By Jenny Twist (Darkness/Faith/Perplexed)
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Copy & Paste Story Here
Voices 2 – Continued from last week
“What the fuck is going on!”
Olivia woke up in the dark. Her head was throbbing and she couldn't move her arms and legs. My God, I'm paralyzed!
“Oh, thank God. I thought they'd killed you.”
It was Aidan, somewhere near in the darkness. She couldn't reach out and touch him.
“Aidan!” There was a note of panic in her voice. “I can't move. I'm paralyzed.”
“No, you're not. They've got us tied up in some sort of web.”
She remembered the dream of the night before – giant insect-like creatures pursuing Aidan across the desert.
“Oh God,” she began to wimper.
“No, it's OK.” He read her thought perfectly. “It's just that they're taking us somewhere. Think of it as a seat-belt.” She heard him move in his web with a slight creaking noise. “Are you OK? Did they hurt you?”
“I'm fine. Just a hell of a headache. I think I fainted.”
Then, in a panic, she remembered the precious piece of paper.
“Oh, Aidan, I let you down. They found the note.”
“It's all right. I called you. You came. I knew you would come. I had every faith in you.”
She derected an underlying sense of satisfaction in his words. He wanted -
“Shush! They can hear everything we think. Put the shutters down.”
She obeyed him automatically. It was something they had learned to do as children. When you share every thought with your twin you have to learn to shut them out, or you have no privacy at all.
“OK. How much can you tell me? I always thought you were working as a spy. What are you really?”
“I'll tell you everything they already know,” he said, settling back in his web with an audible creak.
“I work for the MOD. And I am a sort of spy. But not in the conventional sense. This thing we have, this ability to read each other's thoughts – well, it's not just us.”
Olivia gave a little gasp of surprise.
“You can train yourself to hear other people. Not in any sort of detail. Not like we hear each other. But enough to tell whether they're dangerous.
Well, they employ me to listen. I listen for terrorists. I listen for madmen. I listen for anything that might be a threat to Britain.
They wanted to recruit you too but I dissuaded them. I thought one spy in the family was enough. Now it looks like you're in. You'll have to at least sign the Official Secrets Act.”
In the darkness Olivia's eyes widened with shock.
“Anyway, a few weeks ago I came across these guys.
When I reported it, my boss was very interested. I thought he might have bunged me straight in the loony-bin, but he never questioned it.”
“Questioned what? You still haven't told me exactly what they are.”
“Sorry. They're aliens.”
“You mean it, don't you! You actually mean it. Aliens from another planet, like in Men in Black.” She was beginning to get hysterical. “Bloody Spiders from Mars.”
“Well, a bit further away than Mars, but, yes, they are rather spider-like.
Anyway, my boss asked me to find out more, but what neither of us bargained for was that they could read my thoughts.”
He stopped.
“Is that it? Is that all you're going to tell me?”
“Look,” he said, “I can't tell you more without them hearing, but I'm going to give you a clue.”
She waited.
“Rabbit. Now put the shutters down again while you work it out.”
Rabbit? They never even had a rabbit for a pet.
Wait a minute, though. Aidan did. Aidan had a conjuring set, complete with cape, wand, top hat and a rabbit to pull out of it. Not a real rabbit, of course – a stuffed toy. So, where was the clue? The more she thought about it, the more perplexed she became.
Conjuring. It was all to do with misdirection, wasn't it. You got your audience to look at your right hand so they didn't notice what your left hand was doing. That was it!
The piece of paper. He wanted them to find it, because it wasn't the real thing. The real information was somewhere else. Somewhere, presumably, where his boss would know how to find it. But he wanted them, the spiders from Mars, to believe it was real. And what would be more believable than getting his twin sister to find it for them?
He had used her!
“Aidan, you bastard!”
Copy & Paste Story Here
Voices 2 – Continued from last week
“What the fuck is going on!”
Olivia woke up in the dark. Her head was throbbing and she couldn't move her arms and legs. My God, I'm paralyzed!
“Oh, thank God. I thought they'd killed you.”
It was Aidan, somewhere near in the darkness. She couldn't reach out and touch him.
“Aidan!” There was a note of panic in her voice. “I can't move. I'm paralyzed.”
“No, you're not. They've got us tied up in some sort of web.”
She remembered the dream of the night before – giant insect-like creatures pursuing Aidan across the desert.
“Oh God,” she began to wimper.
“No, it's OK.” He read her thought perfectly. “It's just that they're taking us somewhere. Think of it as a seat-belt.” She heard him move in his web with a slight creaking noise. “Are you OK? Did they hurt you?”
“I'm fine. Just a hell of a headache. I think I fainted.”
Then, in a panic, she remembered the precious piece of paper.
“Oh, Aidan, I let you down. They found the note.”
“It's all right. I called you. You came. I knew you would come. I had every faith in you.”
She derected an underlying sense of satisfaction in his words. He wanted -
“Shush! They can hear everything we think. Put the shutters down.”
She obeyed him automatically. It was something they had learned to do as children. When you share every thought with your twin you have to learn to shut them out, or you have no privacy at all.
“OK. How much can you tell me? I always thought you were working as a spy. What are you really?”
“I'll tell you everything they already know,” he said, settling back in his web with an audible creak.
“I work for the MOD. And I am a sort of spy. But not in the conventional sense. This thing we have, this ability to read each other's thoughts – well, it's not just us.”
Olivia gave a little gasp of surprise.
“You can train yourself to hear other people. Not in any sort of detail. Not like we hear each other. But enough to tell whether they're dangerous.
Well, they employ me to listen. I listen for terrorists. I listen for madmen. I listen for anything that might be a threat to Britain.
They wanted to recruit you too but I dissuaded them. I thought one spy in the family was enough. Now it looks like you're in. You'll have to at least sign the Official Secrets Act.”
In the darkness Olivia's eyes widened with shock.
“Anyway, a few weeks ago I came across these guys.
When I reported it, my boss was very interested. I thought he might have bunged me straight in the loony-bin, but he never questioned it.”
“Questioned what? You still haven't told me exactly what they are.”
“Sorry. They're aliens.”
“You mean it, don't you! You actually mean it. Aliens from another planet, like in Men in Black.” She was beginning to get hysterical. “Bloody Spiders from Mars.”
“Well, a bit further away than Mars, but, yes, they are rather spider-like.
Anyway, my boss asked me to find out more, but what neither of us bargained for was that they could read my thoughts.”
He stopped.
“Is that it? Is that all you're going to tell me?”
“Look,” he said, “I can't tell you more without them hearing, but I'm going to give you a clue.”
She waited.
“Rabbit. Now put the shutters down again while you work it out.”
Rabbit? They never even had a rabbit for a pet.
Wait a minute, though. Aidan did. Aidan had a conjuring set, complete with cape, wand, top hat and a rabbit to pull out of it. Not a real rabbit, of course – a stuffed toy. So, where was the clue? The more she thought about it, the more perplexed she became.
Conjuring. It was all to do with misdirection, wasn't it. You got your audience to look at your right hand so they didn't notice what your left hand was doing. That was it!
The piece of paper. He wanted them to find it, because it wasn't the real thing. The real information was somewhere else. Somewhere, presumably, where his boss would know how to find it. But he wanted them, the spiders from Mars, to believe it was real. And what would be more believable than getting his twin sister to find it for them?
He had used her!
“Aidan, you bastard!”
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