mirror. "Take us to the back entrance, Jimmy. I don't think we will be able to get their shoes back on and at least there you can back up closer to the door. Once we are inside, you two can go to the guest house for some rest or if you want some breakfast, ask Sylvie, the cook, and she will fix you some grub. You will probably be able to go back to Montreal this afternoon. Come see me when you wake up and I'll let you know if we need you here."

Chapter 12

"Ladies, as I see it, our first priority is to separate their personalities. They are presently meshed so close together that we can't get more that the basics through to them. If we don't manage to do something, health issues are going to be a major problem. Karen, please."

"As Sarah has said, if we don't find a way to reach them soon, their health is going to deteriorate quickly. The only way we can get them to participate in their physical well-being is with childish 'games' and only because Arianna and Juliette have incorporated these in their sexual connection from the beginning. It may have been fun for them to 'go potty' together, but we have all felt the results when they got sexually stimulated by those physical sensations. As for food, the only thing of substance we have managed to get into them are protein-rich liquids. All attempts at solid foods have resulted in 'food fights'."

"So what we need are ideas, new approaches, and we need them fast. Martine will not be able to stabilize them for long. She has barely slept in two days and only for a few hours at the time because when they are asleep, their dreams invariably turn erotic and we all know what happens then. We can rotate further from their room to get some rest, but she can't. They get too agitated when she is not near them."

"Doctor Grisholm is right."

"I'm not a doctor." Sarah grumbled under her breath to the amusement of the senior staff assembled at this meeting.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted by our grumbling leader," Karen went on with a grin, "we need you to get your teams together for a good brainstorming session. No idea is too wild. As you know, some of our greatest breakthroughs have come from off the cuff suggestions. So, Anne, get our people started at lunch and keep at it all afternoon if you must. I would have said get them drunk if that's what it takes, but we only have a reduced staff and we may need the support staff at any time."

"Stéphanie, start our therapy team at supper when they come off shift. I would say wake the second team early, but we need them sharp so they will have to wait 'til the morning. Tomorrow, we are going to get them all together for a few hours around shift change."

""Which brings us to the other issue. You know we are short staffed because we must not deplete the personnel at the clinic too badly. As it is they are working long hours as we do here. They miss Catherine dearly. They can manage temporarily, but we have to get her up in working shape as soon as we safely can."

"That's it girls. We want at least a few ideas in the morning and we need a working plan before the end of the day tomorrow."

The four women hugged and kissed as they broke the senior staff meeting. Stéphanie, Sarah's assistant and Anne, Karen's, left already deep in conversation.

"You know those two won't sleep a wink tonight, don't you?" Sarah asked her mentor.

"Of course they won't. And neither will we." Karen laughed. "Do you think they are a couple? They've seemed to be closer these last few weeks. Whenever I see one, the other is never far away."

"They have complementary jobs after all. Stéphanie leads the therapy staff and Anne the support. If they have found each other, more power to them I say."

"I agree, Sarah, but I worry their being around each other 24/7 may cause too much of a strain and I would hate to lose Anne. She's the best assistant I've ever had."

"I know what you mean. Stéphanie takes a big load off my shoulders so I can concentrate on the research and the patients. Which reminds me. How are we coming along with the Man's nephew? Won't Cat's absence cause him to fall behind in his progress?"

"Not at all. He had a major breakthrough last week. You were so busy with Arianna that I didn't bother you with it. He is now fully aware of his surroundings and is starting to make human contact without an empath to act as a bridge. The worst is over for him. With a few months of regular psychological therapy, he should be completely cured. The Man will send one of his psychologists to the clinic in a few weeks so we can instruct her in our methods. He wanted to send this old fart of a professor, you know the one, but I got it through to him that he needed someone with an open mind. As it so happens, he has a friend who's had some success with shell shocked patients. She knows of our research and she approached him to volunteer for the job."

"I'm sure she did." Sarah laughed. "If she knows something about our results, she must be wet at the idea of applying our methods to her own patients. It would seem tailor-made for combat stress reaction-afflicted soldiers. In fact, that's an application I've been thinking about, but I haven't had time to explore. The approach would have to be different, but I'm working on it."

"Darling, you have to follow your own advice and find some down time. You haven't taken a vacation for as long as I've known you. First it was a full study load while maintaining the facade of a dilettante so Arianna would not know what you were doing, then you dove headlong in your research when you came up with the idea for your doctoral thesis. And you haven't stopped yet. The only time off you took was when she was overseas and I managed to pull you away for a long week-end of rest and relaxation here and there."

"Yes, I remember your idea of R&R. I had to sleep twenty-four hours straight every time I came back, just to recuperate from 'resting and relaxing' with you."

"Well, it worked, didn't it? And what about me? Remember the time I walked bow legged for almost a week. My students were smirking every time I stood up in front of the class."

""Was it my fault if you insisted on riding that horse in a skirt without undies just so you get better orgasms. Heck, when you came back to the barn, you didn't smell of horse, the animal smelled of your cream. The face you made that first time when the girl took the reins from you to groom and stall the horse, then came back to hug and kiss you. And you blushed so prettily when she said 'Welcome to the club' loudly enough for everybody nearby to hear."

"What can I say, I thought I was the first one to come up with the idea. How was I to know there is an actual 'Horse Lover Women's Club'? Plus she kissed very well as you found out when she came to our cabin that night."

"Yes she did and not only mouths. She had a very talented tongue. She licked us to oblivion. Have you ever been back to that ranch since?"

Karen blushed as she answered. "I confess. I have been back horse riding a few times. She introduced me to naked bareback riding. Aaaahhhhh! Heavenly, Sarah. The feel of half a ton of rippling muscle between my legs as I rub my sex on it is out of this world. When we stopped to 'let the horses rest', we had glorious sex right out in the open. I get wet just thinking about it."

"I don't weigh a thousand pounds, but if I neigh while fucking you, maybe it would bring back good memories."

"Yes, I would love nothing better than to make love to you, but it wouldn't do for the staff to know the department heads are rolling in the hay, so to speak. Bad example and all that."

"That's why I don't want to be director. You lose all spontaneity when you have to think about your people all the time. The original team knew we were a couple."

"Yes they did, but that was more than three years ago. Since then, we have been very discreet the few times we have been together and they know you are involved with Arianna and Juliette. So, let's just reminisce when we are in private and focus on our girls and on how to help them out of this mess."

"You're no fun, teach, but you're right, as usual. I'll go look in on them. Can I get a kiss for old times' sake?" Sarah said with an innocent look that didn't fool anyone for a second.

When Stéphanie passed her boss on the stairs to the second floor room where their charges were housed, she stopped her and whispered. "Boss, you'd better stop in the bathroom. You have lipstick smeared on your neck. Isn't it Dr. Jackson's shade?"

"Thanks, honey. And keep it to yourself or you will eat lunch standing up, young woman."

"Promises. Promises. It's nice to see you smile, boss. You've kept yourself under such tight rein these last few days so you wouldn't affect our girls. It can't be good for you. You need to get laid and soon. If you want, come to my room tonight and I'll be happy to apply some personalized therapy."

"What will Anne think about it? Or will she join us? No need to answer that. Your blush is says it all."

"How did you know, boss? We tried so hard to be discreet. Like you and Dr. Jackson were years ago." When she saw Sarah's shoulders slump at the memory, she embraced her. "We all knew why you had to break it off. We admired your courage and dedication. You must know we all look up to you and more than a few of us actually had a crush on you at one time or another."

"You do? You did? But I always tried to keep my distance first when I developed my theories because I was sure everybody thought I was crazy then because I wanted so much to train you all to achieve your highest potential."

"We know, boss. But think about the kind of people you trained. Do you honestly think we didn't see how much you cared about each and every one of us and our patients?" Holding her so she could look in her eyes, she went, on. "Boss, Sarah, you have such a big heart that it blinds you to some obvious things. Haven't you repeated to us over and over that love will win in the end and that we have to look with our hearts first and then with our senses before we let our brains come to any conclusions? We love you Sarah as we know you love us. And while you're washing Karen's lipstick, you may want to splash some cold water on your face. It wouldn't do for the staff to see our fearless leader with red eyes because she's been crying."

They hugged while Sarah got herself under control. If any of her people saw them, they figured she needed the release and they went on their way with a smile.

The rest of the day, as she went through the myriad details that dictate the life of a dedicated researcher and department head, Sarah felt a nagging thought just at the edge of her consciousness. She knew herself well enough to know that it could be important, but, try as she might, it wouldn't come to the fore.

At supper, where she participated in the first part of the discussion with her team, it was almost distracting. When she left them to brainstorm without the boss present to inhibit their creative spirit, she decided to take a walk on the grounds to try and clear her head.

An hour later, she was sitting on a bench, looking at the stars. "All right, you damn subconscious. I've narrowed it down to this: somebody said something important to me in passing today, but I didn't notice because it's too obvious. It's something we all know so well we don't pay attention to it anymore."

She was still there when Karen joined her. "Sarah, darling, you're shivering. Why don't you come in? I'll get us a mug of mulled wine and we can sit in front of the fire. If you must spend the night thinking, at least you can do it where you are comfortable."

Sarah jumped to her feet and paced angrily in front of her mentor. "That's just it. I don't want to be comfortable when Jules and Ari are in such distress. I LOVE THEM. They are my wives and we were just about to declare ourselves to the Mother in front of our friends when this happened, damn it. Now I have to be the detached scientist to find a solution."