Pegasus In Space
- Автор: Маккефри Энн
- Серия: Talents #3
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «Pegasus In Space». Краткое содержание книги:
For an overpopulated Earth whose resources are strained to the breaking point, there is only one place to look for relief: straight up. With the successful completion of the Padrugoi Space Station, humanity has at last achieved its first large-scale permanent presence in space. But there are those who, for motives of their own, want Padrugoi to fail. Standing in their way are the Talented, men and women gifted with extraordinary mental powers that have made them as feared as they are respected--and utterly indispensable to the colonization effort. Now, as sabotage and attempted murder strike the Station, it's up to the Talented to save the day. Only who is going to save the Talented?
Pegasus in Space is the tale of Peter Reidinger, first Tower Prime!
The daughter of Tony and Nadezhda Bantam. You sent me a leather-bound journal, with a photograph of the three of them. The parents are dead. I have located the daughter.
My God, you haven't! Are you sure?
There was a brief pause. I am as sure as I can be.
Where?
She's very far away. Still in Bangladesh. I can pinpoint her more accurately once I am there. I apologize for not getting back to this sooner but I have been busy with LEO.
Of course you have, Carmen. We have both been occupied in other matters. If she is alive.
She is very much alive.
"Damn, " Lance said aloud, for the good news had cut his concentration on Peter's kinetic switch.
"Did I do something wrong?" Peter asked, picking up the monitor to find the mistake.
"No, boy, you didn't. But I just heard some very good news that put me off what we're doing here. Sorry about that. Excuse me a sec." Carmen, are you free to travel right now?
Yes, since you could not find the child on your own, and Lance caught amusement in her voice. That picture is at least three years old. You might not recognize her Carmen subtly suggested that a male would not be able to make the leap of the child's alteration. I definitely will.
Lance was suddenly so full of what he needed to do now that he failed to recognize the note in her voice.
D'you know Kayankira of the Delhi Center? he asked Carmen. She'd arrange for local guides, unless you're fluent in Bangla, which I am not.
Tirla is.
Ah, yes, the shopping Tirla. Good idea, and Lance grinned at the thought of finally meeting this young Talent whom Sascha was eager to protect and Rhyssa and Peter thought highly of. Peter usually saw his friend when he had an afternoon off while Lance attended to Adelaide Center business. I'll ask Rhyssa if we can take Tirla with us.
Better you should ask Sascha, Carmen said.
Whoever! Lance brushed that remark aside. Fleetingly he remembered that Tirla, who had a phenomenal Talent in languages, was, like Peter, too young to be officially employed by the Center. Why should Sascha be asked? Ah, he was head of training. Well, Lance would have to clear all travel plans for Peter, as well as Tirla, with Rhyssa as Center head. The trip to a totally different culture could be educational for both youngsters.
Speak to Rhyssa, Carmen said. My time is clear for the next few days.
Lance explained the circumstances to Rhyssa and her sympathy for an orphaned child was immediate. She granted permission for an expedition involving Peter, Tirla, and Carmen Stein.
I don't think Sascha will object, if Carmen is along.
Lance shook his head. Why would Roznine object? I understand she's not in active training yet.
Ah! Sascha has a special interest in Tirla. He rescued her from Linear G and a kidnapping attempt. I'll tell you the full story another time. Although don't be surprised at anything Tirla says or does.
I won't then, Lance promised without at all knowing what that might entail.
Will Peter be doing the kinetics?
Johnny's been wanting a long-distance test of that new carrier he's had designed. Lightweight, just a shell really, but suitable for longer-distance teleporting. I'd like to see Peter using it. Kayankira is meeting us in Dhaka.
That's right. You're good friends. Have a nice trip, and Rhyssa's mental tone briefly bubbled with suppressed laughter.
"How would you like to take a short break from our studies?" Lance asked Peter, grinning. While he regretted an interruption to this session, he realized that, since he'd been released from Padrugoi for weeks now, he hadn't even thought to inquire of Carmen about her search for the Bantams' child.
"To do what?" Peter asked, surprised.
Lance was a single-minded instructor, a much stronger telekinetic than his first teacher, Rick Hobson, had been. Peter felt he already had far more control over his energy than ever before. He certainly didn't want to interrupt these lessons.
"Remember when you dropped me and the shuttle full of kinetics in Dhaka?"
Peter nodded.
"Well, I have some unfinished business over there. We can try Johnny's carrier and some of your push-pull techniques, which we really haven't been able to do here," and Lance gestured around the old warehouse they were using as a schoolroom.
"I wouldn't mind," Peter admitted. "Though it's more Johnny's technique than mine."
"Probably because Greene still doesn't have the power you've got in your big toe."
Peter didn't like anyone criticizing his friend and averted his face from Lance. He knew he had a long way to go before he could control his expression.
"Not that I'm criticizing the general in any way, Pete. It's just wise to recognize limitations, that's all. We're to be there at sunrise their time."
"Will we be using the new carrier he sent us? That's awesome," the boy said, his eyes gleaming. He and Lance had 'ported about Jerhattan but a long 'port would be a treat. "Back to Dhaka, huh?Zia Airport again?" Peter asked. He swiveled around to the monitor, asking it for the global coordinates and sighing with impatience at the time it took to access. He had a memory that was almost eidetic so he hadn't had to call up a general map first. He'd practiced memory techniques while still in the hospital, inert on an A-frame bed with little else to occupy a busy mind. "It'd be nice to be there," he remarked, placing his finger on the site.
"Call it education. You haven't been many places yet on this ol' Earth and it's about time you did some traveling; to see how the other half lives."
"Can we go to Australia, too, while we're nearly there? You promised me I'd get to see kangaroos and wallabies and wombats," Peter said eagerly. "And Ayers Rock and Alice Springs."
"We can't just take off and go sightseeing whenever we want to."
"But-"
"I've got an errand in Bangladesh."
They spent some time looking at the towns and cities of Bangladesh. Peter was fascinated by the flat landscape with not a single residential Linear or ziggurat on the flat, deltoid plains. Even Dhaka's architecture was mainly in the traditional Bengali patterns.
The next day at the very early hour of four on a bright, crisp fall morning in early November, Lance and Peter waited by the new passenger carrier shell that General John Greene had had constructed for the purpose of kinetic transportation. It had, windows, which Lance thought a definite improvement. Carmen arrived with a slight, coffee-skinned, black-haired youngster, dressed modestly but with great style.
"Hi, Tirla, whatcha need that for?" Peter asked, lifting his arm to indicate her backpack. "We'll only be gone a few hours."
"Stuff and junk," the girl responded in a clear, faintly accented voice. "You're the Lance that makes Peter work so hard," she added, tilting her head and giving the tall Australian a searching look.
"Perhaps not as hard as he works me, Tirla." Then Lance handed a towel-wrapped parcel to her. "Keep that safe for me, please?"
She considered his answer for a moment before giving a sharp nod of her head. "Sure." She took the parcel and stowed it carefully in her backpack with a see-why-I-need-it glare at Peter. Then she pointed to the carrier. "We go in this? And Peter flies it?"
"I 'port it, Tir," Peter corrected her. "Let's go." He glided forward.