“Clear your mind,” she said. “Try not to think of anything. Just focus on my voice. Now think about Christmas.”
I frowned, wondering where this was going.
“Focus,” Ursula practically commanded, letting me know my facial expression hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Somewhat chagrinned, I redoubled my efforts at cooperating.
“Christmas,” she said again. “Think about Christmas.”
I let my mind flit through things about the holiday in question: the lights. Decorations. Nativity. Christmas cheer. Presents.
“Good,” Ursula muttered in an encouraging tone. “Now think about the best Christmas you ever had. Everything that was on your list to Santa, all the wonderful gifts you got. Excellent… Now think about your birthday — your best birthday. The birthday that you remember more fondly than all the others. Think of the best gift you got that day. Great — you’re doing great. Now focus on what you got to observe in here today. Think about the wonders of the universe that you laid eyes on. Black holes. Quasars. A gorgeous laamuffal who should be gracing magazine covers.”
I fought to keep from cracking up after her last comment, and I picked up on Ursula’s mirth as well.
“Okay,” she said as she took her hands from my temple. “You can open your eyes now.”
I did as she asked, and then stared at what was in front of me.
Chapter 12
Before us was an image that primarily consisted of a long beam of bluish-white light about three inches in width. It appeared to stretch between two worlds that looked amazingly similar. (In fact, with the beam of light connecting them, the two planets looked remarkably similar to a set of vintage globe barbells.)
However, it wasn’t so much the imagery that stunned me, but more so the fact that I was sensing things on an empathic level. Leaning in closely, I saw what appeared to be two man-shaped figures within the beam of light. They were the source of the emotions I was picking up on. Their features were obscured by the beam’s light, but I didn’t need to see them in further detail. Empathically, I was familiar with the pair. I knew who they were.
Caught completely by surprise, I started laughing.
Ursula smiled at me. “I take it this is familiar to you.”
“Yes,” I confirmed with a nod. “I knew a couple of guys who went through some kind of dimensional vortex.” I pointed at the two man-shaped figures in the beam of light. “Apparently, this is them.”
Ursula stared at the scene for a moment, then turned to me. “Friends of yours?”
“Something like that.”
She didn’t say anything, choosing instead to simply nod, her brow now crinkled.
“How’d you do this?” I asked.
My question seemed to bring Ursula back to herself, as her usual smile quickly moved back into place.
“It wasn’t that hard,” she insisted. “Ask people to think about Christmas, and their thoughts invariably turn to presents. They’ll think about what they received as gifts — and subconsciously they’ll reflect on what they wanted but didn’t get. Same with birthdays: they’ll consciously ruminate on what they got, and subconsciously focus on the item they wish they’d been given. So when I asked you about the things you saw in here, you consciously mulled over what you were shown–”
“But subconsciously I mused on something I wanted to see,” I interjected.
“Is it what you expected?” she asked.
“Honestly, I’ve never thought too much about it,” I asserted, which was true. “At least not consciously.”
We both laughed at that, and then I added, “Seriously, thanks for showing me this.”
“No problem,” she assured me. “As I said, there’s always something, although I really did think it was going to be the ex.”
I frowned as I considered her words. “So, since you pulled this out of my head, does that mean you’re a telepath?”
“Not really,” she confessed, shaking her head. “Typically, if I’m initiating it, I have to have contact with the person, and I need them to sort of lead me where I need to go — the way I had to talk you into letting me see things. I can’t just dive into their heads and start digging up info. However, if the other person is a telepath and they open the mental door, so to speak, I’m not as restrained.”
I nodded, completely understanding, as Ursula’s telepathic limitations mimicked my own to a certain extent.
“But since we’re on the subject of abilities,” she said, “I couldn’t help but hear that you’ve got a number of them.”
“I suppose,” I muttered sheepishly.
“Like what?”
I was silent for a moment. I really hated reciting a list of my powers — it always felt like bragging. That said, it was clear that Ursula was waiting on me to say something.
“Invisibility,” I said. “Flight. Super speed.”
I stopped there. It wasn’t a list of all my powers by any means, but it felt like enough. (Not to mention the fact that one of my powers — the ability to heal people — wasn’t something I fully controlled yet and thus shouldn’t be tallied up with the rest of my talents.) Ursula just stood there, quietly looking at me until it became evident that I had nothing more to say on the subject.
“Well, don’t be shy,” she suddenly urged. “Let’s see what you can do.”
“Uh, okay,” I said, caught flat-footed by her request for a demonstration.
I turned invisible. Ursula, seemingly taken by surprise, swiveled her head back and forth, looking for me.
“Where are you?” she asked.
Rather than respond, I quickly stepped over to where she had gotten the receptacle earlier. Picking it up, I coughed softly to get her attention, then came walking back toward her with the container in my hand.
Ursula’s mouth fell open, and then she clapped her hands in glee. From her perspective, it must have looked like the container was just floating in midair.
Feeling eyes on me, I glanced in the direction of Rune and Endow; the two Incarnates were staring at me intently.
I marched
