Paranormals (Book 1) by Christopher Andrews Page A

the Academy to work for this particular district, though we’ll have a bunch of you running around this region soon enough. Since they just started cranking you kids out this past year, everyone else you’ll meet here was pulled from any number of law-enforcement agencies, mostly the FBI, but also from the CIA, the U.S. Marshall’s office, et cetera. You know all this, of course. My point is, you’re going to encounter all kinds of different ideas on how things should be done in the PCA. Between you and me, this agency was slapped together so damned fast that I don’t think any protocols were worked out beyond the general idea of ‘stop the rogues!’ So I admittedly don’t really know what they taught you at the Academy about the so-called rules and regulations, but in this office, it basically just means you come to me with any disputes or conflicts and I settle them on the spot as I see fit. Clear?"
     
    "Yes, sir."
     
    "Your file puts you at the top of your graduating class."
     
    "Yes, sir."
     
    "Now, you are norm , correct? No paranormal abilities popped out yet?"
     
    "I am completely normal, sir. I’m told I score particularly high on the ESPer tests, but it’s nothing that couldn’t have been charted before the White Flash. The theory is that if I were attacked by a paranormal whose abilities were mental in nature, I would prove more tolerant than the average norm agent."
     
    "Interesting. You ever have psychic flashes, Mister Takayasu?"
     
    "None that I am conscious of, sir, beyond a strong gut feeling from time to time that rarely leads me astray."
     
    "Mm. In other words, if your talents weren’t being wasted nailing rogues to the wall, you would have made one helluva cop back in the day."
     
    Michael assumed this last bit was rhetorical and remained silent.
     
    "It’s dangerous work, taking down the Class One rogues, especially for a norm. Somebody’s got to do it, of course, but a lot of norms request detective or paraforensic work. I understand that you volunteered for Class One duty. That correct?"
     
    "Yes, sir."
     
    "Mm. How exactly does a norm deal with a rogue that could burn you down with a thought?"
     
    "I’m in top physical condition, sir, and have been trained in all of the state-of-the-art paranormal containment equipment, ranging from weapons to psi-jammers. If we’ve built something for it, I know how to use it. The Class Ones are a problem for us all, but anything below that, I can handle virtually on my own, sir."
     
    "Good. Some might find that a cocky statement. Personally, I appreciate someone who knows their abilities. However, this is the PCA, so we don’t get to pick and choose whom we tackle. Class Ones or not, they stir up trouble, we take them down. But I don’t want to lose my first, bright, young Academy-graduated ensign anytime soon, so I’m assigning you a partner. He didn’t go to the Academy, obviously, but he’s been with us for a while."
     
    "I look forward to meeting him, sir."
     
    "Mm. Just wait’ll you do meet him, Mister Takayasu, and you might not be so eager about it. He’s a paranormal, a true Class One, so unfortunately we have to put up with a lot of his bullshit in the bargain."
     
    "Understood, sir. His abilities?"
     
    " ‘Generation and partial manipulation of kinetic shockwaves.’ Started off as a purely offensive ability, but he’s recently learned to turn them into crude force fields, so long as he’s at the center of the protected area."
     
    "Sounds like an excellent associate for the PCA, sir. What’s his codename?"
     
    "Mm. ‘Shockwave,’ if you can believe that. Me, I find the notion of codenaming our paranormals about as clever as calling our agents ‘ensigns’ and ‘lieutenant commanders’ ad nauseam, but there it is. It’s comic book silliness , I think, but then we’ve found ourselves in a comic book world of late, haven’t we?" The captain leaned forward. "Well, that’s about all the time I have for