Everyone was silent for a few minutes while they fully absorbed what Logan had said.
"We have to inform Drake!" ordered Peter as soon as he recovered his senses.
"Drake is probably talking to the owners of the other machine right now," cautioned Hank. "We can't let them know we're on to them."
"If you were unable to get to your machine, would your powers fade?" asked Linda.
"No, but they wouldn't get any stronger," answered Logan.
"We've got to keep them away from their machine," insisted Linda. "I hope you're still powerful enough to control them."
"It depends on how long they've been using their machine and how many time they've used it," replied Fern. "They've probably exceeded recommended safety limits. It will shorten their life expectancy but they should still live for at least a decade. That will give them plenty of time to cause us trouble."
"Let's split up," suggested Peter. "Logan and I will alert the captain. The rest of you warn the guard. We'll meet you there."
"See you when you get back," said Detrina.
Peter and Logan ran back to the upper levels knowing they had no time to waste.
TIME 10:00 P.M. (22:00)
PLACE The7~cftptainls quarters
Corteja and the three scientists in charge of the dream experiment were just leaving when Peter and Logan arrived. Logan eyed them suspiciously wondering how much they knew. Corteja was the only one who noticed Logan's stare. She gave him a brief, cold, icy stare and then ignored him. Logan felt that Corteja and the others were more than prepared for them. "Are you coming?" inquired Peter.
Logan watched the scientists leave before coming inside. He guessed that they were on their way to the lower levels to check on their machine.
"I think we are in grave danger," Peter began. "Those scientists have somehow been able to copy the hypo-psycotic power amplifying machine. All of them could have hypo-psycotic powers and there may be more of them."
"What do you suggest I do about it?" wondered Drake. "You've seen what people with hypo-psycotic powers can do. We'll be powerless against them."
"Maybe not," Logan recalled. "They don't have the book on hypo-psycotic powers. Rinquin has the only copy. Even if they are more powerful than we are, we'll still be better able to use our powers." "You should be better able to use your powers, but they found the machine when you thought it was secure," cautioned Drake. "They might have done the same thing with the book.11 "The book is smaller and easier to hide," reasoned Logan.
"Can you keep them away from their machine until we have time for a proper investigation?" considered Peter. "Their powers may not be fully developed yet. We need to keep it that way."
"I could do it, but it would make them very angry," warned Drake. "We have very little evidence. If only we had some proof."
"M.W.G.D. won't allow us to override local governments if they are treating its citizens properly," explained Peter. "You're the one in charge of the Marrot V, so we need your permission before we do anything. We'd like to look at their experiments including their equipment to see if it has anything to do with hypo-psycotic powers."
"You have my permission to investigate their equipment," Drake told them. "You can do anything you want as long as you leave their stuff in tact and in working order. I don't want to be responsible for any damage."
"I'll make sure everything stays in perfect working order," Peter assured him.
Peter and Logan ran back to the lower levels hoping the scientists hadn't gotten there ahead of them.
"What will we do if the scientists get there first?" pondered Logan between breaths.
"All we can do is hope the others can handle it," sighed Peter. "Maybe Orn should be notified about what we've discovered. He is the head of security."
"Orn and I don It exactly get along," Logan reminded him. "All U. will do is delay us." "I'll tell you what," began Peter. "You go down to the lower levels and I'll go get Orn. No sense in delaying both of us."
"Deal!" agreed Logan.
The two of them split up, but both of them continued to run.
TIME: 10:10 P.M.
PLACE: The lower levels
Nindous was still guarding the equipment when Hank, Linda, Lisa, Detrina, and Fern arrived. He was surprised to see them.
"Back so soon?" he began. "You look rather pale is something the matter?"
"One of their machines looks exactly like the hypo-psycotic power amplifying machine," explained Lisa. "We need to take a closer look."
"I'm still not allowed to let you touch anything, but you can look all you want," repeated Nindous.
The machine wasn't a perfect copy of Rinquin's machine, but there were too many similarities for it to be just a coincidence. The strange glow was still puzzling. The other machine didn't glow at all.
"Someone's coming!" cried Fern.
"Don't tell anyone we were here," commanded Lisa.,, "Not even Drake?" questioned Nindous.
"Well you can tell him, but no one else," conceded Lisa. "We don't want the scientists to know we're on to them."
The M.W.G.D. officers started to hide.
"Wait!" shouted Fern. "I can make you invisible."
The others gathered around Fern as she concentrated on making them invisible. She wasn't use to making such a large group invisible, but her powers were improving. It took little effort to make the entire group invisible. Even though they were invisible, they felt it best to hide anyway. The only problem was they had to stay together. If they moved too far away from Fern, they would become visible again. "Has anybody bothered our equipment?" demanded one of the scientists.
"I wouldn't let anybody touch anything," replied Nindous.
"Good," said the scientist. "We should be through with our experiments in a few days. After that we'll put our machines into mass production."
In the distance footstep could be heard. Fern realized it must be Peter and Logan returning after talking to Drake. It would be difficult to use - -,telepathy while keeping the group invisible, but under the circumstances she didn't see any alternatives.
"Logan," gasped Fern. "Can you here me?"
"I can hear you," answered Logan.
"The scientists are looking at their machine," warned Fern. "You must not let them see you. Stay invisible and I'll guide you to the place we're hiding."
"Peter went back to get Orn," Logan informed her. "I'll have to stay and warn them."
"Be careful," Fern advised.. "I will," responded Logan.
Fern was glad the conversation was over. She couldn't keep it up much longer. After the conversation, the group became visible for a split second. Fortunately, the scientists didn't see them. They were too busy look at their equipment.
"We'll be back tomorrow morning," stated Corteja.
"Someone else will be on guard duty by that time, but I'll be glad to relay the message," noted Nindous.
The scientists left satisfied their equipment was safe. A short time later Peter, Logan, and Orn appeared. Fern gave a sigh of relief and made the group visible again.
"I've decided to relieve you an hour early," Orn told Nindous. "I want some time to look at the lower levels."
"I recognize that look," smiled Peter. "What are you going to do?"
"You'll see in the morning," Orn smirked mischievously. "Just relax and leave everything to me."
Copyright MCMXCV, MM
