New Power Read online

  FreeForm: New Power

  FreeForm, Volume 5

  Orrin Jason Bradford

  Published by Porpoise Publishing, 2019.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  FreeForm: New Power

  These offspring may lead to man’s fall...

  Part 1 | Seeking Sanctuary

  Escape

  Flight

  Stealth

  Denial

  Chase

  Chunk

  Storm Surge

  Introductions

  Late Night at BVT

  Black Horse Tavern

  Awakening

  Kambuji

  Jacob's News

  Southern Hospitality

  Chunk's Meeting

  Part 2 | Geluk

  The Shunning House

  Settling In

  Seeds

  Growing Season

  Connections

  Fatherly Advice

  Flip's Update

  Entrapment

  Judgement

  Lost Signal

  Departing Geluk

  Chunk's Plea

  Willow's Plans

  Home

  Forgiveness

  Aftermath

  Reunion

  Epilogue

  Characters of the Kindred Series

  Bonus Content | FreeForm: New Earth | Book 6 of the FreeForm Series

  Part One | Late Sleepers

  A Message from Orrin Jason Bradford | (a.k.a. W. Bradford Swift)

  Acknowledgments

  About the Publisher

  FreeForm

  New Power

  Orrin Jason Bradford

  These offspring may lead to man’s fall...

  Mothered by multiple mothers and fathered by one, ‘The Kindred’ aren’t merely ‘half-siblings’. In fact, owing to alien genetics, the children could scarcely share more. Their bond is strong, their powers stunning. The question is: whose side are they on?

  Following a narrow escape from Bio Vita Tech, Alp and her sisters seek safe haven, finding an unlikely friend en route. Helicopter commandeered, pilot and former B.I.U.F.O. operative James Stepp guides the girls to shelter, but no earthly refuge will last for long. Never have fugitives been more valuable, and the government won’t rest until every last one has been apprehended...studied and dissected. However, to certain officials, some members’ respective ‘skills’ are prized over others, and personal aims could jeopardize the chance for global peace.

  When FDA agent Chunk locates Kindred-brother Mel, a sting operation begins to formulate—one that could bring a dark chapter to close...or spark unparalleled chaos.

  When disparate paths are made to cross, a massive crash is likely...

  Part 1

  Seeking Sanctuary

  Escape

  Alp took a couple of deeps breaths as she glanced around her father's sterile hospital room. A vase of cut flowers several days beyond fresh set on the hospital stand next to the bed. On the other side of the bed, framed photographs of several young girls lined the top of the monitoring unit the guard said was necessary to keep the frail man in the bed alive. Alp counted pictures of seven different girls and surmised they must be her half-sisters she'd yet to meet. Apparently, someone had tried to make her father's surroundings more inviting, despite the fact that he'd been in a coma for over two years. She took a final deep breath then stepped away from the door before letting loose with a blood-curdling scream.

  The super-sized security guard stormed through the door, a look of astonishment on his face.

  “He's not breathing!" Alp screamed at him. "I think he's dead!" She pointed to the still form of her father lying in bed obediently holding his breath as she'd instructed.

  The guard rushed over to Flip MacDougal’s bedside to check his pulse just as Alp had hoped he would. As he did, she slipped behind him and out the door. As she ran down the hall, a vague image flashed in her mind. Something she’d seen earlier while gazing out the hospital window in her father’s room but hadn't fully absorbed. There had been something else, some detail tickling at the edge of her awareness begging for her attention. What was it? Not the two helicopters in the almost vacant parking lot, their rotors still turning, and not even the line of carts being pushed to the waiting choppers. Something else she needed to remember.

  Then it hit her. The image of the building across the street flashed clearly in view for only a split second, but it was enough. Someone stood on its roof studying the scene on the ground below, and in that instance, she knew that someone could only have been Mel. She was relieved that her twin brother was still alive and hadn't died in Danville as she had feared. Still, Lionel's cautionary words rung in her ears.

  Mel isn't on your side—not really. He's on his side and only his. He'll do whatever is necessary to achieve his purpose. And he won't hesitate to hurt anyone who gets in his way, including you and your sisters.

  As Alp ran down the stairs, conflicting thoughts and emotions wrestled each other in her mind — the happiness of knowing Mel was alive; not only alive but well enough to...to what? Well enough to take the children away came the thought, but it wasn't hers. It came from her father, Flip.

  He wants to take the children away, Alp. You mustn't let him. He's evil and means to use you and your sisters for his demented purposes. If you go with him, you will always be an outcast. You will be hunted and feared. Don't let him take your sisters! The anguish in the thought tore through Alp.

  But Mel is my brother. He's always taken good care of me and protected me from Sarrah. He's not evil! She argued back at her father. You don't know him. Deep down, he cares. He really....

  Alp, you know better than that. You've never looked deep into your brother. You've always been afraid of what you might find. Do that before you make up your mind. Look deep within—deep down to the core of his being. There you will find the answer.

  As Alp reached the first floor, she heard several loud blasts. Were those gunshots? But all she could think about was that her sisters were in danger...from many different directions. She didn't know how, but she had to find a way to help them. They'd been the small forms on the carts being taken to one of the helicopters. As she ran down the hall of Bio Vita Tech to the rear parking lot, she heard someone else fall into step behind her. Without slowing down, she glanced behind her to see Lionel gaining on her. Would he help her save her sisters? He seemed to care for them a great deal. Could he be trusted?

  Yes, little one. You can trust my friend. He will help you, came Flip’s reply to her question. But could she believe her father? Could she trust anyone but herself? As she reached the door to the outside, Alp decided she had no choice. If she were going to save her sisters, she'd have to trust someone. It might as well be Lionel. The two of them reached the exit door leading to the parking lot side-by-side.

  "Careful Alp. We don't know where the gunfire is coming from." Lionel reached out and grasped her shoulder. "Let me go first. You follow right behind." At least he isn't silly enough to think he could stop me from coming with him; she thought as she allowed him to go ahead of her.

  She watched as Lionel pushed the heavy metal door open and peered out through the crack. Alp bent down and around him to gaze through the opening as well. A man in a white lab coat laid on the pavement, writhing in pain. It looked like the doctor who'd inflicted so much agony on her sisters. Even so, the compassionate, healer part of Alp reached out to try to calm and soothe him. As Lionel opened the door a little wider, she spied the source of the loud noise. The helicopters had taken off and were hovering over the parking lot.

  “It looks like one of the helicopters was damaged, or the pilot was shot. It's drifting towards the building next door," Lionel yelled.


  Alp knew better. It wasn’t the helicopter that was damaged, but more likely its pilot. "No, the ‘copter is fine,” she answered. "It's Mel. I saw him on the roof of that building. He's controlling it." She pointed to the building across the parking lot.

  "But how?" Lionel asked.

  "He's suggesting the pilot do what he wants. The pilot appears to be resisting, but not very successfully. Mel can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be."

  "You stay here until I take care of Chickowski. We've got to get the gun out of his hand and get across the parking lot before the people in the ‘copters notice us."

  Alp watched as Lionel zigzagged across the parking lot, then followed several yards behind. She watched as Lionel bore down on the wounded doctor and without breaking stride kicked the gun out of the doctor's hand. She watched it clatter across the asphalt, coming to a stop several yards from the injured man. I’ve got to get that gun, she thought.

  She corrected her course just enough to scoop the revolver up, and quickly stuffed it in the pocket of her ski jacket. She reached the other side of the lot and paused next to the tall building a few yards from Lionel. Somewhere on the roof of the building, she'd find her brother, so that's where she needed to be. She looked up in time to see one of the helicopters disappear over the roof of the building. She felt confident it contained her sisters, but what was going on with the other one?

  "What's wrong with the other aircraft?” Asked a breathless Lionel as he pointed to the second helicopter.

  "Mel only wants the helicopter with our sisters," Alp yelled back at him. "He's doing something to the other one to drive it away."

  The two of them watched as the second helicopter veered sharply to the right rapidly losing altitude as it did.

  “My God, it’s going to crash!” Lionel exclaimed as he threw himself to the ground, dragging her with him.

  She laid on the ground as the earth-splitting sound of the crashing helicopter washed over her; the metallic sound of rotor blades as they sliced through a car, pieces of the helicopter flung around like shrapnel, the body of the copter finally coming to rest in a burning heap. Please God, please let her sisters be on the other one. She stood up and brushed herself off.

  "We've got to get to the roof. Mel won't stay there long now that he has what he came for."

  “There's an old fire escape on the other side. Follow me."

  Together they ran around to the other side of the building where they found an old metal staircase in much need of a new paint job. Lionel pulled the first rungs of the rusted steps down low enough for Alp to climb on. They felt overly rickety to her. She hesitated as she watched Lionel forge past her, climbing rapidly towards the roof.

  "Go ahead. I’ll catch up but be careful. He'll stop at nothing, and he's very dangerous," Alp called after him then felt silly for the warning. Lionel had just watched as Mel cold-heartedly destroyed a helicopter with everyone on board. Of course, he knows how dangerous her brother could be, but did he know about Mel's torch ability?

  Alp considered yelling at him but couldn't find the breath to do so. Instead, she concentrated on the climb up the five stories. As she glanced ahead of her, she was encouraged to see that Lionel was already more than halfway to the top. Would he make it in time? And if he did, would he be able to stop her brother?

  Then she had a thought. Maybe she could contact Mel telepathically and divert his attention for a few minutes. She decided to give it a try as she climbed. She thrust out her psychic energy in the direction of the roof and promptly felt Mel's familiar power respond and just as quickly felt his mental guard block her.

  Mel, wait for me, she thought with all her might. I'm coming, Mel. Don't leave without me. She didn't know if he picked up her thoughts, but she continued to repeat the message as she made the arduous trek to the top.

  She climbed for what seemed like an hour but was probably no more than five minutes. She'd lost sight of Lionel within the first minute, but now as she neared the top of the building, she heard voices coming from above. She finally reached the top. She took a final step onto the asphalt and gravel roof and looked around. The blackness of the helicopter made it look larger and more ominous than it had from the ground, especially with the two large torpedo shaped tanks on either side. It reminded her of the vultures that had occasionally flown over Mel and her heads back in the fields of West Virginia. Ominous, foreboding, death personified. Its blades rotated slowly causing a womp-womp sound that reverberated against her eardrums. The next thing she saw made her heart leap into her throat, and she pushed out a gasp between her parched lips. Lionel stood precariously balanced on the edge of the low railing that encircled the perimeter of the roof.

  "Mel! No!" Alp screamed at her brother, realizing he’d turned his persuasive powers on her new friend. Friend? She thought. Yes, friend. She jumped between her brother and Lionel. She reached behind her to keep Lionel from plummeting to earth and screamed again. "I said NO!" She threw both the words and the thought like sharp daggers at her brother, aiming for his heart.

  Mel staggered back a couple of steps, a grimace of pain on his face as he grabbed at his chest with one hand and his injured leg with the other. So, he had been shot back in Danville, Alp thought. The site of her brother's bloody pants leg pulled at her heartstrings, but she mustn't give in to him this time.

  "Ease up, sis. Hey, we're on the same side. Ease up."

  "No, Mel. We aren't on the same side,” Alp spit back. “You're on no one's side but your own. And it's evil — you're evil. I won't let you hurt anyone else."

  As Mel stared at her, the confused, worried look on his face made her heart ache for him. "But sis, I'm just helping our sisters, our kindred."

  "You're helping no one but yourself. That's all you're doing, and it’s gone far enough," Alp replied, but the edge in her voice was tempered by her love for him. She heard a sudden movement behind her as Lionel, finally released from Mel's control, fell back on the platform and into her. The two of them collapsed into a jumbled pile on the gravel roof.

  By the time Alp recovered and looked around, Mel was nowhere to be seen. Still dazed by the collision, she watched as Lionel rose and ran over to the helicopter. Having absorbed the bulk of the crash with the larger man, it took Alp a little longer to reach the helicopter. "Are they all right?" She asked. Lionel backed out of the compartment rubbing his right hand with his left, a look of pain etched on his face.

  "They seem fine,” Lionel answered. “I'm going to let you meet your sisters and free them from their bonds while I go round up your brother. Chunk should be along shortly to give you a hand." He patted her on the cheek. "Take good care of them, Alp."

  "Oh, I will, I will.” She smiled back at him and added. "Thanks for everything."

  After Lionel disappeared through the door leading into the interior of the DuPont Building, Alp took a quick assessment of the situation. In the rear of the helicopter, the neatly wrapped packages that were undoubtedly her sisters showed no signs of waking up. Each one was secured by a white jacket that tied their hands together across their chest. The lone pilot seemed to be in a deep sleep himself. Noticing the red and swollen area on the left side of his jaw, Alp suspected it had something to do with his lack of interest in his surroundings.

  “But I need you to wake up and get back to work,” she muttered as she looked around the cabin. Spying a bottle of water wedged in the seat next to the pilot, she grabbed it and poured its contents over the pilot’s head. After a few brisk slaps to the sides of his face, he started to come around.

  By the time he was awake enough to gaze around the cabin of the aircraft, Alp had sat in the seat next to him; Chickowski's revolver was pointing at the pilot's chest.

  “Take just another minute to get your bearings." She spoke softly, but with an edge of authority, she'd learned from Madame Sarrah. "Then you're going to fly my sisters and me out of here. Do you understand?"

  Flight

  The pilot shook his head, sp
ewing water around the cockpit like a shaggy sheepdog who’d just been released after its bath. Alp glanced around at the mass of dials and levers that encircled the pilot, including several on the console between the pilot and her seat. Looking around the cabin again, she confirmed there was only the one pilot. Good, she thought. That’ll make this easier, but it also meant she needed him to cooperate. No way she’d be able to get her sisters to safety without him.

  “What’s your name?” She asked once it appeared he’d come to his senses.

  “James,” he answered, glaring first at her face and then at the revolver she continued to point at him.

  “Hello, James. I'm Alp." She pointed to the back of the helicopter. "And those are my sisters back there. We need your help." She let the snub nose of the revolver drift down just a bit to let him know she meant him no harm.

  “You will help us, won't you?" As she asked the question, she formed it in her mind as a statement... "you WILL help us and do as I say.” She had no idea if it would work, but if Mel could persuade people with his mind, maybe she had at least a little of that power as well.

  The pilot shook his head one more time, then continuing to glance at the revolver, nodded his head. “I’m a soldier for hire,” he replied with a rueful smile. “I’d say you’ve just hired me away from my other boss...at least for the moment. Where would you like to go?”

  Alp smiled back at him. He was a large man, filling the seat of the helicopter, but not fat. He apparently kept himself in shape, which given his chosen profession, made sense. His dark brown hair had a touch of gray at the temples and early signs of thinning on top. The weathered skin of his face reminded her of well-cured leather, making Alp think he'd probably been a soldier for many years. Despite herself, she found she liked him.

  “Off this roof for starters,” Alp replied. “We’ll sort it out from there once we’re in the air.”