Cindy Psi: Spy In Training

Cindy sat staring at the blank screen of her PCD for a few moments as her father walked up the front path and touched his thumb to the front door reader. She closed the screen down just as the door opened, and worked on quickly composing herself.

“Hey Monkey, I’m home! C’mon downstairs and tell me how you went in the big test!” Mr Parker called out as he hung up his coat and took off his shoes. Cindy ran down the stairs and gave him a hug.

“Hi Daddy. I did pretty well I guess – I got Junior Admin.” She tried to look happy.

“Junior Admin! That’s brilliant! Following in the old man’s footsteps, hey? Well I’m pleased. Are you pleased?”

“Of course! It’s a great path. And lots of variety as well – I could go into any local government area really.”

“That’s right. Although, with your grades, I guess I’m a little surprised. I thought maybe you would have got Legal at least. But there you go, the test knows what it’s doing.” He gave her a slightly quizzical look.

Cindy suddenly remembered her earlier conversation. Could she read her Father’s mind? She tried to get a sense of what he was thinking …

… Nothing. She must have a bit to learn about this stuff – apparently you can’t just switch it on and off when you want. But he didn’t seem disappointed, more just worried about whether she was happy with the outcome or not. A bit of reassurance was in order.

“I am happy Dad, really. I know we were both probably expecting something a bit different but let’s face it, it’s not like I’ve been obsessed with any particular career or anything. I know I’ve had pretty good grades but maybe if you want legal you need to be eating, sleeping and breathing legal for a few years for that to come out in the test. Maybe people who are a bit undecided about things like me just end up in JA roles because that’s where there’s the most scope to do different things. You should know – were you sure of what you wanted to be when you sat your A&P?”

“Of course!” Mr Parker said with conviction, “For as long as I can remember I wanted to be the guy who plants trees over transmitters …” his face cracked into a huge smile. “Oh alright, you’re right, of course you’re right. I had no idea what I wanted to be at twelve. Heck, I’m not even sure what I want to be now and here I am being it! One thing I’m sure I want to be though …”

“What’s that?” Cindy asked, also smiling now.

“Less hungry. Come on, let’s order a takeaway and watch the Oliver County’s Got Talent auditions,” and so saying he ruffled her hair, gave her a hug and strode off into the kitchen. Cindy stood there smiling. Good old Dad, she thought. Always positive, always saying the right thing. Mum must have been an idiot to leave him.

Cindy’s Mother had left when Cindy was just three years old. Mr Parker had never really gone into the reasons why, which, Cindy thought with characteristic maturity, was fair enough really, she was only twelve after all. A wise-beyond-her-years twelve, but only twelve nevertheless. One day she was sure they’d have a big talk about it, but Cindy was somehow certain that the timing of that was down to her. When she asked, he’d tell her, but for now she didn’t want to know. She was happy with the unspoken agreement they had to not mention her and just get on with life as a team of two against the world.

The rest of the evening was spent digging into bowls of some pretty nice pan-Asian food and either laughing at the parade of people who thought they could sing or dance or having their breath taken away by the occasional few who really could. Around nine Mr Parker sent Cindy off to bed. She got into her pyjamas, brushed her teeth, and climbed into bed. She was ready to go – there was an awful lot to think through and process after what had been the most eventful day in Cindy’s life so far. Her Dad came up to say goodnight.

“Well done monkey. I’m proud of you. I really am.”

“Thanks Daddy.”

“Good night beautiful.”

“’Night Daddy.”

“And where are you most beautiful?”

Cindy smiled at this ritual that had been going on as long as she’d been able to talk.

“On the inside.”

“That’s right. Love you. Night night.”

“Love you too. Night.”

He left the room and she switched out her light and prepared to let her brain sort through the events of the day.

What was that? Cindy had been lying there for about twenty minutes she thought when this strange – thought maybe? – came unbidden into her head. She looked around instinctively, startled.

It came again, a little clearer this time. A realisation started to dawn upon Cindy. She waited a moment.

Hello little human.

Yes. She knew what this was. She wouldn’t have yesterday, but she sure did now. She cleared her mind. She was scared, but years of occasional harassment at school from the Jacintas of this galaxy had left her more emboldened than a girl her age might otherwise be.

Hello, She thought, trying to will her thoughts outwards in response to the voice in her head. Who is this?

Someone who can help you.

Instinctively Cindy knew that listening rather than talking would be the best thing here.

Help me with what?

With what you desire. With the things you want. I can help you have the finest substances for your intestinal absorption.

That’d be food, thought Cindy.

I can provide you with a whole stellar satellite upon which you can domicile.

And there’s the planet. Not only did this back up Dave’s story, it indicated they didn’t have a lot of original ideas either.

I can even provide the domicile should you so desire. I can make your whole life easy little human, and I ask for very little in return.

Cindy, tremendously bravely, continued to play dumb to see how much information she could get from this alien voice in her head.

Who are you? How can you do this? She asked, trying to put a tremor in her mental voice. It came quite easily.

You will exhibit surprise little human to know there are other things than humans.

There was a pause.

And yet you do not. This very strange.

Wait.

Cindy felt something a bit like someone was pulling a rubber glove over an area in the back of her brain. It felt invasive, unpleasant and very, very alien.

One sees. They have got to you first. Again. Well, tiny human, I don’t know what they have told you but we are not so terrible, we Turgs. We seek only more land for our species. We outgrow our … our galaxy. Our spawn need space.

Cindy struggled under the claustrophobic gripping feeling in her mind. It felt like her mind was wrapped in cling film, locked in and airless. She was dimly aware she was gasping in alarm.

No, darn it! she thought; if she could withstand Ms Primp’s stare even at intensity level 5 she could stand up to this … this thing in her mind. She pushed back at the force in her head – it came away surprisingly easily. In doing so she saw how it was doing what it was doing.

Quickly she mind-cleared … and there was a strand of glowing, silver light (much like around the monitor in the room on Adriá, she noted randomly) stretching out of her room and away into space. And as she saw it, she knew she could follow it. And, like a current racing down a wire, she did.

In an instant … a pulsating, light-flashing, colour-thrumming instant she was somewhere else altogether. All she had time to perceive was a greenish mass in a darkened room, tentacles waving, clearly struggling with something … and then she followed the light to its end and she was in its mind. She could feel it – smoother than a human mind, denser, more brooding … and what was this?

Evil. Not bu-wah-hah-hah, moustache-twirling evil: no, this was cold, callous, soulless evil. A creature without feeling, without compassion, with just mindless drive and no integrity. She grasped the mind.

I don’t believe you, Turg, because I can see your lies. They stand out in your brain like a disease.

The mind so many light years away struggled in her grasp.

I do not fear you, tiny human. I have seen your mind too. You think you have suffered at the hands of other tiny humans. When my kind take your galaxy you will then see what suffering is.

She felt it push against her. She held fast.

This is not as it should be . You are not [passage of time ] enough to have this much   strength. How can this be? You will release me tiny human. You will RELEASE ME N. .

The pushing against her was getting frantic, and deep within herself Cindy was by now intensely scared. But she couldn’t show it, and somehow she knew she had to have the last word.

In a moment of crystal stillness and clarity, the fear disappeared, and Cindy saw a whole new side of herself. A strong side. A fighter. The next words came from this place:

I will release you Turg, but know this …

I am coming.

And with that she used the same thinking as she had done to close the circuit on the screen – she stilled …focused … pushed …

She felt, rather than heard, some kind of alien cry of pain as she severed the connection.

Cindy lay on her bed, breathing rapidly. More than ever before she had the urge to call her Father, but an even stronger feeling rebelled against this and she just knew she had to keep silent. Was she sweating?

Slowly, achingly slowly, she started to calm down. Once again her common sense defences kicked in. “Well, I beat it, it didn’t beat me. So what is there to fear?” she thought. She didn’t manage to convince herself, but it was a start. It helped. It gave her a bit of mental space to marvel at her resolve and the forcefulness of her words at the end. Where had that come from?

She forced herself to start clearing her mind. Years of having done this unconsciously served her well, and she started to breathe normally once more. Sleep would come. It would take a little longer, but sleep would come. Sleep would give her mind space to sort through things, and she was exhausted from the day she’d had and even more so from what she’d just done. She needed sleep.

And training. She really, really needed training.