Bennu was busy checking out yet another of the seemingly unending supply of "Indian sites north of the 30th parallel". A rock was dislodged from something outside it and fell with a clatter. He grabbed his medallion and hastily scanned the area. Nothing, of course, but a startled wild animal fleeing.
He sighed unhappily. True, there's no such thing as a paranoid Healer, and he certainly was being pursued by a government agent (and Yago, but he couldn't move physical objects even if he wanted to!) but his reactions were starting to get a bit extreme. After all, he would have easily detected Premminger's mind at a range close enough to hear the movement of a small rock. This planet really was getting to him! The local language even had a most appropriate word to descibe what he was becoming - "jumpy."
His mood reverted to its usual Mature self and he Smiled at the thought. Looking up at the rather hard - and rather close - ceiling, and considering his rather unusual physical abilities, he was glad he hadn't taken the term too literally, OUCH! And the session with his medallion to repair the damage might have to wait until he woke up ...
Still, there was the Premminger problem, and he really did have to deal with it. Nobody in his right mind wants to have somebody keep showing up and pointing a loaded gun at him, and, from Bennu's point of view, Premminger had done it much too often. He decided to grant Premminger's wish and, at least for a while, stop trying to help him accept the Light and the Truth it brought.
Since he couldn't cure Premminger he decided to go along with the misguided man's beliefs. It was all hypnosis? OK, he could arrange that ... a few minutes later, he had a plan sketched out. He really hoped he wouldn't have to use it - it would make actually curing the man even harder if he ever got the chance - but a spanking certainly hadn't worked, and there were so many more damaging ways he could have chosen. If Premminger wouldn't quit his assignment, he had nobody to blame but himself!
Satisfied, Bennu went back to exploring. Not for long - as usual, there was nothing to see. He hiked to the nearest bus stop and took a few hours' ride. By now, it was late in the day, the next site was a decent hike away, and he decided to set up camp for the evening.
It was a pleasant, cloudless summer night, and Bennu was relaxing with his thoughts for a few hours before turning in. Or trying to, anyway. Though he usually enjoyed looking at the Sky and the Stars, as he did with almost all of the creations of The Light, lately he had found his gaze turning repeatedly towards a small area of the sky. A star lay in that patch, and around it orbited Eldebran.
Eldebran! How he missed his home! When would he see it again? Would he ever? Only The Light knew. Still, he really had nobody but himself to blame - unless he was going to fault The Light for the spirit of Adventurousness that had caused him to choose Missionary Healing for a Profession! And, as he knew well, The Light was wise beyond all mortal comprehension. Perhaps it was his fate to die alone on this planet. If so, in less than 200 sun-cycles he would be reunited with his parents and friends, now all long dead. Still, that didn't mean he had to like his possible fate ...
His rather dark musings were interrupted by the clatter of another small rock. This one was indeed caused by a human - by the mental pattern of his thoughts,, aan Oriental. (Their language structure, so different from that of the West, caused the distinctive thought pattern he had detected.
An elderly Chinese man using a cane was walking slowly in his general direction. Bennu spoke. "Hello, there. I'm Bennu. It's a fine night - did you come here to view the stars, too?"
The man replied. "Lin Yi is my name. I am Buddhist, and so enjoy viewing all of Nature, the stars included. I am old and frail, and my time on Earth is very nearly at an end. I would spend the little I have left with Nature, rather than in a room with bright lights and buzzing machines.
"But I sense we have a number of things in common. I would be honored if you would consent to converse with an old man."
Bennu: "And I sense much wisdom in you. I, too, would be honored."
Lin Yi: "I am a wanderer on the face of the Earth, driven far from my homeland."
Bennu caught a jumble of chaotic impressions. The poor man had been apparently innocently caught up in one of this planet's endless violent upheavals - a particularly cruel one called the "Cultural Revolution." Fleeing south for his life, he had escaped and settled down, only to find himself in the midst of another war. Again forced to flee, he finally found himself in this country, where he was at last left relatively undisturbed.
Lin Yi continued: "Here my body has at last found peace, but my spirit longs for the village of my ancestors. I am homesick, and would gladly trade my remaining time for a glimpse of it."
Bennu: "Homesick! So that is the word for what I feel. I, too, am a wanderer, though it was by my own choice and for noble purposes. If you truly mean what you say, think of your most pleasurable memory of your former life, and I will do what I can."
It was a simple one, that of himself as a young boy helping his father plant a litchi tree, and then, some years later, sharing its first fruits, but, as minds will do, his had made it a symbol of his lost life. Bennu didn't even need his medallion for this - he placed a hand on Lin's shoulder and simply intensified and clarified the memories to the point of his seeming to relive them.
As the scene faded and Lin regained conscious awareness, he looked at Bennu with both great thanks and great curiosity. He had a reasonable amount of Sensitivity, and his religion trained him to develop his mind - his Power included. He spoke. "Clearly this encounter was meant to happen, for which I am grateful. I would ask how you did this -"
Suddenly his face twisted with a spasm of pain as his failing heart complained about the strain the release of emotions had placed on it.
Lin: "I fear my words have been taken seriously."
Bennu: "Easy, old man. I can help you." He placed his hand on his medallion.
Lin placed his on Bennu's wrist. "Stop! I truly believe that you could do what you say. But part of wisdom is knowing when enough is enough, and that includes life. Do you not share this belief? One Gift from you is sufficient."
Bennu stared. "Your wisdom is deep indeed."
Lin: "I have spent most of my 80 years developing my mind, as all should and few do. I find that I can see much that is hidden from most, and you do not cloak your mind."
Bennu started to relax. Then he thought about Premminger, and the possible attention a dead body, even one passing from natural causes, might bring him.
Lin: "Do what you must. It is but a shell, after all. And we, too, have a legend of the Phoenix." With that, he died, and Bennu was blessed to see what few Healers did - the Divine spark that we call the soul begin its return to The Light.
A Healer's job is not always to cure, and making Death a positive experience is equally important. Much helped by his encounter, he gazed up at that special patch of the sky. Surely The Light had helped him again in a time of need! Satisfied, he held out his medallion and used his Power to burn the body to ash.
The next morning, he awoke refreshed. He took his SunCharge and headed off to the next site. In keeping with his plan, he picked up a rock some five inches in diameter and took it with him as he went from mound to mound. Sure enough, he became aware of Premminger's mind approaching.
Moving from mound to mound, he soon found that Premminger had spotted him and was closing in. Oh, well. Might as well get it over with!
The plan had the small risk that Premminger would, if startled, actually shoot at him again, but Bennu chose to depend on his enemy's training. (If Bennu had been following some of the twists deep in Premminger's mind, he might have been less willing to take that chance!)
Premminger entered the small mound he'd seen Bennu go into. Holding his gun in one hand and flashlight in the other, he stepped forward into the darkness. There! At the far end was his quarry, who seemed to be looking down and intently studying a rock held chest -high.
Premminger: "Hold it right there, Bennu! Drop the rock and raise your hands!"
Bennu opened his left hand and the rock fell to the mound floor. To Premminger's very brief horror, however, Bennu's right hand had been holding something else concealed by it - his already Lit medallion. A Sunbolt violently slammed the gun into the wall. Then the light pattern changed.
It became multicolored, and began to spin, slowly at first, then faster and faster. After all, it had worked well against Yago, as Bennu had learned quite by accident when he'd become intoxicated by secondhand marijuana smoke.
Premminger: "You're hypnotizing me!"
Bennu: "Hey, Premminger, you get an 'A.' You keep insisting that 'it's all hypnosis.' I'm just giving you your wish."
Indeed, soon Premminger's mind - at least the upper levels - was firmly under Bennu's control.
Bennu: "Premminger, I'm sick and tired of having you keep pointing a weapon at me. Don't you ever do it again! And while we're at it, leave me alone. Go chase yourself, if you can't find somebody else to go after."
Bennu stepped past the still entranced Premminger, yanked the gun out of the mound wall, where it had become embedded (that was quite a Sunbolt!), unloaded it, and decided to dismantle it while he was at it. He scattered the parts around the entrance, finished his search, and left.
Premminger eventually came to, found himself sitting in a dark "cave" - his flashlight batteries had died some time ago and darkness had fallen - and tried to figure out what had happened. Finding his gun gone, he assumed he must have had another encounter with Bennu. Therefore, he must be inside an Indian mound.
His logic was sound. He left the mound and started to head to his car for additional batteries. Then he could start looking for his gun. Crunch! He'd stepped on one of the grips. His language was MOST inappropriate for these tales and will not be repeated. "Took it apart, did he. Boy, he's mean. I wonder what happened in there, anyway."
Slowly, the image of a spinning colored light came to him. He smiled with grim satisfaction and said to himself "See! I said it was hypnosis!" Then he had to wonder what Bennu had done to him!
Whatever it was, it didn't affect his Talent for hot tips, though he found himself strangely reluctant to pursue them for some weeks. He would find all sorts of excuses to avoid actually entering the site where Bennu might be, leaving the actual chase to ordinary (and much less capable) agents, or even the local police. Unfortunately for Bennu, Premminger had something in his mind only too glad to help him overcome the effects, and the "pursuit" part eventually wore off. At their next close encounter, it was Bennu whose language was unsuitable for repetition, but even then, he noticed that Premminger did keep his gun holstered ...
Copyright Feb 18, 2001 Three Cheeks Productions (Richard Kaplan)