It is not essential that you read 'The joining' prior to this story but it may help in putting some of the characters in perspective.

I would like to thank Carolyn Foster for beta reading this fan fict.

Jackie@effdee.demon.co.uk

The Jameson Academy
Corroua Sta, Scotland. 
Late one summer's afternoon.

********************

Liz leaned against the bark of the huge pine tree that grew at the side of the school. In the distance she could hear the voices of John and Stephen as they tinkered with the old sports car. A familiar tingling feeling ran up and down her body as three figures materialised beside her.

"Look what we brought mummy?" Said Charlotte exuberantly holding out a large glass of Tralmark. 

Liz took the drink and motioned for them to sit down. "Where have you two rascals been all day? I haven't seen you since breakfast."

Eddy and Charlotte sat crossed legged beside their mother under the shade. "We went swimming with Susan, Andrew, Hsui and Mike on the far side of the loch. The water there is really cold and there's a little waterfall to play in." Said Eddy. Despite being the youngest child at the school her son had a maturity well beyond his ten years and played happily with all the older Tomorrow People.

Angie, who had stood looking around all this time, also sat down and began to sip at her drink. "And a good time was had by all." She smiled. "Where are those husbands of ours? Jaunted off somewhere no doubt."

"No, actually they have been here all day. The sports car wont start and you know what John's like, he cannot relax even on a beautiful day like this and just enjoy the countryside. He always has to be busy with some project or other." Liz sighed then added "Not that I mind, it's just in his nature." 

The two women smiled warmly at each other, they had formed a deep friendship since moving to this old house from the Lab. The sense of community that filled the walls gave a comforting reassurance to them all. Every Tomorrow Person understood the importance that their continued presence on Earth was kept secret but living ones life with such restrictions had been difficult for them. Liz had coped well, managing to keep her teaching job for quite some time after she broke out. But, as the years passed, she had found it to be quite a strain keeping the pretence that she was like all the other teachers at the school. Things were very different now, under the watchful gaze of TIM and miles away from the preying eyes of the general public the Tomorrow People had managed to relax and find peace in one another's company. They were able to jaunt in the open and explore the use of their powers without fear of discovery.

After Stephen had inherited this old house from his parents it had seemed an ideal retreat and once contact was established with the new Tomorrow People it's conversion into a TP boarding school had seemed such a logical step that she wondered why they had not thought of it earlier. Many young Tomorrow People had joined them over the years to study in safety and learn their role in the planet's future. Sometimes she worried that they had cut themselves off too much from the realities of everyday life but time and time again some incident, which put them all in danger, would happen and serve as a timely reminder that secrecy was always the best policy.

They all looked up as a group of children materialised beside them. "Can't keep away from school even in the holidays." Laughed Elizabeth.

Loren, a tall elegant girl of fifteen, who was rapidly emerging as leader amongst the youngest TP's, spoke for the group. "We wanted to play tag, you know the special way, and can't do that anywhere but here." Looking down she spotted the glasses of Tralmark. "Oh lovely is there any more?"

(TIM) Pathed Angie. (Can you send a large jug of Tralmark and six more glasses out here please?)

(Certainly Premier) Responded the biotronic computer.

"I wish he would stop calling me that." Said Angie.

Liz grinned "You know what he's like such a stickler for protocol. TIM thinks it's a great honour to have the 'One' living amongst us."

"But I just want to be ordinary like the rest of you." Whined Angie sipping at her drink and trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Since when has the Premier of the oldest planet in the Federation been ordinary" They all laughed, and eventually even Angie had to giggle at the absurdity of what she had just said.

There was a gentle tinkling sound as the drinks materialised on the ground and the children took Loren's lead and sat down crossed legged in a circle.

Loren cleared her throat "Why do they call you the 'One'?" She asked.

Angie tried to dismiss the subject "Oh it's just some old tradition on my planet, nothing important."

(Don't believe a word of it.) Pathed Stephen from the other side of the house.

(Eves dropping on a private conversation?) Replied Angie mischievously.

(It's you who always tell us that we need to shield private thoughts more often.)

(touché)

"Please tell us, we'd love to know why." Said Loren, using speech to break into their telepathic exchange.

Angie looked around the circle of children then lastly at Liz, Eddy and Charlotte. "Are you sure you want me to bore you with this?"

(Of course we are!) Liz replied for all of them.

"Tell us the story." Charlie smiled and looked up into Angie's eyes. "Please?"

(Like a gathering or blending.) Came Stephen's thoughts as he crossed the lawn with John and they settled themselves down amongst the waiting children. 

(No.) Corrected John (No offense Angie, but this is Earth not Manyarner. We do not need the customs of your world here but are creating our own society with it's own traditions and norms.) He looked anxiously over the heads of the children, hoping that he had not caused offense.

(You're right John. Please forgive Stephen's stupidity.) Angie smiled and digged her husband good naturedly in the ribs. (This is Earth and you are Tomorrow People, blending ceremonies are usually channeled by a lens and gatherings are for family. Neither is not appropriate here, but some kind of telepathic exchange is usually the best way of telling these old myths, and having shared these tales before I know that the audience can get the most out of the experience if we all link during the story.)

(Yes. Oh yes) he blustered, (I didn't mean that you could not tell your tale in the most appropriate way. I just wanted to express...)

Liz put her arms around John's shoulders and pulled him closer to her. (Let's just get on with it.) She winked at Stephen and Angie. (We have the rest of our lives to create a culture for our species to live in.)

(Very well, but before we begin I think you should all share some Tralmark, it will make the link much easier to maintain.) 

With due ceremony the glasses were refilled and passed around the group. Each of the children reveling in the solemnity of the situation and gulping down large mouthfuls of the sweet drink. (May your senses be enlightened and your dreams be fulfilled,) they pathed to one another with much merriment as the hallucinogenic qualities of the beverage began to take effect
 

Angie coughed and lifted the tumbler of Tralmark up to her lips; silence fell upon the group as she drank deeply. As the thick syrup glided down her throat she felt the opening up of her psychic senses. Slowly she closed her eyes and began to project outwards to the minds of those around her. 

Immediately they felt it, the feeling was overwhelming at first like having a video played inside your head, but much more. They could smell the fragrance of the flowers, feel the gentle wind upon their skin and feel the emotions of the characters. Sensing that the younger Tomorrow People were anxious Angie paused. (Is everyone ok with this? It'll take a little while for you to get used to the link.) They all nodded. (All right then we can begin.)

****************************
The Tale of The Two and the One.
By Jackie Newman
Part 2 of 2

The Jameson Academy
Corroua Sta, Scotland. 
Late one summer's afternoon.
 

(Many years ago there were two tribes. The low landers grew slowly and lived long; they 
were small, muscular with light purple skin and ruthless, rather like the ancient Neanderthals of Earth. Their red eyes reflected the blood stained hands from their many hunts and battles. 

In contrast the highlanders were tall with dark purple skin and what they lacked in strength they made up for in intellect and guile. The highlanders grew quickly, and lived short lives. Unlike their lowland cousins they were not aggressive but lived a peaceful existence using the power of their minds to manipulate the matter around them into tools and materials.

One day, without warning, there was a great shaking of the earth. The ground upon which the peoples of these tribes lived split open and boiling magma spewed forth. There were terrible storms and the banks of the lakes and rivers overflowed. As the water level rose it forced the low landers to climb higher and higher into the mountains.

The hardship was severe on the low landers but the strongest amongst them managed to climb out of the valleys and came to rest on a high plateau. Here, at last, the two tribes came face to face with one another. Seeing the tall, dark skinned people the low landers became afraid, immediately they attacked and many highlanders were killed. 

The highlanders, being so unused to defending themselves, huddled together for protection. The only skill they had to fend off the viscous attacks was their ability to control matter with the power of their minds. With one huge effort they created an invisible wall of pure energy between themselves and the low landers.

At first the low landers flung themselves at this invisible barrier and were shocked to be thrown to the ground. After a while they stopped and faced the small group of highlanders who huddled together in the center of the clearing. And so they began to wait, for what they did not know but being long lived and slow waiting came easily to them.

The two tribes stared at one another across the chasm of evolution which divided them and waited for something...

Now it so happened that during their ascent the lowland males had been stronger than the females who, weighted down with young, were unable to make the climb away from the rising flood water. It was only males who survived long enough to reach the plateau. Of the highland group it had been the males who were killed in the early fighting to leave the females remaining to protect themselves. 

As time went by the low landers watched the tall slim figures of the females and became aware that they were without a mate of their own. The patient low landers knew that the women's defenses would soon fail and, although slow of mind, they realized that here were the only females left alive. When the invisible shield finally dissolved into nothingness the low landers rushed forward determined to kill their enemy, but instead of slaying them each took one female as a slave and mate. 

Out of this strange union twelve children were born, eleven were male and like the low landers were stocky of stature, slow to develop and strong of arm. But one was female, tall and slim, she had a thick main of black hair and scarlet eyes which shone not with ruthless bloodlust but compassionate intellect. Living an almost solitary life she developed her mental abilities to their highest capacity, and was able to read the minds of the tribesmen who shared her home.
 

She soon realized that she was the only one of her kind amongst this group and became fearful for her life. As soon as she was old enough she fled from the plateau to hide in the nearby woodlands.

One day the girl was very hungry and noticed a large tree bearing deep blue fruit. She tasted their sweetness and was overjoyed. Gradually she became very tired and lay on the ground where she fell into a long and deep sleep.

When she awoke she continued as before, living a rough life amongst the trees of the forest. Soon she became aware that she was carrying a child. The child, within her, grew rapidly and in a few days she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who was like herself in appearance. This child was followed by another and another until she had had fifteen female children. Each girl grew quickly and resembled an adult in just a few short years. 

Realizing that they could not live alone in the woods the girl decided to return and make peace with those left on the plateau. When she emerged from her hiding place she was amazed by the difference which had overcome the two tribes. The new generation had built fine shelters to protect themselves from the wind and rain; they had harnessed the strength of the low landers and combined it with the intellect of the highlanders to form a carefree society where good things were in abundance.

When the girl approached with her children the others fell upon her and welcomed her back into the tribe. In the years they had lived together they had born many children but every one had been male. Now she had brought mates for them all and they rejoiced and called her 'The One', and appointed her as their leader. When she told them of the strange fruit she had eaten in the woods the tribe joined forces in a huge search. Eventually a similar tree was found and the highlanders ate it's fruit and also bore more female, as well as male children. 

Now the new tribe with 'The One' as it's leader had the best of both worlds. They were tall with light purple skin, they matured quickly, but once adult they aged slowly. They had both physical strength and miraculous mental qualities, which they used to re-colonize the lowlands and spread their seed and the seed of the magic tree across the whole world.)

***************************
 

As the visions faded there was a pause before anyone spoke... "And the tree was named the Markless tree, and today it grows in abundance all over the planet and it's berries are used to make Tralmark." Said Stephen at last.

John gave his usual look of disbelief. "How much of that story could possibly be true?" 

"I never claimed that it was a true history of my people, I was simply answering Loren's question about the origins of the title 'The One'. Historians believe, and there is archeological evidence to support it, that there were once two distinctive species of humanoid on my world. There is also fossil evidence that a meteor impacted the planet fifteen million years ago and changed much of the topography of the land as well as the climate. Obviously one person could not possibly have re-populated an entire planet but I do suspect that some freak genetic event created the new breed of Manyarnern."

"But why had they never bred before?" Asked Loren to everyone's surprise.

"Have you ever seen a Zedonk?" Replied Elizabeth.

The children shook their heads. "It is a cross between a Zebra and a Donkey but it is not viable, that is, although it was born as a mixture of the two animals it cannot have any offspring of it's own. It is infertile. I can see how these two tribes were so different that their offspring would also be unable to have kids but the idea that this..." She held up her glass of Tralmark, "this drink, could possibly make someone pregnant, now that's the impossible part."

Angie smiled, "I know, and scientists have tried for centuries to examine the chemical composition of Markless fruit, but its chemical formula is still a mystery even to the best minds in the galaxy."

"How come?" Asked John "They must be able to analyze the active ingredients."

"Well yes, they do know that is it made of a mixture of three sugars, an animo acid chain and a few trace elements but none of these ingredients alone can account for the effect it has on the minds of telepaths. There should be no affect upon our psi-senses, but we all experience the heightening of our telepathic ability every time we drink it. I think that the fruit could not have affected the girl in story so literally that it made her spontaneously pregnant, but rather it opened up her mind in a new way and made her fertile in another sense. So that she could lead my people into a new way of life."

Charlotte's soft voice cut into the conversation. "Were we created by a tree?" She asked 

Liz turned around to face her daughter. "Do you mean the Tomorrow People?"

"Yes. We are different from the Saps, did you and daddy drink Tralmark and that's what made you become Tomorrow People?"

"That is an excellent question." Said John proudly. "It was not the fruit of a tree, or a freak meteor which created us but a spontaneous genetic mutation which triggered off the latent psi-gene and turned us from Homo Sapiens into Homo Superior."

"So if I marry a Sap could I have children?" This was Loren again, her straight forward question taking John by surprise. She watched as he weighed his answer. "Well, could I?" She asked again, but this time with more insistence.

John looked at the others for help, then realizing that they too were eagerly awaiting his learned judgment on this topic he cleared his throat. "To be honest, I do not know. We do know that Tomorrow People can marry and have kids with other alien races. Carol and Narcissa have Nova, Angie and Stephen have Andranovich, Gabkahn, Kohlarn and Susan, but if you were to marry a Sap..." He sighed, "I do not know. We do understand something about what triggers us to become Tomorrow People. Everyone has the potential to be a Tomorrow Person. It's a basic part of human DNA, but it's turned off in almost all people, by a special control gene, well in most Sap's anyway."

"Can I add something?" Asked Angie. 

He nodded "Go ahead." 

"The genes which control psi ability are found in almost all humanoid, and some other, species in this galaxy. It seems to be an aspect of the potential evolution on all planets. What makes the difference is the control gene, which occurs as a random genetic mutation. When this occurs it triggers the whole planet to begin turning into Telepaths. To date the Federation has been unable to predict when or why this gene switches on, which is one reason why they put so much effort into protecting closed worlds from outside interference."

"May I continue now?" Said John; his annoyance at the interruption to his speech was evident in his abrupt tone. "Unlike the people of Manyarner we are not a different species from the Saps but rather a different branch, a sub-species. When the Kultarn discovered the latent TP gene in humans they left a device which prevented the control gene from switching back on and causing break out's. Over the centuries this device lost it's hold and some spontaneous 'breakouts did occur. Then the federation decided to seed the atmosphere with R.T.E. and this also prevented more of us from realizing what we were, but now there are many more of us and it seems to be the proximity of other telepaths which switches on the genes and causes full break-out.

I suspect that you could marry and have children quite successfully with a Sap. The problem would be whether your children inherited the control gene in it's on or off position and grew up to become Tomorrow People like the rest of us. When there were only half a dozen of us this is something I often worried about. But now that there are many more Tomorrow People the problem of finding a mate from amongst the group is  less important."

"Oh John," laughed Elizabeth, "You are so clinical about everything. Loren, you are free to choose anyone you want as your husband, be he a Sap or a Tomorrow Person, we will be equally happy for you and what ever your children turn out to be they will be welcome amongst us as part of our family."

Contented, at last, with the answers she had received Loren stood up and looked around the circle of children who were still sitting crossed legged on the grass. "We came here to play tag so..." she reached out and patted Eddy lightly on the shoulder, ".. You're it!"

With this the whole group simultaneously lifted into the air like a flock of birds. For a moment the atmosphere was filled with the joyful exuberance of youthful shouts then they all began to jaunt away or fly up into the sky as the game proceeded.

"Thank goodness for that!" exclaimed Elizabeth as the last of the children teleported away. "For a moment it was like the school term had started early." They all laughed. "Sometimes I wonder how much simpler all our lives would be if we were not super intelligent or different from the Saps."

"In some ways you are no different," added Angie, "You have just taken a step down a different evolutionary path to the rest of the humanoids sharing your world. Very soon there will be so many of you that questions like that will not even be asked."

"True," said Stephen, "but just think of the havoc there will be when there are hundreds of TP babies and kids all playing special games at once. The telepathic chatter, the air filled with the buzz of teleportation and Telekinesis. Objects appearing and disappearing all the time."

"That is some thing else I have been considering." Remarked John.

"You would," laughed Liz, "but as we said earlier there is plenty of time for us to sort out our culture. At this moment in time there is a sports car in pieces on the drive and you two promised to take us for a spin in the highlands tonight."

John and Stephen stood together. "There is one law I'd like to pass in the future, to keep order amongst the people." Said Stephen.

"Oh?" John replied innocently.

"I'd make it illegal for wives to nag whether they are Tomorrow people or Saps!"

"Ha!" Exclaimed Angie, jumping to her feet. "I'll get you for that!"

In the next instant she was chasing Stephen back across the lawn levitating just above his head while he ran full pelt back towards the broken car....
 

The End... (or maybe the beginning!)