pulling Peter with her.
“I, Madame Barchenka? I did no such thing,” Johnny replied honestly, pushing her fist down and away, an action she tried unsuccessfully to resist.
“You have the capability,” she continued, saliva spattering Johnny’s face. Then she imperiously clicked her fingers over her shoulder. “Scan him, Grushkov,” she ordered her telempath, hovering indecisively behind her. “Is he telling the truth? Let’s hear you deny it now, Greene!” She folded her arms across her chest and glared up at the kinetic general, her complexion scarlet under her spacer’s beret. “Then you will tell me how you got invitations and who gave them to you.”
Peter wondered if he could unobtrusively teleport himself anywhere but where he was, half hidden behind Dave Lehardt’s broad frame. How Rhyssa had prevailed against the Manager as long as she had showed the depth of Rhyssa’s courage.
“I most certainly did not scramble the Manager’s screen,” General John Greene said, looking steadily at Grushkov. “My invitation came from the Secretary of Space himself in appreciation of my assistance in getting much-needed supplies to the Station, and on time.”
Grushkov was immediately disconcerted. “Madame Barchenka, he is telling the truth. Furthermore, his public mind is completely open.”
If John Greene and Peter saw the telempath blink and give John acloser look, Barchenka did not notice the exchange, her bulging eyes fixed on Johnny’s face.
“Awrgh,” she exclaimed hoarsely, clenching her fists and waving them about in frustration. Then she barreled forward, shoving into Dave’s shoulder and pushing Peter aside with a bruising sweep of her arm. Johnny exerted a kinetic prop as the boy was momentarily off balance. Barchenka stomped onward, swinging her arms from left to right to clear her way to the long bar set up on one side of the reception room.
Grushkov muttered apologies to everyone so rudely handled as he and Barchenka’s other white-coat aides followed in her wake.
I’m sorry now I helped her in any way
, Peter said as Rhyssa, Dave, and Johnny ringed him against any other contact.
She didn’t bruise you, did she?
Rhyssa asked, concerned. Peter was much sturdier now than he had been when he had joined the Parapsychics, but he was still susceptible to contusions. Especially when he was not, as now, using any shields to prevent physical contact.
Uncouth woman!
I’ve half a mind to spike her drink
, Johnny murmured, glancing across the catering unit.
With an emetic?
Gordon Havers suggested.
Peter would have laughed if he hadn’t been mulling over something in Barchenka’s mind that upset him when her arm had made contact with his chest.
Her speech was very important
, he gasped.
She wanted to impress the World Leaders so much that they would relent and make her Station Manager in spite of appointing the admiral. She’s furious she couldn’t finish it because …
Peter faltered, ducking his head, frowning, his expression puzzled.
“
What?
” Rhyssa said aloud, shocked by the very notion of Barchenka in control of the Space Station.
“Admiral Coetzer’s already on his way up to the hub,” Johnny Greene said by way of reassurance.
You could
read
her?
Rhyssa exclaimed.
How could you? She’s wearing a metal skullcap
.
“If she is, it isn’t very good,” Peter said in a low voice, glancing nervously in the direction Barchenka had gone.
She’s going to take over the Station again. She’s the only one she will allow to manage it. She’s going to make us pay!
Peter added.
You most of all, Johnny
.
“What isn’t very good?” asked Dave, noting the tension in Peter’s slender body.
Rhyssa quietly explained the gist of the exchanges. Dave’s eyes widened in alarm and he, too, looked around the crowd to spot Barchenka’s current position.
“How could she do that?” Dave asked Johnny.
“She hasn’t got enough clout left with those necessary to confirm such an
“I, Madame Barchenka? I did no such thing,” Johnny replied honestly, pushing her fist down and away, an action she tried unsuccessfully to resist.
“You have the capability,” she continued, saliva spattering Johnny’s face. Then she imperiously clicked her fingers over her shoulder. “Scan him, Grushkov,” she ordered her telempath, hovering indecisively behind her. “Is he telling the truth? Let’s hear you deny it now, Greene!” She folded her arms across her chest and glared up at the kinetic general, her complexion scarlet under her spacer’s beret. “Then you will tell me how you got invitations and who gave them to you.”
Peter wondered if he could unobtrusively teleport himself anywhere but where he was, half hidden behind Dave Lehardt’s broad frame. How Rhyssa had prevailed against the Manager as long as she had showed the depth of Rhyssa’s courage.
“I most certainly did not scramble the Manager’s screen,” General John Greene said, looking steadily at Grushkov. “My invitation came from the Secretary of Space himself in appreciation of my assistance in getting much-needed supplies to the Station, and on time.”
Grushkov was immediately disconcerted. “Madame Barchenka, he is telling the truth. Furthermore, his public mind is completely open.”
If John Greene and Peter saw the telempath blink and give John acloser look, Barchenka did not notice the exchange, her bulging eyes fixed on Johnny’s face.
“Awrgh,” she exclaimed hoarsely, clenching her fists and waving them about in frustration. Then she barreled forward, shoving into Dave’s shoulder and pushing Peter aside with a bruising sweep of her arm. Johnny exerted a kinetic prop as the boy was momentarily off balance. Barchenka stomped onward, swinging her arms from left to right to clear her way to the long bar set up on one side of the reception room.
Grushkov muttered apologies to everyone so rudely handled as he and Barchenka’s other white-coat aides followed in her wake.
I’m sorry now I helped her in any way
, Peter said as Rhyssa, Dave, and Johnny ringed him against any other contact.
She didn’t bruise you, did she?
Rhyssa asked, concerned. Peter was much sturdier now than he had been when he had joined the Parapsychics, but he was still susceptible to contusions. Especially when he was not, as now, using any shields to prevent physical contact.
Uncouth woman!
I’ve half a mind to spike her drink
, Johnny murmured, glancing across the catering unit.
With an emetic?
Gordon Havers suggested.
Peter would have laughed if he hadn’t been mulling over something in Barchenka’s mind that upset him when her arm had made contact with his chest.
Her speech was very important
, he gasped.
She wanted to impress the World Leaders so much that they would relent and make her Station Manager in spite of appointing the admiral. She’s furious she couldn’t finish it because …
Peter faltered, ducking his head, frowning, his expression puzzled.
“
What?
” Rhyssa said aloud, shocked by the very notion of Barchenka in control of the Space Station.
“Admiral Coetzer’s already on his way up to the hub,” Johnny Greene said by way of reassurance.
You could
read
her?
Rhyssa exclaimed.
How could you? She’s wearing a metal skullcap
.
“If she is, it isn’t very good,” Peter said in a low voice, glancing nervously in the direction Barchenka had gone.
She’s going to take over the Station again. She’s the only one she will allow to manage it. She’s going to make us pay!
Peter added.
You most of all, Johnny
.
“What isn’t very good?” asked Dave, noting the tension in Peter’s slender body.
Rhyssa quietly explained the gist of the exchanges. Dave’s eyes widened in alarm and he, too, looked around the crowd to spot Barchenka’s current position.
“How could she do that?” Dave asked Johnny.
“She hasn’t got enough clout left with those necessary to confirm such an
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