Free Dark Genesis: The Birth of the Psi Corps by J. Gregory Keyes

majority, but the MRA is on shaky ground. We can’t afford to make a mistake here.”
    Lee studied his aide for a moment.
    “Tom, you gettin’ any sleep at all?”
    Tom blinked.
    “Not much.”
    “Take care of yourself. I need you.” He took another sip of his coffee. “Any movement on the other front?”
    “Vacuum. There were some experiments by various militaries trying to develop exploitable psionic powers in the twentieth, but none of them went anywhere. For the last hundred years, nothing.”
    “Damn it, somebody did it. If not a country, then a corporation. There has to be some evidence other than the telepaths themselves . Tokash’s telepaths haven’t come up with anything?”
    “Nothing. Every telepath they’ve scanned had a normal enough childhood, their powers aside, and no connections other than what one would normally suspect. If they are part of some larger conspiracy , it’s very well hidden.”
    “We’re missing something.”
    “No doubt.”
    “This is important, Tom. I want to ride the tiger, not discover ten years down the road that I have my head in its mouth.”
    “You and me both, Senator.”

CHAPTER 5
    Blood watched the DiPeso show with growing interest. A dry Arizona breeze blew in through the open door, and carried with it the throaty croak of a raven.
    “I wonder if Crawford is one of us?” Teal murmured. “He seems too smart to be a normal.”
    “Normals aren’t stupid,” Blood said. “That doesn’t sound like you.”
    “And we aren’t all that smart. I had a bad moment back there in Alaska. Don’t remind me of it. Arrogance will get us killed.”
    Mercy shifted uncomfortably on the couch, curling up like a cat.
    “How can we hide, now that they have the test?”
    Blood looked frankly at her.
    “The question is-do we really want to hide?”
    Teal tilted his chair back against the wall.
    “What do you mean?”
    Blood shrugged indifferently. Where’s Monkey, anyway? You know Monkey. Send him out for groceries, and he ends up with every cop in town on his tail. (pause) Why are you blocking? Aren’t we family? We are. I just don’t know what I’m thinking, yet. I want to get it straight in my head before-Someone was at the door. Monkey and someone else, someone locked and blocked tighter than anyone Blood had ever touched. She eased her hand onto the pistol in her jacket pocket. Monkey poked his head through the door. Howdy and salutations. Talk, Monkey. Mercy-Right. Like you and Smoke weren’t going on when 1 got here. He cleared his throat.
    “Look, folks, I’ve got someone with me. Come on, little fellah-” A boy of perhaps six looked uncertainly through the door. The dark tone of his skin and shape of his face suggested Hispanic or Amerind blood-not unusual in Flagstaff-but his brown hair was touched with golden highlights.
    “Monkey, what are you doing?”
    “Hey, Blood, he’s one of us. And strong, too. Feel that block?”
    “I feel it. Since when did you start picking up strays?”
    “Since when did we stop?”
    Monkey growled, uncharacteristically indignant.
    “He was just wandering the street with an old Indian woman, real low level, but on the wind, all right. I tried to get her to come, too, but she just pushed the boy off on me. I scanned her, but she got pissed off, and I didn’t learn much. I think she found the boy in the desert a few months ago.”
    “You want us to take care of a kid?”
    “For G-God’s sake,” Mercy stuttered, unfolding herself from the couch. “Are you going to talk about him like he isn’t here? Come here, son.” The boy hesitated for an instant, and then came forward and let Mercy gather him up.
    “I’ll get him something to eat,” Teal said. Jeez, Blood, c’mon. It’s not like he’s a normal kid. He’s one of us. Didn’t we make a vow that we would take anyone in we found, make them part of the family? Damn straight, Monkey said. Look, Mercy is already playing mama-The boy jerked, stared at Monkey with