Mind Power Page 8

  Michael sat back and felt the cold of the cell wall behind him. He thought back to his last mission to Russia, the one that had got Alex killed. They had gone to steal the perceiver research of Doctor Lucas, a British man who had defected to Russia. He had almost forgotten the pregnant women they had encountered when they broke into his research building.

  “Can you help me?” said Katya.

  Michael wasn’t sure. “I’m going to try,” he said.

  Michael stood at the point where his lounge met the kitchenette and looked, undecided, at the online pizza menu on his phone. Behind him rumbled the washing machine working on de-grubbying Katya’s clothes while Katya herself sat on his sofa in front of him. His man-sized bathrobe would be too big for most women and leave them looking swamped in fluffy white material. But Katya’s pregnancy meant it was a better fit for her than a robe designed for an ordinary-sized woman.

  She had thanked Michael for allowing her to use his shower, but he was just grateful she had washed away the unwashed smell she had carried with her in the taxi from the police station.

  “How about one meat and one vegetarian?” asked Michael.

  “Yes,” said Katya.

  As he keyed in the options, the lock turned in his front door. He could perceive it was Pauline, to whom he had given a spare set of front door keys.

  She sighed as soon as she entered and dropped her handbag on the floor like it contained a burdensome brick. She closed the door behind her with finality. “Unbelievable!” she said to no one in particular. “I don’t know why I ever—”

  As she turned, she saw Katya sitting on Michael’s sofa and her words stopped. She stared for a few moments. She must have perceived Katya, but it still didn’t answer the question in her head. She turned to Michael: Who’s she?

  “Hello, my name is Katya,” said Katya, almost as if she had heard the question.

  “I had nowhere else to take her,” said Michael. “I hope that’s okay.”

  Pauline raised her eyebrows. “It’s your flat.” She walked straight past him and headed for the only other door in the room.

  Michael hit the key to complete his pizza order and followed her into the one and only hallway in his flat, which was barely big enough to accommodate two more doors to the bathroom and bedroom. Both were closed. He heard Pauline slide the bolt on the inside of the bathroom door.

  Can you perceive me? Michael asked with his thoughts.

  “I’m on the loo!” She called back. He perceived a hint of her irritation before she closed off her mind to him.

  Michael waited in the hall. He heard the sound of her pee, the toilet flush and the tap run as she washed her hands. He realised he was an arse to be listening in to her private bodily functions, but he didn’t want to go back into the living room and speak to her in front of Katya.

  Pauline must have perceived he was there because she opened the bathroom door without immediately stepping out. Instead, she leant against the frame to face him and folded her arms. “Is that woman a perceiver?” asked Pauline.

  “She’s a norm,” said Michael.

  “Then why are we having a conversation about her out here instead of perceiving each other’s thoughts in there?” She nodded back towards the living area.

  “It seemed impolite,” said Michael.

  “It’s still talking behind her back, however you do it,” said Pauline. “It’s just that I thought she heard my thoughts when I came in.”

  “Coincidence,” said Michael.

  “So if she’s not a perceiver, who is she?”

  “I think she’s one of Doctor Lucas’s experiments.”

  Pauline shivered at the name. Doctor Lucas who had once held a gun to her head. Doctor Lucas who had got her locked up in a Russian military facility. Doctor Lucas who would have almost certainly carried out all manner of experiments on her if Michael and Alex hadn’t got her out.

  “Then that accent she speaks with is Russian,” said Pauline.

  “Yes. From what I understand, she ran away. I haven’t got the full story out of her yet.”

  “Then the baby is not …?”

  After a slight pause, Michael realised her meaning. “Mine? No! Pauline, how could you?”

  “I come back and you’ve got a pregnant woman on your sofa who’s naked apart from your bathrobe, what do you think it looks like?”

  She grinned and he realised she was teasing him a little bit.

  “It’s not funny to block my perception of you entirely, you know,” he said.

  “I thought it was.”

  She relaxed her blocks and Michael perceived that, even though she was making fun of him, part of her was disconcerted at seeing Katya on the sofa.

  “Perhaps she needs a woman to talk to,” said Pauline. “If we go back in, maybe I can get the full story out of her.”

  The pizzas came and Katya ate more than her share with the enthusiasm of someone eating for two who had run away from Russia. Pauline sat next to Katya on the sofa, leaving Michael to sit cross-legged among the pizza boxes on the floor. He felt bloated and too full of bread and fat, but he couldn’t deny that it had tasted good.

  “Tell me how you got out of Russia,” said Pauline as she dropped the last piece of crust back in its box where a lone slice of vegetarian pizza lay uneaten.

  “I took a plane,” said Katya.

  “Just like that?” said Pauline.

  “I had to get a visa, but I say I am a tourist who wishes to visit London and it was no problem.”

  “They let you fly in your condition?” Pauline looked down at Katya’s bump.

  Katya smoothed her hand over her pregnancy. “When they saw I had medical insurance, it was not a problem.”

  I can’t believe they would let her go like that, Pauline thought across to Michael. Not if she’s really carrying a perceiver baby.

  She’s not lying about that, thought Michael. Either she’s telling the truth or she thinks she is.

  Michael perceived the silence between them caused Katya to be unnerved. She looked from Pauline to Michael. “What’s wrong?”

  “We think it’s strange you left the country so easily,” said Michael. “If you really are part of a Russian military experiment, you wouldn’t have been granted a visa, let alone be allowed on a plane.”

  “I thought so too,” said Katya. “I was allowed to go home between examinations, but I had a feeling people were watching me. The feeling got stronger the more the baby grew and by the time I realised I was part of a perceiver experiment, I knew I couldn’t run without someone finding out. Not as if I had anywhere to run to.

  “Then Lucas stopped coming to my appointments,” Katya continued. “The nurses said he was busy, but they were lying. They didn’t actually know what happened to him. Then one day, no one came to collect me for my examination. I took my chance and left.”

  “Do you think the Russians did something to him?” said Michael.

  “I don’t know. I left when I had the chance.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” said Pauline. “Why give Lucas all the resources to carry out his research and then stop before getting the results?”

  “It would have been a long wait,” said Michael. “Perceivers don’t develop powers until they hit puberty.”

  “I think they still wanted my baby,” said Katya. “But when Lucas disappeared, it became less interesting for them. There is a saying my father brought back from one of his diplomatic assignments – taking your eye off the ball – it is like they did that, it is like they took their eye off the ball.”

  Michael let out a deep breath, partly because he was still taking in her story and partly because he was still digesting the pizza. “I’m glad you made it out safely,” he said.

  “Me too,” said Katya. “Thank you for the pizza.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Michael. He picked up the box with the remaining vegetarian slice. “Anyone want any more?”

  The women declined. “I’ll put it in
the fridge and have it for breakfast,” said Michael.

  “Euw! Cold pizza?” said Pauline.

  “I’ll zap it in the microwave to heat it up, obviously.”

  Michael went over to the kitchenette and found a plate to put his leftovers on.

  “I’ll help you clear up,” said Pauline. She gathered up the other cardboard pizza box and a couple of empty glasses which had held water.

  “I need to use your toilet again, sorry,” said Katya. “The baby is resting on my bladder.”

  Pauline made play of throwing the empty pizza box in the bin until Katya was safely on the other side of the internal door.

  “What do you think?” she said, keeping her voice low so Katya wouldn’t hear.

  “Her story’s plausible,” said Michael. “She certainly believes it’s the truth.”

  “They took their eye off the ball and let her flee the country with their experiment inside of her? Seriously?”

  “What other explanation is there?”

  “That she’s a spy sent here by the Russians,” said Pauline.

  “But she’s pregnant!”

  “Which makes for a brilliant cover. She goes straight to the police and uses them to find you, gives you some sob story – quite literally – and suddenly she’s in your flat and wearing your bathrobe.”

  “Great theory apart from the fact that I would have perceived if she was a spy.”

  “Like you did with Sarah?”

  Michael blushed. They had all been fooled by Sarah. “Sarah used strong perceiver blocks to stop us finding out about her. Katya is a norm. You’ve perceived her too. Don’t you believe her?”

  “So maybe they let her go and they’re planning to turn her into a spy when she’s settled in this country. They just haven’t told her that.”

  Michael turned from Pauline and put the pizza slice in the fridge. “It’s a possibility, I suppose,” he said. “What do we do?”

  The interior door opened again and they both turned to see Katya coming back into the living area, leaning back in that way that pregnant women do in order to maintain their balance. “I think I’m going to need more toilet paper by the morning,” said Katya. “Sorry.”

  “I’ll get some,” said Michael. He took one step towards the end cupboard in the kitchenette where he kept all his spare packets of household items before Pauline grabbed his arm and stopped him.

  We have to tell Agent Cooper, said her thoughts.

  Michael glared back into her serious eyes. No.

  He’s the only one who’s got experience at this sort of thing.

  I’m not sure I trust him.

  You worked for Cooper once, Pauline pointed out. I still work for him, technically. He’ll know what to do with her.

  That’s what worries me, thought Michael.

  What else are you going to do? Let her stay here? In your one-bedroomed flat? What happens when she has her baby?

  I can’t speak to Cooper, he doesn’t know I got my perception back. He only let me go because he thought I’d lost my powers. If he finds out—

  “Who’s Cooper?” said Katya all of sudden from where she had resumed her position on the sofa.

  “What?” said Michael.

  “You were talking about someone called Cooper,” she said.

  “No we weren’t,” said Pauline. “We weren’t talking about anything.”

  Pauline gave Michael a wary glance and he felt her blocks solidify around her mind.

  Michael took a few steps back towards the lounge. “So where did you hear the name Cooper?” he asked.

  “Sometimes I think I hear things and I don’t,” said Katya. “All sorts of strange things happen to women when they’re pregnant, don’t they?”

  “I thought that was more to do with getting emotional and craving chocolate,” he said.

  “With me, I hear things,” she said, stroking her bump again. “I thought it might be that the baby was passing on some of its perception to me so I could perceive thoughts. But that’s impossible, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” said Michael, glancing across at Pauline and seeing that she didn’t think it was impossible at all. “Yes, it is.”

  Twelve

  Michael slept on the floor that night. It seemed only right to give the bed to the pregnant woman, which left Pauline with the sofa and Michael with no other choice.

  He started to think, if he had to offer any more women the chance to stay at his place, he would end up sleeping in the kitchen sink.

  Pauline had been ordered not to go into work until “the current controversy blows over” which, judging by the people yelling at each other on the TV news that morning, was going to be a long time. At least it meant she could spend the whole day baby-sitting Katya.

  Michael got a message that the Prime Minister wanted to see him and, therefore, was the only person running around his flat trying to get ready.

  With Katya in the bathroom hogging the only mirror in the place, Michael did up his tie the best he could by staring at his reflection on the glass door of the microwave.

  He turned round to face Pauline who was sitting up on the sofa with her hair still a tangle from where she had been sleeping. “How do I look?” he said.

  “Like someone who’s dressing up to get sacked,” she said.

  “You don’t know the Prime Minister,” said Michael. “He’s paranoid people are looking into his mind and he wants me there to protect him.”

  “You wanna bet?”

  “Sure. I’ll bet dinner on it. If I still have a job by the end of the day, you can cook.”

  “It’s a deal,” said Pauline. “I’ll start making a list of what you’ll be getting for us from the Indian takeaway, shall I?”

  “Very funny,” said Michael.

  He checked he had everything – wallet, security pass, keys – and headed for the door.

  He paused before he went out. “See what else you can get out of Katya while I’m gone,” he said. “And try to find out when her due date is. I don’t want to be woken up in the middle of the night to find she’s having a baby in my bed.”

  Pauline said that she would.

  Michael gave her one last glance before he left. It was so nice to have her in his life again. Then he realised she could probably perceive that from him and he dashed out to hide his embarrassment.

  Michael felt a presence he had not perceived in a long time, as he stood outside the Disraeli Lounge and prepared to knock.

  There were two minds inside. One was clearly Pankhurst. The other was a man he had hoped never to see again in his life. Instinct told him to turn around and walk away, but the Prime Minister knew he was coming and to leave would be to turn his back on his duty and his promise to Pankhurst.

  Michael knocked.

  “Come in!” called Pankhurst from the other side of the door.

  Michael did as he was asked.

  Sitting on the second brown leather sofa, in the same position that Michael usually sat, was Agent William Cooper. The passing of two years had done little to change him. He still wore the same black suit and white shirt, but had picked out a grey and blue striped tie to wear for his visit to the House of Commons. His hair had grown down below the top of his collar with the untidiness of someone who had not had time to have it cut, and his face had the puffiness of someone who had hardly slept the night before.

  His emotions revealed he was not surprised to see Michael at the door. It meant that when Pankhurst had asked Michael to come to the Disraeli Lounge, he knew that Cooper would also be there.

  Pankhurst was in his usual spot on the other sofa. His tie with bright orange, red and purple triangles on it revealed that it was not a day for making sober announcements. He waved Michael inside. “Put the wood in the hole, as my mother used to say.”

  Michael didn’t actually know what he meant and had to perceive him to understand that he was asking him to close the door.

  Michael did so, and stood not knowing quite what to do ne
xt. He realised he had subconsciously brought his feet together and put his arms flat against his sides as if standing to attention. Like he used to do in the Perceiver Corps when he was called to Cooper’s office.

  “Hello, Michael,” said Cooper.

  “Hello,” said Michael, for want of anything else to say.

  “I hear you got your perceiver powers back.”

  Michael glanced across to Pankhurst who was avoiding his gaze by pouring himself a glass of water from the jug that had been left on the table between the two men. Michael didn’t need to see into his eyes to perceive that he was the one who had passed that information on to Cooper without his permission.

  “Yeah,” said Michael.

  “I’m disappointed you didn’t tell me,” said Cooper.

  “My powers came back slowly. By which time, I had long left the Corps. I didn’t need to tell you anything.”

  Pankhurst slammed his glass of water back down the table after hardly drinking a drop. It made a sound like a gavel as it hit the table so hard some of the water spilled over the top. “Good!” he said. “Now that’s settled, let’s get to business. Come sit down, Michael, so we can talk properly.”

  Michael hesitated. There were two sofas and already two men sitting on them. Asking the Prime Minister to shift up a bit to make room was out of the question and so he ended up going to the second sofa. Cooper shuffled towards the other end, but Michael still squashed himself up against the arm as far away as he could.

  “Bill came to see me because he’s worried for the future of the Perceiver Corps now that it has become public knowledge,” said Pankhurst.

  “I spent a lot of years building up a strong, trained group of personnel at Galen House,” said Cooper. “I don’t want to see it destroyed in the panic of public opinion.”

  “I told Bill about the working group,” said Pankhurst. “I thought you might be able to give him a steer on their thinking.”

  “I think they’d order every perceiver in the country to be cured if they could,” said Michael.