A Long Way from Home by Kevin J. Anderson & Peter J. Wacks

Author:Kevin J. Anderson & Peter J. Wacks [Anderson, Kevin J. & Wacks, Peter J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Novela, Ciencia ficción
Publisher: ePubLibre
Published: 2015-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The plan, the possibilities, the people. Sam used them all. The misfits, as they called themselves now, worked as usual, followed their daily routines—but they had much more on their minds. Their powers had all been tested and documented by Sam.

Andrew Meek’s ability was indeed nothing more than dropping the temperature by ten degrees, though the extent of his influence was hard to measure. Dorian Avey could melt small metal objects, but not at a great distance and not any large quantity. Laina Jacobsen was able to deflect attention. But Sam didn’t know how to quantify that. Alexa Konig had reasonably extensive pheromone skills and could manipulate people.

She was the one, besides Sam himself, who was hiding her Evo talents the most. Sam was fully aware that many people would be terrified of an individual with such intense and manipulative sex appeal, and Sam knew that the Renautas Corporation would find her power extremely valuable. Bottling it could create a whole new industry.

Once he had all of their skills cataloged, Sam was able to examine the patterns and direct how they might pool their abilities. He watched the weather station obsessively, studying what was expected in the upcoming days and nights. He had the misfits subtly practice their abilities in pairs. Their powers were all weak, innocuous, and unremarkable—though in his opinion, that was only because their captors hadn’t yet figured out how to make them remarkable—but Sam Conlon could work with synergy, combining the small bits so they would wind up greater than the sum of their parts.

And it was going extremely well.

Seventy years ago here at Camp Hale, the 10th Mountain Division had trained in rock-climbing, winter survival, mountain ascents, and cross-country hiking and skiing, as well as trailblazing in the wilderness. The Evo detainees at Temporary Assessment Camp Hale faced nothing so rigorous. But Sam knew he could provoke the misfits into demonstrating how powerful they really could be. He smiled. He intended to demonstrate exactly what supposedly harmless Evos could do.

One order stood above all else: don’t disrupt the routine. The guards couldn’t be allowed to notice that something was amiss. Sam suggested that Andrew and Dorian work together. Dorian would melt small pieces of metal, while Andrew would drop the temperature to cool them quickly. They practiced making new shapes. Laina and Alexa also combined their abilities. Alexa would make other Evos and camp personnel uncomfortable by spiking their hormones, dousing them with carefully tailored pheromone mixtures she exuded. Then Laina would “wallflower” to deflect attention. Normally a loner, Sam joined the others for nightly meals in the mess hall. The misfits seemed delighted at what they had accomplished.

Andrew said, “I was always worried about hiding my abilities and ensuring that no one would believe I could do anything with them. Now I can see possibilities. Thanks to you, Sam, I think we might have a chance.”

Dorian nodded in agreement but added, “We need to know more about the plan. So far, we’ve been training up some decent parlor.

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