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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] appeared. Perhaps his talk with Ley had born fruit. Joining in the banter, Zref replied, "The Guild would fire me if they thought I could be a weapon!" Mischievously, Khelin said, "Now I wonder where fired Interfaces find employment." "You're talking about a Wild Interface!" accused Shui. Khelin looked up from his inventory of the table's offerings, puzzled. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way." Iraem intervened, "Khelin wasn't implying Zref could become a Wild Interface! After all, he once wore the white!" But Zref had once been perilously close to going Wild, blackmailed by Balachandran's torture of Khelin during molt, and only Arshel's striking and killing Balachandran had saved him. They exchanged haunted glances, but the awkward tension was broken by the door's opening to admit Neini, Waysjoff and Arai, showing Zref a glimpse of the two kren stewards who stood outside the door, waiting to serve. At that point, Arshel and Ley joined them, coming from their separate doors. Khelin announced, "Well, now we're all here, we can announce our first success. Jocelyn?" "I dreamed like I never dreamed before in my life, and even recorded it, waking Ley in the middle of the night. That's why he's so sleepy-eyed this morning. But it seemed so important. I was a feathered woman." She looked at the three writers. "You named them Kinrea, rightly I think. I was a Persuader student, living near the Maze after having survived the walk which I didn't dream so I don't know what the Object was like. But I remembered Khelin: Mazemaster, my teacher and my mate." She blushed bright pink against her auburn hair. "We were both of the same species then, of course. And we loved each other terribly." When she fell silent, Zref put one arm around Arshel. Ley sat between Jocelyn and Khelin with head bowed as Khelin took up the narrative. "As it happened, just the other night, I had a very similar dream/memory. This morning I showed Ley and Jocelyn the record of it. The details match so closely, I believe we can consider it a verified fact that at some time, Jocelyn and I were both Persuaders, and mates." "This doesn't tell us much about the enemy," said Shui. "No," agreed Khelin, "but it does explain what's been troubling me about how I feel about Jocelyn." He turned to Ley and spoke as if they were in private. "I will immunize her when you're ready." He was a Mautri Priest of the dark blue rank. He could do it, even in molt, Zref thought. Later as Zref was sitting in his rather tiny office, juggling seven separate programs for various students, and contending with an eighth, a Jernal who was trying to catch up on course work before orbit by using the Interface, the Cruise Director presented himself at Zref's door. Page 42 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Excuse me, Sthwhish," said Zref to the Jernal while tripping the door opener. The Director's massive body nearly filled the remaining space within the cubicle. The Jernal took its leave hastily, and while the human seated himself, Zref completed the chores for the other seven students who were working at their comtaps in their own rooms. "At your service," said Zref. "This isn't a query. I just wanted to talk to you." Zref waited. "You aren't making this any easier for me." "I'm sorry. I still don't understand what 'this' is." "The Captain asked me to speak to you about it because you're technically faculty, even though you now have command of the onboards. She feels you don't know how to wield that power. How can an Interface cause such a problem?" "What problem?" "Your little group. The ten of you. You mix socially only with each other, giving orders to the crew and students as if you own and run this ship." "I've not been aware that anyone I know has overstepped the bounds of propriety." "That's just it they haven't. They all obey the Quintana Code in mixed species society as if born to it. But they're giving the impression that they're your elite guard, a closed group which is the real power behind both the way this ship is run and the grades given for the courses because they control access to you. That Jocelyn Petrovan, for example, has everybody thinking she's the Cruise Director!" "How?" "Look, I'm not here to issue an itemized indictment, just a warning. See to it that it stops, or we'll stop it for you," With that, he rose and left. Disturbed, Zref closed and mulled that over. It could be than an Interface had no business with a family, for the essence of the Guild Guarantees was total impartiality. After supper that night, Zref related the conversation, and they compared notes about their activities. Zref questioned Jocelyn, but the only incident [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |