­­­­­Caleb 49 – Repercussions.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?!?”

Maggie was screaming at me down the phone. We had just landed following a ten-hour flight from Barcelona, driven back to the house, and were unpacking our bags. I had phoned her to check in, following her request that I do so.

I simply hung up the phone.

Ness looked at me. “Sounds like she’s pissed at you,” she said a wry grin on her face.

“You heard that?” I asked.

“We all heard that,” said Dean who was over the other side of the kitchen making coffee. “You hanging up on her isn’t exactly going to smooth things over though.”

“I’m not going to be screamed at,” I said, “no matter who she thinks she is. I still don’t work for her, but even if I did, I wouldn’t stand still just to be abused.”

“She is your Matriarch,” said Mary. “And you did swear an oath.”

“Show me where it says that I swore to allow myself to be abused,” I said.

My phone rang again, I looked, Maggie. I answered.

“DON’T YOU FUCKING…” I hung up again.

Dean grinned at me. “You must love trouble,” he said.

Ten minutes later, my phone rang for a third time. This time it was Dianna.

“Hey Dianna,” I said.

“Maggie just called me,” she said. “She’s more than a little pissed. You hanging up on her didn’t help.”

“Yeah, well that’s just too bad,” I said. “If she wants to have a conversation, I’ll talk to her. If all she wants is to scream at me then no. I’m not her whipping boy, and the more she behaves like she owns me, the less likely it is that I will, in fact, join the bureau. I’m not putting myself under her command if she behaves like a spoiled little brat every time something doesn’t go her way.”

“You certainly stirred things up in Spain,” Dianna responded. “You said you wouldn’t act against the Everson council.”

“I said I wouldn’t pursue a legal case against them,” I said, “and I haven’t. I have taken no action at all. But I didn’t sign a non-disclosure agreement either. I was talking to the Matriarch of the Gonzales line – someone I wouldn’t have even met had it not been for the Eversons telling people I was travelling  - and she found their behaviour so appalling she made her own mind up about it. I actually acted to mitigate the situation and got her to talk to you. Otherwise they were going to ostracise the Everson family without any consultation with them. Furthermore, she told me that all the families in Europe would follow suit. I do admit that I didn’t know what effect that would have though.

“Just for your information, she invited me to move to Spain. She said I could be a naturalized citizen there within 24 hours if I wished. The girls too.”

Dianna gasped. “You’re not considering it?” she asked.

“If I were,” I said, “screaming at me over the phone would not be a good way of changing my mind.”

“She’s royally pissed,” Dianna told me.

“Poor thing,” I said. “Why isn’t she royally pissed about the seventy odd years she spent as a slave to the Everson council? Why isn’t she royally pissed about them enslaving her entire line? And why isn’t she royally pissed that they have been doing their damndest for the last five hundred years to make our line extinct. If she isn’t going to protect the line, then who is? She’s supposed to be the FUCKING MATRIARCH!!!”

I had wound myself up into a rage, and I felt Mary’s hand on my arm. I stopped and took a breath.

“Sorry,” I said “I shouldn’t be yelling at you, or even at all. I’m sorry Dianna.”

“I get it,” she said. “I do, really. But there are bound to be repercussions. Did you hear what the Gonzales Matriarch is demanding?”

“No,” I said. “I wasn’t on the call and we didn’t discuss it afterward.”

“She is demanding that the entire Everson Council step down,” she said. “Maggie can stay – as a representative of your line, and only because she was, herself, bound. But the three others are to resign their positions by the end of the month. Failure to do so will result in the ostracization of our line from the Gonzales line. The knock-on effect will be that all the families in Europe will join in, as will the South American Spanish-speaking families. It is likely that one or more of the families Stateside will also join in when they find out about the binding. Our entire line will become pariahs.”

“I’m sorry, Dianna,” I said. “I had no intention of making trouble but I cannot say that I’m sorry that they are being held to account for their actions. They were despicable and had I not been able to counter them, even now, I would be enslaved by them as would my entire family. They deserve everything they get.”

“But what of the rest of my family?” asked Dianna. “Do they deserve it?”

“If your council has ANY honor at all, “I rebutted. “They will step down and ensure that the rest of your family does not suffer for their actions. Other than you and the girls, I do not know any other members of your family, so I cannot say what they do, or do not, deserve. What I do know is that my family did not deserve any of what was done to them, nor did I deserve what they had planned for me.

“Everyone seems to be mad at me. I didn’t do this, THEY did. Take it up with them. Look Dianna, it’s late, and I’ve just spent ten hours on an airplane. I’m tired and probably not in the best frame of mind to discuss this. Can we talk tomorrow?”

“Sure,” she said. “I’ll try and calm Maggie down. I’m not sure how successful I’ll be though.”

I sighed as she hung up the phone. I felt like it was bedtime, but it was only just after lunch. Jet lag was kicking my ass. I needed to sleep.

I drank the coffee that Dean had made and went out onto the deck to join the rest of the family. They were all out there, all as knackered as I was. Gracie hadn’t been home when we arrived. I wondered idly where she had gotten to, but she was a grown woman and capable of looking after herself.

I decided to try and stay up until as close to my normal ten pm bedtime as I could.  I didn’t want my sleep pattern to get completely messed up. I was confident that my bladder alarm was up to the task, and I didn’t want to spend days reacclimatizing to the time zone.

“What’s next on our agenda?” asked Jules. “We have three weeks left of the break. What are we doing with it?”

“This is going to sound really stupid,” I said, “but hear me out. Why doesn’t Ness, and whoever else wants to go, fly back up to the ranch with Dean and Cheryl. I, and whoever else, will drive up in my truck. Then when it’s time to come home we can bring Ness’s car and anything else that she wants to bring. It will save a shitload of cash in shipping as well as the cost of flying us back.”

Ness looked at me like I’d grown an extra head.

“But why drive when the jet is so much faster?” she asked.

“Because the jet costs a shitload of cash to run,” I said. “And we’ve just spent a queen’s ransom dancing all over Europe in it. I…”

“Caleb,” said Dean. I looked at him. “I appreciate the thought,” he said. “But honestly, it’s not a problem. Let’s stick to plan A – If you’re coming up with us, then we’ll all fly up. Then when it’s time for you to come home, you’ll fly back. Shipping for Ness’s car and other stuff isn’t a big deal.”

I sighed defeated. “I just…”

“I know,” said Dean. “And believe me, having someone actually care how much things cost,” he gave both his daughters a side eye at this, “does make a difference. The second we can’t afford it, believe me, I’ll let you all know.”

“Besides,” he added with a grin, “I just heard I might have a new investor in the farm.”

I hmphed. “If he finds out how frivolously you spend your money,” I said, “he might reconsider.”

Dean grinned at me.

“So,” he said, “now that that’s settled, are you coming up to the ranch for a couple of weeks before you go to your parents?”

I grimaced. “I’m not sure the reception I’ll get there,” I said, “especially after what happened. I’ll bet Maggie has been venting at them about it too.”

“Play it by ear,” said Dean. “Let’s have a day to collect ourselves and maybe fly up on Tuesday?”

I looked at the girls who all nodded.

“You coming too?” asked Dean to Josh and Louise.

“Is that okay?” asked Josh. “I’ve heard a lot about the ranch and I’d love to see it.”

“He’ll have you working,” I said. “It’s not all unicorns and pony rides.”

“I can work,” said Josh, almost defensively.

“Excellent,” said Cheryl “We’ll go up Tuesday. I suspect Caleb is going to be busy tomorrow in any case.”

She wasn’t wrong.

I woke at my usual time. After my normal morning routine, I went to the dojo. I wasn’t sure if Kevin would have been expecting me but, since he said he trained at that time, I went anyway. Kevin was indeed there and was pleased to see me.

“I’m only here today,” I said, “and maybe tomorrow. After that I’m going up to Dean’s ranch for a couple of weeks and then to my parents. Things should get back to normal once classes start again.”

We spent a couple of hours on the mat sparring. It was a lot of fun and I think we both enjoyed it. Since I had assimilated all of his fighting knowledge, I was able to predict what he was going to do, but I still hadn’t fully developed the reflexes and muscle memory I needed to be able to counter him. It was not all bad news for me though because he couldn’t always counter my moves, particularly when I switched styles quickly.

I was in the kitchen making breakfast when Maggie and Dianna arrived.

“Morning,” I said amiably. “Breakfast?”

“No thanks,” said Dianna. “Caleb, can we talk?”

“Sure,” I said. “Ness, will you take over please?”

Ness, who had been sitting at the table waiting for her breakfast, nodded and replaced me at the stove. I took Dianna and Maggie into the living room and closed the door.

I took a seat and waited for them to do the same.

“What was the fucking point,” growled Maggie, “of that charade in my office, if you intended to go and stir up trouble like that?”

“I didn’t intend to do anything of the sort,” I said. “I didn’t even know I would meet any power users in Europe. It’s likely I probably wouldn’t have if the Everson Council hadn’t told everyone I was coming.”

“It’s an international agreement,” said Diana, “to notify each other when Compulsion power users travel.”

I shook my head. “So, the prejudice doesn’t stop with you guys,” I said. “Good to know.”

“Caleb, please,” said Dianna. “We didn’t cause this.”

“Didn’t you?” I asked sharply. “Really? Did the ever so righteous Eversons not have a hand in creating that agreement in the first place? I’d be very surprised if they didn’t instigate it. But that aside, they DID start the chain of events that has now come home to roost. So why am I the one getting the fallout from this? I didn’t cause this. They did.”

“The Everson Council has stepped down.” said Maggie. “They had no choice but to do so. It goes without saying that the entire bloodline is royally pissed at us and, more specifically, at you.”

“Boo-hoo!” I said. “They did wrong, they got caught. They were lucky that losing their council seats was the only punishment they got. Tell me, if I had held someone in slavery like they did, what would I be facing?”

“You made your point,” growled Maggie. “I wish you’d spoken to me before acting though.”

“I didn’t act,” I said. “I Healed a young girl of cancer and met her family. It came out in conversation.”

“It’s going to cause a lot of problems,” she said. “We don’t yet have the network of families so we relied on the Everson’s council to communicate with the other families. Now that is gone, it’s going to take us some time to get things up and running again.”

“I can give you the Matriarch of the Gonzales family’s number,” I said. “And I’m sure she’d be happy to put you in touch with others. Also, I have Colin Goode’s card, the guy from the UK. Besides, won’t the outgoing council brief the incoming one?”

“I doubt that Zacharia will be briefing anyone,” said Dianna. “He is incandescent with rage. Ezra and Matilda are not pleased but seem to have accepted their position. The trouble will be finding replacements.”

“What about you?” I asked Dianna. “As the matriarch shouldn’t you have been on the council in any case. So, with you and Maggie that’s two – all you need to do is find two more.”

“The Eversons have cut ties with us,” said Maggie. “So, I’m no longer on their council.”

“Cut ties?” I asked. “What does that mean?”

“It means that we are no longer working together,” said Dianna. “I’m no longer on your council, Maggie is no longer on ours. All projects on which we collaborated are now in abeyance until the new council is appointed, and then they will make their own decision as to what happens.”

“And how does it affect us?” I said to her. “You and me?”

“Technically, I’m not supposed to be talking to you,” she said. “I need to make the twins aware of the Council’s ruling too.”

I scratched my chin thoughtfully. I sent the twins the memory of the entire conversation and asked them to join us.

Amanda and Mary came into the living room without knocking.

“No,” they both said in unison before Dianna had even opened her mouth. “We will not obey the council’s ruling.”

“And if you do,” said Mary, a tear in her eye “then I, we, will consider that we no longer have a grandmother.”

My eyes went wide, as tears burst from Dianna’s.

“No” I said “you can’t…”

“Caleb,” said Amanda, “this is wrong. What they did, for generations, was wrong. They got caught and, out of spite, are trying to hurt you the only way they know how; by coming between you and us.”

“Well, it’s not happening,” said Mary. “And the Grandmother I grew up loving and respecting would not stand for it either. She would stand up for what was right, fair, and true, and not bow down to them.”

Mary turned her gaze from me – to Dianna. “So,” she said, her demeanour firm. “what’s it going to be Matriarch? Are we still your granddaughters?”

Dianna stood and walked over where the twins stood. “You will always be my granddaughters,” she said. “I already told the council that I would not be obeying their ruling. I was bound to inform you of it though.”

Both girls threw their arms around their grandmother burying their faces in her shoulders. There were tears.

I looked at Maggie.

“So,” I said. “What now?”

She sighed wearily. “I don’t know,” she said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. It just all came tumbling down. We’d had almost a month where things seemed to be settled, everyone seemed to be getting along, and then the shit hit the fan, bigtime. I know it’s not your fault, it’s not my fault either, but it sure as hell is my problem.”

“Did they all know,” I asked.

Maggie looked at me. She nodded. “They all knew. Every one of them knew about the oath and the binding. I wish it were otherwise, but it was not.”

“We need to look after our own line,” I said. “The Everson’s Council brought this on themselves and are suffering the consequences. It’s up to them to dig themselves out of the mess they got themselves into. Our job, is to make our line strong again.”

Maggie sighed again and nodded.

“I have connections with the Wragge family, and obviously the Gonzales family,” I said. “Perhaps we can start there? Maybe Jeevan would help me and put me in touch with others.”

“Any contacts you can get to speak with me would help,” she said. “As I said, I know of them but all communication was done through the Council. It’s only now, that the binding has gone, that that even strikes me as strange. They were isolating us.”

“And trying to push us out of existence,” I said. “Abuela Gonzales knew it from all the way over there in Spain.”

“Shit,” she said shaking her head. “I don’t deserve to be on our own council, let alone matriarch.”

“Were you matriarch when you were bound?” I asked.

“Of course not,” she said. “I was just twenty-one…”

“Then you have nothing to blame yourself for,” I said. “You were controlled just like all the others. I also think that you did your best to warn me albeit within the constraints of the binding.”

I picked up my phone and dialled.

“Colin Goode,” he answered.

“Mr. Goode,” I said “Caleb Stott.”

“Oh, are you back in the UK?” he replied. “I wasn’t aware.”

“No,” I said. “You’ll be pleased to know that I’m back stateside and well out of your hair. But I do have a favour to ask.”

I explained the issue, and then after a few moments passed my phone to Maggie, who spent nearly an hour talking to him. Dianna, the girls, and I went into the kitchen and had some breakfast while we waited.

Maggie came in some time later. Not exactly beaming, but certainly looking happier. Ness, without even breaking stride, placed a plate on the table and indicated toward it. Maggie sat down and began to eat.

“That was very productive,” she said between mouthfuls. “He’s given me the contact details of all the UK families and a half a dozen more across Europe. He had already heard the story and was happy to help. He was pleased to hear that the Everson Council had stepped down and asked me to get the new council to contact him when they were appointed. He was also very complimentary about the way you handled your little issue when you were over there.”

When Maggie had finished eating, I called Abuela Gonzales. She was pleased to speak to the matriarch of the Stott line and gave her contact details for a number of other families across Europe and also in South America.

Vince Wragge, when I called him, was happy to talk to Maggie and share his contact list with her also.

“I’m all tapped out,” I said. “That’s every power user I know other than us.”

“And each one of them,” said Maggie, “either thinks they are in your debt, or at the very least, thinks highly of you.”

“He’s just so adorable,” said Jules putting her arms around me from behind.

Maggie laughed. “He’s a pain in my butt,” she said, “is what he is.”

“Use more lube,” was Louise’s instinctive response. Her hand flew to her mouth, and she turned a nice shade of red, when she realised what she had said and to whom.

“Noted,” said Maggie dryly, arching her eyebrow at Louise.

“Actually,” I said, picking up my phone, “there is one more.”

“Bhaiya,” Jeevan as always sounded delighted to hear from me.

While he wasn’t a member of a US bloodline, he knew people from almost every bloodline in the US who were either Healers themselves, or knew through other Healers. He wouldn’t give Maggie their details, but promised to pass her’s along and ask them if they would be willing to call and speak to her. He indicated that each US bloodline would be wise to establish a relationship with the new Stott council. Less than half an hour after we finished our call, Maggie’s phone rang. It didn’t stop ringing for the rest of the day.

I wasn’t quite sure why she hung around with us all day, but I wasn’t complaining. It meant that Dianna was around, since they had travelled here together, and the twins got to spend some time with her. I was also quite enjoying talking to Maggie. Ness seemed to be warming to Dianna, even going so far as to allow her a hug at one point, the reason for which I wasn’t close enough to ascertain. She also chatted with Maggie in the brief periods when the older woman was not on her phone.

Eventually Maggie sighed as she disconnected the last call.

“That’s all of them,” she said. “In one day you managed to put me in touch with every known powered line in the US. . .and several from elsewhere. I’m going to have a lot of work to do, but at least they’re talking to me.”

“Jeevan did most of the work,” I said.

“But you got Jeevan to help,” she said. “He would never have done that for me.”

“He is my brother,” I said. “We do things for one another.”

Maggie looked at her watch. “My god,” she said. “It’s nearly four. We need to get going.”

“Are you sure you won’t stay for dinner?” asked Ness – who had cooked lunch for them.

“Much as I would love to,” said Maggie, “I can’t. Cuthbert will already be cursing me up and down. I’ll bet I’ve missed a lot of stuff he had planned for me today.”

“Give him my regards,” I said with a grin.

“I’m sure he can’t wait to see you again,” she replied with a small smile. “I still catch him thinking about that sometimes.” She stood up.

“Ness,” she said, “thank you for breakfast and lunch. Both were delicious. Caleb. Thank you. It’s been a rough couple of days, but I’m sure we’ll come through it. Do watch your back though. The old Everson Council still has friends. They may decide to come after you.”

“They’d better not,” said Dianna, “or they’ll have me to answer to. Council or not, I’m still Matriarch.”

“And still on our council,” said Maggie, “unless you no longer wish to be.”

They left together after Dianna had given hugs to all the girls, Ness included. Maggie merely nodded to the girls, and to me, before going through the door.

“Well,” said Dean, “that could have gone a whole lot worse.”

I agreed.

The evening passed in amiable conversation. Gracie still hadn’t shown her face, but still I wasn’t concerned. We were not her keepers. I did, however, decide to send her a text.

_Hi Gracie, just checking in. We’re heading up to the ranch tomorrow so if we don’t see you, it’s probably going to be another 3 weeks until we’re back.

_OK, See you then.

Short and sweet. I wondered if she’d found herself a new man. I grinned at that thought. I hoped, whoever he was, he wasn’t another Dylan.

+++++

The next morning, we packed up our stuff and headed, once again, for the local airport. Gerry was waiting for us and the Jet already opened up and ready for us to board. We took two cars which we parked in the private terminal parking lot, rather than the hangar this time, and carried our luggage onto the jet.

We carried all of our baggage onto the aircraft and stowed it. Gerry, for once, just sat and waited in the cockpit for us to get everything stowed. Once we closed the door, I heard the engines spool up, and we started to move.

“Someone’s in a rush,” Dean snipped at him, having not been seated when the jet began its taxi. Gerry, as usual, ignored him.

We were in the air in a few minutes and settled in for the hour long flight. Amanda, as usual, squeezed the life out of my hand as we took off, but eased up once we were levelled off and everything had settled down. As usual Dean and Cheryl were seated up front, while the girls and I occupied the central seats.  Josh and Louise sat further back. Jules immediately started to read, Ness stared out of the window, obviously bored, and the twins and I simply sat enjoying each other’s company and chatting.

“Who wants coffee?” asked Ness, looking for something to do.

“Sounds good,” I said as I went to get up to help her.

“Sit,” she said imperiously. “I’ll do it.” I grinned at her. I guessed that she figured that making coffee for everyone would take up more time if she did it alone. We had spent a lot of time on the jet over the last few weeks, most recently, and least favourably, on the nearly ten-hour flight back from Spain only 2 days ago. She was done with it. It was definitely preferable to driving for ten hours, but the flight was still not an enchanting experience for her.

She made drinks for Dean and Cheryl, and then took ours and Josh and Louise’s orders.

“Don’t forget Gerry,” I said.

“I told you not to spoil the hired help,” called Dean grinning, fully expecting Gerry to, once again, flip him off. There was no reaction. Perhaps he didn’t hear or had his headset on. I couldn’t see more than his shoulder from my position.

Ness made the drinks, handed us ours, and Josh and Louise theirs, before going up into the cockpit to give Gerry his.

“CALEB!” she yelled.

The sound of panic in her voice had both Dean and me on our feet in an instant. Dean, being nearer to the front was beside her before me, and blocked my view of what was going on in the cockpit.

I stood back and waited to find out what was going on.

Dean turned around. “Something’s wrong with Gerry,” he said. “He’s just staring into space.”

“Can I see?” I asked, stepping back to let Dean and Ness get out of my way, and then I entered the cockpit.

Gerry was seated in the pilot’s seat. My first thought was to check our situation. I looked at all the instrumentation and noted that we were on our pre-planned flightpath. I also confirmed that the autopilot had control of the aircraft. As far as we were concerned everything was as it should be. Everything, that was, apart from our pilot.

Gently I examined his mind.

My stomach roiled when I discovered what had happened. Someone had gotten to Gerry and interfered with his mind. They had left some kind of ‘timebomb’ in his head, so that once we were airborne, he would enter a catatonic state. Knowing that I would be on board, and that I would probably be able to undo that, they had removed all of his flying knowledge. Their idea, apparently, was that we wouldn’t notice Gerry’s condition and continue to fly until we ran out of fuel and crashed or, since we didn’t have a pilot on board, we would crash while attempting to land. Either way, evidence of their interference would be obliterated, and the deaths ruled accidental or written off as pilot error.

I searched his memory to see who had done this to him. They’d been cautious, wiping his memories of their interaction, but they slipped up. It was brief, but they had approached him while he was in his car just before he had arrived home. For an instant he had seen the car in his rear-view mirror as it approached. In the drivers’ seat was a blond haired blue eyed boy and, in the passenger seat, Zacharia Everson.

“Bastard,” I cursed.

Once more I looked at the instrumentation. We had about thirty minutes flight time left. I could leave the autopilot in charge of the aircraft for a little while longer.

“Help me get him out of the seat,” I said. “I don’t want him near the controls, just in case there are any other surprises waiting for us.”

I unbuckled Gerry’s harness and, using my TK, pulled him out of the seat. Dean guided, making sure I didn’t bounce him off any sharp surfaces as I levitated him back in the main cabin, and into a seat, where we buckled him in.

I left him in the care of Mary and Amanda. I went back into the cockpit and slid into the left seat.

I scanned the panels and instrumentation. Everything looked familiar and I knew I could fly the plane, theoretically at least. I hadn’t had so much as a single hour of stick time on any aircraft, let alone a fifty million dollar, twenty two ton, twin engine jet.

Dean entered the cockpit and slid into the right seat.

“Can you fly this thing?” he asked.

“Technically,” I said, “yes. I need to get a feel for it though.”

I put on the headset and keyed the button for the intercom to the cabin.

“I need you all to sit down and belt yourselves in,” I said. “I need to take control of the plane while we are up here and see how she feels. It may get a bit bumpy, I’m sorry.” I released the button and turned to Dean.

“We need to let Dianna and Maggie know what happened,” I said, “Just in case. We’re about thirty minutes out, so I’ll make the call. Then I need to spend a few minutes getting a feel for the controls. I’m also going to have to call ATC when we get close and tell them we have an incapacitated pilot.”

“Hold off on that,” he said. “Speak to Maggie first. Then see how you feel flying. Then let’s make the decision.”

I nodded, and pulled my phone out, calling Maggie.

“Caleb,” said Maggie. “I thought you were going up to the ranch.”

“We are,” I said, “but there’s been a bit of a hitch.”

I explained the situation, how Gerry had been attacked by Zacharia and another member of his family, and how he was now unable to fly the plane.

“I can have a pilot on the line with you in fifteen minutes,” she said. “Hang…”

“Maggie,” I said, “that won’t help. I took all Gerry’s flying knowledge just after my birthday. You know the twins bought me flying lessons. Gerry was good enough to let me have everything he knew. I just haven’t had any actual experience. Technically I know what to do. I just need to get a feel for the bird.

“I just wanted you to know what happened, just in case.”

“In case?” she asked. “In case my ass. You get that bird on the ground in one piece and that’s a fucking order!!!”

“Yes ma’am.” I said smiling wryly.

The autopilot beeped and the plane began to bank. We’d reached a waypoint. Once we reached the next turn, it would be time to start our descent.

“I have to go,” I said. “I’ll call you once we’re on the ground.”

“Caleb?” she said, sounding nervous.

“Yes?” I responded.

“Good Luck,” she said, and before I could respond, ended the call.

“You all strapped in back there?” I sent to the girls.

“Yes,” Mary sent.

Pulling on my own harness, I indicated for Dean to do the same. Once we were secured, I pressed the autopilot disconnect on the control stick and took direct control of the aircraft. I needed to get a feel of how movement in the controls related to actual movement of the aircraft.

Being in the left seat put the ‘joystick’ control lever in my left hand. This, in and of itself, felt strange to me. Since I was right handed, my preference would have been to have the control stick in my right hand. Perhaps I should have taken the right seat, but instinct, or memories, had dictated that the ‘captain’ sat in the left seat.

I gently pushed the control stick forward slightly, feeling the nose of the plane dip and within about five seconds we had lost five hundred feet in altitude. I pulled it back, a little sharper than intended and the plane lurched up, climbing a thousand feet in no time at all. I managed to gain control once again and eased the stick forward gently until we levelled out and once more settled at our designated altitude. I hoped ATC didn’t see that little blip.

I was heartened. The controls were not as skittish as I had feared. Since this was a fly-by-wire aircraft, I was sure that the computer was smoothing things out. I tried a little side-to-side wriggle and felt the wings dip slightly. Pressing the rudder pedals also gave me a feel for how much pressure produced how much resultant movement in the aircraft. I turned the autopilot back on and settled back into my seat, wiping my sweaty hands on the legs of my jeans.

“Everyone ok back there?” I sent to them all.

“Amanda near broke my hand,” complained Jules. “But other than that, we’re all good.”

“We’re about to make our final turn,” I sent, “then about fifteen minutes to landing.”

“You want to go back and sit with Cheryl?” I asked Dean.

He looked at me for a moment then gave a short nod. He undid his harness and slid out of the seat moving back into the cabin.

“I’m going to be a bit busy for the next few minutes,” I sent, “so I thought I’d just remind you all how much I love you.”

I felt waves of love from them all. There was more than a little fear running through it, but I could sense they were trying to suppress that.

The autopilot beeped indicating we’d reached our final waypoint and I keyed the mike to talk to ATC. I was very thankful that the weather, and the skies, were clear.  There was no other traffic on approach to the airport and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, either of which would have made landing more complicated. As it was, ATC cleared us to enter a fifteen mile final approach and gave me wind speed and direction as well as an altimeter reading. That was good; I had forgotten to get the airport ATIS information prior to contacting ATC. One mistake. . .a simple one.

Despite my nerves, everything seemed to fall into place. I followed the directions from air traffic control for a visual approach and, before I knew it, was lined up with the runway. From my viewpoint, the runway seemed both incredibly far away, and incredibly small, but it was rushing up to meet me with all the enthusiasm of the Steadman dogs.

I extended the landing gear.

I managed to keep the plane steady and level, something memory said was called a stabilized approach, and I was making only tiny movements to the controls. I received my final information and landing clearance from the tower. Then the cockpit warning voice started calling out my altitude.

“Five hundred.” I jumped but managed not to jerk the control stick.

“Four hundred.” I had been expecting it so I maintained my control and concentration.

“Three hundred.” The runway was getting closer still. I could see individual people now walking around, minding their own business. I wondered if they were about to witness something catastrophic.

“Two hundred.” It felt like we were skimming the tops of trees and houses. I knew, intellectually, that there were no power lines or other obstructions. Gerry had flown into this airport hundreds of times but, even so, my eyes were darting around looking for any signs of them.

“One hundred” the airport was right there. Just across a small field and a road. It seemed like I wouldn’t even clear the fence.

“Fifty, Forty, Thirty.” I was over the runway now, just crossing the stripes.

“Twenty, Ten.” I pulled back ever so gently on the stick, just enough to pull the nose up a tiny bit, and started my landing flare. I needed to bleed off the last bit of flying speed and make sure that the main gear touched first.

It seemed to take forever for the plane to drop that final ten feet but, with an almost imperceptible bump, the main gear touched and I eased the stick forward allowing the nose to drop too. I pulled back on the throttle levers and engaged reverse thrust, slowing the plane down and applying the brakes, until I slowed enough to exit the runway.

Tower gave me taxiing instructions as I guided the plane off the runway, down a couple of taxiways, and onto the apron in front of the Steadman hangar.

Once I brought the aircraft to a stop, I applied the parking brake, and ran through the shutdown procedure. When everything was done, I leaned forward, grabbed Gerry’s chart case and, only just managed to get it open before I released the entire contents of my stomach into it. I retched and heaved until I had nothing left. I felt a hand on the back of my neck. I didn’t know whose it was, nor did I care at that moment.

My phone rang, I picked it up and handed it back to the person behind me. I wasn’t ready to speak yet.

“No,” he said, “this is Dean. Caleb is just taking a moment. . .No, it was fine. . .How long?. . . I’ll arrange transportation to the ranch. . .I’ll get someone to meet you. . .I’ll tell him. Bye.”

Taking out his own phone he made a phone call. He was blocking the entrance to the cockpit so, although I could see all my girls wanting to get through, he was giving me time to settle myself. By the time he was done with his call I was ready.

“Okay?” he said. I nodded and slid out of the seat only to be enveloped in a crushing hug by the man himself.

“OOOOF!” I complained as he squeezed the life out of me.

Eventually he released me and I was finally able to draw breath. He turned and opened the plane door, blocking the cockpit door, and directed everyone off before finally allowing me to disembark. It made sense. Once we were all on the apron, and there was room, I was once again engulfed in the arms of my four girls. Cheryl, Josh, and Louise hung back, although it appeared that they too wanted to show their appreciation.

Dean came down the steps. Gerry was still strapped into a seat on the plane and still, apparently, catatonic.

“Maggie and Dianna are on their way up,” he said. “She said they will be landing in about ninety minutes. We need to get Gerry down. The boys will be here soon with some transport to take us back home.”

Disentangling myself from the girls, I stepped back up into the plane and looked at Gerry once again. The easiest way to get him down would be Compulsion and, with a quick apology, I Compelled him to undo his belt, and follow me down the steps onto the tarmac. I brought his pilots case too, for disposal. I closed up the plane just as four cars pulled up alongside driven by Bobby and some of the other hands. I recognised Jonas’ father in one of the driver’s seats.

We each took a seat in one of the vehicles, I kept Gerry with me, and we were driven back to the ranch. Immediately upon arrival we were mobbed by the dogs before being allowed into the house. I sat Gerry at the end of the kitchen table. I needed a drink, but first I needed to brush my teeth; I still had the sour taste of vomit in my mouth. I went up to our room, and into the bathroom, where I decided to have a shower. I had been sweating like a whore in church the entire time I was in that seat, and so I didn’t smell too good.

It wasn’t a surprise when I felt the cold wash of air on my back, I had almost expected it, but what surprised me was that it was Jules. Not that I was complaining. Right now sex was the last thing on my mind, and the girls must have known that. I turned around to face her and she simply pulled me into a hug, our naked bodies pressed together under the stream of warm water. She held me for a few long minutes before looking up into my face.

“Thank you,” she said. “You saved me, saved us all, my entire family.”

I didn’t think it prudent to mention at that time that it was my fault that they were at risk in the first place, but I’m sure that would come out at some point down the line. Right now, all I wanted to do was hold onto my beautiful fiancée and enjoy the moment.

After the shower I got dressed and re-joined the others in the kitchen. Ness was busy, as usual, and within a few minutes had served lunch.  We were just finishing lunch when the barking of the dogs announced that Maggie and Dianna had arrived.

Dianna immediately went to the twins and threw her arms around them, while Maggie came over to me. She stood in front of me for a moment surveying me.

“It’s nice to see you can obey orders sometimes,” she said.

“When the orders make sense,” I replied dryly.

Then she surprised me by throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a fierce hug.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again,” she said.

I was shocked as we broke apart to see that there were tears in her eyes.

“It wasn’t exactly planned,” I said. I nodded in Gerry’s direction. Maggie looked at him and she and Dianna went over.

“Show me what you saw from him,” Maggie said, and I gave them both the memories. It took a couple of seconds for them both to assimilate then Maggie, face grim, picked up her phone and made a call, walking out of the kitchen onto the deck to do so.

“They blocked his consciousness,” Dianna said. “That’s easy enough to undo. But they also removed all his memories of how to fly. They must have thought you might be able to undo the block in flight, and didn’t want to take the chance.”

“How do I undo the block?” I asked.

Dianna explained the process, and within a few minutes, Gerry was back to himself wondering where he was, and what he was doing there. Dianna explained it all to him.

“Caleb was able to remove your block,” she concluded. “I’m sorry, but your memories of flying are all gone.”

Garry looked defeated. He glanced at Dean who indicated that they should go outside to talk.

“Who was the blonde kid?” I asked Dianna after she had finished with Gerry.

“Heath,” she said.

Mary and Amanda both gasped.

“Wasn’t he your backup for me,” I asked, “if I turned out to be gay?”

She squirmed a bit but then nodded. “He was,” she said. “Now his reasons for volunteering make even more sense.”

Maggie came back in from the deck. “I just spoke to Judge Roder,” she said. “She’s just issued warrants for the arrest of Zacharia and Heath Everson. They’re putting a team together now to go get them. She’s not issued warrants for the rest of the council, but if they are involved, we’ll find out. She’s also given us full authority on the interrogation.”

“Full authority?” Dianna repeated, to confirm. Maggie nodded.

“I’m going to ask Vincent Wragge if he would be kind enough to do the honors.” Maggie said.

“I could…” I began but Maggie shook her head.

“I’m not letting you anywhere near this,” she said. “His legal team would tear us apart in court if the victim was involved in the interrogation.”

“If he’s found guilty,” I asked, “what will he get?”

“I don’t know,” said Maggie. “Ten counts of attempted murder, maybe ten to fifteen each but served concurrently, and out in eight probably.”

I nodded.

“Do you remember my promise?” I asked her. Her face sharpened.

“Caleb, you can’t,” said Dianna.

“He not only tried to kill me,” I said, “he tried to kill all four of my fiancées, plus my in-laws, plus Josh and Louise. Not to mention Gerry, and countless others on the ground who could have been killed or injured when the jet came down.

“Even so,” said Maggie. “You can’t take the law into your own hands like that.”

“He gets to keep his power?” I asked.

Maggie and Dianna looked at each other.

“Probably,” said Maggie.

I shook my head, disgusted.

“Then what is the fucking point?” I asked.

“The point?” asked Maggie. “The point is that he gets taken out of circulation.”

“He’ll get a holiday where his powers will give him a cushy life for the next few years which, given his lifespan, will just seem like an extended sabbatical. Then he’ll be free to try again, and you know he will. He’s a bitter and twisted old man with a sense of entitlement bigger than the country.”

“What do you suggest?” asked Dianna.

“Strip his powers,” I said. “Neuter him. Let him live out the rest of his life as a Norm.”

“They will never agree to that,” said Maggie. “It’s cruel and unusual punishment.”

“But…” I began.

“Caleb,” said Dean. I looked at him.

“There’s no point,” he said. “He is in the legal system. You have to let them do their thing. Isn’t that why you contacted Maggie in the first place?”

“But they…”

“I know, son,” he said. “But what can you do? Don’t answer that. I know what you could do, but what then? You end up in trouble, in jail, and where does that leave our girls? Jules, Ness, Mary, Amanda? It screws up your life for no real gain. Take it a day at a time. Let it go. If he comes after you when he comes out, then we’ll deal with it at that time. He’s not stupid enough to come at you directly though, so you’ll have to watch your six.”

I sighed. He was right. I just felt so helpless and so frustrated.

Ness came over and crawled into my lap, gazing up into my eyes.

“You ok?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “I’m far from OK. That BASTARD tried to kill you, Jules, Mary and Amanda, not to mention your parents, Josh and Louise, and Gerry. I’m supposed to sit here and let him get away with it?”

“He’s not getting away with it,” said Dianna.

“He’s getting a fucking holiday,” I said. “He’s probably taken shits that have lasted longer than you expect him to get for trying to kill almost my entire family.”

“It’s not our job to decide punishment,” said Maggie “That’s what the courts are for.”

I sighed. “Maybe I’m not cut out for the FBI,” I said. “Their idea of justice seems to be very different than mine.”

“Justice is not what we do,” she said. “We catch bad guys and protect innocents. The justice part of it comes after. I know it’s frustrating, especially when you are personally involved, but vigilantism isn’t the answer. You have to do your part, which you did, and then let the system do its part.”

“There is something you can do,” said Dianna.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Give Gerry his flying knowledge back,” she said. “I know you took all his memories of his flight training. Give them back to him so he’ll be able to fly again.”

I looked across the table at Gerry who was looking at me with hope in his face.

“Of course,” I said. “He’ll have to stay here the night though.”

“Done!” said Dean.

Maggie’s phone rang. She answered it, going out onto the deck to talk. She was back two minutes later.

“Zacharia is in custody,” she said. “He’s lawyered up. We need to get back immediately.”

“I’ll get one of the boys to drive you.” Dean said. Maggie nodded.

She came over to me.

“You need to let this go,” she said. “It will only hurt you if you don’t.”

I glared at her.

“What I need,” I said, “is family who is on my side.” She stepped back like I had slapped her.

“Caleb,” Dianna began but stopped when I glared at her.

The dogs barking signalled the arrival of their ride to the airport. Dianna gave all four girls a hug, before coming to me and cocking her head on one side.

“Caleb,” she said gently, “we don’t make the laws. We can only enforce them. I’m sorry if that makes you think that we don’t care but it’s because we DO care that we need you to not do anything to Zacharia. Even if we looked the other way, others would not. Not only that; what would that do to you? You’re not a killer Caleb. In the heat of the moment, maybe, but not cold blooded. If you forced yourself to do it, it would haunt you for the rest of your life.

“Let the law deal with Zacharia and take your revenge by living your best life. You’ve already taken away everything from him that he values.”

“He still has his power,” I said. “He’s still dangerous.”

“I’m going to press for everything I can,” said Maggie. “From multiple counts of attempted murder to hijacking to fucking piracy if I have to. He is going to go to prison for a long time.”

I looked at her. I shrugged, defeated. “Whatever,” I said, turning away and walking out of the kitchen door. I wandered across the yard and into the stable. Blaze saw me coming and came to the front of his stall snuffling at me and looking for the carrots I would normally bring. Since I hadn’t brought any, he had to make do with a handful of oats that I grabbed out of the feed bin as I passed.

Blaze condescended to accept the inferior offering, and munched at the oats as I stroked his mane.

“It’s not her fault,” Dean said. He was leaning by the door. I’d felt him approaching.

“I know,” I said in a flat voice. “It’s just…”

“Frustrating,” he said. “I know. Believe me. I may not have your powers, but I too want nothing more than to have five minutes in a room alone with Zacharia Everson. Powers or no, only one of us would step out. But it’s out of our hands. Getting involved would only cause you trouble and, effectively, get him what he wanted in the first place which was to take you off the board.

“You’re winning, Caleb. Almost without trying you removed not only him, but the entire Everson Council. Pretty much EVERY powered family thinks well of you, owes you personally, or knows someone who does. You’re changing minds. You would do a lot of damage if you did what you wanted to do to Zacharia.

“You have achieved in a year what your entire family couldn’t achieve in a millenia. Take the win.”

“I just…” I paused not knowing what I wanted to say. “I feel…”

“You want to hit something,” Dean said. “Hurt something, destroy something. I know. I feel the same. I could put some gloves on and beat the hell out of my heavy bag. I don’t think that would do it for you though.” He looked thoughtful for a second, then said, “Come on.”

I followed him out of the barn and back to his truck. We got in and he drove down a road I didn’t think I’d ever been down before.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“I acquired five thousand acres of land,” he said, “since you were last up. The old boy, who I’d been chasing to sell to me for the last five years, finally upped and retired. He’s living his best life in Florida now.

“I wanted the land, but I don’t need his house or his buildings. I was going to call a demolition contractor to come and tear the place down. But perhaps you might save me a little time?”

We pulled off the road and into a farmyard. There was a small brick farmhouse and a couple of brick out buildings.

“I had all the services disconnected at the road.” Dean said. “Once these are levelled, I’ll get a reclamation team in, they’ll take everything away, and eventually we’ll dig out the foundations and turn this into a pasture. I’ll probably expand the herd by another thousand head.”

I looked at him.

“Seriously?” I said. “You want me to…”

“Go on,” he said. “Let off some steam.”

I looked at the smallest of the outbuildings. Roughly the size of a two-car garage, it was brick built with wooden doors. I reached out and ripped the doors off. The wood tearing like tissue paper. I dropped the doors and grabbed the roof and lifted, tearing it clean off and dropping it back down so it laid drunkenly atop the walls. Then I hit it with a TK wrecking ball, smashing it down into the interior of the outbuilding. I took the ball to the walls too and in seconds there was little more than a pile of rubble where the building had once been.

I turned my attention to the second slightly larger building. Again, I ripped the doors off after making sure there was nothing and nobody inside. Then I simply gripped the building and squeezed, exerting my will. It was strange to see the building implode in a shower of dust. Once more, a couple of blows with my wrecking ball rendered the remainder of the building into yet another pile of rubble. I was starting to pant now; it was hard work, but it felt good to be doing something. To be destroying something. To be venting my anger on something.

I turned to the farmhouse itself and, after a quick scan to make sure that there was nobody squatting inside, I let loose.  I pounded at it, smashing great holes in the doors, blasting out the windows; basically throwing everything I had at it. I smashed, almost like the big green guy Bruce Banner becomes when he’s angry. I couldn’t see through the clouds of dust, but I continued to pound. I imagined that I was venting my rage on Zacharia Everson, that it was him I was pounding into paste. It was his face that was quickly becoming a blurry red smear in front of my eyes.

“Enough,” said Dean quietly stepping forward and pulling me into a hug. “It’s done.”

It was only then that I realised that I was screaming and sobbing. Tears of rage and frustration pouring from my eyes as I turned what had been a pretty cottage style farmhouse into nothing more than a pile of dust. It couldn’t even be really called rubble. I had pounded on it so hard that most of the bricks had been ground to powder. There was nothing recognizable left standing in the yard. Even the concrete foundation had been smashed into chunks. I doubted that any of these building’s materials would be recyclable. I’d literally ground it all into dust.

It took me a few minutes to collect myself. Dean stood and held onto me as I sobbed out the last of my frustration. When he released me, I slumped back against his truck, my breath still catching. My throat was sore from where I’d been screaming.

“Better?” asked Dean.

I took a breath. The knot I’d had in my chest was gone. I looked back at the farm I’d just destroyed. The dust was starting to settle and an eerie silence laid over everything. I must have scared everything within a mile radius away. There was not a bird singing or an insect buzzing. They’d be back, I knew, but for now the quiet was a balm and I relished it as I felt the residual tensions ebb away.

“Thanks, Pops,” I said. He grunted and slapped me on the back.

“Thank you,” he said with a grin. “You saved the guys a ton of work. I can’t wait to see Bobby’s face when he comes up here tomorrow.”

We climbed into his truck and drove back to the house.

Everyone was sitting out on the deck when we got back. They looked up as we walked into the yard, covered in dust.

“What have you been doing?” asked Cheryl.

“Caleb needed to let off some steam,” he said with a grin. “Tell Bobby to cancel the demolition team. We just need a clean-up crew now.”

“He…” Cheryl said looking at me. She stood up and walked over to me taking my face in her hands.

“I didn’t really get a chance to say this before,” she said, “thank you.” she gazed into my eyes. You saved us, all of us.”

“None of you would…”

“Don’t,” she interrupted me. “You didn’t cause it. Do not let them make you feel responsible for their actions. That is the method of bullies everywhere. They tell you that it’s your fault that they hurt or kill or destroy. No – They did this, not you. You saved us.”

“I’m going to make dinner,” said Ness. “Go shower.”

I went for what was my third shower of the day and was back in the kitchen in time to sit down and enjoy the meal that Ness had made. After dinner, I spent a few minutes gathering the memories I had taken from Gerry, and then pushed them back into his mind. I then spent the rest of the evening in his head, sorting through them so he would retain them. When I was ready for bed, I was about a third done but I was hoping that it would continue as I slept, as it had for others.

Amanda was waiting for me when I came out of the bathroom to go to bed.

Even now, after I had gotten rid of my frustration, I really had no desire for sex.

I got into bed and Amanda snuggled up beside me.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Better,” I said, “I guess.”

“But still not happy?” she asked.

“How can I be?” I said. “The ones responsible for trying to kill all of us are effectively getting away with it. I know that they’ll be back. And what of the rest of the council. Just because they weren’t involved in this particular plot doesn’t meant they are not coming after me, after us.”

She snuggled in and I felt her power washing over me. Relaxation, trust, love. I slept.

The morning arrived before I knew it and I slid out of bed to start my morning routine. As expected, I had finished off consolidating Gerry’s memories while I slept. I smiled to myself, glad that I could return that which he had given to me. I hoped he hadn’t lost too much, because I was sure that he had lost something.

I was out in the yard ‘dancing’ for the dogs when Dean came out.

“I was thinking,” he said without preamble. “You should start carrying while you are out and about.”

“What?” I said, “Why?”

“Because you would get in far less trouble for shooting someone,” he said, “than for using your powers on them. You don’t need a permit here to carry, so we just need to get you a weapon and a holster.”

“I have two guns at home,” I said.

Dean nodded. “How fast can you draw them from there?” he asked.

I grinned at him. “Depends if I can borrow the jet,” I said. He laughed.

“Let’s go into town later and pick you up something,” he said.

I was going to argue, but I kind of saw the sense in it.

I went in to get showered and changed. When I was ready, I went into the kitchen and helped Ness with the breakfast.

We were just clearing up afterward when the dogs went running into the front yard, barking. Someone had arrived.

Dean and I went to investigate only to find a mid-sized SUV parked there. Standing by the open rear door, being investigated by the dogs, was Matilda Bree.