“The Catalyst” Series
Chapter 19: First Night Jitters
While they were waiting for the show to start, Chelsea,
Patricia’s wardrobe assistant, updated them on what had been happening in the
media while they’d been on the road.
“The media is all over that news report from the woman that
called Fox news,” Chelsea said.
“Yeah, Clara. Somehow she always managed to open a can of
worms, despite her best intentions.”
“Well, Fox news has been ranting about it, so much so that
the other stations are covering it as well. In fact, both Jay Leno and Jon
Stewart did bits on her. She’s managed to trigger a firestorm of interest about
you, but the focus has been mostly on Fox’s reaction to it and her responses,
rather than on you. The press still doesn’t seem to know much about you.”
“Well that’s something to be thankful for, it’s much easier
to work in the shadows, away from close scrutiny. The last thing I need is to
be the focus of everyone’s attention, even if they aren’t reporting on me. Just
having them referring to me will get more people to notice me and what I do,
and eventually someone is going to leak a photo which someone is likely to
identify.”
“David Letterman did a Top 10 Commandments of the Angel of
New Orleans segment, but most of those were just plain silly,” Chelsea
explained.
“What about Albert?” Alex asked. “Has he responded to the
new media attention? Has he released any new information about me? He’s the one
with the most information about me.”
“I haven’t heard anything from him lately, but we’ve only
been listening to the national networks while we’ve been working, so we could
easily have missed a lot.”
“Well, the most damaging thing he knew about me was my name,
and he’s already released that, so I guess he can’t do me much more harm.
Besides, I think he’s a fan now anyway. Hopefully he’ll spend his time talking about
Alexandria rather than me, now.”
“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that, doesn’t
she mind being identified in the press like you were?”
“Ah,” Alex said, taking a second to think up a decent
response to the question. “Since she’s more divinely connected than I am, she’s
not as worried about earthly matters. She tends to come and go at will, while
I’ve got to stay here and deal with the consequences.”
“I haven’t quite figured her out,” Chelsea continued.
“Patricia has always talked about you, but she’s never mentioned Alexandria
before. I guess we’re all trying to figure out how she fits into what you’re
doing.”
“The key is,” Alex carefully explained, further wrapping himself
in this fictitious enigma, “is that she’s in charge, and she’s where I get all
of my abilities from. She doesn’t stay on earth for long, or if she does, I
don’t know where she lives. She simply pops in to talk to me or the others from
time to time, so she doesn’t run the continual risks that I and the other
leaders do.”
Alex knew he was breaking one of the cardinal rules that
Gail laid out when she’d carefully told him how to lie successfully, that of
‘keeping it simple’. This story was pretty complex, and it was likely to get
even more involved each time he told it. But so far it was useful to keep
people from focusing on him, and Alex’s focus was on reaching as many people as
he could. He couldn’t hope to do that if everyone was watching him, so he
didn’t think the fictional Alexandria would mind if he continued to use her
name for a while longer.
But Alex also knew his ‘fiction’ of Alexandria was important
for another reason, it gave those outside of his mission a way of dealing with
it. As it was, as news of it spread, people would begin to ask what it was
about. That was something no one would be able to answer without explaining
about the genetic differences and the abilities that differentiated them, and
that wasn’t the kind of information that they wanted to give out. By using the
story of Alexandria, they allowed those outside of the movement to label it in
a handy box marked ‘oddball religions’ and put it out of their mind. However,
without that clear distinction Alex knew those same people would soon be
searching for what Alex’s increasing number of followers saw in him.
Alex figured this little invention of his wouldn’t actually
hurt anyone. After all, no one was actually ‘preaching’ this new religion, and
no one was trying to convert anyone to it. He knew that his followers were
following him and not Alexandria. Even Chelsea was simply curious about
Alexandria’s relationship to Alex, she wasn’t asking about any further insights
into her religious principals. Thus Alex’s usage of Alexandrianism
helped everyone without really hurting anyone. Alex didn’t see any downside to
it at the moment, although he was well aware of how it could potentially trip
him up if he allowed it to get away from him.
“It seems the other networks are stymied by your follower’s
refusal to say anything about you. They keep interviewing people in New
Orleans, but it seems the only ones talking to them are the tourists or the
locals who think they might have seen you. I suspect much of what they are
reporting are the intentional misdirects that Peter, David and Darice are
setting up for them.”
“Yeah, those three have really been working hard for me.
They’ve saved my ass a number of times.”
Jordan, Patricia’s make-up girl, laughed. “I didn’t think
angels were allowed to say things like ‘ass’.”
“Hey, angel’s don’t, but they don’t say anything to us
atheistic sub-angels,” Alex countered, which caused Cate to crack up. She
thought the papers calling Alex the ‘sub-angel of New Orleans’ was hilarious.
Alex just rolled his eyes at her. He thought it was pretty funny too, but he
wasn’t going to admit it too openly.
The rest of the afternoon was spent worrying about what was
likely to happen that evening, since everyone knows all the bugs in plans tend
to come out during the initial performance. Gail spent her time chatting up the
security people, telling war stories as she prompted them about access points
and things to watch out for.
Cate had run across some trouble when she’d wandered into
one of the many bar areas. One of the harassed bartenders had chased her off, telling
her they couldn’t afford to get busted for an ‘underage kid misappropriating
liquor’. She’d tried to explain why she was there but he wasn’t having any of
it, so she’d eventually left simply to avoid the continuing lecture the
bartender was hell bent on delivering. The club’s staff seemed as nervous about
what was happening as Alex’s helpers were, though they didn’t know what Alex or
his people were up to.
They ended up getting a quick meal prepared for them in the
club’s kitchen, which was decent even if the atmosphere wasn’t quite what the
paying customers received. Still, Alex could see why the club did such a good
business. Looking at the performance schedule, he also noticed the acts that
Patricia was situated amongst. There were some pretty big name acts.
Finally it was time to prepare for the opening. Alex watched
from the back of the auditorium as Patricia and her band ran through their last
minute preparations, but when they flashed the lights signaling the doors were
officially opening he retreated to the connecting hallway the patrons would
have to pass through to access the auditorium. Cate, Jordan and Chelsea were
stationed in other parts of the building. Actually, Chelsea was stationed
outside to catch anyone trying to reach Alex without having a ticket to get in.
Gail was standing beside the doors acting like just another security guard. She
wasn’t standing near Alex for fear of intimidating anyone trying to approach
him, but he knew she could cross the space separating them in record time
should the need arise.
Grace, the Seer that Alex had found that morning, had contacted
Alex as she got near the club, she was one of the first ones to arrive outside,
and he directed her to work with Chelsea in trying to identify anyone outside
who might be trying to find Alex’s energy source. That way they’d be covered if
Chelsea had to leave unexpectedly, or if she simply didn’t know how to respond
to something she encountered. Grace took to it immediately, scanning the crowd,
keeping notes, and alerting Alex every time she saw someone who looked like a
possible type 1 or 2 entering the club. She also told him she’d arrived with
Morgan, so Morgan had agreed to enter the club’s bar to do the same reconnaissance
work there.
Alex had his own hands full as he tried to evaluate the many
people hurriedly passing him. Some scurried into the club to find their seat immediately;
some took their time glancing around. A couple stayed in the hallways talking
to their friends while they could, while others were waiting for someone to
join them. As far as Alex could tell, no one was there looking for him,
although he had plenty of false starts, as he’d find himself heading for
someone who was looking around with a confused expression only to find the
expression disappear when they found their missing friends.
It took a while to fill the auditorium. Grace notified Alex
that she’d managed to locate the three girls he’d met earlier in the day,
mainly because Alex had told them to look for someone standing outside watching
for them. They each volunteered to help as well, so Alex had one help outside
while another came in to assist him and the third went in to see if she could
find anyone spending more time watching the back of the hall than the stage or
the other people. Overall, it was confusing and frustrating trying to identify
potential followers as they walked in, so Alex doubted they’d have much luck at
it.
The other Watcher they’d encountered came in to see Alex
immediately after finding out where to find him from Grace and Chelsea. They
were beginning to make a bit of a crowd, so Alex had her make a coffee run just
to keep her busy since everyone wanted to help so much.
Soon the lights flashed, so Alex simply faded back against
the exterior wall as everyone hurried to their seats to prepare for the show.
Gail anxiously watched Alex, since she was farther away from him than she’d
been previously, though Alex had no doubt she could cover him should the need
arise.
Grace asked him what they should do about coming in or
remaining outside. He advised that she should come inside, since her main job
as the head of the local community was to meet anyone he identified. He also
told her to leave the other Watcher outside and that he’d meet with her later
at the hotel. She could help Chelsea, but for now she should get some coffee
because she was likely to be standing alone out there for some time during the
concert, waiting for random passersby to approach after having felt Alex from
nearby while doing other things. Once the music finally started up Cate came in
and joined them as well.
“Well, find anyone?” Cate asked.
“Not yet,” Alex told her.
“What about all the potentials I warned you about?” Grace
asked.
“Most of those were normals who looked confused for other
reasons. A few might have been Watchers, but they didn’t stick around
long enough for me to tell. I’m hoping once the concert starts they’ll have
enough time to identify where I am.”
“Good thinking,” Cate agreed. “So now I guess we just wait
here.”
“Yep, that’s the plan,” Alex confirmed.
While they waited they enjoyed the music wafting through the
walls. Gail continued to chat up the security guard, trying to distract his
attention from the group of people hanging around in the hallway. Grace told
them about the trouble she’d had with her father. Somehow he’d figured
something had happened to her, she suspected she’d come in excited and it
showed, but he’d grilled her. She told Alex she didn’t reveal much, but that
she’d insisted that this was something that she had to do, and that she
was willing to move out on her own if it was necessary for her to do it. Alex
cautioned her, reminding her of how important family was, and how she’d likely
need the family’s support if they ran into trouble. She agreed in principle,
but she was hesitant to bring her father in to meet Alex, thinking he wasn’t
ready for that yet.
After the music had been playing a little while they each
jumped when someone exited the hall, but they watched in disappointment as a
single guy walked off to the nearby men’s room. However, a few minutes later
someone else came out as well. She looked around questioningly, and then
focused right in on Alex, her jaw gaping open as she saw him, as if she
couldn’t believe what she’d been feeling was actually real. Cate hurried over
to her, telling her she wasn’t crazy and that they’d been waiting for her. She
guided her over and introduced her to Alex and Grace.
It turned out she’d felt Alex approaching the city but
couldn’t find him in time. She’d noticed the ads about “trusting your feelings”
and had been curious about it, since she’d had a history of correctly
interpreting events based on her feelings, so had decided to attend the
concert.
“When I got here, I could tell there was something decidedly
different about this concert, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”
“We were waiting out here to see if anyone looked like they
were looking for me, but I guess we missed you,” Alex explained.
“Yeah, I assumed the source of the power was the main act,
and that I’d know it when she came out. But when Patty appeared on stage I knew
she wasn’t the one I could feel. Her words all rang true, but I knew I had to
find you. I finally got up and tried to follow the sensations, wandering around
the back of the theater. It finally occurred to me that you were out here, so I
came out and here you were.”
“Well, we’re glad you finally found us,” Grace told her,
taking the initiative and directing the conversation after that. The girl, one
Devon Montague, was happy to talk to her, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of
Alex for long.
As she and Grace talked, Alex took the time to look them
both over. Devon was a pretty girl with dark hair, but not overly dressed up
for a concert, wearing the typical T-shirt. Alex didn’t think her eyes ever
once reverted to normal size the whole time they stood there.
Grace, on the other hand, was young and thin. Like rail
thin, with curly brunette hair and an endearing smile. Alex liked her dedicated
spirit, and could see utilizing her as their only Seer in Houston so far, but
he was hesitant to give her too much responsibility for his community here if
she was going to disappear to college soon.
After a moment, Cate suddenly had an idea, and seeing her
expertise wasn’t needed for once, snuck off into the auditorium where the
performance was going on. Grace excused herself, explaining she wanted to check
what was happening outside, which Alex approved of, since if she was outside
he’d know what was happening out there. It was a while later, just as the
conversation with Devon was starting to wind down, that Cate walked through the
doors leading another young girl.
This girl wore a nice outfit with a matching faux pearl
necklace/bracelet set that contrasted perfectly with her face. She had longish
dark hair, and she imitated Devon with the way her eyes arched when observing
Alex for the first time, but she also seemed more down to earth. She was a
larger girl, with bigger breasts and a bit more ‘oomph’ to her than normal.
Once again, she wasn’t the type Alex would typically throw out of bed, but he
knew he was going to have to start somewhere, as he simply couldn’t keep up
with everyone.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you when you told me your name,”
Cate said when they joined the group in the lobby.
“Oh, my name is Wilma Mitchner,” she told them, batting her
eyelashes at Alex before drastically changing her approach.
“So, just what the hell are you, and who are the rest of
you?” she asked, not bothering to disguise her curiosity. “I could feel you
when I came in, but I didn’t know what you were, only that you were strong,
powerful and potentially dangerous. I didn’t even know that you were human.
After the music started I figured out you weren’t part of the performance, so I
started wandering around, looking to see if I could find you in the crowd.
That’s when, whatever your name is, found me.”
“Cate’s my name,” Cate told her. “Wilma, I’d like you to
meet several people, there’s Devon and Sue here,” she said indicating the two
girls they’d just met. “Outside are two more, Grace and Morgan, probably the
two central figures in the burgeoning movement of our people here in Houston,”
she explained, ignoring the fact that she was neither a Seer nor a Watcher
herself. But if Cate couldn’t include herself amongst Alex’s followers, then who
could? “But the one I know you’re most interested in is my brother, Alex. Alex
is a weird one. He’s hard to describe because there’s never been another like
him before. He has a unique ability to activate dormant abilities in others. He
acts like a catalyst, if you will. Those that are drawn to him, like each of
you, can inherently feel the power he gives off, but you generally don’t
trust it because you can’t explain it. That’s what Patty’s tour is about,
getting our ‘people’ to trust their intuition and educating them about what and
who they really are.”
“Wait,” Wilma asked in confusion. “You’re telling me I’m not
human or something?”
“No, no,” Alex hurried to explain. “You’re a normal human
being, but you have this weird genetic anomaly that gives you some unique
abilities. Somehow I can trigger those. Grace can actually see the
energy that I give off, the same energy that you were just following.”
“It’s an energy that Alex somehow taps from another
dimension,” Cate said, doing what she did best, explaining the unexplainable to
unbelieving newbies. “Don’t ask us to explain, since we really don’t understand
it very well and it’s all conjecture at this point, but he does this activation
thing by creating links between this other dimension, and he creates a
similar link in each of your brains. Those links do several things, they give Grace
her visions, they allow her to speak telepathically to Alex, and through him to
the other women like her.”
“Uh, other women like her?” Wilma asked, unable to quite
follow what Cate was asking her to swallow.
“There’s a whole class of people that Alex affects,” Cate
explained. “For reasons we’ll get to, he only seems to affect women. There are
the type 1s, like Grace outside, who we call ‘Seers’ because they can actually
see the energy that Alex uses. Then are those like you, who we call ‘Watchers’,
because we identify you because you tend to stand back, uncomfortable with your
ability to sense others, so you don’t believe what you feel coming from Alex is
real.”
“And what about you? Which are you?” Wilma asked.
“I’m an odd duck,” Cate replied. “I’ve got none of your
abilities myself, just like Alex doesn’t. But I’ve got my own abilities that I
seem to have gained by being around Alex for so many years. I can’t feel the
energy he gives off in general, but I can identify His energy, whether
it comes from him, or if I sense it in other people.”
“Wow, this is all a lot to take in all at once,” Wilma
lamented. “Are you serious about all this, this stuff about other dimensions,
different types of people and telepathic abilities?” Cate merely nodded her
head while looking her in the eyes to convey just how serious it was, but the
others took a different approach.
“Tell me about it,” Devon agreed. “I was pulled in just
before you and I’m having trouble accepting it as well, but I can’t deny the
feelings of power I get from Alex, so I know something is going on, and
so far Cate’s explanation is the only one that offers any explanation.”
“So what is it that this Grace person sees?” Wilma asked,
which led the various women to start talking amongst themselves. While they
were talking, Cate stole around to her brother.
“Wait here, Alex, I’m going to do another recon run to see
if there are any more inside.”
“Sounds like a plan. And thanks. If you hadn’t taken the
lead role we’d have been waiting indefinitely out here.”
“Yeah, we need to discuss your approach to this, but we’ll
talk about that tonight or tomorrow. You’ve got too much on your agenda right
now to worry about anything else. Anyway, I’m off. Try to keep this crew from
getting into too much trouble.”
After his sister left, Alex left the other women alone to
discuss their situation amongst themselves. Alex figured it was probably better
coming from someone in a similar situation than it was from a complete stranger
like him or Cate, although they’d occasionally look up at him whenever a
particularly difficult concept would come up, as if they were asking him if it
were true. Whenever this would happen he’d just nod, and they’d seemingly
accept it just on his say so.
That seemed to be it in the club, just the two Watchers,
Devon and Wilma. Cate returned about twenty minutes later and simply shrugged her
shoulders. Alex figured it wasn’t a big win, but a decent first try for a new
approach, and with all the others they’d found on their way in to Houston they
had a fair number of new followers.
Alex moved the girls away from the center of the lobby when
he noticed the security people and a random usher trying to listen in to their
conversation.
‘Alex?’ a telepathic voice he instantly recognized as
Grace’s asked him nervously.
‘Go ahead. Whenever someone speaks to me telepathically
they have my undivided attention. I’ll let you know if I can’t speak for any
reason. What’s up?’
‘We’ve got another Watcher outside. She wasn’t in the
club, but wandered up following you. She said she was having dinner nearby.’
‘Hold on, we’ll come outside and join you. I think we’ve
found everyone we’re going to find in here, and the natives are getting a
little restless,’ he answered, glancing at the security guard and usher who
were still watching them warily.
“OK, girls, we’re heading outside where we’ll have some more
privacy. I doubt we’ll find anyone else in the club,” Alex told the talking
women. Wilma glanced up at him with concern in her expression.
“But I came to the concert with a few of my friends.”
“Well, either go inside, or call them up and tell them you
had an emergency and had to leave,” Alex suggested. “I don’t think we’re going
to be finishing anytime soon, and I’m not sure we want to include anyone we
don’t have to at this point.”
Wilma decided to run back inside and explain that something
came up to her friends. Alex told her to meet them outside, and they left the
building to the disappointment of their onlookers. Gail let them leave without
her, since none of the onlookers had associated her with Alex’s group, and she
didn’t want to raise their suspicions more than they already were. She figured
that now they were merely curious, but if they connected her to the odd group,
they’d start talking, and someone might make a unfortunate connection.
Outside they met up with Grace, Morgan and the other two
girls they’d met at the hotel. Alex quickly shuffled them away from the club,
so no one could eavesdrop on their discussion. Alex introduced the new additions
to Grace, and Devon was very impressed to meet ‘her first Seer’, not realizing
Gail, who’d been quietly watching them all along, was one also. Gail didn’t
like calling attention to herself when she was working.
“Alex, this is Lacy Peterson. She just joined us, and as you
can guess, she’s been quite interested in meeting you.”
“How do you do, Lacy?” Alex asked as he bent and kissed her
hand. Poor Lacy almost swooned just from that simple display. She seemed
overwhelmed, so Grace and Alex got her to sit down as they began describing her
new life to her.
“Sorry I’m late, guys,” Wilma said as she hurried over to
them, having just exited the club herself. “I told my friends something
happened without explaining what it was. I told them I had to get home. They
looked worried so they’ll probably call me after the concert, but I should be
OK until then.”
Alex introduced everyone again, including Gail who’d come
out when Wilma had, which gave poor Lacy a chance to recover a bit more.
“Grace? You’re the one that sees things?” Wilma asked.
“Yeah, I am. I seem to be the only type 1 Seer here,” she
replied.
‘Not quite, there are actually two of us,’ Gail told
her, causing her to jump. None of the other girls understood when both Gail and
Alex started to laugh, so Cate had to explain it to them.
“Tell us what it’s like and what you see?” Wilma asked. “I
think we’d all have a better grasp of what we’re talking about if we understood
what your abilities are. Hopefully that will put our own into a better
perspective. So far it doesn’t look like we share much of anything with Alex.”
Alex and Cate let that slide for the moment, as Grace gave
them a full accounting of her experiences and what she saw. Gail telepathically
provided her with additional detail as she described it, so she did a good job
explaining it.
“An angel?” Devon asked her. “Yeah, that would account for
the otherworldly sense of power he has about him. I was a little afraid he
might be the devil incarnate, given the immense power I can feel from him,
except he feels, I don’t know, trustworthy, I guess.”
‘Alex, can you talk? This is Shani, I just got a panicky
call from Lisa, the reporter from St. Louis.’
‘Yeah, I remember Lisa. She’s hard to forget after what
she put us through,’ Alex told her.
‘Well, she told me she was traveling and didn’t realize
her cell phone had died, but when she returned home and plugged it in, she found
a message from Albert Rodriguez,’ Shani told him. That got Alex’s
attention. He’d been waiting to hear if Albert was going to release any new
information, since he still had the few remaining pieces to tie him into the
new media attention he was under.
‘Wait, a reporter didn’t notice her phone wasn’t working?’
Alex asked expressing his doubt about the simple statement.
‘She was on her day off and wasn’t expecting any calls,
so she wasn’t surprised when it didn’t ring,’ Shani explained.
‘OK, go on then?’ Alex cautiously replied.
‘She said he was calling to warn her about yet another TV
special he’s doing. Only, because of the delay with the phone, it’s going to go
live in only another 23 minutes.’
‘Damn. I think I’d better be there to listen to this one.
I skipped the last one, thinking I couldn’t change anything by listening to it,
but if he says the wrong thing I’ll have to warn Patricia.’ Shani gave him
the channel it was being broadcast over, apparently one of the major broadcast
networks was relaying it live due to the interest in Alex’s activities
recently.
“OK, people, I hate to break this up, but something has come
up,” Alex announced to the women surrounding him. None of the girls were aware
of what he’d been doing aside from Cate and Gail, who were both used to his
receiving odd telepathic messages on occasion. “We need to get back to the
hotel. It seems there’s going to be yet another news story on me, and I’d like
to hear this one. We can continue the conversation there, but I’d like to have
a couple of people remain here to watch for anyone else who might show up.”
The girls glanced at one another, neither one really wanting
to be separated from him, but each wanting to help him out in any way they
could. Seeing they couldn’t decide quickly, he stepped in and made the decision
for them.
“Grace, you’re the only available Seer, so why don’t you
stay and watch out here for anyone who shows up late. Cate, I hate to say it,
but you’ve got the access pass to the club, so you’ll have to be the one to
keep a watch over what might happen inside.”
They both agreed, so Alex headed off leaving the rest of the
girls to scurry trying to keep up with his long legged gait. Alex led them back
to the hotel, and they certainly made for one crowded elevator on the ride up.
They got to the room in enough time to get settled before the show was to begin,
Devon turning on the correct channel since she knew the local stations.
The station was making a big deal of the program, mentioning
it frequently in lead-in commercials, but they didn’t reveal much. Apparently
the focus of the show was “Angel of New Orleans: Real or a Fake?” Alex was
anxious about it, though. He wouldn’t mind if the program portrayed him as a charlatan,
as that would take the pressure off of him, but it could go in so many
directions from here. His primary worry was that Albert might mention his affiliation
with Patricia, since that was the last thing he knew about them that he hadn’t
revealed.
Finally the program began.
“Hello, this is Albert Rodriguez,” the reporter familiar to
most of Alex’s followers said when he appeared, looking comfortable and
relaxed. It looked like he was enjoying his new national recognition. “As many
of you may be aware, I recently broke the news about the mysterious ‘Angel of
New Orleans’, an individual who claims he’s being guided by God to seek out
random individuals to help them, despite his own reservations on the subject of
God’s divinity, and despite the lack of any coherent message to the rest of us.
Apparently this message from God is only for a select few. Men don’t
seem to be wanted at this point, and God doesn’t seem to be influenced by what
religion you belong to either.
“Now, in order to dig a little deeper into this mystery,
I’ve decided to focus more on the single miracle that I personally observed him
perform. There have been reports of others. In fact, I know of one man who
claims to have been risen from the dead by him here as well. But this one
miracle happened before my very eyes, and I wanted to examine it to see if this
whole movement is legitimate, or simply a potential scam.”
The girls settled in around Alex to watch the program. Most
wanted to get as close as they could to him, and he humored them, even though
his mind was preoccupied with other things at the moment. He sat on the bed
surrounded by Devon and Wilma, with the others scattered around him, several
sitting on the floor by his feet. Gail, as usual, sat in a chair by the door.
“The ‘miracle’ I’m referring to,” Albert continued,
emphasizing the word ‘miracle’ as if it was anything but, “involved a local
blind woman who was out late at night walking her guide dog. As this film clip
shows, she wasn’t close to the young man when she claims he ‘healed her’, but
you can see from her reaction that she’s convinced of what he did to her, and
it certainly looks like her blindness was cured.”
They then showed the blurry image of a cell phone video of
Mattie running to Alex, moving around people as she ran, though again, it was
too far away to reveal Alex or any of the other’s faces, although it showed
Mattie’s, since the camera was focused on her the entire time.
“When I appeared on television a few days ago to report on
this, I spoke to this girl, a certain Mattie Adams.” Alex groaned at this
revelation. It was one thing to report information, but it was another to
reveal people’s names, possibly exposing them to scorn or outright hatred. This
didn’t bode well for any of Alex’s people.
“She spoke freely of what had happened to her, but
emphasized that it wasn’t as clear cut as the images implied.” Here the picture
refocused to show Mattie speaking before a camera.
“I’m still technically blind,” she told the TV camera,
Rodger sitting happily by her side, no sign of his guide dog handle to be seen.
“I can see to get around, but I can’t read a sign, a book or a magazine if my
life depended on it.” Mattie seemed perfect for this role he’d assigned to her.
She smiled brightly, eager to talk about her experiences and the effect that
Alex had had on her life, but still unwilling to make any wild claims, quietly
diminishing expectations. Alex was proud of her yet again.
“This claim that she could see while still being blind
intrigued me,” Albert relayed, continued his explanation in full high
definition color display, “but she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what she could or
couldn’t see. Finally I asked if she’d submit to a medical examination, so we
could determine what had been done and what hadn’t.” Once again, it cut back to
Mattie, who when asked by Albert, who was off screen, smiled prettily and said
she’d be happy to, since she had nothing to hide from anyone.
The view then switched to an optometrist’s office, and
Albert introduced an older, distinguished looking man, and he briefly discussed
his qualifications. Finally they show him examining Mattie in an examination
room, while Albert provided commentary.
“As you can see, she can’t see anything on the simple eye
chart, at any distance. Nor can she see any item that the doctor holds up for
her. This would tend to substantially weaken her claims of having been
miraculously healed.”
Alex leaned forward nervously, expecting the program to get
negative soon. If Mattie was lying about being healed, then surely they’d
portray her as a scam artist. Alex didn’t mind them saying he was, but
he really didn’t want Mattie’s reputation to be attacked, since she had an established
job that could be put in jeopardy by a hatchet job on national television.
“The examination continued as the doctor examined the back
of her eyes,” Albert continued to explain. “He examined her medical records,
and even spoke with her previous doctors in order to evaluate her condition.
Each detailed the extensive damage she’d suffered as a child from a condition
called “River Blindness”, which occurs when someone is exposed to certain
viruses in the water that compromise their vision.” Here Albert stopped
speaking as the examination progressed.
“He informed me that her eyes were still extensively
damaged,” Albert continued again, “and that there was no way she could see
anything at all. But that finding intrigued me, so I prompted him to do some
simpler, less quantitative tests.”
Here they showed Albert and the doctor discussing her
vision, then the doctor waving his hand before her face. “It turns out she can
see motion, as evidenced by her reaction to his hand. She can also make out
some details, as her telling him how many fingers he’s holding up shows, but
that certainly doesn’t reveal much of a miracle, does it?”
Albert’s presentation wasn’t going the way that Alex had
feared, instead it was more nuanced, more questioning than antagonistic. It
sounded like Albert was really curious about the whole issue, instead of trying
to score points for publicity’s sake.
“While the examination didn’t really prove much, aside from
revealing that Mattie really is blind, we did some follow up. Now as
you’ve seen, Mattie doesn’t like to go on about herself or her supposed
benefactor, claiming she doesn’t really know much about him. But as you can
imagine, she’s become quite popular about town. We managed to record this
footage, filmed in secret without her knowledge, of her at a party she was
invited to.”
Here they showed more video captured by a cell phone, but
this was of much higher quality, and you could see the detail. It showed Mattie
coming in the door, kissing people hello and calling them by name. It showed
her walking around the room, stopping to say hello to people and moving around
objects.
“As you can see, she certainly doesn’t look blind in
this video. It was strange, though. While she ignored all the impressive
artwork on the walls, she commented frequently on the health of the host’s
various plants, talking about how healthy they were, and even telling him she
thought one palm she never touched looked like it had a virus infestation and
likely would start getting sick, and how they should remove it from the
apartment so it wouldn’t infect the other plants nearby.
“When I asked her about this, not directly referencing the
evidence we had of her new vision, she explained,” here they played a recorded
phone conversation with Mattie.
“Well, yes, I get along quite well now. After all, this
wasn’t a scientific cure, this was a miracle. And you can’t expect miracles to
follow the rules of science, now can you? Yes, I’m still 100% blind. I don’t
think I’ll ever be able to drive a car or read a paperback book, but I can see
well enough to get around, and I can function, which is enough of a cure for
me. As long as I can see, I really don’t care what he did or didn’t do
to me. If I have to continue listening to books on tape, that doesn’t bother
me. What impresses me is that he gave me my life back, and that he didn’t ask
for anything in return.”
A couple of the girls in the room applauded at that, but
Alex quickly hushed them, not wanting to miss anything. But there were a couple
of sniffles floating around anyway.
“So it turns out we have a bit of a conundrum. Mattie is
still blind. There is absolutely no evidence of any kind of a cure. No sign of
anything having been done to her. Yet she continues to get around, navigating
through life without the need to rely on her guide dog, even though she
continues to take him with her frequently. Only now she takes him on a leash,
leaving the heavy equipment he wore before behind.
“Do we really expect God, or whoever is behind this, to
operate in a scientifically provable fashion before we can believe it? Isn’t
that what faith is all about? About not needing science to prove something to
us that we can each see with our own eyes? You don’t need science to tell you
that we live in a beautiful and complex world filled with beauty and a
wonderful symmetry. Did God create it all in six days, or did he use evolution
and natural selection to achieve the same ends? I don’t think we’ll ever know.
Which I like to think is the point. Miracles aren’t the stuff of science.
Scientists can study butterflies all they want, but it doesn’t take away one’s
wonder at seeing one flutter by, seemingly impervious to the laws of science.
“Which brings me to another point,” Albert said, turning to
speak into a different camera, taking on a more serious demeanor. “There’s been
a lot said recently about my previous telecast, where I revealed that the angel
of New Orleans is himself an atheist. It seems that has generated a great deal
of anger, most of it from certain Christians who can’t seem to accept a God
that doesn’t do things according to their dictates.
“What he told me, when I interviewed him on the street, is
that God isn’t choosing Christians for an impending apocalypse. Instead he’s
sending this individual to help select people regardless of their religion of
choice. Somehow I can’t understand how that’s so unchristian? Isn’t that the
kind of loving and caring god we’ve always believed in? True, it doesn’t
reflect the angry and vengeful god of the Old Testament, but most of that
ideology was thrown out when Jesus supposedly revealed the New Testament to us.
And most Jews don’t seem to believe in this angry God that the religious right
chooses to anymore. If God is interested in helping a few select individuals,
who are we to question it? If he isn’t hurting anyone, why shouldn’t this angel
be able to quietly assist others? Who is he really challenging? Who is he
offending?
“I think that’s the real challenge he’s offering us here. Do
we believe in a loving and caring God that cares for us as individuals, or are
we so locked into the strict dictates of religious belief that we can’t accept
God if he doesn’t behave like we want him to?
“Anyway, whatever you personally believe about this
mysterious Angel of New Orleans, I hope he at least makes you think about your
own view of the world, and whether what you’ve always accepted as the truth is
really all that true. Maybe that’s the miracle we all need, to not be so rigid
in our beliefs but to accept people in the way that Jesus, Mohammad and Buddha themselves
treated others. Maybe that’s the kind of religious belief we need more
of in this world of hatred and aggression against others.”
There was a quiet malaise that settled over the room after
the show ended. Sue turned, looking up at Alex and said, “It didn’t seem that
bad. I thought you said they were going to be causing you trouble.”
“Actually, that was very positive and surprisingly even
handed,” Gail told her. “Alex was concerned because he knows Alex’s face and his
relationship to Patty, and could leak them to the press at any time. But so far
he hasn’t.” She turned and addressed Alex directly. “You know, I think your
little show not only rattled him, I think it actually won him over. He hasn’t
actually championed you, but I think he’s honestly trying to remain unbiased in
his presentation while trying to help you at the same time.”
“I’m quite surprised, too,” Alex said. “I was really expecting
a further escalation, but this was really objective.”
“Just wait until the other networks get a hold of it,” Gail
replied. “They may not be as forgiving as he was.”
“No, but still, I appreciate each small favor we receive.
It’s this kind of understanding that we need to foster.”
“Maybe you should send him a fruit basket to say thanks,”
Wilma teased. “You could even bless the fruits if you wanted.”
“Hey, if I’m going to be blessing any fruits, I’ll save it
for the Fox network when I bless a gay marrage. I think they’d appreciate it
more,” Alex joked.
“Really, Alex?” Gail asked him pointed. “While Fox may not
be in favor of gay marriage, they aren’t actually against gays, and the issue
of gay marriage cuts across a lot of different lines. I’m not sure that should
be an issue you want to jump into.” Alex was about to respond, telling her he
was only joking when he was interrupted, his mouth only partially opened to
speak his first word.
‘Alex? We just finished the concert. Where are you? Did
you get many new converts?’ Patricia asked him.
‘We had to leave. We picked up a few Watchers, but we got
alerted to a new national broadcast by Mr. Rodriguez,’ Alex explained. ‘We’re
all over at the hotel now.’
‘Oh, I hope he didn’t say anything bad, but frankly, I
wouldn’t worry about him. He’s not as sensationalistic as Fox has been. I think
that’s who you’re going to have to worry about. Although, even then, they’re
responding to the idea of an atheist telling Christians what to believe rather
than attacking you personally.’
‘That was our appraisal, but we’ll tell you about it when
you get over here. How’d the concert go?’
‘Oh, it was great. The audience was really appreciative,
even though someone kept taking them out the back door during the set,’
Patricia teased. ‘But we still need to wrap things up, then I’ve got to face
the fans when we leave, so it’ll probably take us a while to join you. As you
say, we’ll discuss the details when we get together.’
Alex turned his attention to Grace and Cate next.
‘Grace, you have any luck?’ he asked.
‘No. No one else showed up. Cate’s with me now. She
thought it would be too difficult to try to reach Patty right now.’
‘Smart thinking, but I already spoke with her. You should
head back to the hotel now. I doubt anyone will show up this late, and it would
look better if you weren’t watching the audience leave like a couple of
stalkers.’
‘Sounds good,’ Grace replied. ‘We’ll see you soon.’
Alex was about to remind them to check for anyone hanging
around in the hotel lobby, but assumed Cate would think of that on her own.
Instead he turned back and noticed that everyone was watching him.
“What?” he asked the room in general.
“They noticed you staring off into space. I explained what
you were doing,” Gail explained.
“Ah, that makes sense. The concert just finished, so Grace
and Cate are heading back, though it’s going to take Patricia and her band a
while to make it back.”
“Man, talking to people in your head like that has got to be
cool,” Devon noted.
“Yeah, but what’s more is, it protects each of us. Normally,
whenever the government or the police want information, they simply take
someone in and hold them incommunicado. They won’t be able to do that with us.
So I’ll try to leave at least one Seer in charge here, with the rest of your
help. That way she can relay if there’s any trouble without fear someone will
be recording the conversation. I suggest you each use the type 1 and 2
designations when talking about people, and don’t refer to me by name. Simply
refer to me as your uncle or something. I know I’m probably being paranoid, but
once the public gets an idea of what we can potentially do, I’m expecting a lot
of people will get aggressive in trying to control us.”
The other people in the room considered that.
“So Grace will be our local leader?” Morgan asked.
“Not necessarily. It gets complicated,” Alex explained. “In
addition to activating people, I can also boost people’s
abilities. I’d like to do that before I leave, but I’ve got a real problem
doing it with Grace. I guess you’ll all learn about it soon enough, so I might
as well explain it. During periods of stress or excitement, I sometimes advance
either my own abilities or those of others. I guess the excitement and the
influx of hormones triggers something. But it also works during emotional
highs, especially when someone is exposed to my energy on a close basis. Thus I
usually boost people when I have sex with them. However, I really don’t
want to have sex with someone who’s currently in a relationship with someone
else.”
“I don’t think Grace would object,” Wilma commented. “I get
the impression she’d do anything for you.”
“That’s not the point,” Alex said. “I keep stressing the
importance of family and friends, and I want to include more into our movement.
It wouldn’t help that if I went around undermining my people’s relationships. I
want to strengthen people, not tear them apart.”
“What would this ‘boost’ entail?” another girl asked.
“Well, it would allow a Seer like Grace to communicate
telepathically with any of the other Seers. She can do that now by going
through me, but she and the rest of you would be cut off if something were to
happen to me.”
“What could happen to you?” Lacy asked. “Hell, I mean, how
can an angel get hurt? Can’t you heal whatever happened to you?”
Alex just looked at her for a minute before responding.
“First of all, I’m hardly an angel. Secondly, LOTS can happen to me, and
thirdly, I can only heal certain things, and I seem to have very little control
over what I can heal and what I can’t. I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, or
shot by someone angry at us. I don’t want to leave the rest of you unprotected
if something were to happen to me.”
Once again they looked at each other as each considered the
implications of what Alex had said. They were each well aware of the story of
Jesus’ crucifixion, and if the son of God could have that done to him, then
surely Alex couldn’t hope to avoid it entirely either.
“Have you had anyone try to hurt you yet?” Lacy asked,
sounding concerned. Gail laughed.
“Girl, he’s got all kinds of people angry at him. Why do you
think I’m here?”
Lacy turned and regarded Gail. “Honestly, I don’t know. All
I’ve noticed is you hanging around with the guys back at the club.”
Alex laughed at this one. “That’s our Gail for you, always
flirting with the guys.” Gail shot him a dirty look, but addressed Lacy’s
question.
“I’m Alex’s security. I’m an ex-cop and I put together a
small security company tasked with watching over Alex and his people. If
there’s a need here, I can open a local branch, but it would take time to find
sympathetic security people.”
“Oh, we wondered why you were always following around behind
him, always lurking in the background,” Devon said.
“So you never answered the question,” Lacy complained.
“Who’s tried to hurt you?”
“So far it’s been a variety of people, but so far it’s been
men who either take exception to his interest in a particular girl, or who just
feel a general animosity. Though he seems to upset a lot of men in general,”
she explained. “Personally, I’m more concerned about an upset boyfriend than I
am the Pharisees.”
“The who?” Devon asked.
“The Pharisees,” Morgan told her, “the people who responsible
for crucifying Jesus in the New Testament.”
“I thought the Romans did that?” Devon asked.
“Look, we can discuss religious history later. The point I
was making is I’d like to boost a local Seer to provide some protection for the
rest of you. I really don’t want to screw up Grace’s relationship by
getting in the middle of it, but she’s the only Seer available right now.”
“You still have all day tomorrow and the concert tomorrow
night,” Gail reminded him.
“True, and I hope we’ll find someone else. Otherwise I may
be forced to do something I really don’t want to do,” Alex told them.
There was a knock on the door then, and Gail was instantly
on her feet, waving Alex into the back of the room. He knew Gail’s position,
but there really wasn’t anywhere for him to hide in a standard hotel room. Gail
cautiously peeked into the door’s peephole, grabbing something under her jacket
as she did. It was only then the real threats that Alex faced seemed real to
the girls in the room.
“It’s Cate and Grace,” Gail announced before she opened the
door, allowing them in.
“No new people downstairs,” Cate announced. “So what did we
miss?”
Alex started to relay what had happened on the program, but
Wilma cut him off.
“Excuse me, I know that’s important, but I’m curious about
something?” When Alex cocked his head, telling her to continue, she did. “If
you can boost the ability of the Seers, then what about all of us, the
Watchers?” she asked.
Alex sighed, after all, it was hardly an unexpected
question. “Yes, I can boost the Watchers as well. In fact, although I can give
the Seers a degree of autonomy from me, the Watchers actually get a bigger
boost as I give them the abilities equal to what the Seers have before
they’re activated.” Wilma and the others looked at him in some confusion, so he
felt it necessary to go on.
“The unactivated Seers can feel people’s emotions.
They can tell whether someone is malicious, or if something is about to happen,
or if they can trust someone. The Watchers can feel an inkling of these, but
not enough to rely on them. So I’ve been known to boost Watchers that I think
have important tasks.”
“Yeah, Alex forces them to engage in tremendous sex
with a caring, devoted man for hours, during which he gives them repeated
orgasms, culminating in a mind melting simultaneous orgasm. You wouldn’t be interested
in that,” Cate teased. Alex shot her a dirty look.
“The problem is, I haven’t had much of a chance to speak
with any of you yet. Right now I don’t know any of your capabilities. If I were
to pick any of you, I’d just to picking someone at random, and that wouldn’t be
fair. If I did boost any of you, I’d want it to be someone who could use the
new abilities the most. Actually, I’d be tempted to pick Morgan, but she’s in
the same situation that Grace is, she said that she’s a housewife so I’m assuming
she has a husband, and I couldn’t ask her to cheat on him.”
“What’s this about boosting Seers and Watchers?” Grace
asked, at which point the girls started to fill her in, as he explained to Cate
what she’d missed. They were both part way through the explanations when
Wilma’s cell phone went off. She pulled it out and glanced at it before
answering it.
“It’s my girl friends. They’re probably checking up on me so
I’d better take this.” Everyone else quieted down, since no one wanted to give
away where they were, but Gail quietly finished the explanation of Albert’s
program for Cate.
“Hello Lucy?” Wilma asked. She listened quietly and everyone
could hear an insistent voice but not anything it was saying. “Holy shit, are
you kidding me?” Wilma asked her in growing concern. She turned to the others
and covered her end of the phone. “They called my parents to see if I was OK,
assuming I’d gone home. I’ve been living with them since graduation. But they
hadn’t heard from me, so they were obviously upset, thinking something must
have happened to me. My girlfriends are calling to warn me.”
Alex indicated the phone still in her hand and she looked at
it as if surprised before listening to Lucy again. “No, it’s someone I’m with.
I’m… I’m with a guy I met,” she answered, thinking a partial truth would be
more believable than the full truth.
“I’ve only known him for a little while, I didn’t want to
jinx it,” she said. “If it seems like it’s leading somewhere I’ll tell you. But
I’d better go to calm my parents,” she explained before getting off the phone.
“It always complicates things when you start with little
lies,” Alex explained, as if he’d ever gotten into trouble with his parents.
“Well, what should I do?” Wilma asked. “Obviously I can’t
tell them what’s happening.”
“No, you did the correct thing, though without thinking it
through. The best thing is to say the least, but to let them know you’ve met
me. Don’t give them the full details yet. If you overwhelm them they’ll likely
respond badly. They’ll think you’re being taken advantage of. Just let them
know I’m friendly and concerned, but that I’m not asking you for anything. Just
say that I’m ‘helping you’. That’s what they’ll be the most concerned about,
that I’m taking advantage of you. Just tell them I’m a nice guy for now, then
later you can tell them I’m the Angel of New Orleans, they’ll likely have heard
of it already, but assure them I’m not trying to convert you or lead you astray.
Try to bring them around slowly, but don’t put them off. If they think you’re
hiding something, they’ll think you have something embarrassing to hide. The
key is just to let them know as much as they can handle at any given time.”
All the girls were listening to his instructions intently,
listening as if Alex were giving them instruction from on high.
“The key is to not lie to your parents or friends. You need
them in your life, and that includes your new life, too. And that includes lying
by omission. Give them enough information that they feel they know what you’re
up to, but not enough to panic them. The thing to remember is, if we ever get
exposed, we’ll need family and friends to stick up for us, but if we hide from
them, they’ll only think the worst about me and my mission.”
“But what do we say about you? Clearly we can’t tell them
about what you do,” Devon asked.
“Well, don’t mention your abilities, or the other’s
abilities. Just tell them I’ve been telling you things about yourself, things
that you’ve wondered about. You’ll have to explain what those are, but you
don’t need to mention telepathy, visions or mysterious healings to do that.”
“We’ve done this several times already,” Cate explained.
“He’s speaking from experience. He’s really good at dealing with family and
friends, just not so good at dealing with brothers, boyfriends or potential
boyfriends.”
“Or fathers,” Gail added, but no one felt it necessary to
add to the thought.
The girls sat there just staring at him until Alex motioned
for Wilma to make her phone call. She did.
“Hello, Mom?” she asked when they answered the phone. “No,
I’m OK. My friends didn’t know, but I met someone at the club.”
She paused while her mother responded then continued again.
“No, he’s a really nice guy. You’ll probably hear about him in the next few
days, but I’ll explain later. But for right now, I’m safe and I’m with a bunch
of friends.” She listened a little longer then turned to Alex. “No, I don’t
know how long I’ll be.”
Alex mouthed, ‘soon’ to her, then ‘only another few minutes’.
“It’ll be soon, Mom. In any case I’ll call you from the car
as I’m leaving.” Here she paused as her mother said something else. “We’re
talking about me. He seems to know a lot about me, and he’s telling me things
about myself that I’ve never known before, and I’m anxious to learn about them.”
“No, Mom, it’s nothing like that. I’ll tell you about it
later, but I’m here with a bunch of people so I shouldn’t be ignoring them,”
she replied, relying on her parents’ training on not being rude to carry the
day. “Yeah, that’s right. I’ll call you before I leave so you won’t worry,” she
assured them before hanging up.
“Wow, you were right. That was the perfect thing to say. I’m
surprised she didn’t panic, but she calmed right down when I said the things
you suggested.”
“It’s not the things I suggested,” Alex told them. “They’re
the right things to say. You’ve got to trust your family and friends because
they want the best for you, and making them worry will only cause you grief.”
Here Alex turned and regarded them all.
“Now, as I said, I really haven’t gotten to know each of you
very well yet, and we don’t have much time. Unfortunately tomorrow is a big
day. If you can, I’d like to sit with all of you over breakfast here tomorrow,
but if you can’t manage that we’ll work something out. The important thing,
though, is I can’t walk around the city tomorrow with a whole string of women
following me around, so you’ll have to leave me alone afterwards. So unless I
say otherwise tomorrow, I’d like to see Morgan and Grace tomorrow night at the
club, and we’ll wing it from there. Now the rest of you’d better be getting
home. You have friends, boyfriends or husbands to call. And don’t forget to
consider your female relatives. You’ll need to contact any of them you think
may have abilities similar to yours. Either bring them to breakfast or the club
tomorrow night.” Alex looked at each girl, and after a moment’s delay they all
hopped up and started moving around trying to figure out what to do.
Cate managed to organize them, getting their phone numbers
and their schedules for the next day, so Alex left them to it. He still had to
consider tomorrow, think about Albert’s show, meet with Patricia and prepare
for tomorrow. Their first show hadn’t been that bad, but there were still a lot
of loose ends, and there’d only be more tomorrow.
He got up to kiss each girl goodbye as they left, and none
of them looked like they wanted to, but they were more interested in impressing
him than fighting about it. Soon they were gone and Alex turned to his sister
and Gail.
“You and I have a lot to talk about,” Cate warned him. “You
did a lot of things wrong, but at least you got not sleeping with any of them
right. That way we can fool around until Patricia gets back. That woman’s been
waiting for you for a long time now, and I don’t think she can be put off any
longer.”