Excerpt from Kid Sensation #10

Hi, all. As with a lot of people, tax season took a bite out of my time, so I thought it might be worthwhile to share an excerpt from Kid Sensation #10 (working title: Expiation) as a kind of pick-me-up. And, as always, the usual caveats apply:

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I was just sitting down for breakfast when I got a telepathic ping. It was Esper, the most powerful telepath on the planet.

<Jim,> she said, dismissing with any salutations, <I’ve got a situation and could use some backup. You busy later?>

<Uh, no,> I replied. <What do you need?>

<It’s a little complicated. Can you meet me in about an hour?>

<Sure,> I remarked. Being a teleporter, I actually could have met her almost anywhere in seconds – provided it was a place I was familiar with. (And if I wasn’t familiar with the locale, it wouldn’t take long to change that.) <Just tell me where.>

<Thanks,> Esper told me. <But before I give you the location, I need to make sure you understand that this needs to be kept confidential.>

I didn’t immediately respond Instead I merely frowned, contemplating what I’d just heard.

Esper had impeccable credentials. Not only was she the reigning queen of telepaths, but she was also a member of the Alpha League – the world’s premier team of superheroes. More to the point, as an empath I had always sensed that she was an honest and sincere person. In short, I felt she was trustworthy.

However, in asking me to keep our conversation confidential, she wasn’t simply asking me not to tell anyone about it. She was specifically telling me not to say anything about it to my mentor, Mouse. That made me wary for several reasons.

First and foremost, Mouse was the leader of the Alpha League. There was almost no mission that a member of the League undertook without him being aware of it. Ergo, if Esper was requesting that I keep Mouse out of the loop, it implied that he didn’t know about whatever she was doing. And if Mouse didn’t know about it, it suggested that whatever she was planning wouldn’t pass the smell test.

In addition, Mouse was like my brother – someone I could always count on through thick and thin. I trusted him with my life (and had literally done so in the past.) More importantly, we had always been completely honest with each other. That being the case, keeping things from him felt a lot like lying to Santa Claus: something about it seemed inherently wrong.

<I don’t know,> I said after a few moments. <I don’t like the notion of getting involved in some covert op that I can’t tell Mouse about.>

<I can understand that,> Esper shot back. <And if you’re not comfortable with the parameters for this mission, I respect your decision not to get involved. Thanks for considering it. I’ll tell Electra you said ‘Hi.’>

 Her words hit something of a raw nerve. Electra was my ex-girlfriend. I was desperate for us to get back together, but any potential relationship was complicated by the fact that I had a fiancée. Not by choice, of course – it was a relationship that had been forced on me while visiting my alien grandmother’s home planet, and had essentially been the price of a ticket home. It was a situation that Electra ultimately demanded that I “fix” before we could pick up where we left off.

Esper knew all of this. She was Electra’s aunt, and had essentially raised her. That being the case, her words carried weight with my ex. And while I knew that Esper thought I was generally a good guy and would never badmouth me to her niece, it seemed like there were tea leaves here that I should be reading. In short, although it was clear that Esper wasn’t peddling influence in this situation, I got the distinct impression that this was a chance to earn some brownie points.

On her part, Esper hadn’t said anything more, but she also hadn’t broken the telepathic connection either. She was simply waiting for my response.

Mentally sighing and wondering if I was making the right decision, I said, <Okay, I’m in.>