Criticism is welcomed. Address criticisms to [xazqrten@cox.net]

******************************
  
   "It's been a long day, Miss Chong, considering that we got such a late 
start. I want to get an early start tomorrow morning. I'll expect you about 
0700," said Lyta.

   "I'll be there, Miss Alexander. May I ask, is that your real name?"

   "Will you be disappointed if it is?"

   "I was made to understand that you and Mister Bryson would be using false 
documents."

   "Who told you that?"

   "Mister Long."

   "Mister Long talks too much. I'll have to break him of that."

   "How are you going to do that?

   "You don't want to know."

   "I'll see you at 0700 tomorrow, Miss Alexander."

   "Miss Chong, Alexander is my real name, but when you come to the hotel, I'm 
registered as Phyllis O'Bannion. I'm in room 1202, but they might move me since 
the carpet had blood on it, and needed extensive cleaning."

******************************

In Lyta's hotel room after supper:

   Lyta watched the early news just after eating supper in her room and turned 
in. She had a lot of mental work to do, and she liked to close her eyes and 
relax before starting. Her first order of business to wipe Mister Long's mind 
of any knowledge of her and her activities. She found him easily. He was at his 
favorite bar nursing his latest drink. Since his dismissal that morning, he had 
been drinking rather steadily, although not heavily. He wasn't totally drunk, 
but he was feeling no pain. He wasn't even aware when Lyta entered his mind and 
deftly removed a number of memories. She saw that he had been planning to use 
his knowledge to make trouble for Garibaldi's and her business interests. When 
she finished, he didn't even remember being employed by Garibaldi's firm. She 
spent quite a while visiting the minds of all the people she had been to 'see' 
that day. As in all the other cities, she had implanted an instruction for each 
of them to think very intensely of a different series of objects in a repeated 
order when she sent them the proper command. This would allow her to easily 
find any of them no matter where they were on the planet. Once she found them 
she could insert any series of commands she might want them to follow. She was 
determined that when she departed Earth, her visit would be remembered for a 
very long time.

   Before she fell asleep, Lyta tried to find Susan's mind. She just wanted to 
make sure everything was going well for her. She narrowed her mental senses to 
look for the mental patterns of her friend. It took a lot of concentration and 
what she found shook her to her core. She found a mind that felt exactly like 
Susan's, but with very subtle differences. She very lightly touched the mind 
trying to determine what she was dealing with. It was almost unreal. To a 
normal telepath, this mind would look exactly like Susan's in its thought 
patterns. She began to scan the mind and was shocked at her discovery.

****************************** 

In a middle class home in the Russian Consortium on Earth:

   The woman awakened from a light sleep. She was sure she had heard a noise 
somewhere in the lower floor of the modest house. She shook her 
husband. "Mikel! Someone is downstairs!" Her husband continued to sleep. She 
shook him very vigorously, but he didn't awaken. Frustrated, she got up, put on 
her housecoat, and went downstairs.

   Following the noise of movements she approached the kitchen warily. The 
kitchen light was on. She was a telepath, but she could feel no thoughts coming 
from the area of the kitchen. She was just a bit frightened because even a psi 
cop would be detectable at this range. Stepping into the doorway, she didn't 
know what to expect, but it surely wasn't the sight that greeted her. There in 
her kitchen was a young redheaded female looking through her cabinets. "Find 
what you are looking for yet?"

   "No," answered the young woman, continuing her search. "Do you have any 
coffee or tea?"

   Whatever answer she had expected, this wasn't it. "Why are you in my home?'

   "I thought it might be interesting to talk with you. You are an interesting 
person."

   "I could shoot you, and no one would ask me any questions."

   "That wouldn't be very nice, but go ahead and shoot me, if it'll make you 
feel any safer."

   The woman was perplexed. This intruder wasn't acting like any intruder she 
had ever heard of. Odd, though, she did look familiar. She tried to recall 
where she had seen her before, but wasn't successful. "Who are you?"

   The redhead smiled, "My name is Lyta Alexander, and yours is?"

   "If you don't leave, I'll call my husband down here."

   Lyta smiled at her, "He won't hear you. He’s sawing logs. I really could use 
a cup of coffee or tea."

   "You said I was interesting. Why?"

   "Your thought patterns are virtually identical to those of a very good 
friend of mine. I was trying to reach her when I encountered your thought 
patterns. I found them intriguing."

   "You were the telepath on the video during the telepath war."

   "That's me. However, I was only a figurehead. You never did tell me your 
name."

   "You scanned me. Didn't you find it then?"

   "I didn't do a full scan on you. I only touched your mind enough to realize 
that you felt a lot like my friend. In fact, you seem to think the two of you 
are not just related, but are identical twins. Susan damned sure doesn't know 
she has a sister, if that's what you are."

   "I'm sorry. My name is Sofie Gorkov. I was named after our mother. Even our 
mother never knew of my existence. She never knew she was carrying twins."

   "I don't understand."

   "Mother was a telepath. A group of rogue telepath sympathizers arranged for 
one of us to be taken without our parents’ knowledge. It was a long shot that 
either of us would have the gene, since our brother didn't have it. It does 
seem to occur more often in females than males, but usually the males are 
stronger than we are, with a few exceptions."

   "How did you learn all this?"

   "My parents, the couple who raised me, told me about the time I turned ten 
years old. They explained very carefully about why it was done, and why I could 
never contact any members of my family. I was devastated when I learned about 
my biological mother's death and how it came to happen. I have a real hatred 
for Psi Corps and the new thought police."

   "How have you managed to hide all these years?"

   "The same way my husband did after he went rogue from the corps. He was a 
psi cop, too. We have lived as mundanes and have never used our abilities. We 
work at routine jobs, and no one is the wiser. Who's going to look for a rogue 
psi cop in a real estate office or a telepath in an interior decorating 
company. It's just too absurd to imagine, because the psi cops couldn't imagine 
a powerful telepath not using his or her abilities for personal gain."

   "So you hid in plain sight. It's so simple, yet effective."

   "It complies with the KISS principle. Keep it simple stupid."

   Lyta smiled a smile of genuine pleasure as Sofie poured two steaming cups of 
coffee. "Black will be just fine."

   "Now that you know my secret, what are you going to do with it?"

   "Nothing. It's none of my business. You're entitled to live your lives 
however you wish, as far as I'm concerned. You have made a comfortable life for 
yourselves without using your abilities, that takes a lot of control."

   "I have two children, both of whom have the abilities. It is difficult to 
make them understand how important it is to never let anyone know what they 
are."

   "It doesn't have to be that way. I know a place where you and your family 
will be welcomed, and you won't have to worry about the thought police unless 
you actually commit a crime."

   "I gather this place is not within the Earth Alliance."

   "No, it's not. Your talents  - both the telepathic one and your other 
talents - could be put to good use there."

   "Can I think abut it?"

   "For as long as you wish."

   Lyta and Sofie made small talk about their children for some time before 
Lyta had to leave. "This is where you can reach me, if you ever want to accept 
my offer." She handed Sofie a business card. "It's time you went back upstairs 
and went to sleep." Sofie laid the card next to her empty coffee cup and went 
back upstairs.

   Sofie awakened about a minute before her alarm went off. She shook her 
husband. He awoke and looked at her. "Is it time to get up already?"

   "Yes, Mikel. I had a visitor last night."

   Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he asked, "You what, when?"

   "Last night, I heard a noise coming from downstairs. I couldn't wake you up, 
so I went down and checked it out myself. You aren't going to believe this, but 
it was a young redheaded female from North America, I believe."

   "What you had was a dream, Sofie. If there had been a stranger downstairs, 
the dog would have raised hell. Did you hear him barking?"

   "No. If it was a dream, it certainly was the most realistic dream I've ever 
had. Hell, I even dreamed I made fresh coffee for the two of us."

   "Who did she say she was?"

   "Lyta Alexander. You remember, the telepath that was on the video during the 
telepath war."

   "I doubt that you saw her. There's a warrant out for her arrest. I heard 
through the grapevine that she was something else, but it was all rumors."

   "I'll have breakfast ready in about twenty minutes," she said, getting out 
of bed.

   His wife had been gone downstairs barely long enough to reach the kitchen 
when he heard her yell, "Mikel! Come down here!"

   Walking into the kitchen, he asked, "What's up?"

   Sofie pointed to the two cups sitting on the table and the card lying beside 
what had been her cup. "If I had a dream then it is the most realistic dream 
anyone has ever had. Those cups aren't a dream."

   Mikel moved to pick up the card. "It's a business card. It says "Lyta 
Alexander" and gives the Glenthorian embassy as a point of contact. I don't 
know how, but that was no dream. Dreams don't leave dirty coffee cups and 
business cards."

   "How did she come through locked doors and not wake up the dog?"

   Her husband just gave her a confused look.

******************************

In Lyta's hotel room:

    Lyta was enjoying the breakfast in her room when the doorbell rang. It was 
Miss Chong. "Good morning Miss Chong. Care for some breakfast?"

    Chong took a piece of toast and spread butter and jelly on it. Miss 
Alexander, my first name is Nikki. Please call me that."

    "I can do that, Nikki. Call me Phyllis in public, since that is the name 
I'm using here. In private, feel free to call me Lyta. We have a very busy day 
ahead of us.

******************************
  
In a weapons storage facility somewhere in North America:

   The colonel walked up to the desk that had been pointed out as belonging to 
the head of the logistics section of the facility. "Good morning Major Harper," 
he said reading the name plate on the desktop corner.

   Looking up to see who had addressed him, Major Harper replied, "Good morning 
Colonel. What can I do for you today?"

   "Have you received the request for the weapon yet?"

   "Yes Sir. I got it late yesterday afternoon. It took a while, but I had the 
request authenticated before I started the process to have it pulled and 
prepared for transportation. I understand you will take possession here and use 
your own team to transport it."

   "That's correct, Major. I'm curious about the whole thing. My orders are to 
transport it and install it in the Nevada facility number four."

   "I thought your people just pulled out the original one about eight months 
ago. Word was that the facility was being shut down."

   "It was. Except for a caretaker crew. All the dangerous stuff was removed 
more than two years ago, or at least that was the official word. But... you 
know how that can be when the black bag boys get involved."

   "I'm curious. The one you removed was only twenty kilotons, but the one you 
are picking up is two megatons. That's one hell of an increase in yield."

   "You're curious? Welcome to the club. I'm as surprised as you are. That's 
enough kick to dig a respectable hole in the dirt. I think the less I know 
about this operation, or whatever it is, the better."

   "The weapon and container are waiting at pickup area two. Pleasant trip, 
Colonel."

   "I just want it to be a safe one. Have a nice day, Major."

   "I'll consider that an order, Colonel," said the major to the already 
receding back of the colonel.

*******************************

In front of Lyta's hotel:

   "Would you like to show me some of the night life of Tokyo before I have to 
leave? I am led to believe that there numerous dance clubs where a girl can 
dance and drink the night away, and have someone else pay for it."

   "Are you serious?"

   "Don't tell me you can't imagine me ever enjoying myself. After all, I am a 
person, contrary to what you may have heard."

   "Somehow, I can't picture you dancing and laughing. It doesn't fit with the 
person I've been working with these last couple of days."

   "It was only a thought. I'll go by myself. It'll be safer that way. If I had 
to worry about your safety, it would detract from the purpose of the effort."

   "Somehow I feel belittled and insulted."

   "No more than I. I do enjoy the same things other people enjoy, a good meal, 
dancing, sharing a drink with a friend. Hell, I'm even a mother, and no that 
isn't part of a hyphenated phrase."

   "If you really want to, I'll come back around about 2100. That's early, but 
it'll give us time to check out a couple of places I know. Several of them are 
in a seeder part of town. One is near the area where you had the run with the 
gang."

   "I'll be ready. Any apparel suggestions?"

   "You have a very good figure. Wear something that accents it. A short loose 
skirt that is snug about the waist and hips and a tight blouse will do nicely, 
and high heels to show off your legs. You look like you have a body that 
younger women would kill for, accent it."

    Lyta watched her walk away toward the underground. She went into the hotel 
lobby and asked the desk clerk where she could find a chic clothing store.

******************************

In a nondescript office in a nondescript office building:

   The voice from the panel almost sounded like a snake trying to speak 
passable North American English. "We know she is on the planet. We have other 
sources, and they have confirmed this."

   "I have seen the monitor videos and agree someone fitting her description 
arrived on Earth more than a month ago. However, she has kept a low profile. We 
believe she may have been in San Francisco as recently as this last week. It 
appears that she may be using a new identity and credit cards in each city and 
country she is passing through. It is difficult to keep a tail on her."

   "Your efforts are not sufficient. We have engaged others to find and deal 
with her," hissed the unseen speaker.

   "If you believe the recordings shown on the news, dealing with her may be 
more difficult than you think."

   "That is not your concern," said the hissing voice, then the circuit was 
broken.

******************************

2100 hours in front of Lyta's hotel:

   "Are you ready to party?" asked Nikki.

   "I think so. Jaws dropped as I walked across the lobby. You wouldn't think  
that a black and white silk outfit could have such an effect on men."

   Looking Lyta's outfit over, Nikki replied, "The black mini dress, white see-
through blouse and black silk vest is killer. The missing bra is icing on the 
outfit. I noticed that you jiggle very little. How do you manage it?"

   "I insisted on a no-jiggle warranty when I got them. Rather nice, don't you 
think?"

   "You are going to have a lot of men drooling all over the place and trying 
to pick you up."

   "I only go home with my Minbari boyfriend."

   "Minbari boyfriend?"

   "Yep."

   Nikki shook her head and said, "Let's get this show on the road."

   Lyta and Nikki headed for the underground entrance, not noticing a pair of 
men move out of the shadows on the other side of the street and headed for the 
entrance located there.

******************************

In the Dance Dungeon Night Club:

   "Now you see why I brought ear protection," said Nikki shouting to be heard 
over the throbbing music."

   With her ear plugs in position, Lyta had difficulty hearing anything Nikki 
was saying. "I can't hear you!" Shouted Lyta.

   Nikki shook her head in reply. {I think I can make it easier on us,} said 
the voice in Nikki's head. It had been very clear and easy to hear. Then she 
realized she hadn't really heard it. {I can read your thoughts. The music can't 
drown them out. I can project my responses straight into your mind. The loud 
music won't make any difference.} Nikki looked shocked. {You're aware that I am 
a telepath, aren't you?}

   {I never thought about it. I've never had mental contact with a telepath. 
It's disconcerting,} she thought.

   {You'll get used to it. The best part is no one can 'hear' us.}

   They spent the next two hours dancing with several young me and enjoying the 
drinks they bought. Lyta had made it plain to the men that dancing and drinks 
is all there was.

   Four hours and three clubs later, they were in their fourth club and having 
a good time. They were between dances and enjoying their drinks at the bar. 
Lyta was enjoying her drink and watching those on the dance floor when a man 
who had been badgering her to dance with him grabbed her by the arm. He was a 
tall man of obvious European descent. He was squeezing Lyta's arm very hard. 
The club bouncers saw what was transpiring and moved to intervene. Before they 
could reach Lyta and the man, she reached up and grabbed his throat. The 
response was immediate. He stopped breathing and released her arm, however, she 
didn't release his throat. She squeezed it until his larynx began to collapse, 
first he lost consciousness then he lost control of his bodily functions as he 
came very close to death. As the smell of the fecal release started to permeate 
the immediate area, Lyta released him and let him collapse into a heap on the 
floor. By this time the bouncers had managed to reach them.

   "I'm sorry, Miss," said the lead bouncer. "We got here as quickly as we 
could."

   "No problem," yelled Lyta over the music. "He's not a problem anymore. He 
won't be a problem in the future either."

   "Get him out of here!" yelled the lead bouncer to two of his colleagues. As 
they dragged the fellow away, the lead bouncer continued, "How can you be sure 
he won't ever be a problem here again?"

   "I guarantee it!" yelled Lyta, handing the bouncer one of her business 
cards. "If he ever shows up here again of his own volition, just contact me 
through this outfit. I'll send you a credit chit worth a thousand credits."

   The man looked at her, shook his head and walked away. {You guarantee it?} 
queried Nikki.

   {Remember what I am. I put blocks into his mind that will cause him extreme 
pain if he gets within a block of a dance club or night club. He will also feel 
pain if he gets closer that a meter to a woman with thoughts of fun and games 
in his mind.}

   {Jeesh! You screwed him over royally.}

   {The punishment is appropriate for his intentions and past actions.}

   {Let's dance some more. Drinking isn't much fun.}

   Lyta's demonstration was lost on the patrons in the noise and dancing inside 
the club, except for two men watching from across the dance area. They had been 
following her and Nikki all night. Because of the crowds and the fact that the 
men kept their thoughts neutral, Lyta wasn't aware of being watched.

   It was almost 0330 when Nikki and Lyta elected to call it a night. Nikki was 
feeling the effects of the alcohol she had ingested while Lyta, although she 
had drank much more, showed no effects at all. They had one more day of
visiting businesses so that Lyta could eyeball people on her list that were 
located in Tokyo. As they left the club, Nikki noted that 0700 wasn't far away.

******************************

In the subway station near Lyta's hotel:

   The two men who had been tailing Lyta and Nikki were assassins who had been 
paid handsomely to terminate Lyta with 'extreme prejudice'. They had determined 
that she would use the subway to return to her hotel and that hitting her as 
she left a crowded subway platform was the ideal plan. They had been trained to 
hide their thoughts from a casual telepathic scan, and from their point of view 
they didn't see much that could go wrong. As Lyta passed, them in the station, 
they would step in behind her, empty their military PPGs into her and that 
would be it. The action would generate panic and terror in those very close to 
them, and the fear would spread throughout the platform area like wildfire, 
covering their escape.

   It was 0400 when Lyta stepped off the train and onto the subway platform. 
She was enjoying the thoughts of what she and Nikki had spent almost the entire 
night doing. As she walked off the platform, she was thinking warm thoughts of 
Sheraun, and how much she would have loved to have him with her tonight. She 
was so wrapped up in her personal thoughts that she never noticed the two men 
in the crowd move in behind her. She became aware of them when she felt the 
stings of the first shots from their PPGs. The thought of her new dress being 
ruined enraged her.

   The two men had emptied their PPGs into Lyta and were trying to reload and 
run away at the same time, but found themselves unable to move before they 
could run three steps. The people in the subway station were frozen in place. 
Lyta quickly scrambled their most recent thoughts, those about the shooting and 
panic. She quickly rummaged through the minds of the two assassins, she learned 
several telephone numbers, names of other people involved and the account 
numbers where the money the assassins had been paid was waiting. Satisfied that 
she had gleaned all the useful information from them that they had, she 
proceeded to pulverize every bone in their bodies that wasn't actually 
necessary to keep them alive. That left their heads, parts of their spinal 
columns and rib cages intact. They weren't dead, but they would wish they were. 
When she released their minds, they would begin screaming at the top of their 
lungs. Looking at her ruined dress, she decided that walking the rest of the 
way back to the hotel wasn't the best of ideas. Since the people around her 
would not have clear memories of what had transpired, she concentrated and was 
engulfed in a white light that gave off no heat. When it had faded, she was 
gone. At that point, the subway patrons regained control over their bodies and 
remembered nothing of her departure. They had only vague memories of fuzzy 
images about the incident.

  In her hotel room, Lyta quickly changed clothes, and then went down to the 
front desk to retrieve her room passkey that she had left there when she went 
out earlier the previous evening. 

   Back in her room, Lyta got on the communications system and accessed the 
accounts numbers which she had discovered in the assassins memories. She moved 
enough to pay for her destroyed outfit to one of her accounts and moved the 
rest into several local charity accounts. She used the names and information 
about them to mentally visit the people to whom the names belonged. Several 
were lucky, she ripped what she wanted from their minds and gave them strokes. 
One other got special treatment. She removed account numbers from his mind then 
left him in the same condition that she had left her would be assassins. She 
never gave a second thought to what the doctors would think when they examined 
the men to whom she had given the special treatment.

******************************
 
0800 in Bryson's office on Mars:

   Bryson summoned his secretary into his office.

   Beverly Wiseman entered and stopped in front of Bryson's desk. "Yes Sir."

   "I have notified personnel to send your replacement. She will be here by 
0900. I want your desk cleaned out before then. You will then report to 
personnel for reassignment."

   "Yes Sir. Will that be all, sir?"

   "Yes."

   Wiseman turned and left without another word. She never asked for an 
explanation. She had been Bryson's secretary for about nine months. He was 
known for adhering to the company policy of changing secretaries every six 
months. Only the fact that he had been out of the office so much in the last 
six months had prevented him from keeping to that schedule. The fact that 
Beverly Wiseman had run his office for all the time he was gone was lost on him.

   It was almost 0930 when Garibaldi called Bryson. "Bob, what happened to 
Beverly?"

  "She had been here three months past the time when I should have replaced 
her."

  "I thought she was doing a fine job. You do know that the six month rule is 
something left over from when Edgars ran the place. I just haven't gotten 
around to wiping if off the books. It's one of a number that I'm going to
trash."

  "It's too late now, Mike. Wiseman is back in personnel for reassignment."

  "Maybe I should use her to replace you."

  "What do you mean by that?"

  "She ran your office while you were on travel, Bob, and she did a better job 
of it than you do."

  "She would play hell making the decisions I have to make."

  "She already has. I suggest you review your past e-mail and other 
communications records. She made policy decisions and handled other decisions 
in your absence. I knew she was doing it, and discretely kept an eye on her. I
stand by my statement that she did it better than you do."

   "Maybe you should give her my job."

   "Not yours, but I'm going to hold open Marty Golf's old position while I 
send Wiseman through security manager's training. After that, she’s going to 
take that position. She should be learning about the training assignment very 
soon."

   "It didn't make any difference whether I tried to keep her or not."

   "No. when I saw her performance during your absences, I did some checking 
into her personnel file. We should have been using her for at least a branch 
head a long time ago. I think someone in personnel was screwing her over, and 
when I find out who it was, they’ll be history around here. Actually, this call 
was to inform you of my decision."

   "The truth is, I didn't want to send her back to personnel, but rules are 
rules."
  
   "That one is going to be gone less than five minutes after we finish this 
conversation."
 
   "I know she thinks I'm a real ass after this morning."

   "I wouldn't assume anything, Bob. Remember, as a secretary she’s been in and 
out of various offices over the years she has worked here, and I'm sure she 
knows why you sent her back to personnel."

******************************

In Edgar Industries personnel office:

    "There is no mistake Mrs. Wiseman. You are scheduled to start training 
tomorrow morning," said the personnel officer.

   "To what end am I receiving this training?" asked Beverly Wiseman.

   "I don't know. I was informed that you would be receiving security manager 
training and where to send you. That's all I know. I'm sure there’s a good 
reason."

   "Well, I suppose I shouldn't disappoint whoever is responsible. I'll be 
there."

******************************

Inside a Tokyo police precinct house:

   "Morning Lieutenant," said Sergeant Yeng.

   "What's new in the murder department? Not more of the gang killing gang like 
the other night, I hope," responded Lieutenant Lee. 

   "Not murder, but maybe something worse."

   "Enlighten me."

   "Last night there was an incident in the Nogoi Station. We are still trying 
to determine just what happened, but we aren't having much success."

   "What's the problem?"

   "Lack of dependable witnesses. It looks like the two we found were trying to 
shoot someone. We found burned silk pieces that may have come from a dress, but 
we can't be sure. Forensics is trying to find anything that might lead to its 
source."

   "What's wrong with the witnesses?"

   "They can't remember what happened."

   "That's nothing new."

   "No, I mean they really can't remember. We have had a few of the scanned by 
telepaths, with their permission. They can only remember fuzzy images that 
don't tell us much of anything. They remember hearing the PPGs shooting, but 
not much else. The telepaths tell us that someone screwed with the memories of 
several hundred people in that station at the same time. They say they don't 
know of any telepath in the IA who could pull that off."

   "What do we have on the perpetrators?"

   "They are in the intensive care unit of Suzuki General Hospital. They aren't 
the only ones in their predicament. There was a well known crime figure brought 
in a little while after our perps."

   "What condition are they in?"

   Sergeant Yeng handed him a folder. "It's all in there, what we have. It 
isn't pretty."

   Lee finished reading the material and looking at the images that were 
included. He shuddered. "This can't be real. How could you do that and not 
leave a mark on them?"

   "That's what's driving the doctors up the wall. I understand they don't have 
a clue. The bone material is still there, it's just in powder form."

   "Have we tried to question them?"

   "The doctors have them doped up on pain killers, but we have interrogated 
them. They will only talk if we promise to kill them when the interrogation is 
finished. Otherwise, we can pack it in."

   "Tell me, is there any good news?"

   "We never found any body of the person they were trying to kill. I suppose 
that could be considered good news."

   "Dig out your aspirin. This is going to be another one of those days."

******************************

Onboard an airliner somewhere over the South China Sea:

   Lyta relaxed for the short flight. She had noted that the only thing about 
her experience in the train station was a few interviews that said nothing of 
substance. The authorities were keeping the facts surrounding the incident
under wraps. She had decided to hurry through the remainder of her visits. She 
still hadn't gotten a lead on the location of the Drakh that she knew just had 
to be on the planet. She wanted them badly. The next four weeks would prove to 
be very busy.

******************************

In Garibaldi's office on Mars:

   "What or who in God's name is this Mike? I mean it looks like someone who 
shouldn't exist."

   "This is what's left of two guys who were found in a train station in Tokyo. 
The station is at the end of the block on which Lyta's hotel was located."

   "She did this?" he asked, fighting down the urge to dump his breakfast.

   "I have no idea. Neither do the Tokyo police, and the two of them won't 
talk. They say the only way they will talk is if they are killed afterward. I 
think this qualifies as something worse than death. They found burned silk 
material in the immediate area, but they can't identify it any better than 
that... and there are no creditable witnesses. Seems like they only have fuzzy, 
hazy memories of the incident. Out of hundreds of people on the platform, or in 
the immediate area, there isn't one decent witness."

   "Surely sounds like our redhead's handiwork."

   "I agree, but only because I can't think of anyone else who can do things 
like this. We both know you can't take that into a court."

   "I begin to see why you really don't want to be on her hit list. I'm 
beginning to feel sorry for the poor bastards who are on it...But only a little 
bit sorry," he said, holding up two fingers very close together.

   "We still haven't heard from her since the first time after her arrival in 
Tokyo. I suppose she’ll call when it pleases her.

******************************

Three weeks later:

   "Mister Garibaldi, I have a call from Lyta Alexander," said his secretary's 
voice from the intercom unit on his desk.

   [Here it comes,] Michael thought to himself.

   "Good Morning, Lyta."

   The image of the redhead looking out of the display said, "Make me an 
appointment with Susan's lawyer. He and I have business to conduct. Tell him I 
want to meet with the Arkland boy's parents."

   "Is that a good idea, Lyta. These people can't be threatened."

   "Why would I threaten them? I can afford to buy them off. Also, make sure 
her attorney has a copy of the 'Blob' tape from Tokyo."

   "'Blob' Tape?"

   "You know the one I mean. Remember, I helped with setting up your 
little 'news' monitoring network."

   "Call me back in an hour or so."

   "Ciao, Michael."

   "Anything I can help with, Mike?" asked Bryson coming in on the end of the 
conversation.

   "Not really. I have to make Lyta an appointment with Susan's attorney. She 
referred to the tape of the guys in Tokyo as the 'Blob' tape. She's 
responsible. Otherwise, she wouldn't even know about it."

   "Do you still refuse to acknowledge that she's terrifying?" 

   "Point made. What brought you over here?"

   "I was wondering about Mrs. Wiseman and her training."

   "She’s doing very well. In fact, she’s doing so well that they are trying to 
hire her away from me."

   "Do you really think she'll take their offer?"

   "I don't know. I asked her to give me the opportunity to match any offer 
they make."

   "Do you really think she's worth it?"

   "I wasn't kidding when I said she did your job better than you do."

   "I don't have to stay here to be insulted. I can get that back in my office. 
I've been informed of what my people think of me for sending her back to 
personnel. They don't believe she would have been transferred anyway."

   "Sounds like a personal problem to me, Bob."

******************************
 
In an office building in New York:

   "Good morning, Mister White. I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Susan's friend, 
Lyta Alexander. I assume Mister Garibaldi informed you of my wishes when he 
scheduled this meeting."

   "He gave me your requests. I think we can handle them without any problem, 
although, I question the wisdom of meeting with the Arklands. They employ 
telepaths. I would assume they don't play by the rules either."

   "Let me worry about the teeps. I can totally block any telepaths we might 
encounter."

   "In that case, would you mind telling me what you have in mind?"

   "Not at all, as long as you understand it's privileged information."

   "Not a problem, Miss Alexander," replied White, waiting expectantly.

   "I plan to make them an offer to buy them off." Lyta held up her hand to 
forestall his response. "I already know they will refuse it, because they have 
another agenda. I also know that you have received a mountain of information
about the Arklands, and as good as that is, when they refuse my offer, I will 
find out what they fear most. The rest you don't want to know."

   "How are you going to learn their greatest fears?"

   "They'll tell me. The rest you don't want to know." 
   
   "You are what I expected after talking with Mistress Ivanova-Wayne."

   Lyta handed him a card. "It's the hotel where I'm staying. I'm in room 605. 
Call me when you have the meeting arranged. Oh, one more thing. The people 
generating the information you have on the Arklands are the information network 
that Michael Garibaldi and I set up for use in the Telepath War. Michael has 
expanded it and improved it since then."

   White watched Lyta walk out of his office and felt sorry for the Arklands, 
but only for a moment. He was glad he wasn't on this woman's hit list.

   It took White two days to arrange the meeting. He had been surprised how 
easy it had been.

******************************

In a chateau somewhere in Switzerland:

   White and Lyta were ushered into what appeared to be a combination library 
and personal study. At ten by fifteen meters, in any other large house it would 
have been the great room, but here it was small in comparison to some of
the other rooms. Lyta and White took seats and waited for the Arklands to make 
their entrance.

   The Arklands entered the room followed by a servant pushing a bed equipped 
for traction. Lyta recognized the patient as being the Arkland's son.

   "Mister White, how pleasant to see you again," said the man, Rudolph 
Arkland. "What are we going to discuss today, the Wayne lawsuit, I believe."

   "Actually Mister Arkland, it is Miss Alexander who wishes to discuss the 
suit."

   "You must be the friend of Mrs. Wayne's. What can we do for you?"

   "Actually, Mister Arkland, it's what I can do for you," said Lyta.

   "And exactly what can you do for us?" asked his wife, Elaine Arkland, in a 
condescending voice.

   "I can save you a great deal of money. Money that you would waste on the 
lawsuit. I have an offer to make to you, but first I want you to see some 
images that you probably missed on the recent newscasts. It concerns a couple 
of incidents in Tokyo, Japan," responded Lyta.

   A screen was lowered from the ceiling in one end of the room. "The unit on 
the desk in front of you will display data crystal images on the screen, Miss 
Alexander," said Rudolph.

   Lyta put the data crystal into the desk player unit and turned toward the 
screen. The images of the two assassins who had tried to kill her were 
displayed with voice-over comments. Then the images of the gangster that she had
given special treatment to was displayed and again there were voice-over 
comments.

   "Are these images meant to convey a threat, Miss Alexander?" asked Miss 
Arkland, obviously annoyed.

   "Absolutely not!" emphasized Lyta. These images were from two mysterious 
incidents in Tokyo. I'm with the commentator in the scenes in wondering how it 
was done. "However, my reason for being here is in this envelope. You are suing 
Susan for ten billion credits." As she talked, she went around the desk and 
operated the controls on a communication panel. The communication panel's 
display was fed onto the big screen.

   "What's in the envelope, Mister White?" asked Rudolph.

   "I honestly don't know, Mister Arkland. I suppose it represents some amount 
of money."

   Arkland reached for the envelop, but Lyta pulled it back out of his 
reach. "The envelop contains the code numbers to transfer an amount of money 
into any account you wish to deposit it in, Mister Arkland. However, in order 
to do that you must first sign legal papers absolving Susan from any 
responsibility for your son's condition and ensuring that you will not 
reinstate it after the funds are transferred."

   "You expect me to drop the suit for something in that envelop without seeing 
it first?"

   "I have papers that I will sign after you sign yours, and before you turn 
them over to Mister White stipulating that if what I offer isn't worth at least 
as much as you are asking, your part of the deal is non-binding, but mine is.
You can't lose. All you have to do is sign the papers, open the envelop, and 
use the code numbers to transfer the funds. I give you five minutes to make a 
decision."

   From his bed, Arkland's son said, "Take the offer, Dad, and save the expense 
of the lawsuit."

   Lyta studied the Arklands very closely. The telepaths they had brought into 
the room were totally unaware of what Lyta was doing. Since they were breaking 
the law trying to scan her, she felt no compunction about fixing them like Maya 
had fixed Bester. 

   The five minutes seemed to go on forever, but finally Rudolph Arkland, after 
whispering to his wife, said, I'm sorry, Miss Alexander, but we have to 
decline."

   "I expected you to decline. I told Mister White that this suit was about 
power, not money, and you have proven me correct. I'm not sorry you declined, 
it leaves me with a clear conscience."

   "A clear conscience about what?" asked Mrs. Arkland.

   "About how this lawsuit plays out," replied Lyta.

   "I think you should leave," said Mister Arkland.

   Just before they exited the room, Lyta turned and said, "You can use the 
numbers in the envelop to see what you turned down. However, you can no longer 
transfer the funds." With that said, Lyta followed Mister White out of the room.

   Lyta and White were exiting the house when Mrs. Arkland picked up the 
envelop and stepped over to the communications control panel. She opened the 
envelop and entered the numbers on the card that had been in the envelop. The 
numbers displayed on the big screen caused everyone in the room to stop 
breathing for almost thirty seconds.

   "My God, Rudy. Look at those numbers." Displayed on the screen was the sum 
of ten billion credits. The other code numbers bore out that the figure was 
indeed genuine. "She knew we wouldn't accept money. She knows what we're doing."

   "If she was offering this much to get us to quit, what will her next move 
be?" asked Rudy.

   "Somehow, Dad, Mom, I don't think you want to know," commented their son.

******************************

On an airliner somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean:

   "How much did you offer them. I never got to see the figures?" asked White.

   "The offered amount was ten billion credits, Mister White." 

   White looked at Lyta in stunned silence. "What if they had accepted?"

   "I was sure they wouldn't. Like I said, this is about power, not money. 
Anyone suing for money, given the guarantee that I gave them, would have 
leaped at the offer. They would save a fortune on the lawyers they would
need to prosecute the suit."

   "What's your next move?"

   "You don't want to know. I have more information about them for you, but it 
will have to look like it was discovered in the natural course of events. So, 
you will be receiving it over the next few weeks, along with a lot of really 
interesting data. You won't know which is which, so just use it all."

   "It's been a pleasure knowing you, Mister White. After we land in New York, 
I'll be leaving you."  

   "No offence intended, but you are the most intriguing female I have ever 
met."

   Lyta smiled at the remark and drifted off to sleep, after replying, "Good."
   
******************************  
                  
END PART 8

part 9

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