Telepath

  “It was very dark,” said Rothan. “The park suns don’t turn on until seven o’clock in the morning.”

  “Moving on to Eli now,” said Adika.

  Eli cringed. “There’s no need to tell me. I already know.”

  Adika intended to tell him anyway. “Very fast response to safeguard Amber, and you remembered your body armour and gun. Minor point. Next time, try to take at least one item of clothing as well. Body armour is a protective mesh. You can see through it.”

  He paused for a second. “Amber’s safety obviously comes above all other considerations, but you had to wait one minute for the rest of the bodyguard team to arrive before she opened the apartment door. You could have used that minute to get dressed before you dashed into her bedroom. You will now apologize to Amber.”

  “Sorry,” said Eli glumly. “When I realized, it was too late to go back for clothes.”

  “That’s all right,” I said. “I didn’t notice.”

  They all stared at me.

  “I had other things on my mind,” I said. “Matias was in agony, and I was searching for a target.”

  “You didn’t notice?” Adika laughed. “Everyone else did. Well, that’s put Eli firmly in his place.”

  “In a crisis, I tend to operate telepathically rather than visually,” I said, “so I have my eyes closed most of the time.”

  Our lift doors opened on Level 27, and I led the way to the nearest express belt.

  “Think yourself lucky, Eli,” said Adika. “Now, Lucas.”

  “Me?” Lucas was clearly caught off guard by this attack. “I don’t suppose it helps if I point out I’m your boss.”

  “Not in the slightest,” said Adika. “You told me that you were woken up by the alarm and fell off Amber’s couch, hitting your head on the floor. That’s a very impressive bruise appearing on the side of your face.”

  “Thank you,” said Lucas.

  “You then dashed heroically to defend Amber, without your body armour or gun. In future, wherever you fall asleep, your body armour and gun falls asleep with you.”

  “I’m not Strike team,” Lucas pointed out.

  “Explain that to any armed intruders you meet,” said Adika. “See how well it works. I suggest you pick up a duplicate body armour and gun, and leave them anywhere you might fall asleep regularly. Now, Amber.”

  I sighed. I’d been encouraging Adika to treat me like a human being, rather than a telepath who was above criticism, because I wanted to know when I made mistakes and learn from them. Adika had adjusted to this approach, but it made Megan extremely nervous, so he didn’t inflict his famous sarcasm on me unless she was well out of the way. This was an ideal opportunity.

  “Spotting Matias was in trouble was amazing, and you did exactly the right thing by hitting your panic button. Fine so far, but …”

  I’d had a feeling there was a “but” coming.

  “Your safety is our top priority, Amber. We give you body armour to protect you. Hannah hangs it lovingly in your bedroom, within reach of your sleep field. Why didn’t you put it on immediately? Why did a stray tactician have to fall off your couch, come dashing into your bedroom, and hand it to you?”

  “I’ll try to remember another time. Approaching scene now,” I said pointedly, as we got off the belt near my parents’ apartment. “We’re visiting my parents and my irritating kid brother. Be very careful what you say, because they mustn’t find out I’m a telepath. Eli, keep your clothes on.”

  Eli blushed.

  We reached my parents’ door and I pressed the chime button. When my mother opened the door, I saw she was wearing the necklace of golden beads that I’d given her. She gave a startled look at the crowd.

  “Please come in,” she said.

  I led the gang into the main living area. My father and Gregas were already sitting there. They seemed stunned by the invasion.

  “Hello.” I attempted a casual smile. “I’m afraid my unit had a security alert last night, so my Security team leader insisted I bring an escort. This is my Security team leader, Adika. My bodyguards, Rothan and Eli.”

  I gestured at people in turn, hesitating when I got to Lucas. He smiled hopefully.

  “Lucas is another of my team leaders,” I said. “I’ve brought him here to talk sense into Gregas.”

  Lucas sighed, and there was a ragged exchange of greetings.

  “The idea was that we’d have a private family chat.” My mother gave me a meaningful look.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “Their lips are sealed. If word gets out about Gregas running away, I’ll demote them all to Level 99 Sewage Technicians.”

  My parents gazed at me with horrified faces. I didn’t need telepathy to tell me what they were thinking. I’d always been a quiet, dutiful daughter, shyly fading into the background when their friends visited. Now I was back in their apartment for the first time since Lottery, an elite Level 1 marching into their home with a whole set of intimidating bodyguards, and casually threatening to demote people to Level 99. I hadn’t believed Lucas when he told me I’d changed since Lottery, but now I could see it was true.

  “That was just a joke about demoting people,” I said hastily, and turned to my brother, who at least looked sulky rather than scared of me. “Gregas, you have to go back to Teen Level. Lucas, you tell him!”

  Gregas glared at me first, then threw a bitter look at Lucas.

  “Don’t mind me, Gregas,” said Lucas, “I’m only another team leader. I’d hoped to be a boyfriend, I’d thought I was at least a friend, but it turns out I’m only another team leader.”

  He flopped into a chair with an exaggerated expression of despair, and my parents gave him bewildered looks.

  I held back a laugh. “Lucas, stop playing the clown. You and I and Gregas are going into the next room to have a nice chat.”

  Lucas gave a long-suffering groan and stood up again.

  “I don’t want to talk to him,” said Gregas. “Even if he is Level 1 like she is!” He gestured resentfully at me.

  “Gregas, manners!” said my father.

  “I don’t want to talk to you either, Gregas,” said Lucas. “Your sister is making me do it. I nearly got fired yesterday, but she said she’d come up with an alternative punishment instead. I think this is it.”

  Gregas blinked at Lucas in disbelief, and followed me into the bookette room without any more argument. Lucas and I sat down, but Gregas remained stubbornly on his feet and stated his position.

  “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to go back to Teen Level. I hate the place. I don’t see why teens have to go there.”

  “Reason implicit Lottery,” said Lucas.

  “Full sentences, Lucas,” I murmured. As far as I knew, Gregas couldn’t read minds, so he’d need all the help he could get to keep up with Lucas.

  Lucas started again. “Gregas, your time on Teen Level is vital preparation for Lottery. You learn to live alone in a sheltered and helpful environment. You gain social skills. You gradually distance yourself from your parents’ level in preparation for being assigned your own level as an adult. You experiment with a host of different sports, crafts, and activities. When you’re eighteen, Lottery will allocate you a profession based on the needs of the Hive.”

  “Which isn’t fair!” snapped Gregas.

  “It may not seem fair,” said Lucas, “but it’s the best thing for the Hive, and that’s indirectly the best thing for you. Lottery ensures there are never too few or too many workers in any area, and a job is always done by someone talented at it. That means the Hive does well, and we all benefit as a result. We may not get to choose what we do, but the optimization stage of Lottery makes sure that we’re given work we enjoy.”

  Gregas pulled a disbelieving face.

  “It’s true, Gregas,” said Lucas. “I could never have chosen my job for myself, because I didn’t even know it existed, but Lottery did and knew it was perfect for me. Lottery will allocate you work that you love too, bu
t it can only do that if you spend your years on Teen Level establishing your own individual likes and dislikes. If you stay living at home, heavily influenced by your parents, then you’ll end up being allocated work that they’d like to do but you’ll probably grow to hate. Is that what you want to happen?”

  Gregas frowned. “No, but I can’t go back to Teen Level. I don’t fit in with the others on my corridor. They all go off and do things together, and I’m left sitting in my room by myself. You won’t understand how horrible that is, but I’ve been having a dreadful time.”

  “You’re entirely wrong about that,” said Lucas. “I understand perfectly. In fact, I’m an expert on the difficulties of not fitting in on Teen Level. You wish to become part of your corridor social group?”

  “Of course I do. I’ve tried my best to make friends, but it’s not working.”

  “I can fix that. From what I’ve seen so far, you just have the relatively minor problem that you aren’t naturally outgoing and get defensive talking to strangers. We’ll assess your personality, work out what roles you could fill in the social group, and decide which would benefit you most. Then I’ll explain tactics that should get you established in that role within the next two weeks.”

  Gregas looked at him uncertainly. “Can you really do that?”

  Lucas nodded. “Once you’ve made the initial start, it will be easy to keep going. Group expectations will keep reaffirming you in your chosen role.”

  Gregas glanced at me.

  “You can trust Lucas,” I said. “He’s an expert tactician.”

  “I’ll need some information from you, Gregas,” said Lucas, “but I doubt you’ll want your sister listening while I ask personal questions.”

  “I don’t!” said Gregas.

  I laughed and retreated to the next room. I found my parents nervously entertaining the Strike team contingent.

  “Where’s Gregas?” asked my mother.

  “He’s still talking to Lucas,” I said. “They’re working out a plan to make Gregas the leading social star of Teen Level.”

  “Amber, I’ve just had a message from Megan,” said Adika. “Matias has had his operation and is doing well.”

  “I’m glad Matias will be all right,” I said. “I hope this won’t affect his team spot.”

  Adika’s eyes flickered towards my parents, and he chose his answer carefully. “With accelerated healing treatment, Matias should be recovered within a week or two. We have to expect illnesses and work round them. Megan said that Forge is cleared fit for duty again, so we won’t be too short staffed.”

  “Forge is an unusual name,” said my mother. “That’s not the Forge you knew on Teen Level, is it Amber?”

  I was telling enough lies to my parents already. I wasn’t going to lie about this as well. “It is actually. By pure fluke, Lottery assigned him to my unit.”

  “I hadn’t realized you two were old friends,” said Adika. “So that was what Forge meant when he said …”

  He broke off. I automatically checked his thoughts to pick up the end of his sentence, and saw him busily speculating on the fact the entire Strike team bore a strong resemblance to my old friend from Teen Level. Given Lucas had been in a foul mood yesterday, but had spent last night in my apartment, Adika had half a dozen exciting theories about what might be going on.

  “Drinks.” My mother hastily got to her feet. “I forgot to offer you any drinks.”

  I realized I was reading Adika’s mind in front of my parents. I mustn’t do that. My parents shouldn’t be able to tell what I was doing just by looking at me, but it would be horribly easy to answer a question that Adika hadn’t asked aloud.

  I pulled out of Adika’s head, and offered to help my mother with the drinks. She seemed disconcerted by the idea but I insisted. I needed to reassure my parents that although I was Level 1, with my own unit and a set of bodyguards, my place in the family hadn’t changed. I needed to reassure myself as well.

  So we handed round drinks, and plates of small savouries. Adika and Rothan seemed uncomfortable about their telepath acting as a waitress, but Eli brightened up at the sight of the food. By the time he’d enthusiastically gobbled down two plates of the savouries, explained to my mother that he’d missed breakfast because of the security alert, admired the necklace I’d given her as a present, and discussed whether he should get one like it for his own mother, the atmosphere had got a lot more relaxed.

  After a while, Lucas reappeared with a very thoughtful looking Gregas. “If you have any problems, Gregas, just tell your sister,” said Lucas. “I’ll get a message to you about the best way to deal with them, and after the first couple of weeks you’ll have no trouble at all.”

  Gregas nodded. “I need to go before anyone misses me. Goodbye.” He shot out of the apartment before any of us could reply.

  My mother looked gratefully at Lucas. “Thank you so much.”

  I glanced at the time display on the wall, aware that we were nearing the end of our unit’s mandatory twenty-four hour recovery time after yesterday’s emergency run. Lucas hadn’t planned any check runs for today, but we needed to be ready to respond to emergency calls.

  I stood up. “I’m afraid we have to go now. Coming here wasn’t a problem, because one of the long experiments is running at the moment, but I need to be back in the unit when it finishes.”

  “Your work schedule seems very demanding,” said my father.

  “I’m afraid that’s unavoidable,” said Lucas. “Our research is only possible because of Amber’s unique skills and insight.”

  My parents looked impressed and proud to hear that. Everybody moved out into the hallway, there was a round of polite farewells, and then I led my party back to the nearest belt. Once I’d stepped on and moved across to the express belt, I realized that Adika had somehow ended up at my side, his bulk meaning everyone else had to either stand in front or behind us. He breathed a barely audible question in my ear.

  “There’s no trouble between you and Lucas, is there? If Forge is becoming a problem, I can trade him to another unit.”

  I was silent for a moment, counting to ten to make myself calm down. It didn’t entirely work. “Forge is an old friend,” I whispered back. “He has never been my boyfriend. Neither of us mentioned we’d met before, because Forge wanted to prove he was on the team on merit. A stupid mistake in Lottery meant the physical preferences for the Strike team were influenced by Forge’s looks. I strongly recommend that you don’t start gossiping about that unless you want to find a different job.”

  I realized my voice was getting far too loud, and forced myself to quieten down again. “Lucas was about a day ahead of you at leaping to conclusions. He knows the real situation now. There’s no problem, there’s no need to trade Forge, and Lucas really was sleeping on the couch not sharing my sleep field last night. Do you need any more information on my love life, or are you happy now?”

  “I consider myself severely reprimanded,” said Adika. “Sorry, but I had to ask. Forge is a good man, but losing Lucas would cripple the unit.”

  I peered over my shoulder for Lucas, spotted him standing behind Eli, and shouted to him. “Lucas, get up here.”

  Lucas bounced up to join me, and Adika retreated to lurk as inconspicuously as possible at the back of the group. Lucas turned to eye him thoughtfully.

  “Why is Adika acting like a scolded toddler?”

  I groaned. “When you were out of the room, Megan sent us a message about Matias and Forge. My mother asked if that was the Forge I knew on Teen Level.”

  I watched Lucas’s thoughts. He took less than five seconds to work out an approximation of my conversation with Adika.

  “Yes, you’ve got it almost word for word,” I said. “Adika offered to transfer Forge.”

  Lucas gave a shout of laughter and lapsed into speed speech. “Adika toddler in big trouble. Amber hates privacy violation. Amber furious at transfer suggestion.”

  I couldn’t help joining in his
laughter. “I know that being defensive about my privacy is hypocritical for a telepath, but I can’t help it. Everyone watches me, thinks about me, studies my every move. I can’t so much as breathe without them going into huddles to discuss it.”

  “This is a Telepath Unit, Amber. I’m afraid that means the telepath is a natural focus of attention.”

  “Yes.” I gnawed guiltily at my bottom lip. “I’ll have to call Adika later and apologize to him. I’d better call Forge as well, and warn him that people know we were friends on Teen Level.”

  Lucas shrugged. “You don’t need to apologize to Adika. You let him give you orders. You allow him to criticize you when you make mistakes. You’ve just made it clear that you draw the line at him asking intrusive personal questions, and I can assure you that it’s not the first time Adika’s been shouted at for doing that.”

  That was true. Adika was a Strike team leader. If he felt action was needed, he took it quickly and decisively. If he felt information was needed, he asked for it. Only last week, he’d annoyed Megan with a personal question about her dead husband. They’d been on much better terms since the dramatic scene with Fran, I’d been getting quite hopeful about the two of them, but Megan had reacted to the question by verbally ripping Adika to shreds. I was starting to think their relationship was doomed.

  “You don’t need to give warnings to Forge either,” Lucas continued. “He babbled about you riding the rail at Carnival in front of the whole Strike team. He’ll know someone will work out what that meant, but he won’t be worried about it now. He must realize he’s proved that he’s more than worthy of his spot on the Strike team.”

  “I suppose so.”

  Lucas hesitated before speaking again. “Amber, I know the real reason you lost your temper with Adika was because that visit to your parents upset you. Was that my fault? Given my history with my own parents, I admit I was panicking about meeting yours, so I reverted to doing my clown act from Teen Level.”

  I shook my head. “It was my fault, not yours. My parents had visited me in my fancy apartment, but they hadn’t seen me with a group of hulking bodyguards before, and then I made that stupid joke about demoting people. They looked absolutely terrified of me. I’m so grateful to Eli for chattering away and making things relaxed and comfortable again. I’d hug him, but I suppose that would start Adika asking questions again.”