June 1992

  Chris wakes up feeling dizzy. He sits in bed, his eyes closed, trying to wait for the feeling to go away. As it does, he looks at his hands and recalls st night, or early morning as it was. He held back a van. A ugh escapes his lips. He really did it. And somewhere deep down, it scared him. If the media knew about this…

  Knock, knock, knock.

  “Yeah?” Chris says. His head clearing up now.

  The door opens and Elle sticks her head in. “Hi, Chris. You awake now?” She whispers, her face one of concern.

  Chris nods. “Yeah.”

  Elle comes in and shuts the door. “Good. I was getting worried.” She walks over and sits down next to him. “Chris?”

  Her tone was letting him know she was really worried.

  “What did you do st night? I mean…you held back a van. Going pedal to the metal.” She fiddles with a crease in the bnket. “Where did you get that power?”

  “Uh…” Honestly, he didn’t know. He just went off on impulse. He never expected to do what he did. “I don’t know. I just did it.” He looks her in the eyes. “I’m sorry to scare you.” He drops his head.

  “It’s okay. We are getting stronger and all.”

  Chris takes her in his arms and holds her tight. Her arms wrap around him. “I never meant to scare you, sweetheart. I just couldn’t let them win.”

  She pulls away enough to kiss him. As they get into it another knock raps on the door. His dad pokes his head in.

  “Hey, Chris. You awake now?”

  “Yeah.”

  Larry walks in. “How do you feel?”

  “A little lightheaded when I woke up. But, I’m fine now.”

  “Elle and the boys told me what you did st night.”

  Yep, he’s grounded.

  Larry sits down next to him and puts his arm around his shoulders. “I can’t say I’m not upset at you guys sneaking out.” He sighs. “But you were just doing what you thought was right. And I thank you for helping to look out for the b.”

  His dad’s smile eases some of the tension.

  “So…I’m not grounded?”

  Larry ughs and pats his shoulder. “No, no. You’re not grounded. We thought about it though.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Besides the sneaking out, Elle said you held back a van?”

  “Uh, yeah.” He still can’t believe it. Chris describes what he did.

  “Damn. When I was your age, I didn’t even have half that power. Any idea where it came from?”

  Chris thinks for a moment, shaking his head. “I was just thinking about keeping them back, away from Elle and the guys and…” He rubs his head. “I just put everything I had into it.”

  “You know, I heard of an ability back home called Aerokinesis. Like telekinesis, but you use the air around an object to manipute it.”

  “Like your air spheres?” Elle asks.

  “Same principal, but different. The balls of air me and Chris make are just a strong current of tightly packed air. The sphere shape is the only shape we can make them. But someone with aerokinesis can make any shape they want. Like a…baseball bat or something.”

  “Can other elementals use that? Or a version of it?” Elle asks.

  Larry stops to think a moment. “To tell you the truth, I think your little water people may be a form of it.”

  “Really? You mean I’ve been using it all this time and didn’t even know it?” Elle sounds awed.

  Chris’ dad ughs. “Maybe. Might be something for you guys to practice. I‘m sure it‘s different for each elementalist, but yeah.” Larry gets up and walks to the door. “Get dressed and come on down for lunch. Your mother was worried. We’ll see ya downstairs.” Larry leaves and shuts the door.

  Chris brings forth a small air ball in his hands. Aerokinesis. He lets it go and looks at Elle. She smiles back, then gives him a quick kiss and tells him to hurry and get dressed. He gets out of bed and goes to the dresser. Thoughts of all the different things he could do with his new power as he grabs some new clothes.

  **********

  Garcia sits in contemption. His girls standing at attention and with great unease in front of him.

  “So. The Talvert child held back your van, with the accelerator all the way down.” He says, more of a statement than a question.

  “Y-Yes, sir. We’ve seen nothing like it.” Autumn says.

  Garcia puts up his hand to stop her from saying anything else. “Stinger?”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Do you think you girls would stand a chance in a direct confrontation with these people? Given the current circumstances?”

  Stinger pauses for a moment.

  “It is all right. You will not be punished for your answer.” He had to make sure she answers truthfully. He had punished them countless times before for answers he didn’t like.

  She looks to the others, who return her uneasy expression. “N-No, sir. They have powers we have not trained for.”

  Garcia nods his head. “Yes, you are right. That is one training I have neglected. Only because elementals of their caliber are few. The governments of the world don’t like people more powerful than themselves.”

  He gets up and walks to the kitchen and pours himself a gss of wine. Thinking of what course of action to take. Only one comes to mind.

  “Girls.”

  “Yes, sir!” They say in unison.

  “Prepare to depart for Portnd. I want to get there early. Scope the convention hall out before the conference.”

  “Yes, sir!” They salute and turn to leave.

  “Stinger? Stay here for a few minutes. I want to discuss something with you.”

  “Sir!”

  He returns to his recliner, taking a sip of the wine, then setting his gss on the table next to him. “I want to ask the same question again. Do you think you girls can survive a direct assault on these elementals?

  Stingers breath catches. “No…sir. Their powers are…possibly more than we can handle. Forgive us, sir. We really don’t know how to go about fighting them.”

  He can see her shaking a little. “I see. Next question. Do you think I can defeat them?”

  She looks up quick. “Yes, sir! Your Shade power could counter their attacks.”

  Garcia downs his wine in one gulp then sit’s the gss down. He looks calmly at her. “Could?”

  Stinger holds her breath. “I-I-I’m sorry, sir. I-I only meant…”

  Garcia stands up and walks to her. She cowers a bit, expecting punishment. Oh, how he loved that look. He takes her chin in his hand and squeezes, tilting her head back. She yelps in response. He stares into her eyes. Her fear was exquisite.

  “I thank you for your honesty.” He says and kisses her, moving his hand down to her throat.

  As she rexes, he takes her wrist with his free hand. Then twists it back behind her and tightens the grip around her neck. “And if you ever doubt my Shade powers again. You will know more pain than I gave Julia.”

  Stinger chokes and gags, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She mouths, I’m sorry.

  “Or perhaps I could call in a supply of Zen.”

  Stinger’s eyes go wide. She shakes her head as best she can, barely able to repeat the word, no, over and over.

  “Good.” He lets her go.

  She drops to one knee and grabs her throat, rubbing it.

  “Now go. Get ready to leave.”

  Stinger stands up and bows weakly, then turns and leaves.

  Garcia takes his gss back and fills it again with wine. Returning to the recliner, he takes the phone and calls Mr. Starinski.

  “My friend, I have an idea for the upcoming conference.”