assignment, even if the Space Authority was insane enough to let her,” Havers said, troubled.
What else did you sense, Peter?
Johnny Greene asked, rocking back and forth on his heels, his jaw muscles tightening in dismay.
No one else has ever read her
, Rhyssa repeated.
I think it was her whacking me like that
. Peter lifted one arm to his ribs. He hadn’t felt the blow, only reacted to the momentum of her thrust.
The physical connection and she’s so angry, she isn’t holding anything back. I think she’s after Admiral Coetzer, too. That’s what she’s gone to do now
. He turned his upper body around, looking in the direction Barchenka had gone.
Oh, there you are!
All three telepaths winced as Madlyn Luvaro’s powerful voice assaulted their minds.
Ooops. Sorry
.
The telepaths glanced around, not immediately spotting Madlyn. Then the pretty, dark brunette in an elegant red dress suit stepped out of the throng. She was smiling, nodding politely to those she passed but there was a definite, noticeable tension to her body and a tightness to her smile.
“Hello, there, Rhyssa, Peter, General Johnny. How great to see you here,” she said aloud.
There’s one goddawful rumor just starting the rounds in the workers’ level: that Barchenka’s going to be made Manager again
. As she bowed politely to everyone in the cluster, she continued.
The rumor is that she’d end up her speech by telling you all that she’s taking over the Station
. Her smile was fixed. She had modulated her extremely strong telepathic voice to a mere whisper, a scared mental whisper. Now her eyes begged Rhyssa to reassure her.
How
can
she? When she came storming in here from the ceremony
, and Madlyn gestured around the refreshment area,
she was jerking her hands around at her white-coats and telling them that the plan would proceed
. They
moved out on the double. With that skullcap of hers, I couldn’t read anything from her and those muscle men can’t think with the front of their brains so she
has
been planning something all along
.“Can I bum a ride back down with you, General?” she said aloud, tilting her head coquettishly at Johnny, but her eyes were clouded with anxiety.
Rhyssa said in a conversational tone, “Are you all packed, Madlyn?”
“Yessum,” and the telepath nodded, more like a teenager than the confident executive she had become during her stint on the Station.
“I think I’ll just see how Grushkov is doing,” Johnny Greene said with a wickedly raised eyebrow.
Stay here
.
He wended his way into the crowd.
You don’t think there’s any chance she could get her way?
Madlyn asked warily, pretending to admire Peter’s smartly tailored outfit. “I almost didn’t recognize you, you’re so smart.”
“Tirla took me shopping.”
“She’s got excellent taste.”
How does she think she can oust Admiral Coetzer? The World Council officially appointed him. He’s such a nice guy. So calm. He impressed me when he toured the grunt levels and talked to all of them. Even descended to the offie levels. Never even wrinkled his nose at the pong down there
, Madlyn said.
Neither did Igor Koryakin, who’s the new Maintenance Supervisor. How can they possibly turn the Station back over to
her?
It just has to be wishful thinking on Barchenka’s part
, Rhyssa said.
Peter was very uncertain now. Could he have imagined the vivid sequences he’d seen in Barchenka’s mind … like very fast-forward scenes … almost as if she were going over the plans in her mind? They couldn’t have been precogs because Barchenka hadn’t a vestige of psychic ability! He looked around warily. There weren’t that many of her white-coated muscles in this area. He reviewed the brief glimpse of the very satisfied expression on her face, echoing her mental attitude. Then there was a sudden stir as the rank of doors beyond the refreshment area burst open, like one of the glimpses he’d had, and platoons of white-coated men and women
Eric Van Lustbader
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