Dreamspy. Jacqueline Lichtenberg
flash of avidity and horror that came with his words was very unprofessional. Then the disturbing whirl of mixed emotions was gone as quickly as it had come.
She admitted, //I can do it now, but not before that battle. I had to try something to stop those ships.//
//Hey, I’m not criticizing. Our escort did destroy the jump-cannon, so Defense got all the other ships before the Station blew. I’m just glad you’re on our side.// But his contact voice was meticulously formal, not friendly.
Adopting her most professional voice, she urged, //Lee, think! I defected. Some Metaji telepath might have defected to the Teleod, without attempting to learn Teleod methods. So they could have someone who can hear us. Have you done a Search toward the fleet?//
//I’ve been afraid to. What if they spot me?//
She knew what his problem was. With Wiprin dead, he was in charge, but he wasn’t ready for the responsibility. //Even if they have a Metaji telepath, they’d never send him to capture an obscure colony like Barkyr! And without such a telepath, the only way your Search might be spotted is if you get careless and emote. Basic emotion bleeds through, so any Teleod telepath working the realms might notice that.//
//So I’ve heard, but you never know what to believe.//
He was right to fear. She’d once seen a Metaji telepath yanked into the working realm. It had taken the poor woman a year to die. //Lee, a Teleod telepath would perceive your emotions as a distinctive but sourceless glow. They’d know they were being Searched, but not from where. We have to plan, and we can’t unless we’re sure communications are secure.//
//You’re right. Their standard procedure is to kill all Metaji telepaths. But you ought to do the Search. At least you know what you’re doing.//
There was nothing for it. She had to admit it. //Lee, I can’t. Remember when you found me in the Window, and I couldn’t control my barriers? I’m still getting headaches. I don’t trust myself, at least not at such a distance. You’re closer, and you’re steadier.//
Reluctantly, he agreed and she left him to it, wrapping her silver brick wall around herself and finding to her dismay she’d also wrapped both arms around her middle and dropped her chin to her chest. Her hand throbbed cold.
Elias was standing behind her, muttering reassurances as if he really cared for her. When she looked up, he said, “Let me see your hand, Kyllikki. Is it blistered? A minute ago, you seemed to be going into shock.”
She was faintly surprised to see her hand wrapped in a white cloth filled with ice. She unwound it. “No, it’s not blistered,” she said with some amazement as she got to her feet. “Come on, we have to talk to Idom.”
Watching Idom work the scanners, she filled them both in on what Lee had told her.
Idom sighed. “And there’s no avoiding it. We are about to become prisoners of war.”
He flashed a display on one of the screens and turned it so they could see. Pointing, he said, “Those, those, and these over here represent Teleod ships. There’s Barkyr. You can’t see our pods on this scale, but they’re here. In less than a day, the fleet will be in spectral range of the planet, at which point the surrender will become official. With no other habitat in the system, we’ve no place else to go.”
“Do you suppose the Station got a message capsule out before it blew up?” asked Elias with real anguish.
If he were a spy, he wouldn’t be upset about being captured. “I wasn’t monitoring the Station at the time,” admitted Kyllikki, “but later on, I’ll ask Lee.”
Idom muttered abstractedly, “His Search won’t find anything. If the fleet had one of our telepaths, they’d be in direct touch already and the surrender would be history.”
Elias offered, “Otroub’s Guide claimed that Barkyr’s importance in the war is its location. Doesn’t that mean the capture won’t go unchallenged?”
Idom watched the display, where the larger dots were separating into flocks of smaller ones. “For technical reasons, Barkyr’s location is more convenient to the Teleod than to us. Still, as soon as the Imperial forces discover it’s been taken, there’ll be a counterattack. The Teleod knows it, so they’ll be looking for valuable civilian hostages.” He glanced up at Kyllikki. “The crew knows who you are. Can the Teleod telepaths get it out of them?”
“It won’t take mind invasion. I’m sure some crewmembers believe I’m the spy who set this whole battle up. Someone is bound to mention it.”
“Spy? What do you mean, spy?” demanded Elias.
“I’m a Teleod defector,” said Kyllikki.
“And a loyal Imperialist now,” added Idom.
“If they catch you working for the enemy...Kyllikki, they’ll kill you...or worse.” It was just what Lee had assumed, only Elias glowed with fear. Real fear.
She blinked it away and repaired her barriers, reassured that Elias couldn’t possibly be Teleod. Whatever it was about him that eroded her barriers, it hadn’t anything to do with Zimor or Dreambonding or spying.
She fixed her attention on Idom, who watched the display, counting the dots with the avid intensity he normally reserved for astrogation. “All they’d dare do with me is ship me home.” Probably. “And, Idom, if they find out just who you are, they’ll likely ship you home with me.”
“They can’t make me work for them.”
“They might,” she cautioned.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Elias shudder. He covered it by turning to her and asking, “Is anyone going to tell me who rescued me?”
“There’s no point in keeping it from him,” said Idom, fingering his beard thoughtfully. “Most of the crew knows anyway. Someone’s bound to talk.”
“Idom’s one of a handful in the Metaji Empire who understands the theory of Pool construction and operation, of how one Guide or a pair of Operators can ‘fold’ a whole ship through a Pool that’s built into the ship’s framework and make it pop out where they want it to.”
“And Kyllikki,” said Idom, “used to be one of the Teleod’s best Pool Operators.”
Elias’ eyes widened. “Yes. They use telepaths in the Pools That’s what this war is all about. Is that why you defected?”
“No. That’s something I don’t talk about.” Zimor had used Kyllikki’s talent as an Eight Families telepath and Bonder to make her into a powerful Pool Operator, but it had been the using she’d objected to, not the Operating. When she’d arrived in the Metaji, where Imperial policy called for the execution of all known Teleod Operators, her only chance for an exemption had been to volunteer for a “dangerous medical experiment”...retraining as a Metaji communicator. Part of the price she’d gladly paid to gain certification was the oath never to enter a Pool again, and having survived the mental probes and conditioning, she’d been given her freedom, as the law demanded. But very few below the rank of Duke other than Guild members knew the whole story. “I don’t appreciate Idom bringing it up.”
“Considering what he may face with us and because of us on Barkyr, he has a right to know,” insisted Idom, examining Elias. “Of her own free will, Kyllikki has forsaken the Pools because, despite her retraining as a Metaji telepath, any transit she made would probably be just as damaging to the substrata of space-time as ordinary Teleod Operation.”
“Lots of people seem convinced that’s what’s causing ships to disappear,” said Elias.
“It’s true,” said Idom with all the authority of his Guild. “Every passage of a Teleod ship leaves a gouge behind it that can throw the next Metaji ship off course. Routes have become so damaged that now Teleod ships can’t get through, and they’re using stronger methods that leave deeper gouges. They think that solves the problem. They think they can