Stephen's Logbook #1 Entry #8
These stories about Stephen began was when he was 10 years old, and
moving to a new part of the country to attend a special school for
gifted students. This was from a time before computers would fit on a
desk, and when people communicated with friends in other countries by
actual letters sent through the postal service. He wrote 225 of them to
a friend. Please refer to them for insight into this new series of
stories. He stopped writing to his penpal, but found he still wanted to
record his life, in case he loses his memory again. So, we can now look
into selected entries in his logbook to see how he is doing.
All characters are fictitious, even if some of them might have names
that belong to some actual people, or act like people we know.
The stories may not be posted in chronological order.
Stephen is 15 in this story, before the Winter break of year 6 of
special school.
Stephen's Logbook #1 Entry #8 "Sneaky Suspicious Devious Devils"
NEW ENTRY
Monday morning at school, I called for a team meeting in the big
conference room. Seated around the big table were Jan, Pete, Race, Rod,
Chad, Nigel, and me. I said "Some people have been working hard, and I
would like to share the results with you. Thanks to Jan, Dr. Knot, and
my father, we are an actual business now, and in a big way. That's
right. The enterprise is real. We bought my father's business, and now
it's a division of Horizon Enterprises. We are buying the school, too.
These things are very complicated, and I didn't have anything to do
with them except expressing some wishful thinking in the beginning, so
I'm asking Jan to tell us all about it." I nodded to her, and she gave
her already prepared briefing, which I suspected she was expecting to
do. I love working with geniuses! There were a lot of wows. Then Nigel
handed out the documents. I said "Please don't pay much attention to
the hierarchy of the corporate structure. We have to look official for
the law and taxes, and for other outside and inside interests. That
doesn't change who we really are, which is a loving mutually supportive
family. Who's members can't get nearly enough sex." That got a really
big laugh.
I said "We will be creating more divisions as soon as we can set them
up, to manage research labs and exploration. Yes Rod and Chad, you're
going to have a lot to play with." They grinned. I said "We expect our
adepts won't want to manage the day to day administration of their
departments." There were some vigorous nods. "That brings us to our
biggest problem. Staff. We can buy things, but we can't buy people.
Only hire them. How can we keep our secrets, and have such a big
organization at the same time? We can examine all applicants for
quality and loyalty like we do for the Bureau, but how do we ensure
that after they are hired? Our lives, and our ability to protect the
world, would be in their hands. Any ideas?" I could see some of them
had some ideas, but weren't willing to express them. I said "There were
things I could do when I was an adept which might be useful in this
area. I don't know if other adepts could do them, or would want to.
There is pushed hypnosis. You put somebody to sleep, and speak to them
in contact, and with your mind pushed into their brain, and give them
an order with force. I did that once to make somebody forget a security
breach, and I did it to Tomba's captor, to prevent him from telling
anybody about us. Such a thing would be even more effective when done
with a programmed crystal, if one could be made. I could have done
that, too. It could be set to prevent people from exposing our secrets,
and nothing else. Opinions?" Pete said "They would have to agree with
the process." I said "Yes, and we could make it a requirement for
promotion. If we do it. I sense some reluctance, to which I agree. On
the other side of that, does anybody see how we can make the enterprise
work without it?" No answers. I said "Then let's wait on that for now.
But, sooner or later, we'll have to decide."
I said "Pete, do you want to discuss our first business deal?" He
did, and played back what happened at the restaurant. Then I nodded at
Nigel, and he told them about our discussion with father about how I
had played the man. Jan said "I don't like it. I don't trust that man
for trusting you, as you appeared to him, with what he told you, and in
public." Nigel looked at me in surprise. I grinned at him. He said "I
missed something again, didn't I." I told him, "Just barely. You did
get part of it when I asked you if I should tell him that I had played
him." He nodded. Race said "So what did he really want?" I grinned
again and said, "We don't know. That's the most interesting part.
Wouldn't we like to find out?" Rod said "It could be a trap." Chad said
"I hope so!" We laughed, except for Nigel, who looked confused. Pete
saw that and told him, "You're an adept Nigel, remember? Just a good
learning experience. We scout, and we don't give them enough time to
set a good trap at the hotel, because we aren't going to tell them
which one, until just before they wouldn't have enough time to get
there. That's why Stephen wanted to meet in a hotel." Nigel said "Oh!
That father thing again." Jan said "Right. He's the best in the
business, and Stephen is just like him, but cuter. MUCH cuter." Pete
grinned and said, "Can't argue with that. I know what they think and
do, after the fact, but not before. That's why we need them. Sneaky
suspicious devious devils on their level are very hard to come by."
They laughed and agreed. I cleared my throat and they laughed some
more.
I said "What do we do about our suspicions? Imagine they are the
sneaky suspicions devious devils, and what do you get?" Nigel looked
like he had an idea. I nodded to him. He said "Does he actually work
for the company he said he does?" I said "Carry that forward, Nigel."
He said "Maybe he works for a competitor and wants adepts to do
industrial espionage." I nodded to Pete, who said to Nigel, "How should
we check that out, before the meeting?" Nigel said "I don't know. Maybe
trace the phone number on the card? Check out the company name? Examine
their personnel files for this bloke's name?" Pete grinned and said,
"Maybe next time you shouldn't say you don't know, right before you
show us you do know." Nigel got red with embarrassment. I said "My
father noticed he comes up with very good security answers when you ask
him. We just have to encourage him to ask himself, to save us the time
and trouble." Nigel tried to sink down in his chair, while the rest
showed their approval of him. Chad said to Nigel, "All along you've
been one of those sneaky suspicious devious devils yourself, and didn't
even know it. Now we all know, and that's great! Just what we needed!"
He hugged and kissed him. That didn't help Nigel recover from his
embarrassment. Just the opposite. His boner might have contributed some
to it.
Pete said he was contacting Alice at the Bureau, to have her check
the information on the card. She would contact him when she had
finished. She had a card of him and knew how to use it. Pete asked Chad
to scan the address. He reported the company existed, and manufactured
firearms and other interesting things. He said their personnel file
room was empty. Pete nodded to him, and Chad stood and ported. I said
to Nigel, "It's easier for Chad to look at the files directly, than to
scan them with a 4th viewpoint. Less useless junk gets stuffed into his
brain." Chad ported back, and hugged and kissed Nigel again. Nigel said
"I like these rewards for being right." We laughed. Chad said "He is
not employed there. The card he gave you isn't like theirs. It's a
fake. I brought some back. There's more. I scanned the day shift
employee's auras. 2 of them are showing they don't think they belong
there, and could be up to no good. I checked their files. New hires."
Nigel studied my face. He said to me, "You don't look surprised. You
knew?" I said "How often do I look surprised?" Nigel said "Oh." I said
"When you don't expect things, you are either surprised by everything,
about all the possibilities in advance, helps with that. So I did think
of it, along with many other things. You will learn to do that soon. It
takes a bit of work to become a really good sneaky suspicious devious
devil, but when you do, you get a lot of hugs and kisses from your
friends who like that." Nigel said "Yeah. Great motivation!" We all
grinned. I said "Nigel, does our target really think we are adepts?"
Nigel groaned really loudly. He said "Not again! No, he doesn't." I
said to him, "You're going to like this." I said "Alright people. When
you first heard the story, did any of you doubt the target thought we
were adepts, and wanted us for that? Be honest. See, Nigel? They
didn't. You are in fine company. Now you get to explain your
reasoning." He said "He was interested in telepathic adepts. Unless he
was so stupid he couldn't find his arse in the dark, he wouldn't try to
lie to a real mind reader." I said "Good. Now for the next one. Did I
ever say in his hearing we were adepts? Or that we had any specific
talents?" He said "No you didn't, you sneaky suspicious devious devil."
I grinned. I said "Another one. You and Pete were in contact with him
while he was talking to us. You should have been able to tell if he was
directly seriously lying to us, instead of just misleading us. Did he?"
Pete and Nigel said together, "No." I said "What do you deduce from
that?" Nigel said "He doesn't believe in telepathic adepts, and is just
following orders he doesn't expect to produce results, in finding
psychics to spy for his company on the company on the card. And his
boss probably doesn't know he's going to present to him some kids he
picked out in a burger joint." Chad said "Very good. It still could be
a trap. We should record everything for the Bureau."
I said "Thank you Nigel. Very good. All I did was ask you questions,
so you could think about what we knew. Ones we should all have asked of
ourselves while we were in the middle of it, or hearing it for the
first time here. I hope you all will do this every time something like
this happens, in real time. It could be a life saver. Chad, that's a
good suggestion. Recording can also be a life saver, if we have to
prove anything to somebody else. Does anybody see any questions which
come from that?" Nigel came back fast with, "I see 2. Are they going to
record the meeting, too? And should we have G-Men close by to arrest
them if they say something which shows they are conspiring to do
something against the law?" I said "VERY good! Before we answer those,
there is one more question in that set. Pete?" He said "Do we let them
record us? We can disable their machines. Maybe even so they don't
detect it until after the meeting. One sure thing we ARE going to do,
is maintain a continuous scan of the area, before, during, and after
the meeting." I said "Wouldn't it be funny if they are doing this as a
trap for the Bureau, and we had 2 opposing sets of agents confronting
each other?" Pete said "We take their guns." I said "Right. And you
have already decided what to do about their recorders or bugs, if they
bring any." He said "Right. We turn them off as gently as possible, and
keep them off. You and Nigel have to be at the meeting because he's
already met you, and I was going to be the only other one. It should
still be that way. No need to let them know anything about the rest of
us, but all team members need to be watching and provide backup. We
need to stick together." Nigel said "Right. Or get stuck separately."
We all laughed.
Alice contacted Pete. He told us which company the phone number
belonged to, and that man did work there as a security manager. Chad
checked them out, and reported, "They make guns too. A lot of their
manufacturing equipment isn't being used. Powerful motivation. Pete,
can you do a silent contact to him, with me riding, so I can monitor
him after you cut it?" They did. I said something which surprised them
completely. I said "Let's buy them, after we rub their noses in their
own er, smelly stuff. Could be a bargain, and we need a metal
manufacturing company among our assets." After they got over their
surprise, Rod grinned and said, "The President of Horizon Enterprises
is earning his position." Jan said "I'll be right back. I'm going to
check on their financials. Don't make any more surprises till I get
back. Please!" We laughed. I asked Pete, "Who do you want to play with
them at the meeting?" He said "You, you sneaky suspicious devious
devil. You got us into this, you get us out of it better than if we had
never been in it, as usual. I'll manage the action, naturally. We'll be
in contact during the whole thing." I said "That reminds me. While
we're waiting for Jan, have you told Nigel what we did with the bully
Bart, which you first used that phrase about?" He said "No. Would be a
good lesson in sneaky suspicious devious devil-ship, for sure!" He told
him, which made Nigel look at me with worshipful eyes and say, "My
hero!" I said "Pete, you could have toned it down a little, so we
didn't have to get that kind of reaction." He made an evil grin and
said, "Nothing doing! Honesty is the policy, right?" I let out a big
sigh. They laughed.
Nigel wanted to see my expanded muscles. We had time, so I took my
shirt off and pumped them up. He said "Wow!" Then he came over and
poked them, and announced, "Hard as a rock!" Jan came in all excited,
and stopped in her tracks and said, "Wow!" She came over to touch, too.
She said "You don't know what this does to a girl." I said with a sigh,
"I expect we'll soon find out. Oh wait!" I gave them the hotel
information for the meeting which father contacted me about. Then I
said, "I think we have some time before lunch. Jan, want to wait for
your presentation?" She said "Oh God, yes. Let's port to the usual
room." Somebody ported me, along with themselves. We all stripped, and
jumped on each other. Pete and I got our nuts licked by Chad and Jan in
the link, driving all of us crazy with pleasure. After a long while of
that, we did the usual good stuff to climax. We really needed the new
extra soundproofing for Jan, or the school would have thought we were
committing murder in the room. While we were resting I said, "Remind me
not to pump up my muscles in front of you guys again." There where some
weak laughs. We spent the time before lunch, just being close and
feeling the love flowing between us.
END ENTRY
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Grant
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