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!
"All right, I'll make a formal application to the Eastern Parapsychic Center for the services of the kinetic, Peter Reidinger. How much is she going to soak us for him?"
Johnny shrugged. "That's between accountants. I just recruit."
"Why doesn't Peter?" Coetzer asked sharply. "Train more kinetics, I mean. God knows we can use every one the Centers find."
"There just ain't anyone else with his little knack. That's why. Not that Rhyssa and Baden haven't been looking under every psychic rock to find a likely student for him. I can do gestalt, but I don'tknow how I do it. Neither, in the final analysis, does Pete." He rose stiffly. "I'm for some sack time, Dirk. Catchya later." With a casual salute, he left the office.
Dirk Coetzer immediately put in a call to his Contracts Manager. He most certainly would grab the opportunity to employ Reidinger. He only hoped that Rhyssa Lehardt would not renege, beset by second thoughts. Greene had made Coetzer patently aware of how unusual and valuable Reidinger was considered by the Parapsychics: a Talent that they would not risk. How had Johnny Greene talked her into it against her better judgment? Coetzer dismissed the notion that he'd have trouble now that Johnny had told him the lad was available. Rhyssa was known for her integrity and would honor her word to the general. Nor would he have misled Coetzer. The man was clever, an opportunist, devious, but he wouldn't misrepresent a matter as important as this. Of course, Greene knew how very much Coetzer wanted Reidinger's abilities up here on the Station. And, if the boy-young man-couldn't hack space after all, his kinetic talents used from the safety of the Station would still constitute an asset. Coetzer liked Peter Reidinger, admired a lad who had overcome such a massive physical disadvantage. The prospect that Peter might mature into an even greater range and depth was even more tantalizing. What would the mature scope be? He gave a soft whistle.
Peter's juvenile uses of kinesis had been spectacular. Johnny had seen to it that Coetzer received a file of Baden's training reports on Reidinger. Whether or not he was able to advance beyond his initial performances was moot. The prospect of teleporting freighters to First Base or-Coetzer inhaled sharply at the mere thought-or Mars filled the admiral with a sudden glorious ambition. Padrugoi had been humanity's first step on the path out of its star system. The installation at First Base was another. A permanent Mars colony replacing the present temporary exploration habitat would prove that humanity could adapt to an alien ecology. Earthlike worlds-M-5s-had been identified around many primaries in this galaxy. That new hush-hush telescope was able to find free oxygen in the ozone layers of several planets, meaning they could probably be inhabited without protective coverings or breathing apparatus. To make the most of such opportunities, humanity had better learn the lessons Earth's other satellites had to offer. First Base had already taught valuable techniques, a good preparation for the challenge of inhabiting Mars. In Coetzer's lifetime, Padrugoi had been conceived and constructed. The Moon was inhabited. That he might live to see the day Mars would be, too; that he might also be part of that triumph. What a prospect!
" 'Or what's a heaven for?' " Coetzer quoted to himself. He allowed himself a long moment to savor his new aspiration. His intercom buzzed and he dealt with the practical problems of contracting the means to the new goal he contemplated.
Assimilating Peter Reidinger into the transport command of General Johnny Greene was the first step in his Padrugoi contract. He was hired as a "civilian consultant" in Supply and Transport, nominally working under Greene. At the general's insistence, he was given the highest security clearance.
"He's going to handle sensitive stuff from the gitgo, " Johnny said when the Space Authority resisted. "He wasn't a security risk when he started lobbing shuttles into space for you and he hasn't developed any questionable habits since then. He also doesn't need some near-sighted spook snooping around him."
In the first week of Peter's employment at Jerhattan Space Port, he lifted more tonnage than Johnny did in a month, a fact the general made sure that everyone in the Space Authority knew. The only aspect of the job that Peter had objections to was the requirement to wear recording pads during gestalt.
"Look, Pete, it's necessary," Johnny said, cutting through his demurral. "You don't feel 'em anyhow so what's your beef."
"I have more than enough appliances glued to me," Peter replied sourly.
Johnny gave him a quick look but did not give in. "They're a record, just like Incident reporting in the Center, that we need. I wear 'em, too. Okay? Now let's just shift this last monster and call it a day."
"I'm not tired, Johnny."
"You aren't, but I am. I'm thirty years your senior, m'boy, and when I say it's quitting time, it's quitting time. Dorotea's got dinner waiting."
After they had sent the freighter to Padrugoi on the first leg of its long journey to Oceanus Procellarum and First Base, Johnny gratefully shucked off his pads.
"C'mon, Pete. I've seen enough of these four walls today."
When all parties involved signed the contract with Padrugoi, Rhyssa suggested to Peter that perhaps he would prefer to have his own apartment in the Center for those intervals when he was downside. The Space Authority had not queried the clause that required Peter to have one week in every four back on Earth. Despite his euphoria when Rhyssa explained the conditions of his contract, Peter "knew" that she didn't want him living on his own. Nor did he. He liked Dorotea, and Amariyah made a much nicer sister than Katya ever had.
"I'd rather stay at Dorotea's," Peter said quickly, and knew by the way Rhyssa relaxed that she'd hoped for this response. "Dorotea says she doesn't mind me staying on. She's still trying to fatten me up, you know, even if I don't like to eat too often." That was one of the few times Rhyssa heard him refer, even obliquely, to the appliance that collected his body wastes. "It isn't as if the food isn't great on Padrugoi." He lifted his shoulders in a good imitation of Johnny Greene's characteristic gesture. He saw her lips twitch in recognition.
"It's your choice, Peter," Rhyssa said, and tried not to broadcast her relief.
"Besides, Amariyah would miss me," Peter added with an affectionate smile.
"That's true," Rhyssa agreed. "So would Eoin and Chester, young as he is."
Peter grinned back. "And impressionable. I don't want your kids to forget me."
"I doubt they would," she replied sincerely. Her son, Eoin, now just three and a quarter years old, already, showed an unusual empathy for a child, and she hoped it would mature into a useful ability. Chester, at fifteen months, responded to her telepathic cues, turning from tears into smiles when she soothed him. Right now, they could be keenly aware of "atmosphere" and respond to it, naughtily enough, at times, to severely try her patience. They seemed to sense that Peter was different and curbed their horseplay. They never hung on to his hands the way they would their father's or Johnny Greene's. It was as if they knew they should respect his personal space.
Since Peter had been under the Center's aegis, he had had less and less contact with his natural family. Until her death, his mother had religiously visited her son every month but she had never been comfortable in his presence once he was mobile. He supported his father and his sharp-tongued jealous sister, Katya. They would have extorted more financial assistance from a guiltily generous Peter if their sporadic attempts to see him had got past Rhyssa's staff. After Peter was installed at the Center, Katya appeared periodically at Beechwoods, demanding that she be allowed to see her brother. Sirikit or Budworth would dutifully show her a duty roster and point out where in the world he was currently training with Lance Baden. Then she'd be escorted back to the transport tube. Shortly before his eighteenth birthday, she gave up. Half the time he had been at Dorotea's, a short walk from the Henner mansion.