text:
Hidden Talents
The Full Story
By Claire Cray
© 2017 Claire Cray
All Rights Reserved
About this version of Hidden Talents:
Hidden Talents was originally published as a series of free novellas beginning in 2012. In 2015 the series was adapted and published as a trilogy by a short-lived independent press. The trilogy has been remastered here as the final, epic version of Hidden Talents. There's no good reason for this sloppy journey, but here we are—with a bigass book full of sexy psychics. Please enjoy it.
Table of Contents
1. Telepath Seeks Asylum. Smoker. Pets OK.
2. Make New Friends but Keep the Old
24. The Worst That Could Happen
33. Mark Loves Dylan. Or Jen. Or Dylan.
11. Sky Gets a Little, a Little Late
18. Kel Sees a Bad Moon Rising
19. Not Trying to Make It Weird
20. Mark and Dylan Never Say Die
21. Jin Does Not Know What the
40. Jin Wishes They Could Just Not
Part 1:
Rebel Hell
Jin hopped expertly from rooftop to rooftop, high on anticipation as he drew closer to his target. This part of Paris was packed with tiny tenement apartments, which swarmed with crowds of thoughts that buzzed gratingly around his mental shields. He was a telepath, and an exhausted one. This was like running through clouds of locusts. A plague of noise.
His target, though, was silent. Unnervingly silent. He was a young guy, maybe even a teenager, and his shields were so strong that Jin couldn't read a single thing about him—not even what kind of Talent he was. He slipped through the shadows and crowds like a weird little ghost. Since Jin couldn't follow the kid's thoughts he had to track him the old-fashioned way, scanning minds in the vicinity for sightings whenever he lost his visual.
The novelty of an honest chase had kept him entertained for half an hour, but now it was time to cut the shit and catch the mouse.
He took a running jump to the next rooftop, cleared another street, swung down a fire escape and jumped straight down into the alley—right in front of his target. His new friend.
Jin flashed a cat's grin up at the waif in front of him. "Bonjour," he chirped as he stood.
The kid took a backward step, and he looked pissed.
So this was him. His face was as fine as bone china, pale and sharp, with mismatched green eyes—the left one dark as the deep sea, the right one pale as an emerald. Ink-black hair fell over his forehead, grazing his temples and covering his ears. His thin neck disappeared into a black hooded sweatshirt, and he wore dark jeans cut close to his long legs. On closer look, Jin saw he had scars. They were smooth, almost invisible, but they were there. A lot of them.
"I'm Jin," Jin said.
The kid was silent. Then he bit out, "And?"
Somehow, Jin felt that unexpectedly husky voice in his spine. He gave the smartass another look. Not exactly his type, but hard to look away from. Interesting. "And yours is?"
"Who are you?" the kid asked acidly.
"I'm Jin," Jin repeated, studying the scars. They were faint enough that they probably went unnoticed by many, but Jin's eye could see how heavily the kid's face had been messed with. There were so many scars they almost blended together at this distance, except for a few, like the long, clear slash extending from the outer edge of his dark eye to the corner of his mouth.
Jin felt a weird little throb in his chest. Exhaustion was making him goofy. "I'm a Talent. Like you."
"Not enough to impress you, huh? " He took a step closer, wanting a better look at this odd creature with shields as strong as Jackson's. "What's your name?"
The kid stood his ground, glowering. "Harriet."
Well. Jin grinned. "Okay, Harriet. Take me to your leader, all right? "
"You're tough," Jin laughed. He took another step closer, wondering if the kid would retreat. He didn't. He was a few inches shorter than Jin, a few years younger, and skinny as hell. Razor sharp bones. Not Jin's type, no, but he did wonder what the rest looked like.
"Wonder what your Talent is," Jin murmured, enjoying the hard gaze of those mismatched gems, though he wasn't sure why.
Suddenly he sensed another Talent approaching the opening of the alley. Jin kept his eyes on the kid for another moment before he turned to look at the newcomer.
"S'goin' on?" It was a tall, athletic blond who approached. He looked like an Abercrombie model. The greeting was casual, and his posture was relaxed to match. But the energy was unmistakable: Like the kid with the weird eyes, this Ken Doll was a Talent—either some kind of psychic, or some kind of superman.
Jin gave his mind a scan, though even this exertion sent stale pulses of pain through his skull. The blond Talent's mind was well shielded, designed to blend in with a healthy outer layer of mundane thoughts. It would take a very clever telepath to see behind that facade, to find the hard protective walls that Talents built in their minds to hide their thoughts from prying psychics.
Jin gave him a look of approval. As a very clever telepath, he appreciated a good set of shields. They couldn't stop him, though, if he really wanted to get underneath them. "Lip, right?"
Lip came to a natural stop facing Jin and spoke in an Australian accent. "Who are you?"
"I'm Jin. Talent. On the run. I'll tell you everything. I just need a place to stay."
Lip raised an eyebrow. He looked to the kid, who looked back apathetically. Cold! Jin thought.
"All right," Lip said. "Jin. Let's get a car."
A taxi swerved and screeched to a stop at the closest end of the street. "Got it," Jin said.
Lip looked from the taxi to him with a resigned expression. "Telepath?"
"Great," Lip said dryly. "Let's go."
Jin turned back to the kid. "Do I get your name now?"
"Next one you say's gonna stick," Jin warned, examining the planes of his face. There was definitely something weird about this one. It was like someone had crossed a baby deer with a wolverine. But those shields were on another level. Jin couldn't find a single opening. Not a crack. Not a peep. How could that be?
Maybe Jin was just more tired than he thought. That was probably it. He watched the kid take the front seat of the car.
Lip gestured for Jin to follow him into the backseat, and Jin forced himself to pay attention. The Australian's eyes were on him, curious and sharp.
"You look like hell," Lip noted.
"No sleep for a week."
Lip was about to say something when something else caught his attention: the kid had directed the driver to turn into a fast-food drive-through. "Ken," the Australian groaned.
"What?" Ken asked. He ordered three cheeseburgers, fries and a large shake.
"No mustard on mine," Jin said.
Ken shot him a narrow-eyed look. "It's not for you."
"What do you want?" Lip asked Jin. Jin didn't hesitate to order a couple of burgers of his own. After a week on the run, with his Talent in a constant state of high alert, he was running on fumes. He'd take all the calories he could get until he could sleep.
"Can I play the radio?" Ken asked, piquing Jin's interest again. Was he young enough to be asking for permission? Or was he actually capable being polite? At Lip's nod, the kid turned it on and filled the car with American hip-hop before starting in on his food. He wolfed down the burgers like he hadn't eaten in days.
Jin noted this with interest. If he always ate like that, it could mean he was approaching a peak development period. Powerful Talents always ate and slept more when they were headed into a growth spurt. He was getting impatient to know what this kid was all about. He watched Ken lift the milkshake, slip the straw between his narrow lips, and suck.
Ken swallowed, then turned his head to fix Jin with a dark glare.
Jin smiled and took a bite of his own burger.
"Who's after you?" Lip asked.
Oh, right. There was a reason he was here. Reasons. There were reasons.
"KGA," Jin said around a mouthful. "I'm a deserter."
Lip's eyebrows went up. Jin wondered how much he knew.
- - -
Before Klaus Gadamer founded KGA in the 1950s, Talents were the stuff of rumor and superstition. Gadamer, an esteemed scientist and a precognitive himself, was the first man to have the vision, timing, and ambition to make a study of this growing phenomenon in human evolution.
But his scientific interest in Talents was inextricable from his drive for power and profit. KGA was a nefarious venture from the start.
Gadamer was a master manipulator with ruthless ambitions. Using his precognition for all it was worth, he quickly collected a stable of psychics and sent them out to find others. Things snowballed quickly. Before long KGA had cornered the market. There was never any competition. And for the past half a century, the KGA monopoly had maintained a stranglehold on the world's Talents.
KGA's sweeper teams covered the globe, its psychics and empaths scanning minds in search of new Talents who were then scooped up and hauled into its headquarters, currently located in Berlin. There they were brutally initiated, brainwashed, and trained to use their abilities for profit. KGA made incomprehensible sums of money by sending its Talents out to manipulate leaders, governments, and corporations around the world.
It was all bad enough to begin with, but it had just become a whole lot worse. Two weeks ago, a coup had taken place at KGA.
The shadowy organization was now under the leadership of Wilhelm Strauss, a sadistic fascist with huge dreams of a new world order.
Strauss was already known and feared throughout the global ranks of KGA. His unusually cruel empathic Talent branded every KGA initiative with lifelong trauma. He had created KGA's keystone training program, the Trigger Method, which pushed Talents to extreme levels of ability slightly more often than it broke their minds. The broken ones kept the research labs in supply. There were always experiments on the schedule.
Strauss had one rival at KGA: Klaus Gadamer's grandson, the precognitive prodigy Jackson Gadamer.
Jackson, too, was known throughout the KGA ranks. When he was just a kid, he'd delivered a vision that enthralled the entire organization.
It was called the Key Prophecy. Jackson promised KGA that he would discover a prodigious young Talent, dubbed the Key, whose genetic material would provide the missing ingredient to their struggling Talent Genome Project. With the Key, Jackson said, KGA could finally develop a formula to allow them to clone perfect Talents, however they wanted.
The Key Prophecy stirred the upper ranks of KGA and sent Jackson's career into a steep climb. Being Klaus Gadamer's grandson and an infallible precognitive didn't hurt, either. All told, Jackson enjoyed an unprecedented degree of autonomy. He had complete authority over his assignments and team members, whom he trained as he saw fit.
KGA leadership had faith that Jackson's methods would lead them to the Key. But Strauss did not share that faith. He scorned Jackson's prophecies and resented his status. He was always searching for ways to bring Jackson down, undermining his authority at every turn. Fortunately, his hands were tied by protocol and the other members of the Board that ruled KGA.
But not anymore. Jackson's name and performance record wouldn't matter now that Strauss was in full control.
"You saw this coming, right?" Jin had asked Jackson when news of the takeover struck.
They were in Thailand, working on a project involving corrupt diplomats and opium magnates in the Golden Triangle, which wasn't as fun as it sounded. Jin was sprawled on the leather chair at Jackson's desk, drumming his fingers on his knee, grimly anticipating a likely worst-case scenario that involved being psychically flayed alive by Strauss's terrifying empathic Talent.
Jackson gave him a dry look. Of course he had. He threw an envelope down on the desk. "Go to Paris. You can hide there safely."
Jin laughed, incredulous, and raised his eyebrows at the precognitive towering over him. "Do what?"
The precognitive swept the edge of his suit jacket aside to hang a hand in his pocket. "Strauss will strike us at the first chance he gets. You're the most obvious target."
True. Strauss hated telepaths, and especially Jackson's telepath.
"Which leaves us no choice," Jackson went on. "As of this moment, you are on the run from KGA."
In Paris, Jackson said, Jin would find a cell of exceptional Talents with unusually sophisticated shields who could offer him asylum. Jackson would join him in a matter of weeks.
There wasn't time to have Jackson explain how there could possibly be a cell of exceptional Talents living under KGA's radar, nor how he'd cover for Jin's disappearance. But Jackson rarely explained everything anyway. Precognitives had to be secretive. It was all about controlling the variables, or whatever.
Jin was used to leaping at Jackson's command. This was a bigass leap. But Jackson had a plan, and Jin knew better than to doubt him. So far, Jackson had never failed. So it was off to Paris to find some homeschooled Talents.
- - -
And here he was.
Lip spoke again, snapping him out of his rumination. "How'd you find us?"
"Wasn't easy," Jin replied. "I've been combing the city for a few days. Then I caught this quiet spot today. You should be careful of that, you know," he added to Ken, baiting him to say something.
Ken ignored him.
"How'd you know we were here?" Lip asked.
"My director sent me. He's a precognitive, and he had some intelligence on you he's been hoarding from KGA." Jackson had told him to be straightforward with these people, that they were vigorously suspicious of outsiders but would be sympathetic to their cause. He'd also told Jin not to underestimate them.
"Since when do KGA directors hold intelligence back from KGA?" Lip asked, as if he was familiar with how KGA worked.
Jin raised his eyebrows. "Do you know who Jackson Gadamer is?"
"Yeah." Lip didn't clarify how.
"That's my director," Jin said.
This could have been a point of pride. Any KGA Talent would kill to be Jackson's right hand. Jin didn't give a fuck about status at KGA. But he did care that Jackson had the brains, power, and Talent to stay ahead of Strauss. Plus, they were fucking.
"Do you know what happened there two weeks ago?" Jin asked.
Lip shook his head. That made sense. Having a bit of intel was one thing, but knowing the latest political developments in the inner departments would have been ridiculous.
"Wilhelm Strauss just took over," Jin explained. "Jackson's rival. Arranged the right death and got himself elected himself president of KGA."
Lip nodded. Despite his casual demeanor, the Aussie wasn't giving anything away. A regular iron butterfly.
They'd entered a neighborhood of subtly expensive homes. In the front seat, Ken was rummaging for his last french fries, ignoring everyone like he was alone in the cab.
"What's your thing?" Jin asked Lip.
"I'm a mix. Physical and mental."
KGA would call that a Hybrid Talent, Physical and Hypercognitive. But of course Lip didn't use KGA jargon. That was refreshing.
Then the Aussie neatly opened his mind up a bit to show his credentials, and Jin realized that Jackson hadn't been kidding about these guys.
Lip wouldn't just rank high at KGA. He'd be unprecedented. Not only could this guy outmatch anyone in speed, strength, and healing abilities, but he had powerful psychic defenses, complex shields designed to keep his mind secret, and significant level psychic skill to top it off: He could likely read unshielded minds.
KGA had been trying to breed hybrid talent like this for decades. They wouldn't even be able to classify Lip. Stunning.
The taxi pulled up in front of a brick house.
"Can I go home?" Ken asked immediately.
"Why don't you stick around for a while, okay, mate? Hang out in your old room."
Ken got out of the car. Jin watched him walk up the path to the house, noting that exchange. Old room—so he'd lived here before, and now he didn't. Had he grown up there and moved out after graduation, or what? "Is he always so friendly?" Jin asked Lip.
"Nope." Lip paid the fare. "Let's go."
Jin had gotten a second wind when he'd pounced on Ken, but his exhaustion returned as he anticipated the tedious introductions that likely lay ahead. A migraine was threatening, and he felt like he was dragging an extra few hundred pounds as he walked from the car to the door. He badly needed sleep.
Just a little longer. Jackson told him he could rest as soon as he was in the company of these Talents. Jin fantasized about the bed they'd have for him.
Inside the well furnished home, several men were spread throughout the living room and the kitchen. Not all were in view. It was clear from their looks, physiques, and relatively quiet minds that they were all Talents. At this point using his Talent felt like punching himself, so Jin stuck to scanning for the basic information that floated on the outside layers of their shields.
There was a tall guy with plum-dark skin sitting in an armchair. Kel, from Senegal. He had the cool beauty of a young prince, with high, noble cheekbones, full lips, and an air of incisive watchfulness. Another "physical and mental" mix, as Lip had put it. And like Lip, his shields were formidable. Kel nodded to Jin with a blank expression.
"Have a seat," Lip said, gesturing to an empty chair. "You need something to drink?"
"Juice if you have it." Calories. Running on calories.
His eyes moved to a man slouched against the frame of the open french doors leading to the backyard. Mark. He was beautiful, even for a Talent, with bronze skin and thick, dark brown hair. He looked like the descendent of a Native chief, with a dark charisma Jin could feel from across the room. He also looked like a killer. When he straightened from the doorway and sat on the sofa across from Jin's chair, he moved with a panther's deadly grace. A physical Talent, for sure. Jin had never been so impressed by one. Damn.
Lip was back with a tall glass of orange juice and a casual smile. It was an amusing contrast to Mark's broody aura. But despite their outward differences, Kel, Mark and Lip were definitely old friends. Jin got the sense they were the ones in charge around here.
Then two more Talents came into the room from a hallway, and things started to get weird. Apparently, not all of the rogue Talents were in perfect shape.
The new ones were a couple. Aki, a sullen-looking Japanese hunk with a mop of shiny black hair, and Luke, another pale, dark-haired beauty with light green eyes and a startlingly frail build. There was something distinctly, disturbingly unwell about them both. Especially Luke. It sent a chill down Jin's spine.
They must have been attacked, or something. Something had fucked them up. Especially Luke. He was dead in the eyes, and when Jin brushed against his head, he heard a kind of strange, distant static that spooked him to his core.
Aki stared coolly at him, and when Jin met his eyes Aki cocked his chin in a haughty greeting. Jin was relieved. This one had been wrecked, too, but he still had his wits about him.
Jin beamed at him, even as he wondered what the hell Jackson had gotten him into. Also, where was Ken?
"So this is Jin," Lip announced, sitting on the arm of the sofa where Aki and Luke had sat. "He's a telepath and he's just deserted KGA. Apparently there's been a change in leadership."
Kel appraised Jin again. "Who?"
"Uh," Jin said. "Wilhelm Strauss just took over."
Kel nodded in apparent recognition. "And who's your director?"
"How do you guys know this shit?" Jin asked, caught off guard. "Jackson Gadamer's my director. He's the one who sent me. He knew about you guys, but KGA doesn't. He said I could hide out here, that you have some trick for staying under the radar."
Most of the Talents looked vaguely surprised, except for Kel, who was possibly incapable of showing emotion, and Luke, whose eyes were fixed somewhere off near the farthest corner of the ceiling.
"A trick?" Lip asked.
"Yeah. How are you doing that? KGA sweepers come through Paris all the time. How are you still here?"
Lip shrugged. "We just use our shields. I guess we share them, sort of."
"Share?" Jin leaned forward, forgetting his exhaustion for a moment in his eagerness to learn a new trick. "How?"
"I dunno. We just connect and our shields seem stronger. We've done it for a long time. Can't promise total safety, but it's worked so far." The Australian paused. "If you feel for it, you can do it too."
Surprised, Jin scanned Lip's head again. Like all telepaths, he "saw" minds in visual metaphors—every brain a vast ecosystem of hallways, paths, rooms and walls, trapdoors and secret passages, endless layers of hidden places. When he skimmed Lip's outer shields in search of the protection he was offering, Jin found a sort of veil wafting his way.
"Can you use it?" Lip asked.
Yes, Jin thought could. Jackson had told him to. He cautiously opened his shields and "pulled" the veil over himself until he felt it settling over the surface of his mind. It hummed faintly for a moment, and then he could scarcely feel it at all.
That didn't make sense. Jin showed as much on his face. "So, I'm invisible now?"
Lip shrugged ambiguously. "Guess so."
Jin looked around the room again. Jackson really hadn't been kidding. These Talents were doing all right for themselves, despite whatever drama had befallen Aki and Luke.
Just then another blond came in from the kitchen. And Jin—to his own shock—knew him.
The blond froze in the archway, his blue-gray eyes widening in horror.
No fucking way.
Jin couldn't stop the grin from spreading over his face. Speaking of drama…
"What are you doing here?" Sky asked sharply, using the impeccable British English he'd been taught growing up in Japan.
The others looked between them in surprise.
"Nice to see you, too," Jin said warmly, remembering the last time he'd met Osaka's finest rent boy. It was a good thing he trusted Jackson's assurances that these Talents would grant him safe haven. Otherwise, he might have worried Sky would fuck it up. The whiner. Sure enough…
"Get him out," Sky said, looking at Lip and thrusting a finger in Jin's direction.
"How do you know each other?" Mark asked in a voice that sounded like gold flakes falling through dark chocolate. Not bad for an American.
Jin smirked. Hilarious jabs at the little orphan empath were collecting at the tip of his tongue, but he fought to remain on good behavior. Looking peacefully at his old acquaintance, he waited for an explanation.
"I ran into him in Osaka," Sky muttered, turning shifty.
Jin snorted and gave the blond a once-over, taking in his lithe figure, his creamy skin, his expensive clothes. Looking good. Even better than before. Cut back on the smack, obviously. Jin wondered how much that did for his Talent. Sky had always made such creative use of his empathy.
"And?" Mark asked.
"And he's a… a bad guy."
"I was just working," Jin said innocently. "Same as you were."
"You're an evil, sadistic prick."
"Well, you're the one calling names." But we both know you're into that, he projected into Sky's mind. Name-calling and sadistic pricks.
It was worth the psychic sting of effort to see those stormy eyes widen in outrage.
Lip broke in. "Sky, he's on the run from KGA, and he knows about us. If they find him, they find us. Is there a real reason to turn him away?"
Sky was incredulous, clearly horrified that Lip had to ask. "Because he's a sadistic asshole?"
"Objection!" Jin exclaimed, and saw Mark lower his head to hide a smirk. Aki was looking at Sky with vague dismay, as if embarrassed for him.
"Do you have a reason to think he's a threat to us?" Lip pressed Sky in a somewhat cool tone, and it was pretty clear, to Jin's amusement, that Sky was having some trouble fitting in here.
Sky set his jaw stubbornly. "I don't trust him with Ken."
Oh, shit. Jin leaned forward. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"He's my brother," Sky snapped.
That was too much. Jin started to laugh. And then he couldn't stop.
"Fuck this." Sky turned and stalked out of the room, his perfect shoulder-length hair shimmering.
Aki got up from the sofa with a tired look and followed Sky. Luke didn't seem to notice.
Jin was still laughing, tears welling up in his eyes. He held his stomach; he was beyond help. Bordering on hysterical. "Wait…"
"You're tired," Mark said. "You should rest."
"Look," Jin managed. "I'm not here to…" He pictured Sky and Ken side by side. Nope. Still couldn't deal. The laughter boiled up and over again and he waved his hands, shaking his head.
"You can have the guest room." Mark said. "I'll show you."
Jin rose from the soft chair somehow, finally settling down into snickers. "Goodnight." He bowed to Aki and Luke, to Lip and Kel. "Thank you. Goodnight."
Mark led him down a hallway, into a spotless room with hardwood floors and the softest, most inviting bed Jin had ever seen. His eyelids started to droop. He nodded drowsily as Mark showed him the attached bathroom, the cabinet, towels and a toothbrush.
"We'll have to deal with you and Sky, whatever that is," Mark said, "But he'll keep his distance for now. You're safe here."
Jin toed off his shoes as he sank down onto the bed. For some reason, the Brady Bunch theme song had started to play in his head. "I could be out for a while. Couple of days."
"We'll check in. Anything you need when you wake up?"
"Food," Jin mumbled, rolling onto his stomach. Impressive hospitality. "I'll need food."
"Okay. Sleep well."
As Jin sank down into the warm, dark waters of deep sleep, blurry thoughts ran through his tired mind.
Luke's spooky head.
Jackson and the team.
Last of all—oddly enough—Ken.
Jin appeared to fall asleep as soon as his weight settled into the bed. His face was gaunt, and there were purplish circles under his eyes. He looked like hell in the way Talents did when they were psychically exhausted. No one would doubt that he was on the run.
But worn down or not, Jin was clever and alert. Mark didn't miss the way his eyes had sharpened on Luke. He wondered what Luke's mangled head looked like to a telepath. He wondered what Aki's looked like.
They'd never had a telepath in their midst before, not really. Psychic abilities weren't their strongest suit, as a group. Luke was an empath as well as a healer, but he had always done what he could to ignore the empathy; and Sky was an empath, but he didn't know much about it other than the tricks he'd come up with as a man of the night. They were no KGA.
Jen had been a telepath. But she'd been a lot of things. Like catastrophically insane.
Mark joined Lip and Kel in the driveway. Lip was propped against his parked motorcycle, arms crossed, and Kel was sitting astride his own with his phone in hand.
"Is he out?" Lip asked.
"Yeah." Mark stood between them and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. He nodded at Kel. "What do we know?"
"Not much." Kel turned the phone idly in his hand. "Need to find out what's going on at KGA. Jackson Gadamer should be easier to check out."
Of the three of them Mark was the most gifted physically, but Lip and Kel outdid him when it came to deduction and logic. They analyzed information so well it was almost mystical. Kel was especially into gathering intelligence. The stoic Senegalese Talent was always flying around to spy, hacking into highly secured systems, keeping tabs on various paramilitary organizations, government operations, and—to the extent that it was possible—KGA.
It was all in the purview of their own organization, the Alternative Research and Security Institute. ARSI had once been ARI, a modestly funded private group devoted to unconventional research in neuroscience and genetics. Lip, Mark, and Kel had quietly co-opted it for themselves six years back, after the fall of the paramilitary agency where they'd met as young recruits. They poached the most talented scientists they could find and transformed the place into an underground operation devoted to researching Talent and monitoring KGA. As quickly as they could, they expanded the facilities to accommodate a training academy and began recruiting young men and women to teach them the lucrative art of espionage.
ARSI was still growing, funding itself with private security and defense contracts. Lip, Mark, and Kel took on endless missions themselves to keep the money pouring in while they built up a base of impeccably trained agents. Recently they had finally gained enough momentum to focus on research and intelligence.
They'd be ready to start looking for more Talents to bring in soon. None of them much liked the idea of building an army, or dealing with unknown Talents. But it didn't seem like they had a choice. It was only a matter of time before ARSI landed on KGA's radar.
So far they'd stayed out of that brutal organization's grasp. But there was no knowing how strong KGA would get. Whether they liked it or not, a war was guaranteed.
They were taking the telepath seriously, to say the least.
"Do we know anything about Wilhelm Strauss?" Mark asked.
"Just that he's on the Board of about a dozen Talents who've run KGA for years. If this bloke's taken the wheel for himself, that's big news." Lip sighed openly. "Anyone wanna bet it's good news?"
Mark smiled without humor. "Wouldn't recognize good news at this point."
"Been a hell of a couple months," Lip agreed, and glanced over his shoulder at the house. "Luke and Aki still in there?"
They all went quiet. Mark knew they were picturing the same thing: Luke's frail body, his empty expression, his hollow eyes.
"Luke looks like hell," Lip murmured, his forehead crinkling with the helpless concern they'd all gotten used to since it had happened. There was a long pause before he added, "He looks worse."
Kel nodded slightly.
Mark gazed at the concrete with a bleak look. What more was there to say?
He just didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to do anymore.
Apparently Talents went crazy sometimes. Apparently they lost their minds. Apparently there was no stopping it.
That was what had happened to Jen. That was why she'd turned on them. That was why she'd assaulted them six weeks before, mangled Aki's head, lured Luke away for reasons unknown and ripped his mind out at the root.
It was also probably why, just two weeks before that, Luke's twin brother David had abruptly ended his own life.
Apparently these were things that could happen.
What were they supposed to do?
The front door swung open, and they all turned. Aki came out of the house with Luke following like a ghost. He paused and put a hand on Luke's shoulder, murmured something in his ear. Then he approached them.
"Hey," Lip said.
"I told Ken to stay here," Aki said, very quietly. The circles under his eyes had grown darker. "Keep an eye on him. And that new guy."
"Sure." Lip frowned. Mark and Kel were studying Aki, too. The Australian glanced at Luke, then back at Aki, raising his eyebrows. "Everything okay?"
Aki dropped his head and closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at the sky. "He's not having a good day."
"Why don't I come stay with you?"
The Japanese boy shook his head.
"You sure?"
"It's fine. He'll take a pill and we'll sleep."
Mark looked past Aki. Luke was standing on the porch, perfectly still, his green eyes blank.
"All right," Lip murmured. "Can I come by in the morning?"
Mark's gaze shifted back to Aki. God, it hurt to look at him. The Japanese Talent had been so strong before she hit him. He'd fought so hard. "Aki," he said.
Aki looked at him, his dark eyes suddenly guarded.
Mark's heart sank. Everything was so complicated. "You sure you're okay?"
Aki's lips quirked slightly, the bleakest smile Mark had ever seen. He didn't answer.
"I'll come by later tonight," Mark said.
Aki shrugged. "Okay. Goodnight."
Mark, Lip, and Kel watched the younger Talents walk down the street toward their own house. There was a long silence.
"I don't know what to do," Lip murmured.
"Maybe the telepath can help," Mark said. Before Aki and Luke had come out, he'd felt only dull hopelessness. Now he just wanted to change this. He'd do anything to change it.
Kel picked up his helmet. "I'll handle the research tonight."
"Thanks, mate." Lip was still frowning after the troubled Talents, now out of sight. "I'll be in touch. I got a bad feelin'."
Mark groaned faintly. Even Kel sighed and shook his head. Lip's deductions weren't always precise, but his hunches were never wrong. "Hate it when you fuckin' say that," Mark said.
They all scattered, Lip and Kel on their bikes, and Mark on foot, headed for the house he shared with Dylan.
Two months ago, Mark had been in Luke and Aki's house when Luke shouted for him. Upstairs in the bedroom, Aki had gone into some sort of seizure. His nose was bleeding, which was rarely a good sign for them. It meant things were straining or snapping in the mind. Shields, usually.
But this time it was worse. Aki had a handful of Luke's hair as they carried him to the bed, and he managed to choke out four words: It's Jen, and Hide Ken.
Mark wished he could forget the screams that followed. But also the silence that came next, when Aki fell into a coma.
They called Sky, the only psychic they had, but when he tested Aki's shields he jumped back like he'd been burned. And that was how he described it. It was burned out in there, charred and smoking.
The senselessness of it was staggering. Mark didn't know what she would want with Ken, or why she would have to hurt Aki. Jen's unruly psychic Talent had been twisting her mind for a long time. This went beyond any chance of redemption.
And if there was more where this came from, they could all very well be fucked.
It wasn't clear how Luke figured out what she wanted. Lip guessed he had spoken to her psychically, or used Aki as a conduit somehow.
Luke only said goodbye to Ken. Slipped into his bedroom with a parting gift. At the time Ken was still covered from head to toe in gnarled and pitted scars. Luke used his healing Talent to smooth them out. Didn't completely erase them, for whatever reason, but diminished them enough that Ken could walk through the world as inconspicuously as he wanted.
Then he left.
A fucking note on the kitchen counter explained:
She'll settle for me. I'm going. Don't follow.
Please take care of Aki.
I hope everyone will be all right.
Mark wished he could forget that, too.
The question remained: Why?
What did she want? A hostage? A lover? A whipping boy? A pet? What?
They couldn't track her down. Her Talent was godlike compared to theirs.
The muscles shrank from Aki's bones. Fuck, it was sick. The helplessness was agonizing. All they could do was watch him fall apart.
But they learned not to question Aki's chances of recovery in front of Ken. He scarcely spoke to them, but he didn't have to: one seething glance from those mismatched eyes could silence anyone. Until then the kid had kept to himself like a shadow in the corner, but now he was glued to Aki's bedside. At any hour they could find him with his arms crossed on the mattress and his head bowed close to Aki's, whispering unknown things.
Maybe that was what did it.
Aki did wake up.
And a few days later, Luke came back. Just walked through the front door and sat down on the first chair he saw. In a flat, empty voice, he told them where to find Jen. He'd killed her, he said. Then he fell quiet. And that was that.
Luke's eyes were dead. It wasn't exhaustion. It wasn't trauma.
It was an abyss.
Now it was almost midnight, and Dylan was in bed. He slept on his side, his dark, wild hair tumbling over his forehead, eyelashes fanned out over his sharp cheekbones. Even in sleep, his brow was furrowed.
Hard to comprehend what grief could do to a person. Hard to believe that Luke's older brother was known for his ability to light up a room with a grin.
Hard to believe how fast things could change. Between David's suicide, Dylan's traumatic grief, and Luke's—whatever this was, all three O'Reilly brothers had been taken down in a matter of weeks.
Dylan stirred when Mark slipped into bed behind him. Mark curled an arm around his waist, kissing his shoulder. There was no response.
After a long hesitation, Mark said, "Lip has a bad feeling."
Dylan's only reply was a slight shake of his head.
"Dylan." Mark pressed his forehead to the nape of his neck. Grief had a horrible hold on the Irishman; Mark dreaded the day Dylan woke up and realized the cost of his detachment. "Go see Luke and Aki. I'm asking you. Okay?"
Dylan didn't answer.
Mark sighed against his back. It didn't seem like Dylan could even feel him anymore. It was deeply troubling. He wished he knew what to do. But he never did. He never had.
Sky ignored Aki's advice not to bring Jin up with Ken. Not because he didn't respect Aki's opinion. But because Aki just didn't understand.
None of them did. And Sky wasn't going to wait for them to come around.
There was no way to speak to Ken in Lip's house. The Australian turned into a guard dog, always trying to stand between them, like he thought Sky meant to bother Ken. Like he thought Sky meant for things to get so heated and confusing every time. Like Sky wanted anything but to be there for his brother. His brother!
Ken ignored his first two calls, but around one in the morning, he finally picked up. He didn't even say anything when he did. Ken was still weird about things like that, phones and greetings and conversations. Being this fresh out of lifelong isolation, he hadn't gotten the hang of anything yet.
"Hey," Sky said, trying not to sound nervous. Younger brother or not, Ken was intimidating. "Sorry if I woke you up."
"Were you sorry the first two times?" Ken's voice was deep for someone of his stature, and he had a way of speaking that gave each word an iron weight. At least, he did when he talked to Sky. Or it felt that way.
"Yeah," Sky answered awkwardly. "I just need to tell you something."
"About that guy. Jin."
Sky cleared his throat. "It's just that I know him. From Japan. And I just want to tell you not to go near him."
"Okay? I don't know if you talked to him earlier, or—"
Three quick beeps. Ken had already ended the call.
Sky tossed the phone aside, sweeping a hand through his hair.
Why wouldn't anyone listen to him?
He had a very bad feeling about Ken and Jin. He wasn't sure why, but thinking of the two of them at the same time made him prickle with anxiety. It made his stomach turn. It made him sick.
It made him want a fix so bad his veins ached.
He'd been clean for three months, since he'd arrived in Paris and found his little brother living in a house with a bunch of people like them. Ken still didn't want anything to do with him. There wasn't much Sky could see to do about it except keep trying, and in the meantime, break out of the habit that had held him captive for so long. No more heroin for him.
Not that Ken seemed to notice. Sky could only hope he cared. And he knew it wasn't enough, yet, but what would ever be enough?
Ken was little when they were separated. Sky wasn't much older when he alone was bought out of that brothel in Romania, whisked away by Tetsuo Iida, a prominent Osaka gangster. He remembered that in those early years there had always seemed to be a connection between his feelings and those of the small, pale, black-haired boy, but he was too young to contemplate it, and he lost track of it when he was transported far away to Japan.
Iida doted upon Sky obsessively, rarely letting him out of sight. Sky slept with him, bathed with him, and learned to cater to his desires. The man was known for his eccentric decadence and his taste for art and antiques. Sky was eleven when Iida introduced him to his most beloved pastime: opium, smoked from ornate antique pipes.
That was the start of forgetting.
When Sky was thirteen, Tetsuo died of a stroke. His brother and sergeant Takuya took over his estate and affairs, happily adopting Sky and replacing opium with heroin.
Takuya was a more ruthless criminal than his brother had been, and soon found new uses for his underage concubine. Sky was regularly sent out to reward the man's favorite associates and allies, and occasionally to murder his rivals.
Sky's charms kept him safe among these dangerous men. His physical beauty was unparalleled. His drug habit kept him loyal. Most importantly, his empathy allowed him to read and influence the feelings of those around him. Sky honed this Talent to keep them happy. They rewarded him with affection and a steady supply of heroin.
Growing up in this haze of drugs, sex, and luxury, he almost never thought of the world he'd left behind. Even so, sometimes he had nightmares so horrific, so real, that he woke up shaking uncontrollably, groping for the needle.
Maybe, deep down, he had always sensed the dreams were more than dreams. But it wasn't until he was fifteen that he knew for sure.
One afternoon as he was draped across Takuya's silk sheets while the man was out on business, a blast of emotion broke through his drugged bliss and flooded his senses with pain and fear. It felt like something was stabbing him in the eye, tearing, gouging, and his head rang with wordless pleas for help.
All at once, he knew—even as he lurched out of bed, stumbling for the bathroom—he knew that the line between himself and his brother had never disappeared.
Crumpled on the floor, clutching his eye, Sky felt the other boy's desperation reaching over land and sea, gripping him like a vice. Calling him, begging him for help. And as the vision returned to his eye and the pain faded to a persistent throb, Sky became overwhelmed by shock and guilt.
Almost instinctively he tried to call back to the other boy, to comfort him and tell him help was coming. He even started thinking about a plan. Surely he could convince Takuya to take him to Romania. He could convince anyone to do anything. Takuya would probably love it. He'd feel like a hero, and so would Sky. And maybe the boy could live with them.
If so, then Sky would have a little brother. The thought made his heart swell up like a balloon. But as he thought all this out, Sky's eye kept hurting. So he took another hit.
He wasn't sure how long it was before he thought about the other boy again. Time was so hard to hold onto. The days, the weeks, the months, they just kept slipping by.
Each time he remembered, he reached across that link with a fresh surge of desperation. But somehow, each time, things slipped out of reach again.
Years floated by. They just floated by.
It was all very confusing.
Ken opened the door of his room at Lip's and peered cautiously outside, listening closely. The house was almost silent, but he could hear Lip's voice on the back porch downstairs. The Australian was talking to someone on the phone.
Sidling out of the room, Ken walked silently down the hall and descended the stairs. He knew they'd put the telepath to sleep in the other guest room. Hopefully he'd stay asleep. Ken just wanted the leftover pizza he'd seen in the refrigerator earlier in the day.
It was still there. Ken pulled a slice from the box, closed the refrigerator, and leaned back against the counter to eat it by the light of a small bulb over the stove. Chewing the first bite, he grimaced in disappointment. The crust was tough and all the sauce had soaked in. It was nothing like the cold slice of pepperoni pizza he'd enjoyed a few days before. He ate it anyway.
He hoped Aki was okay. Luke had looked weird. And everyone seemed tense. Even Sky was somehow more aggravating than usual. Ken frowned thinking about it.
Things had been okay between him and Sky for the past couple of months, probably because there were so many disasters to deal with and the blond was actually trying to be useful for once. Ken should have known better than to think the peacetime would last.
Why did Sky keep trying to tell him what to do? Ken couldn't wrap his head around it. Just because they had the same parents, Sky thought they were supposed to act like brothers did on TV. Well, it was probably because of the link between their heads, as well. They'd always been able to sense each other's feelings, whether Ken liked it or not. He did not. But he was stuck with it until he could figure out how to get rid of the connection.
Maybe he wouldn't hate it so much if it had ever done anything useful. But it hadn't. Even though Ken had used it to call Sky for help, for years. And years. But whatever.
It wasn't Sky's job to save him. But it was notable that he only gave up his silk sheets and gangster drugs after Ken got himself out of Hell, hitchhiked across three countries with a bunch of body parts missing, and tracked down the Talents in Paris. Then Sky came to find him. Ken had only been in Paris for a couple of months at that point, and he was just starting to become a human being. After a lifetime in a dark cage he still had some catching up to do, but he was figuring it out. It didn't hurt to be surrounded by new luxuries like beds, showers, and food. Finally, he'd made it out of the dungeon, and things were looking up.
And then Sky showed up. What a joke.
Ken finished his slice of pizza and considered it for a moment before he opened the fridge and pulled out another.
The first time he saw Sky he couldn't believe it. Not only his beauty, which was so perfect it made Ken think of things like roses and diamonds, but the expectations he arrived with. This tall, pretty stranger tried to hug him.
The audacity of it turned Ken into a ball of rage. How could Sky say "brother" with those pleading, hopeful eyes, like he wasn't the one who'd taunted Ken with heroic daydreams while enjoying a life of silk sheets and expensive drugs? And how could he act so wounded when Ken didn't embrace his arrival? Why did he think Ken owed him anything?
Ken quickly decided to ignore Sky unless absolutely necessary. But the blond hadn't given up. Ken could feel the neediness wafting off of him all the time, and he could expect Sky, at every possible opportunity, to try and snare him into a meeting or conversation. That was one perk, at least. Interacting with the stupid shit did motivate Ken to develop his verbal skills, just to eviscerate Sky's pathetic pretenses and his pleas for family bonding.
What an idiot. Calling him on the phone tonight. Stay away from Jin? What was he talking about? Ken stayed away from everyone.
He frowned at the pizza and wondered if he could figure out how to order another one to be delivered. It didn't seem complicated.
The back door opened, and Lip's quiet footsteps crossed the living room. A moment later he appeared in the archway of the kitchen and blinked in surprise. "Jesus, mate. You're like a fuckin' ninja."
Ken smiled slightly.
Lip noticed the pizza and grimaced. "You're okay with that? Mark picked it up."
"It's not very good."
"No. Mark has awful taste in food."
Ken frowned. Bad taste in food? This puzzled him. It seemed easy enough to recognize what was delicious and what wasn't. So many things were delicious.
"Are you still hungry?"
Ken shrugged. "I just thought this would be good."
"Well, now you know better." Lip opened the freezer, releasing a cloud of steam into the warm, dim kitchen, and pulled out a flat box that he slid across the counter toward Ken. "Here. Pepperoni. Instructions on the back."
Ken picked up the box, intrigued. "Thanks."
"No worries." Lip's phone lit up in his hand and he lifted it to wave at Ken. "Back to work. I'll be around."
Ken nodded and turned immediately back to the pizza. Once he got it in the oven, he leaned against the counter and watched the frozen disc turn toasty and melted. The world was still bewildering, yeah, but he was starting to feel like he was getting the hang of things.
Aki sat slumped in an armchair, staring into nothing. Crouched on the floor before him was Luke. Luke had just finished healing the damage he'd done to Aki's body. But for some reason Aki still couldn't move.
He'd known it was going to be a bad night. Even if he hadn't known, he would have seen it in Lip's eyes, and Mark's, and Kel's. And if he were completely honest, he'd seen this exact thing coming. Her poison coming out. Luke turning violent.
Luke was staring at him now, studying him with that strange new mechanical look in his eyes. The old Luke would soothe him now. He'd say something. Old Luke would hold him. Old Luke's eyes would be full of quiet tenderness.
The old Luke wasn't there. But there were moments when Luke remembered who he was supposed to be, or saw the shadow of who he'd been, who she'd ripped out of him. Moments like this, when he spoke up and his voice wavered with uncertainty. "I hurt you."
"It's okay." Aki leaned forward immediately, framed Luke's skeletal face in his hands. Why wouldn't he eat? "But Luke, you can't do that. You can't hurt people." He closed his eyes briefly. It was all wrong. Luke would never hurt anyone. Never. And yet he had. And it could have been anyone. It could have been Ken.
Before Luke left and surrendered to Jen, he had doted on Ken. Luke loved Ken. But after he came back from Jen, it was like he barely recognized the kid. Aki sometimes wondered if he'd somehow managed to cut Ken out of his head, protectively, before he went to her. It wouldn't surprise him. Luke rarely acknowledged his psychic Talents, but he was always capable of more than he let on.
Anyway, it didn't matter. Luke had all but forgotten Ken, and sometimes that made Aki more nervous than anything. Not just because it meant one less reason for Luke to want to live, but because the darkness she had left in him was frightening, and Aki was gutted to realize he didn't trust Luke anymore.
Aki dropped his head, kneading Luke's bony shoulders. His chest was tight.
"I'm sorry." Luke's voice was vacant, but there were echoes of him in it.
Aki clung to them.
"It's okay." Aki looked at him again. "If it happens again, I'm calling one of the others. I don't want to, but I'm not strong enough now to fight you."
For a second, dismay flickered in Luke's eyes and he looked almost like himself.
Aki pulled Luke up into his arms, kissing his cheek and holding him close. "It's okay. It's fine. Don't worry."
Luke was silent. But doom radiated from him like the scent of sickness.
If only David were here. Aki stroked Luke's dark, limp hair, eyes shut tightly. Luke hadn't even begun to recover from his twin's death when all of this started. As if he ever would have recovered…
Aki guessed Jen must have taken him weak link because he was only twenty-four, a mere physical Talent, and inexperienced with psychics. She didn't know that he always trained his mind like he trained his body. A lifetime of meditation had served him well. When he first learned about Talents and psychics and shields, he didn't hesitate to expand his combat skills to the mental realm.
When his mind wasn't the open library she'd been counting on, she burned it down and left him for dead.
Why? Would they ever know? She was dead now, as far as a Talent of her strength could be declared dead. Her cold, still, corpse, untouched by decay, lay in a high-security tomb at ARSI.
Luke was still alive. His eyes were still open. He still spoke. But what she'd done to him…
Aki pulled back to look at Luke. He got thinner every day, and his large green eyes now seemed too big for his face. Aki caressed his cheek, wondering if he'd eat today, if he'd drink some juice, if the life would ever come back into his eyes.
Luke stared back at him silently. He did that often now, said Aki's name and nothing else. As if it was the only thought he could put into words. But this time he managed to get back to full sentences. "It's bad that I hurt you."
"She did this." Aki said, summoning the strength to speak in a firm voice. "She messed us up. But we're still alive. We'll get better. We just have to keep fighting."
"I'm tired."
"I'm tired, too, but we can't give up."
"I can't control anything." That dead calm look was returning to Luke's eyes. "Can't feel anything."
"Luke." Aki gripped his hands. "We can't give up."
"I can't tell the difference."
"It doesn't matter." Aki's voice firmed up with all the resolve he could summon. "You're going to eat today. You're going to rest. I'm going to call Sky. He said he'd try again."
Luke nodded slowly, his expression unchanged.


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Robert Friedman
Rob Friedman has over 25 years' experience in the environmental, health and safety (EHS) field. Rob joined Siemens Corporation in 1991 and has held a variety of technical and management positions for Siemens Corporation, Siemens Medical Solutions and now Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. Rob is currently Sr. Principal, EHS for Siemens Healthcare where he provides technical and strategic EHS support to Siemens Healthcare businesses. Rob also co-chairs the global Siemens Healthcare Product-Related EHS Protection Team as well as having global responsibilities covering EHS management systems and auditing. Rob represents Siemens Healthcare in ISO, IEC and ANSI standards activities, and is the convener of the IEC TC111 Work Group that developed the IEC 62474 material declaration international standard that was issued in March 2012. Rob has a BS degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a MS degree in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology.


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Our older girls had daily and weekly chores to do. Unless I lived in a fantasy world, I don't remember much complaining when they were young. When they were teenagers, 2/3 of them had to be threatened into cleaning their rooms. One in particular, who shall remain nameless, even resorted to let me clean her room, ridding it of excess at my discretion. That
Now Athena is different from the others. She said to me, and I quote, "I am not much made for working. I would rather play." Dear child. :\ She has daily chores to do that she doesn't mind and then some that she does. Since we moved here her chores have been multiplied but I, for one, think that is good. Nothing wrong with hard work.
She has daily inside chores like every kid. Make your bed, set the table, dry the dishes, etc...She usually feeds the animals their evening meal. She picks up dog poop. She fills water bowls and helps with the grooming. She helps Dad pick up sticks and pick rocks. It has been so hot lately that these chores have not been her favorite. Still she does them, often at a speed that wouldn't even register. Her dad says "If she moved any slower she would be going backwards." So dad decided that she should have a more exciting job to do. Cut grass.
When she was told of the news she was not at all excited but more nervous than anything. She wanted all the details, all of the instructions up front. She wanted to know if it was safe. Dad said it was but she had to ask me just to make sure. Some things dad says are perfectly safe, mom has a different opinion about. This, I told her was safe. The mower shuts down if weight is lifted off the seat.


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Hughton is understandingly looking at changing the side for the vital game against Cardiff City tomorrow night.
Chris Hughton – expected to shuffle side
With WBA winning 3-2 at Blackpool last night, Newcastle are just 3 points ahead of now second placed West Brom, with a game in hand.
Leon Best is ready to make his debut and a fit-again Shola Ameobi could both start the game tomorrow night.
Chris Hughton said today:
"It has been an emotional time for Peter and we decided to rest him. He will be back in contention for the Cardiff City game (on Friday),"
"I believe that with Leon now in the squad we have options for every game up front."
"Leon has that pace and power and we have Shola (Ameobi), Andy Carroll, Peter and Nile Ranger, who all offer something different."
We need some new players in from Saturday night, when Newcastle hugely disappointed their fans, by being unable to beat a 10-man Leicester side.
It's turning out that tomorrow's game could be a watershed game for us, we really need a win tomorrow night to keep us at the head of the queue for promotion.
Now is not the time for the side to start trailing off.
Comments welcome.
Please cast your vote vote in our new poll on the home page.
The poll is worded as follows:- Do You Approve Of The Way Mike Ashley Is Now Running Newcastle United?
10 comments so far
I'm not sure i agree with CH comments on his strikers offering something different.
Carroll, Ameobi, Ranger and even Best are all big bulky forwards.
I have to admit i dont know alot about Best's turn of pace, apart from Chris bringing it up. Hes not a striker i ever thought of as one with blistering pace!
Lovenkrands does have that pace, but for me lacks the killer instinct.
One thing they all have in common is that none of them appear to be prolific!
That shouldnt be too big of a problem, as long as the midfield chips in. However our form has dipped coincidently at the same time Nolans has!
Without Nolan,i can not see were the goals will come from in midfield!
Smith DOESNT score.
Jonas, Guthrie and Routledge are not high scoring midfielders either!
I am worried. I hoped we could have bought a goal scoring midfielder and a prolific striker (Beckford).
However we move on with what we have.I hope Nolan / Shola / Best can find their scoring boots and take us to the PL.
Been saying this for a while now, but to get Nolan back on form he needs to be given the chance to get forward without the need to rush back. He doesn't have the fitness to do that.
I'd play him in a 3 man central midfield with Guthrie and Smith. Maybe Barton when he returns.
That'll mean playing a lone forward and Chris has a lot of options, just needs to find the right one. I don't think Lovenkrands would work on his own up front though.
Unfortunately, we think that there will be only 1 or 2 points between the top 3 teams come Saturday evening and we feel that Mike may well be cacking himself about the prospect of not getting promoted and all of the millions of pounds he will lose should this occur .
We think that Mike will ultimately regret not investing a little bit more money in new players during the transfer window than he did do.
My view is we need to be very careful with an all out attack policy. Cardiff have proven against many sides away from home they have the ability and counter-attacking speed to hit home teams on the break. Interestingly Bristol City went for an all out attack strategy AND fielded 2 new players…… and lost 0-6 !!! At the risk of getting flamed…
Entertainers i disagree with you there, i do agree with hughton in saying all the strikers offer something different. ranger is different to ameobi and carrol in his work rate, carrol is much better in the air than bambi and best is a hold-up striker with pace. there all different. I do agree we need a prolific scorer tho as none of the forwards we have could knock in 15-20 in the prem which is what we are going to need when we go up.
wyn, agree with your team but id start carrol or bambi first and then bring on best after half time, dont think cardiff is the best team to debut against as if he doesnt make an impact straight away then cardiff will tear us to shreds.
I take you point of view and of course all the strikers have plus and negative points,which seperates them.
But my point is that 'generally' they are the same type of striker and i think we both agree we needed the prolific forward.
Anyway i hope your right about Best and his turn of pace, we could do with that!
loven should start with best both have pace and best has height, if we dont score with that then we are in trouble all the other strikers are firing blanks. Dont seem to get to many comments on here since you started back up again, they have all turned to org instead.Find them a bit to clannish tbh


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15 Of The Longest Shores On The Planet
Jul 31, 2016
One of the most critical designs of the Islamic Religion of Saudi Arabia, Al - Masjid al -Nabawi situated in Madina is considered to become the world's second holiest mosque. Columbus - Ohio's main city - was originally created across the junction of the Olentangy and Scioto Rivers in 1812. Historically generally known as Cowtown, " the town was a location for drives from Colorado while in the late 1800s. While Sanantonio is normally acknowledged for the Alamo, the Arizona area is also household to some river-walk and a variety of Spanish tasks. On the shores of Lake Michigan where three streams match, Milwaukee is called Brew Town," thanks to the lot of German immigrants who started breweries while in the 1800s (believe Blatz, Pabst, Schlitz and Burns).
Additionally, here is the heart of the Florida Area Coast, a higher-computer center of Southeastern USA. At more than 78,000 population, the city isn't very huge and gives less pressure to life than do large downtown metroplexes, together with supplying its satisfying sightseeing attractions. Kennedy provides destinations for all ages, making it fun and a thorough academic complex for the group too a core for NASA jobs. A buddy retired to a part of Central Texas at Christmas, a cold snap reach, and the furnace went out.
The machine of Degree close to Melbourne incorporates many group opportunities for trips and classes in conjunction with NASA along with other sights. These are a few wonderful beaches in also and Florida places that are great to retire in California. I can see Florida's allure poland tourist attractions for pension, inexperienced, warm and it's merely a good place to be your last decades to relax and commit,. Florida looks better all the time, thinking about the snow and ice a lot of the remaining US acquired - except California.


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Increasingly renowned for her work with young musicians, Alice is a sought-after teacher; her students have been awarded scholarships and music places at Alleyn's, Highgate, Sevenoaks, St. Marylebone and Dame Alice Owen's schools. Alice gained her LRAM in 2011 and currently teaches piano and chamber music at Dulwich College and Bute House Preparatory School, having previously taught at Junior Guildhall, Dame Alice Owen's School, and King's College London. From 2013-14 she held a Leverhulme Fellowship with Pro Corda, and coaches regularly on courses alongside adjudicating for CMF.
Alice teaches the piano privately in the West London area, and enquiries from keen, committed students of any age or level (from beginner to post-Grade 8) should be directed through the CONTACT page.
Alice is also experienced in teaching music theory, and offers lessons specifically tailored towards passing the ABRSM Grade 5 Theory Exam. These can be arranged on a weekly basis over a longer period of time, or as a 'crash course' in the lead-up to the exam itself


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Online program would be a perfect solution for the students who cannot attend all the courses on site.
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The Open University invites applications for full - and part-time studentships in our suite of pathways within The Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership.
The link below is to the Grand Union advert for PhD studentships on jobs.ac.uk.
As it says in the advert, the Security pathway encompasses the interdisciplinary research fields of security, privacy and surveillance.
opics of interest include:
- security in and of organisations,
- security and international law, human rights and human trafficking,
- post 9/11 security,
- surveillance and the surveillance society,
- social aspects of surveillance technologies,
- privacy, information security and privacy including big data,
- war,
- cyber-security,
- cyber-currencies,
- policing – especially policing and human rights law, policing and security and police interviews and witness interpretations,
- policy and practice of social work in relation to domestic violence, child protection and young offenders,
- social aspects of software engineering for secure systems,
- social aspects of privacy management especially in mobile and ubiquitous systems,
- social aspects of digital forensics.
Closing date is January 20th 2017.


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Radiohead: Kid A and Amnesiac
What, you were expecting anything else? I grouped the both of them together for two reasons. First, I was only doing a list of ten albums and didn't want to double-up on any bands in the interest of variety. That's why you only see one album a piece by TVoTR, Sonic Youth, and My Morning Jacket. It's why Hail to the Thief and In Rainbows aren't on here either. I just couldn't clog up the list with 5 bands worth of work. Second, I believe both of these albums go hand in hand anyways.
Several months back I wrote an extremely long-winded review of the Deluxe Edition of Kid A. I wrote that Kid A, to me, was an album about the difficulties of making an album. On the flipside, I've always believed that Amnesiac is an album about how easy it is to make an album. The reason I believe this to be true is because it simply makes no sense. The tracks have no logical sequence to them, and you could probably play the entire thing in reverse and it wouldn't make a difference at all.
99.9% of the time, when bands do this, it doesn't work. It's usually disastrous actually. Sequencing, ebb, and flow are supposed to be required for truly great albums. Here's the problem though; all of the songs on Amnesiac are really, really fucking good. To make things even crazier, the songs from Amnesiac seem to work better live than any of their other work, which REALLY makes no sense. But I digress, I stopped trying to figure out Amnesiac a long time ago and as soon as that happened, I began enjoying it more than I ever had. Maybe Yorke explains it best on the opening chorus of track 1, "I'm a reasonable man/get off, get off, get off my case." Maybe, just maybe, Radiohead, for once, wanted everyone to stop overanalyzing every second of every track and just enjoy the friggin' album. In other words, sometimes music doesn't have to make sense.
And that's that. Kid A is my favorite album of the decade and probably of all-time (for now at least). It took years after its release to get there, but it was there every step of the way and I'm thankful for that. That said, it wouldn't be what it is without Amnesiac, because it just helps me appreciate Kid A for what it is. And, in a delicious twist of irony, Amnesiac's songs provided the band with its best live material in their catalog. I guess that means that both albums kind of made the best parts of each other what they are, so maybe it's fair to view them as one cumulative piece of work, especially since they were recorded at the same time, even though the band would still probably disagree.
I got a bunch of feedback on Facebook from people, so thanks to everyone for reading. I enjoyed doing this list and I'm conjuring up something similar for next week that should work pretty well too.
So, with that, here's 3 favorites off Amnesiac, followed by 3 from Kid A. Enjoy the weekend.
Kid A
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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Eventually, she had transitioned to using only her crutches. Sure, she walks slow. She needs to be reminded to line her feet up. She falls more. And she's not as confident. But she's getting there. I don't even take the walker into preschool or daycare anymore. I leave it in the truck in case the teachers want it, but she goes with just her forearm crutches these days.
It's a big deal.
Until it isn't.
Today, as I walked into the daycare classroom just before lunch to help her with her catheter, I noticed that she was a little weepy. The teacher explained that she had a rough morning. She seemed tired and unwilling to share. Which was drama. And then, coming back from the muscle room, she fell. She was turning in her crutches and she fell.
Yes, she was physically hurt.
But when I asked her where it hurt the most, she pointed to her chest. That spot where we put our hands when we pledge allegiance. The spot where she places her hand when she gasps at a particularly sparkly something-or-other.
Over her heart.
I felt the lump in my throat. Because I knew what was coming next.
"So, your feelings were hurt?"
"Yes," she replied. "My friends laughed at me."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't think of anything to say. As she whimpered at the memory of it, I fought the tears of the future of it. We went about the business of cathing.
"Esther-Faith," I started. "How do you feel when your friends laugh at you when you're being silly?"
"I feel silly," she replied.
"Do you think your friends thought you were being silly?"
"Maybe," she answered. "But I was hurt. And the laughing hurt my heart more."
We finished. Washed our hands. Had a nice long hug. And went back into the classroom. We weren't there a full minute before two more "friends" started badgering her about wearing a pull-up.
"Why do you still wear a pull-up, Esther-Faith," one of them questioned.
"Yeah. I don't have to wear a pull-up anymore," the other echoed.
She looked at me. Her eyes begging me to take her out of the classroom. I knelt down in front of her. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and I whispered. "What do you want to tell your friends?" She shrugged. I held her delicate face in my hands and forced her to make eye contact. "Esther-Faith," I said. "You can tell your friends that you will wear a pull-up until your body is ready to not need it anymore." She stared into my eyes. "And that's ok, sweet girl." She wrapped her arms around my neck, buried her face in my hair, and slowly sighed.
It does not get easier.
For all the things she does that make me proud, I am sad that I can't protect her from the things that hurt. Hurting and healing make us all stronger. But these hurts... these pains... the aches in my soul for the things that I would change for my daughter if I could...
She is AMAZING.
She wasn't "supposed" to walk at all. And she's on the brink of walking with just one crutch.
She is AMAZING.
She was "supposed" to be "significantly developmentally delayed." But she did almost a dozen pages of self-assigned homework this evening. And she's on the brink of reading.
She is AMAZING.
She wasn't "supposed" to be here at all. But she brings out the best in all of us. Her brothers. Her dad. Me. She is our glue.
She is amazing.
On "Walker-Free Wednesday" and ALL the other days.
She is amazing.


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New bunch bike today.
Here's my new rig. It's a Dolan DF3 with a 59cm top tube, sounds big but it ain't.
Today session was later on so it's pretty late in the day when i'm typing this. I got to the track well early to setup the new bike. Andy had most of the hard work by fitting the cranks and chain and all I had to do was fit the seatpost, saddle, bars and stem. Once on it and everything setup roughly right I had a ride around on it and it felt good straight away. The extra 3cm really opened up my chest and it just felt more comfortable. Nothing like settling in to a new bike easily with Andy, I was straight onto the track for a 20min warmup and I'm sure my leg speed was 170+rpm for the last 20 laps. With the warmup done and the bike feeling great I was up for some pain, a tolerence session, 1 lap full gas and 1 lap off, I'm not sure how many I did but it was enough to make me feel sick. With a good rest and a fiddle with my bike it was time for the last effort, a 70 lap points race against Felix, Sarah and Andy on the bike, motorbike! It really did feel like a race as I had dry mouth at the start and that stomach wrenching, cross eyed pain at the finish.
With the training done for the day it was just a matter of packing up the mess and getting back to the hotel before it was to dark. Once back at the hotel it was the same old routine of wash, eat and bed.
Tomorrow is the day that all the packing has to be done so it's highly unlikely there will be anything exciting to talk about.
Talk soon, about something.


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How are Thicket & Thimble dolls made?
Each doll is lovingly designed and created by hand in the studio in Kent, England
What's the current lead time for dispatch of dolls?
As each doll is hand made to order, dolls are currently taking around 2 weeks to dispatch, however if you are ordering for a special occasion please let us know and we will try our very best to accommodate
For custom dolls, lead times will be advised upon ordering
If you are ordering for a special occasion, please bear in mind that the customs process in your country can add time to your overall shipping time
Can Thicket & Thimble dolls be played with?
Due to their handcrafted nature and small parts, Thicket & Thimble dolls are only recommended for decorative use and should never be played with. They are classed as collectibles and are not toys and should be kept out of reach of small children
Each doll features a soft tag stating 'DECORATIVE USE ONLY' and bespoke stands are available on the website to help display your doll
An item says 'sold out', will you be restocking?
Each Thicket & Thimble doll is totally unique and once they're gone, they're gone! However we do restock with new designs frequently - sign up for the newsletter & follow us on instagram, facebook and twitter for updates on new releases and restocks! We also offer a year-round custom service starting at £130, read more here
What are Thicket & Thimble dolls made from?
Thicket & Thimble woodland dolls are made using Irish linen-cotton and 100% wool European felt appliqué on the face, hands and feet. Each doll's garments are unique, often made using vintage and hand dyed materials and always in limited numbers
The design I like is listed in a different animal, can I change the animal?
Yes, we can usually accommodate these changes, simply get in touch
How are Thicket & Thimble dolls packaged?
Each Thicket & Thimble doll arrives boxed and beautifully packaged with a numbered tag and cotton glitter dust bag
What size are the dolls?
The woodland nymph, dormouse, hare, lamb, fox, badger and fawn dolls measure approx 45cm from the feet to the top of the head (not including the ears). The swan, goose and peacock measure 35cm from head to base and the owl and hedgehog 24cm
Do Thicket & Thimble dolls 'sit'?
The dolls are standing style and whilst the legs do bend, they look their best when standing
Are all the dolls the same?
The dolls are handmade so there are slight variations and each one is unique
Are the dolls in-stock or made-to-order?
Most of the dolls are made-to-order
Will the colours be the same as the photos on the website?
Different screens and monitors show colours slightly differently. Some of the hand dyed details on the dolls might vary slightly due to variations in the dying process
How do I care for my new friend?
When your doll arrives after a long journey you might wish to separate any layers on the skirt, gently iron any creases from the wool felt ears and smooth any feather embellishments with your finger tips. Thicket & Thimble dolls are not washable but can be spot cleaned with a gentle detergent and warm water
We recommend displaying the dolls out of direct sunlight as this can fade the colours over time
What is your return/exchange policy?
Due to the bespoke nature of the dolls and the environmental impact of shipping items across the world more than once, we do not accept returns. However, if you are unhappy with anything regarding your order we will of course work together to resolve any issues
What do you charge for postage in the UK?
Postage via the Royal Mail 'Signed For' service is our thank you to you for cherishing a Thicket & Thimble handmade doll when you spend over £120. Postage for orders under £120 costs £6.75
Do you ship worldwide?
Happily. Shipping for a single doll within Europe costs £13.50 and it's £17 for everywhere else via the Royal Mail International Tracked and Signed service. For multiple dolls shipping rates increase slightly. Please note all international sales are final and the buyer is responsible for any import or custom fees that may apply
We hope this covers off any questions you might have. Still looking for your answer? Please do get in touch!
All Thicket & Thimble doll designs are copyrighted. By purchasing a Thicket & Thimble doll you are agreeing not to replicate, copy or duplicate any element of the garment or doll design
Thicket & Thimble is a trademarked brand


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A large number of Muslims have been migrating to western countries. The group has overrun Germany, France, Sweden, and England.
Whenever any concern is raised, the media calls it "islamophobia". However, the recent terrorist activity in multiple European countries has made the concerns difficult to ignore. In recent years, both Paris and London both turned into war zones in the name of Allah.
As more and more Muslims immigrate, they become bolder. Take the recent outlandish statement from a Muslim in Australia.
Mohamed Elmouelhy made a very disturbing comment on facebook.
Elmouelhy is the head of Australia's Halal Certification Authority, and he needs to be fired immediately. Here is his comment:
This right here. This is the definition of supremacy. If a white man said this in a Muslim country, they'd be murdered like dogs in the streets.
In the civilized world, Elmouelhy only drew criticism for the outlandish statement. Almost immediately, he backtracked and said it was just a joke.
But as we all know, there is a little truth in every joke.


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For the first time, Dolby Atmos® can be delivered through the browser on PCs and tablets. Give your users a crisp, clear, and immersive sound experience with Dolby Atmos.
Music Lounge is an interactive demo that showcase WebGL audio positioning within a minimalistic UI based on babylon.js
Chromatic tuner implemented using Web Audio and Media Stream APIs
This demo allows local audio to be recorded and played. Audio is passed through Web Audio nodes that visualize the audio signals, and apply effects and filters.
Flight Simulator has been on the cutting edge of computing for over three decades. Get your wings directly from your browser.


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This month's Ipsy bag was kind of a "meh" month when I saw the spoilers. But to be honest I didn't hate it that much after I got it and tried some of the things I got.
I know this post is way late, but I didn't get my box as fast as some of the others did, which is totally fine, because Valentine's day was last week, so a lot of shipments were delayed.
I got my box on Friday and got to try all of the products during the weekend.
I applied Candlelight to the brow bone and inner corner, Ashen to my lid and blended Gunmetal on top of Incognito on my crease. The liner is not super black and dramatic, because I didn't want a super dramatic look. The waterline is not the Mica Beauty one, but the upper lash one is.
What was your favorite product in this month's Ipsy bag?
I know this post is way late, but I didn't get my box as fast as some of the others did, which is totally fine, because Valentine's day was last week, so a lot of shipments were delayed.
I got my box on Friday and got to try all of the products during the weekend.
I really liked this month's baggie! It's cute :) I hope they start sending baggies with patterns though.
Red Carpet Ready was this month's "theme".
Doesn't look too exciting, right?
Pixi – Flawless & Poreless Primer(15ml/0.5 floz): $14.50, full size is 30ml/1.01floz and goes for $29. This went on smooth on my face, it felt nice on the skin. I didn't see any difference regarding the size of my pores, it just worked like any other primer. Nothing bad, but nothing special either. It dries really quick and makes my skin feel really smooth and soft.
Mica Beauty Cosmetics – Gel Eyeliner: Full size $30. This liner is really pigmented and it just glides on my lid. I love applying liner with an angled liner brush(this one), it gives me so much precision and I can apply it so close to my lash line! This wore amazing even through tears, didn't move an inch, not even on the waterline! It's amazing, for upper lash line, bottom lash line and waterline.
Sorry about how messy it looks, did it in a hurry!
Lash Card(4): $5.72, full size has 10 Lash Cards and goes for $6.99. Meh! That's all I can say, I didn't even use the ones I got from Ipsy, because I had an old pack from Beauty Army. As you can see on the package it says it prevents smudging and clumping, well clumping is not prevented at all and well about the smudging, it may prevent it, but I think it's way easier to just be careful while applying mascara. A good use, instead of an aid to apply mascara, is to use it to prevent eye shadow falling all over your face! Also, you can use one as a template and use a thicker paper, like business cards and make a bunch of them. Not worth the money in my opinion.
Pop Beauty – Smokey Lash Kapow!!!(0.17oz/4.8g): $12.58, full size is 0.25oz and goes for $18.50. This mascara promises to give volume and length without clumping or flaking. It didn't add a lot of volume or length to my lashes. By this I don't mean it didn't add any at all, I'm just saying that I've had better. I saw a lot of people over on MakeupTalk complaining about getting raccoon eyes from this mascara, but I didn't. This wore great throughout the day for me, no raccoon eyes and no flaking at all. Again, I cried while wearing this and it behaved amazingly! I don't love this mascara, to be honest. It does have it's pros though, you can definitely build it up and it won't clump too much or not at all. I would recommend this if you are not looking for a lot of volume, but still want a bit of drama. I love volume for my lashes, so this is not for me.
I'm wearing about 3 coats of POP Beauty Lash Kapow!!! In this picture. I didn't apply more, because I didn't want a super dramatic look.
Coastal Scents – Eye Shadow Sample Set in Glitz & Glamour(2g/0.07oz for the quad): $3.06, full size of each eye shadow is 1.3g and goes for $1.99(All four would be $7.96 for 5.2g). The shadows in this quad are(From left to right, top to bottom): Ashen, Incognito, Gunmetal and Candlelight (I was holding the quad upside down when I took the picture LOL). All of these shades have a bit of fall out, but nothing that makes it impossible to work with. The lighter shades (Ashen and Candlelight) are really creamy and shimmery, really pretty shades. The dark ones(Incognito and Gunmetal) are not as creamy, but still really pretty. They all are really pigmented and it's super easy to create a look with. I love this quad, but I think I would have loved either one of the quads being sent out.
Swatches(with no primer):
Look- wearing the liner, shadows and mascara:
I applied Candlelight to the brow bone and inner corner, Ashen to my lid and blended Gunmetal on top of Incognito on my crease. The liner is not super black and dramatic, because I didn't want a super dramatic look. The waterline is not the Mica Beauty one, but the upper lash one is.
Value and review:
The value of my box this month is: $65.86. Pretty gewd for me! Considering the bag is $10/month.
Things I liked: I loved the Coastal Scents quad, I have an 88 palette and this might be before they change the formulation of their eye shadows, but most of the shades are not pigmented at all. I liked the Mica Beauty liner a lot, it's really easy to work with it, it's really pigmented and wears great throughout the day. I liked the Pixi primer. It's nothing special, but it does make my skin feel super soft.
Things I didn't like or didn't "love": I hate Lash Cards. I think it's way overpriced for what it is at the end of the day, it's a piece of carton or paper, what ever. I wasn't surprised by the mascara, it's OK, but nothing different or special, there are better mascaras out there.
I still love my Ipsy subscription, I think it's worth it and really fun to get it every month.
If you want to subscribe to Ipsy, you can click here. Or copy and paste this link onto your navigation bar: http://www.ipsy.com/
What was your favorite product in this month's Ipsy bag?
Disclaimer: I purchased this with my own money, and this is my own personal opinion :)


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'Follow' is not an unusual feature to find on a drone these days and as technology improves so it is becoming more available on lower-priced models. Other than problems with the actual following feature working properly, one of the more frustrating things has been the fact that to be followed you either have to strap a tablet or smart phone to your body, or you have to have one of the more expensive features where the drone will lock onto you with its camera and subsequently use sensors to follow you.
At around $650 the FLYPRO XEagle FPV with 4K HD Camera seems to have targeted these two principal problems, while adding an extra and extremely useful feature which is voice activation control. Having doubtless cut your teeth on a drone costing between $50 and $100, the price of this drone certainly fits comfortably into the next-step-up market. Once you get to this level of drone the word toy tends to disappear from the vocabulary, being replaced instead with a phrase such as "a serious piece of kit". With a gimbal tracking, 4K ultra-HD imagery, impressive takeoff, landing, follow, circle and return one touch features this is a drone you can really enjoy taking photographs with.
The high-quality built-in high-precision pressure sensors mean that with the use of one button, you can get this drone to accurately folly you at speeds of up to 15 m/s with a 360° high-speed follow and record, together with an eight-way intelligence hand control knob to adjust the drone's orientation. And the voice module for fast responses and accurate identification of a voice controls and you really do have the next best thing to a hands-free drone.
The makers of this drone have also put a lot of thought into safety. The low-voltage protection feature means your XWatch controller will start to vibrate and your FLYPRO XEagle will automatically return to base. Similarly, if for any reason the signal to your drone is lost, once again it will automatically return to base and land.
Where imagery is concerned the built-in gimbal constantly calculates the relative position of the drone and will adjust itself for the best angle between the drone a new so that when being used in follow mode, it will always keep the camera lens pointed directly at you. The camera itself is of superb quality, offering 12 megapixels and 4K HD video.
More befitting of a commercial aircraft, the FLYPRO XEagle comes with a UAV black box – a flight data recorder which records important parameters which are then stored on the SD card. This information includes voltage, GPS information, flight attitude and the vibration coefficient for each flight. As for the 'wristwatch', the including flight height, radius distance, battery level XWatch displays important information such as flight height, distance radius, battery level and remaining flight time.
For a camera drone the FLYPRO XEagle seems to have slipped under the radar and is not one you will find a great deal has been written about. We suspect this isn't because the drone is not good, but the company has failed miserably in their marketing of what is unlikely to disappoint anyone who buys it. We think the watch is not just a cool feature and gimmick, but is actually extremely functional, making it far more reliable than follow drones that rely on the combination of an app and camera to pinpoint you as the target to follow. One of the biggest problems with the follow feature of any drone that is not wirelessly connected to the target is the fact that invariably, if too great a distance is created between the two of you, the drone just stops following.
Main Features:
- Weight (Including Battery And Propellers) 1270g
- Max Dimension(Excluding Propellers) 290mm*290mm*180mm
- Max Dimension(Including Propellers) 490mm*490mm*185mm
- Diagonal Size 350mm
- Max Follow Speed 15m/s
- Max Flight Altitude 5000m
- Max Flight Time About 22 mins
- GPS Mode GPS/GLONASS Dual Mode
- Lens Angle Horizontal: 105°
- Working Modes Normal Recording, Normal Shoot, Time-lapse video, Delayed Shoot, 11 Burst
- Video Recording Modes 2.8K@24fps
- 5K@30fps
- 1080P@60fps
- 720P@120fps
- Gimbal
- Pitch Controllable Range -90° to +30°
- Stabilization – Pitch and Roll
- Smart Watch Max Control Distance 300m
Other drones you might consider:
Yuneec Q500 4K Typhoon Quadcopter Drone
Ehang GHOSTDRONE 2.0 Aerial with 4K Sports Camera


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Salvador, Brazil: Celebrating Iemanjá with Grupo Nzinga
Grupo Nzinga de Capoeira Angola invites you to:
Day: February 2, a day of festivities at the Nzinga space, a day of celebrations in the sea!
Time: around 9 am
Place: Grupo Nzinga, Alto da Seria, Rio Vermelho, SSA - BA
What's up: Capoeira roda, samba, feijoada, uma gelada, gente muito bacana...
Iêmanjá protects those who protect the sea. Choose your gift well, and don't throw trash in the sea!
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Easels holds a variety of items such as books, platters or plaques. Adjustable stand provides the perfect display on slatwall, countertops, shelves or in displays cases. Simple design showcases merchandise or collectibles without interference due to the low angled profile lip.
…your literature neatly on your counter. 3 tier display allows many magazines to be displayed in a small area. Three 9 1/2 in. wide x 11 in. high pockets and each pocket is 1 1/2 in. deep. For many more products, we encourage you to take a moment to view our entire selection of Acrylic Literature…
Related Products: Literature | Magazine
Display brochures, literature, promotional flyers, menus and more with this attractive clear acrylic countertop display * Four seperate pockets that are 1 1/4" deep * 4"W x 6 1/4"D x 10"H
Related Products: Literature
Holds magazines and larger brochures on slatwall for a neat and organized look.
Holds catalogs, magazines and larger brochures on grid panels and displays for a neat and organized look.
Our Slatwall Acrylic Magazine Displays feature four waterfall pockets that are 4 inches deep x 11 inches wide, making them ideal as vertical literature displays. They attach easily to slatwall and can be paired with slatwall acrylic shelves for unique and functional displays.
Related Products: Magazine
Full face upscale brochure display keeps your literature neater and more organized. Place on table or counter but also mounts on walls. Inside pocket width 1 1/2 in. deep. Crystal clear display of 8 1/2"W x 11"H media.
Related Products: Magazine | Literature | Acrylic Display
These heavy duty angled slatwall acrylic shelves are ideal for displaying literature with the 45� angle. Use these angled acrylic shelves in rows for a neat continuous display.
Brochure Holder fits small brochures and pamphlets. Great for creating a neat and organized display on your slatwall panels and displays.
Increase gift card sales Six compartment clear acrylic holders present business cards or gift cards neatly on your countertops for customers to view. 7 7/8 W X 2 3/4 D X 3 1/4. Card Pockets are 3/4 inch D.
Single compartment clear acrylic holders present business cards and gift cards neatly on your countertops for customers to view. Also ideal for displaying business cards. Pocket is 3/4 inch deep.
* Quickly and easily hooks onto grid panel * Ideal for displaying 4 in. x 9 in. brochures and pamphlets


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Tap summoner for Android is very popular and thousands of gamers around the world would be glad to get it without any payments. And we can help you! To download the game for free, we recommend you to select your phone model, and then our system will choose the most suitable apk files. Downloading is very simple: select the desired file and click "download free Tap summoner apk", then select one of the ways you want to get the file. Just a few easy steps and you are enjoying full version of the game for tablet or phone!
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Game description: Tap summoner:
Tap summoner - conquer different worlds, destroy impregnable castles, crush enemy armies with the help of your assistants which can be summoned if you tap the screen. In this engrossing Android game you will help a powerful lord conquer new lands. You will meet various summoners such as vampires, crazy scientists and so on. Each character can summon 3 unique assistants. Tap the screen as fast as possible to increase the power of attack. Apply unique abilities of the character. Unlock new summoners and upgrade them. Get munitions.
Game features:
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Game features:
- 15 unique summoners
- 45 different servants
- 5 worlds
- Stylish graphics
The game requires an Internet connection
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Sentimental Silver
Have you ever found that perfect piece of jewelry that you didn't even want to take off when you go to bed? I have! I opened up my sweet little package from Sentimental Silver last night to discover a lovely recycled silver pendant set with my twins' names on them and an accompanying amethyst set in each pendant.
You can absolutely see the attention to detail, the love, and the beauty with each of these pieces by Sentimental Silver. My children love reading their names and I love showing off my two greatest accomplishments in a subtle and breathtaking statement.
These Sentimental Silver lovely personalized jewelry items are made from pure silver (.999%) and are completely handmade using recycled silver.
Just in time for the holidays and Valentine's Day, Sentimental Silver is a beautiful way to show your loved ones you care about them and you care about those they love.
Make sure you follow them on Twitter (@SentimentalSlv)!
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