“Jim, don’t torture yourself over this stuff,” BT advised. “What happened to Jack wasn’t your fault.”
“Maybe,” I droned noncommittally. “I just know we were lucky, considering the way Jack’s powers were developing.”
I then told them how Jack’s precognitive ability had given him a second vision of the future while we were on the roof.
Mouse seemed to deliberate heavily on what that meant, saying, “I suppose that if Jack’s visions of the future had ultimately started coming fast enough and often enough, eventually he would have seen all future threats and been able to avoid them.”
“And that brings up my next question,” I said. “Could he actually see the seminal events that we thought he could?”
BT looked nonplussed. “What do you mean?”
“Essentially, it seems like there were times when Jack should have been aware that there was a threat in his future, but he wasn’t,” I explained. “Like when he was shot at Alpha Prime’s mansion, or when Electra shocked him.”
“Well, with respect to the mansion, there were actually two lasers that had targeted Jack, and he shut the first one down,” Mouse said. “As to Electra, in all honesty, we don’t know what threats Jack may have encountered before she sent some volts through him. Maybe he almost got hit by a bus, someone tried to mug him, or something along those lines.”
I didn’t say anything, but what I was hearing made sense. (It certainly clarified why Jack was blissfully unaware of actual threats on various occasions.)
“All in all,” Mouse said, “the plan didn’t go as intended by a long shot, but we – especially you, Jim – managed to pull it off in the end. You should be proud.”
“I guess,” I replied, shrugging. “One last question, though: when I was fighting Jack on that rooftop, were you able to see us?”
My mentor nodded. “I had a pretty good line of sight. I occasionally glanced in your direction, but mostly focused on trying to repair the nullifier, as that would have brought things to an immediate halt.”
“Well, when you did happen to catch a glimpse of what was happening, did you ever think that you needed to step in?”
“Not really,” Mouse said. “I mean, it was touch-and-go a couple of times, but since you never reached out to me telepathically, I assumed you had it under control.”
“I don’t know about that,” I admitted. “I just knew you were working on the nullifier and I didn’t want to interfere with that because it was important.”
“Then I’d say you made the right decision,” Mouse noted. “In short, when we go on a mission, everyone has a job to do, and we need to trust the people around us to do what’s expected of them. Think of the Dream Machine mission last week: we didn’t race off to help the others with their tasks, and nobody came to help us. Everyone assumed that all of their colleagues were competent. If there’s a risk that I’m going to leave something undone in order to make sure you’re safe, or you’re going to shirk your duties in order to help me, then one of us doesn’t need to be on the mission.”
I nodded as Mouse finished speaking, as I was able to boil down what he was saying to its essence: he had confidence in me. It was a fact that made me proud.
Chapter 95
I stayed in Mouse’s lab just chatting generally with my mentor and BT until early afternoon. About the only other topic of note that we discussed was the “bargain” that Mouse had struck with Gray.
“We’ve agreed to something along the lines of a secondment,” Mouse explained. “In practical terms, it means that you’ll occasionally be on loan to Gray’s organization.”
In my opinion, there had to be more to it than that, but Mouse nimbly sidestepped all my questions on the subject. Ultimately, my tarriance in the lab (and my attempts to get more information about the deal with Gray) were cut short when my cell phone rang. It was Electra.
“Hey, you,” I greeted her upon answering.
“Hey yourself,” she replied. “So, were you planning to come see me, or do I have to beg?”
“Aren’t you in school?” I asked.
“Today was a half-day; there’s some kind of district teacher’s meeting,” she explained. “So, I’ve extended an invitation. What say ye?”
*****
Five minutes after getting off the phone, I was sitting with Electra on the loveseat in her living room, after having quickly said goodbye to Mouse and BT. For the first time in days, however, we weren’t alone in her house; Esper was there (although, according to my girlfriend, she was banging around in the attic looking for something). From what I could sense, both Electra and her aunt seemed to be in an incredibly buoyant mood.
It hadn’t taken me long to share what had happened with Electra (although I left out some of the more morbid details).
“At least it’s over,” she said when I was done, interlacing her fingers with mine.
“So, were you worried?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Not really. I usually just assume you can take care of yourself.”
“Funny – everybody seems to think that about me. I wonder what the reaction will be if I actually get killed one day?” Changing my voice to a whiny version of my girlfriend’s, I said, “‘It was just a twelve-megaton nuke; I thought he could handle it…’”
Electra laughed. “Stop it! I do not sound like that.”
“Agreed – your whining’s a little more annoying.”
For that one, she spent a few seconds tickling me as we both chuckled.
“Anyway,” Electra said, “thank your family for letting me hang out with them yesterday.”
“Will do,” I promised. “And for the record, they enjoyed having you visit.”
“Thanks, but it was a little calculating on my part. I figured they’d get word first once everything was over, so I just wanted to be there. Plus, it was better waiting with other people than by myself.”
“Well, you’ve got an open invitation to come by any time,” I assured her. “Apparently my family adores
