The Science of Psionics
Book 1: Discovery
By Dave Renol
Smashwords Edition
© 2012 Dave Renol
All rights reserved.
I would like to thank my wife for herpatience and support, Leon for expanding my reading horizons, andtheChive.com for keeping me smiling when the writing was slow. KeepCalm and Chive On!
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The Science of Psionics
Book 1: Discovery
Table ofContents
1 – The Storm
2 – Discovery
3 – Dreams in the morning
4 – Breakfast Adventures
5 – A Dream Revisited
6 – Theory and Practice
7 – Party Surprises
8 – The Secret Revealed
9 – Up, Up, and Away
10 – Practical Practice
11 – New Experiences
12 – Dangerous Practice
13 – Violent Disagreements
14 – First Interlude
15 – The Morning After
16 – Under Siege
17 – Evening the Odds
18 – Gathering Intelligence
19 – Escalation
20 – Flight
21 – Second Interlude
22 – Decisions
23 – An Astral Journey
24 – Arrested Development
25 – Payback’s a Bitch
26 Epilogue
27 Book 2: Blood Magic
Chapter 1
Linda: The Storm
It was a dark and stormy night… ok, it wasn’treally night time, it was only late afternoon, but the storm wasreal enough. I paused in my typing as yet another flash oflightning lit up the office where I was working on my latest novel.The boom of the thunder rolled through my otherwise silent countryhome.
“That one was close,” I thought to myself.Resuming my work, my childhood habit of counting the secondsbetween the flash and the boom kicked in, and I realized it washeading this way fast.
This latest book had come together remarkablyfast, since most of the plot advancement ideas had come from myboyfriend and fellow author Mark Ewing… I smiled as I usually did,thinking of him. We had met almost two years ago, while awaitingour turns at the local blood drive. We both happened to have thesame blood type, and as the conversation progressed, discoveredthat we had much more in common as well.
Light flashed again in the office window, butno thunder. Peering out, I saw the headlights of Mark’s truck as heparked in his usual place near the side door. Uncurling myself frommy overstuffed lounge chair next to the window, I went to greet himwith my customary hug and kiss. As I approached the door, I heardthe rain start beating heavily on the fiberglass awning coveringthe side entry. Peering out through the window, I saw Mark rushingtoward the house with his umbrella covering the knapsack that heused for his laptop and notes.
“Typical,” I snorted. “How anyone that smartcould be so stupid is beyond me.” The umbrella was easily bigenough to protect both Mark and his precious knapsack.
Opening the door for him, I stood aside toavoid his mad dash to get out of the pouring rain. Reaching inside,he placed his knapsack on the floor before turning and shaking thewater off of his umbrella. Collapsing it down, he stepped insideand leaned forward to give me a quick kiss.
“Let me change into something dry and I'llgive you a proper greeting,” he grinned. “I wasn't quite expectingto have to ford a vertical river between my truck and yourhouse.”
A quick flash of lightning followed almostimmediately by a sharp crack of thunder made me jump andinterrupted my scathing criticism before I could get started.Running his hand through his hair to comb it out of his eyes, hegrinned at me again as he headed past me toward the bedroom.Sighing, I went back to the office so I could clear off the tablewe used as a common workspace when we both worked on the sameproject.
Three bolts of lightning in a row illuminatedthe office like a photographer’s strobe as the power flickered offand on, making the lamp flicker like someone was sending a Morsecode message. The hairs on the back of my neck felt like they werestanding on end as the loudest blast of thunder yet rattled thehouse and the lights went out. Momentarily frozen, I jumped as Markwrapped his arms around me from behind.
“Well hon, I had planned to have a romanticcandle light dinner tonight, but I usually prefer to pick the timemyself,” he said as he spun me around and wrapped his arms aroundme.
“Any time is a good time for thoughts likethose,” I replied, kissing him deeply. “Let me go dig up somecandles and we can get some work done first. It's a little earlyfor dinner and it'll be easier to cook when the power comes backon.”
“Optimist!” he snorted. “I like the peace andquiet of your place here, but the service sucks. I bet my place intown still has power.”
“Yeah, the city has enough power to keep thestereo next door blasting away all night as well. Thanks, but I'lltake the peace and quiet out here so we can get some work done, aswell as have some privacy for whatever else we do thisweekend.”
“Hmmm,” he purred. “I like the sound of‘whatever else’ much better than the sound of that rap crap fromnext door back in the city. You go find those candles and I'llunload my gear so we can get that silly work stuff out of the way.My laptop is charged up, so we should have several hours before wehave to abandon work and are forced to spend several hours doing‘whatever else’.”
“Crap, my laptop!” I wailed. “I had itplugged into the outlet next to my window seat and that doesn'thave a surge protector. I hope it didn't get fried from the blastthat killed our power.”
“I'll check it out for you. Go get thecandles.”
“Alright, be right back.”
Walking down the hall toward the storagecloset where I kept my candles, I thought that I hardly neededthem, as the almost continuous lightning strikes provided plenty ofillumination. Grabbing the BBQ lighter from the utility drawer as Iwent past, I hurried nervously back to the office. The hairs on
