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her again, just in case, took over her mind controls and shut subjective
awareness down to near zero. Sorem thought she d fainted, which would come to
the same thing. Then when I had to use her, I triggered rage, homicidal fury,
which shot her full of adrenaline. She needed it she isn t normally very
strong or very fast. That gun was really almost too heavy for her to hold up.
 So you simply told her to take the gun away from Barrand s monster, shoot him
and come into the next room to shoot Barrand and Nelt? Keth said.
Telzey shook her head.
 Uspurul couldn t have done it, she said.  She d never touched a gun in her
life. Even in a frenzy like that, she couldn t use violence effectively. She
wouldn t know how. She didn t know what was going on until it was over. She
wasn t really there.
Keth studied her a moment.  You?
 Me, of course, Telzey said.  I needed a body that was ready to explode into
action. Uspurul supplied that. I had to handle the action.
 You know, it s odd, Keth said after a moment.  I never would have considered
you a violent person.
 I m not, Telzey said.  I ve learned to use violence. She reflected.  In a
way, being a psi is like being an investigative reporter. Even when you re not
trying very hard, you tend to find out things people don t want you to know.
Quite a few people would like to do something about Keth Deboll, wouldn t
they? He might talk about the wrong thing any time. By now I ve come across
quite a few people who wanted to do something about me. I don t intend to let
it happen.
 I wasn t blaming you, Keth said.  I m all in favor of violence that keeps me
alive.
They were on a liner, less than an hour from Orado. Once they were free,
Telzey hadn t continued her efforts to contact Osselin mentally. They located
a ComWeb instead, had him paged, and when he came on screen, she told him what
to do. The story was that Sorem had gone berserk and killed Barrand and Nelt
before being killed himself.
Keth had made his own arrangements later from the liner. Adacee and various
authorities would be ready to slam down on the secret COS project within a
week.
Telzey s restrictions on Osselin should hold easily until then. The surgeon
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and his assistant had been given standard amnesia treatments to cover the
evening. They could deduce from it that they d been involved in a detector
interrogation dealing with secret matters, but nothing else. It wasn t a new
experience, and they weren t likely to be curious. Uspurul was aboard the
liner.
 You know, I don t really have much use for a bondswoman, Keth remarked,
thinking about that point.
 You won t be stuck with her contract for more than a year, Telzey said.
 Keth, look. Don t you owe me something?
He scratched his jaw.  Do I? You got us out of a mess, but I doubt I d have
been in the mess if it hadn t been for you.
 You wouldn t have had your COS story either.
Keth looked nettled.
 Don t be so sure! My own methods are reasonably effective.
 You d have had the full story?
 No, hardly that.
 Well, then! Telzey said.  Uspurul s part of the story, so she can be your
responsibility for a while. Fair enough?
I d take care of her myself if I didn t have my hands full.
 Why take care of her at all?
 Because not everyone in COS is going to believe Osselin s version of what
happened. They don t dare do anything about him, but there was enough to show
Uspurul was involved somehow in what went on tonight. She s a rotten little
creature in some ways, but I d sooner not think of her being worked over by
COS interrogation methods.
They can break down amnesia treatments sometimes, so Osselin wanted to have
her killed immediately to be on the safe side. Telzey added,  Uspurul s got a
really good brain, and you d be surprised at the things she s learned working
for COS Services! Adacee should find her an asset. Give her half a chance, and
she might make a great newscaster!
 Adacee and I thank you, said Keth.
RESIDENT WITCH
1
Telzey checked in at the Morrahall Hotel in Orado City that evening, had an
early dinner, and thereupon locked herself into her room. The impression she d
left at Pehanron College was that she would be spending the night with her
family. Her parents, on the other hand, naturally assumed she was at the
college. She d programmed the
ComWeb to have calls coming in at the college, at home, or to her car,
transferred to the hotel room if the caller, having been informed that she was
busy and much preferred not to be disturbed before morning, felt there was
justification enough for intruding on her privacy.
The semifinals of the annual robochess district championship series had begun,
and she was still well up among the players. There should be two or three
crucial games tonight, very little sleep. She wanted all the seclusion she
could get.
She got into a casual outfit, settled down at the set, dialed herself into the
series. Five minutes later, she was fed an opening move, an easy-looking one.
She countered breezily. Six moves on, she was perspiring and trying to squirm
out of an infernally ingenious trap. Out of it, though not unscathed, just
ahead of deadline, she half closed a rather nasty little trap of her own.
Time passed in blissful absorption.
Then the ComWeb rang.
Telzey started, frowned, glanced at the instrument. It rang again. She pushed
the Time Out button on the set, looked at her watch, switched on the ComWeb.
 Yes? she said.
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 A caller requests override, Miss Amberdon, the ComWeb told her.
 Who is it?
 The name is Wellan Dasinger.
 All right. Telzey clicked in nonvisual send, and Dasinger s lean tanned face
appeared in the screen.  I m here,
she said.  Hello, Dasinger.
 Hello, Telzey. Are we private?
 As private as we can be, she assured him. Dasinger was the head of Kyth
Interstellar, a detective agency to which she d given some assistance during [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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