He did. He told Harry about the British E-Branch, and what little he knew about the American, French, Russian and Chinese equivalents. He told him about telepaths who could speak to each other across the world without a telephone, with their minds alone; about precognition, the ability to pierce the future and tell of events yet to happen; about telekinesis and psychokinesis, and men who could move solid objects with their will alone and without resorting to simple physical strength. He spoke about ‘far-seeing’, and about a man he knew who could tell you what was happening anywhere in the world at
this precise moment of time; about psychic healing and a ‘doctor’ who could conjure the supreme power of Life into his naked hands, banishing diseases without the benefit of any form of conventional treatment; about the entire range of ESPers under his command, and how there was a place there, too, for Harry. And he told it all in such a way – with such understanding and clarity and sheer conviction – that Harry knew he spoke the truth.
‘So you see,’ Gormley finally came to a close, ‘you’re not a freak, Harry. Your talent may well be unique but you, as an ESPer, are not. Your grandmother was one before you and passed it down to your mother. She in turn passed a large dose of it down to you. God only knows what your children will be capable of, Harry Keogh!’
After a long while and as all he had been told sank in, Harry said: ‘And now you want me to work for you?’
‘In a nutshell, yes.’
‘What if I refuse?’
‘Harry, I found you. I’m a spotter; I have no real ESP talent myself but I can spot an ESPer a mile away. I suppose that in itself is a talent, but that’s all I have. The one thing I know for sure is that there are others like me. One of them is the boss of the Russian branch. Now I’ve come to you and put my cards on the table. I’ve told you things I didn’t even have the right to tell you. That’s because I want you to trust me, and also because I think I can trust you. You’ve nothing to fear from me, Harry -but I can’t promise the same for the other side!’
‘You mean . . . they might find me too?’
They get cleverer all the time, Harry,’ Gormley shrugged, ‘just as we do. They have at least one man in England. I’ve not met him, but I’ve sensed him close to me. I know he was looking at me, watching me. He’s probably a spotter, too. What I’m saying is this: I found you, so how long before they do? The difference is this: with them you’ll not get a choice.’
‘And with you I have a choice, right?’
‘Of course you do. It’s entirely in your hands. You join us or you don’t join us. That’s your choice. So take your time, Harry, and think about it. But not for too long. Like I said, we need you. The sooner the better . . .’
Harry thought about Viktor Shukshin. He couldn’t know it, but Shukshin was the man Gormley had ‘sensed’ watching him. ‘There are things I have to do first,’ he said, ‘before making any final decision.’
‘Of course, I can understand that.’
‘It may take some time. Maybe five months?’
Gormley nodded. ‘If it has to be.’
‘I think it has to be, yes.’ For the first time Harry smiled his natural, shy smile. ‘Hey, I’m dry! Would you like a coffee?’
‘Very much,’ Gormley smiled back. ‘And while we drink it, maybe you’d like to tell me about yourself, eh?’
Harry felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. ‘Yes,’ he sighed. ‘I think maybe I would.’
It was a fortnight later that Harry Keogh finished his novel and ‘went into training’ for Viktor Shukshin. An advance on the book gave him the financial stability he would need for the next five or six months, until the job was done.
His first step was to join a group of crazy, all-weather swimming enthusiasts who made a habit of bathing in the North Sea at least twice a week all the year round -including Christmas and New Year’s Day! They had something of a reputation for breaking the ice on Harden’s reservoir to do charity plunges for the British Heart Foundation. Brenda, a level-headed girl on any other subject except Harry himself, thought he was crazy, of course.