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AUTHOR'S NOTES
Thanks to J C (whoever and wherever you are) for writing: I hope I was able to assist you. If, like, J C, you have questions, comments, suggestions or constructive criticism you can drop me a line to HonableRonable@gmail.com or RonVenable@hotmail.com and I WILL reply. (If you take time out of your busy schedule to write me, it's the least I can do. I enjoy hearing from (most of) you and even the ones I don't love hearing from teach me something so keep writing!
Also, grateful acknowledgement to Tripp Savidge, author of The Lab and Brad A. Townsend who created The Order (both available on Nifty). Your work inspired this section of the story and it would not have come to be without your inspiration.
CHAPTER TWENTY: Confrontation!
CHARACTERS
Ben Dover, age 49 -- our Hero
Dr. Peter Barnsdall, age 44 - Primary Stockholder in Barnsdall Pharmaceuticals
Carl Cipriano. Age 57 - Wereboar
Mike Meyer, age 55 - Werebear
Jasmine Deveraux, age 55 -- Barnsdall's "pet" Psychic
Kevin McMasters, age ? -- Mad Toymaker
Brian Barnsdall, age 19 -- Peter's first "experiment"
Benjamin "Jay" Dover Jr. age 15 - Ben Son
Colin Stanford, age 17 -- Mer Prince and Jay's boyfriend
Ben looked at the two new arrivals with no great favor. "I don't know if y'all r drunk with power r just stupid!" he observed. "Y'r prisoners `r' gone an' there won't be any more!"
"What do you mean?" the dark-haired man asked. "You may have taken the units I am currently utilizing but I'll just get more!"
"They aren't `units' asshole!" Carl Cipriano snapped. "They're people!"
"What he said!" Mike chimed in. "We're PEOPLE, God damn it, American Citizens! We've got rights!"
"You are lesser beings put here to be utilized as resources for the greater good!" the dark-haired man replied coolly. "The prisoners couldn't have gotten far Miss Deveraux! Locate them and dispatch Brian to bring them back in line!"
"I--can't Mr. Barnsdall!" she said after a few minutes. "Somehow this man and his associates have managed to either cloak the prisoners or remove them from this premises!"
"How is that possible?" the well-dressed man asked.
"I guess they have access to a Teleporter," the woman replied.
"Don't GUESS, woman!" Barnsdall snapped. "TELL me!"
"I CAN'T!" the woman shot back. "I'm a Telepath and Coercer, NOT a Pattern Perceptor or Precog!" She had been a real Southern Beauty--once, but the years hadn't been kind to Jasmine Deveraux. "I can't get a grasp on any of their minds!"
"I couldn't let you play any of your tricks on my friends Mindspider!" Kevin McMasters stepped out of the room where the Tesseract was operating. "Hello Jazz..." he sneered. "Long time no see-BITCH!"
"YOU!" the woman hissed angrily. "I should have known!" It was clear there was absolutely no love lost between these two. "Why are you even here, McMasters? This doesn't concern you!"
"Oh, but it DOES!" Kevin replied, almost sweetly. "YOU'RE here--which gives me all the reason I need to involve myself--but then your friend Peter Barnsdall had to go and kidnap my friend Ben's only Son and, at that point, I had no choice BUT to involve myself!"
The woman gave the Mad Toymaker the most-evil of glances. "How can you still look like you're in your twenties? You're AT LEAST my age if not older!"
"Maybe I'm an Elf/Gnome hybrid," Kevin suggested mildly, "or maybe I'm on my third-or-fourth cloned body! Or maybe it's just because I live right and I'm not a horrible old witch like YOU, Jazz!"
"Who is this person, Ms. Deveraux?" Barnsdall wanted to know.
"Peter Barnsdall, may I present Kevin McMasters?" the woman said with almost poisonous sweetness. "Mr. McMasters is the owner of ToyMasters, ImageMasters and Wonderworks! I'm sure you've heard of them..."
Barnsdall turned a speculative eye on Kevin. "So, McMasters," he said, "as one businessman to another--I can cut you in for a handsome share of the profits! With your technology and my drugs, together we can RULE this world!"
"Thanks for the offer, but no..." Kevin replied. "I've seen other Universes where I've given in to my baser impulses and taken power! I've always had the best of motives--I just want to make things BETTER for everyone! Yeah, the trains run on time, everyone has enough food to eat and a job--just no freedom! It doesn't end well--for anyone!"
"If you won't work with me, McMasters, you'll just be another casualty!" Barnsdall said. "DEAL with him, Ms. Deveraux!"
"I don't think so!" Ben said. He pointed his Neural Disruptor at the female psychic and pushed the button. The woman collapsed like a puppet with cut strings. The Texan pointed the weapon at the insane businessman. "Tell me where m' Son is `r we'll take y'r body apart--slowly, piece by piece until you do!" he growled.
"That won't be necessary Mr. Dover," a voice from behind the small group said. "Your Son and his--friend--are safe with the other prisoners on the other side of the Tesseract. He's very excited to see you..."
Ben turned to see a younger edition of Peter Barnsdall; he was tall, good-looking and well-muscled with the same brown-black hair but his eyes were an odd milky-gray and the big man's awen told him this new arrival was blind. "Who `r' you an' why sh'd I b'lieve ya?"
"Brian Barnsdall, Mr. Dover," the stranger said, taking the older man's measure with his sightless eyes. "I can't say your Son Jay and I are actually `friends' but I've really come to appreciate him and the relationship you two have..."
"Brian!" the senior Barnsdall exclaimed. "Destroy these people!"
"No Father..." Brian turned his sightless gaze on the older man. "If you hadn't--changed me with your experiments I might have been more willing to help you. The ironic thing is that what you did to me gave me the strength to defy you!"
"DO AS I TELL YOU!" the senior Barnsdall ordered. "I didn't spend all that money and use up so many resources to have you defy me! You are SUCH a disappointment!"
"I know Father..." the young man replied distractedly. "I'd like to say how sorry I am to disappoint you--but I hate to lie..."
"What DID he do to ya, Son?" Ben asked gently.
"I was a spoiled, self-involved screw up," Brian said flatly. "On one level I suppose I don't blame my father for wanting a--better son..."
"Boyo," the Texan said, "kids `r' SUPPOSED t' screw up! It's what y'all do--an' it's how ya learn t' be r'sponsible adults!"
"Jay taught me that..." the boy replied. "I didn't know what a real Father-Son relationship was supposed to look like until Jay shared his experience with you and contrasted it with the people who raised him..."
"He was mighty angry with me when he left with Colin," Ben allowed.
"He was," Brian agreed, "but now he understands what you were trying to show him by putting him on restriction!"
"That's good t' know..." Ben finally said. "But, ya never got `round t' tellin' me what y'r father did t' ya boyo!"
"He--remade me!" the boy replied. "He used drugs and a variety of psychological tortures to bring out my latent psychic ability! It was--very painful--and it eventually cost me my sight!"
"But you gained so much more!" the senior Barnsdall protested.
"SHUT UP!" Ben could almost feel the psychic lash as the young man paralyzed his father's vocal cords. "This is my time to talk now!"
"We're listenin', buckaroo," Ben said.
"We ALL are!" Kevin added.
"You got that right!" Carl joined in.
"Let it out kid," Mike finished. "It'll do ya good!"
"My Father's--treatment worked beyond his wildest dreams," Brian said. "A laboratory accident cost me my sight so I began developing a variety of `perceptive' abilities--clairvoyance, spatial awareness then pattern perception... Then my Redaction kicked in..."
"Redaction?" Mike said, "what's that?"
"Redaction is the power of psychic healing--or harming..." the boy told the werebear. "I used it to freeze my father's vocal cords. My Coercion came on-line next and then my Creative abilities. Oddly enough I didn't develop the ability to read minds and speak mentally with others until just recently. My father had me reading his victims to figure out the easiest way to break them. It was then that I realized what a fucked-up relationship I had with my own father and I began to plan..."
"Did YOU arrange t' have m' son kidnapped?" Ben asked.
"No Sir, " the boy replied. "That was a happy accident! I picked up Dr. Merriwyck's fear of you when she came to visit; I failed to give my father a few critical details--like you being `God touched'--even if I didn't figure out exactly what that meant! I learned about how you prevented the pocket apocalypse last Halloween! It was then I knew you were the man to help me take down my father's lab!"
The senior Barnsdall looked like his head was about to explode but his son ignored him. "I'm sorry for what Cullen did to your son--and sorrier for forcing him to witness Colin's sexual torture! I hope he can recover from that..."
"You could have stepped in Asshole!" Carl growled.
"Yes, I suppose I could have..." the young man agreed, "but I was afraid I'd be exposed! In the end I made a choice--maybe it was the wrong one, but it was the best way I could see to end this madness!"
"What happens now?" Carl asked.
"You gonna topple your Dad and take over the Top Spot?" Mike put in.
"If you try and continue your Father's work, I'll kill you," Kevin told the younger man. "Your Father is risking war with every group of Exotics! My sources tell me both Fey courts are considering action against us--and there is even talk of them teaming up!"
"I'm guessing that's not good..." Brian said.
"Angry Magic can be very powerful!" Kevin told the young man. "The Fey couldn't unleash Hell on Earth like the Oberdorfs tried to do--but they could certainly bring on the next-worst thing! Do any of you remember something called the Spanish Flu?"
"My Great-great grandmother and some other relatives died because of it," Ben said. "It was nasty! Are ya sayin' that was Fey in origin?"
"No, it was Human Magic that went wrong coupled with a world that wasn't prepared to deal with the consequences! Now, with the increased globalization we have today a plague intended to devastate a single population could spread globally! And, of course, they could conjure Elementals and set them free to engage their most destructive impulses! Trust me, gentlemen, you DON'T want to risk that! I've seen the results--trust me on this one!"
"He's tellin' th' truth," Ben offered. "I don't know a lot about this magic stuff but I know when someone speaks truthfully! We're riskin' a disaster of, dare I say, Biblical? Proportions!"
"I picked that up from the Fairy Princess," Brian told them. "It's another reason I helped you! I don't want my father's company to be responsible, however indirectly, for that kind of global devastation!"
"You're a smart kid," Kevin said. "Certainly smarter than your old man!"
"What happens next?" Carl asked, glancing from Ben to Kevin and then the two Barnsdalls.
"I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep this company profitable--without using Exotics as source material," he said. "I trust some of you can help with that..."
"I'll show you how to duplicate all your products WITHOUT using Exotics as the source material," Kevin promised. "You just have to realize I'LL be watching you! You even THINK of starting down the same path your Father did and I'll squash you like a bug! Are we clear on that?"
"As crystal, Sir!" the blind young man replied. "The Exotics will have no further trouble from Barnsdall Pharmaceuticals! In fact--I'll re-assign Dr. Cox to another department--and keep watch over him to make sure he doesn't get into any mischief--without a willing partner at least... Furthermore, I'll promote Mr. Meyer to Chief of Security so you can have all the eyes and ears on this place you want!"
"What about him?" the werebear asked, glancing from the son to the silently-fuming father. "Won't he object?"
"I'll do to him what he was planning to do to me!" young Brian replied blandly. "Use his `training techniques' to make him the very model of a socially-responsible CEO!"
Ben glanced at the Mad Toymaker. "This is way past m' pay grade," he said. "What d' ya think?"
"I think it's the best we can hope for," Kevin replied with a sad shake of his head. "Peter Barnsdall has already told us he intends to pick up where he left off as soon as we're gone! If he starts harvesting Exotics again it's only a matter of time until they strike back--and I know how ugly that can get! With Mike here--reporting to you--you can step in should anything start looking or smelling bad to you!"
"I s'pose it's the best we c'n hope for..." the Texan agreed. "I'd hate t' be r'sponsible f'r all th' folk who work here bein' out of a job! I don't want t' find out there's any more creatin' new psychics `r preyin' on ANY Exotics! Are we clear on that?"
"Yes Sir," Brian said, almost meekly. "I'd hate to think what you'd do if I got you really angry!"
"Maybe you should go check on Jay," Kevin suggested. "If he's anything like you he'll be brow-beating your brother and John-Thomas to let him walk back through the Tesseract to check on you!"
Ben reluctantly agreed and walked back through the Tesseract to find himself almost bowled over by his son. The boy hugged his father hard and buried his face in the big man's chest. "I knew you'd come!" he blubbered.
"Took you fucking long enough!" Colin snapped. (For someone who had been sexually tortured he looked remarkably chipper.) "Do you know what these bastards DID to me?"
The Texan glanced at the golden Mer Prince and his expression was as cold as his words. "Son--I don't CARE what they did t' ya!" he growled. "I came f'r my SON an' th' other prisoners! You just happened t' be a bit o' bonus cargo!"
"Jay-Jay!" Colin screeched. "Do you hear how that bucolic clod is talking to me? How DARE he?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP COLIN!" Jay shot back. "You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place and I'm DONE with your shit!"
"I'm a PRINCE!" the handsome blond young man shot back. "NOBODY speaks to me like that! Not YOU! Not ANYBODY!"
Jay gut-punched the arrogant young man. "I told you to shut up Colin!" he said with a sneer. "I'm done listening to you--and from now on things are going to change! Got it?"
END CHAPTER TWENTY