"Trade Admin," Ali said. "They"re not going to stop until they turn our heads inside out."
"I"m afraid that"s the truth." Tau nodded, looking around at them. "You are unique, something that will draw the biologists like magnets to iron."
Jasper shook his head slightly. "Except that there won"t be much for them to investigate."
Tau looked over. "Explain, Jasper?"
Weeks lifted his hand. "I know I"m not doing anything differently, but in the last week I haven"t seen any of the others" dreams, or had them appear in mine. Not in the psi sense. My dreams have just been the usual jumble of images from recent events. Nothing else."
"Same here," Ali said. "I thought I was shielding."
Dane spoke up. "I haven"t felt anything-even when I tried."
"Me either," Rip admitted.
"Maybe you are shielding," Craig said, looking around. "Maybe you all are."
"Or maybe it"s gone," Jasper said, his expression of hope unmistakable. "We- were strongest when the EM on that planet was strongest; it seems to have affected us."
"Except we felt the link before we ever snapped out into Hesprid s.p.a.ce," Rip pointed out. "We were feeling it back on Exchange, and didn"t even know it."
"Maybe it comes and goes," Ali said, shrugged slightly. "Though I have to admit I wish it would just go. I"ve been content to have it dormant these past few days."
Jasper nodded slightly. Dane saw no reaction in Rip"s face, and realized that the pilot-navigator did not necessarily agree-but as usual he was not going to speak counter to the others.
Tau nodded. "Perhaps the ability has somehow burned out, like bad wiring. Or else it"s gone dormant, as Kamil said. Perhaps it can be activated again. I don"t know. What I want you to consider is acknowledging its existence, and trying some experiments. The more data we know, the less you"ll be regarded as experimental subjects."
"n.o.body can force us to agree to any experiments," Ali said, his mouth tight, ""we"re Free Traders. Not lab specimens. If the Federation has suddenly changed its laws while we"ve been off the Terran lanes, then I"m for moving out to the rest of the galaxy."
"Right," Tau corroborated in even tones. "Except if you have a widely publicized talent that you know little about, you"re more likely to find parties interested in exploiting you waiting at your next port of call. And such parties who don"t consider themselves bound by Federation law might be. creative. in obtaining your cooperation."
Rip laid his hands flat on his knees. "It"s a fact, gentlemen. We didn"t choose it, but we have it. Ignoring it is stupid. At least we can learn how to control it, if we don"t want to use it. I suggest we make some time while we"re in hyper to do exactly that. Using it or not can wait for now."
Ali"s lips parted, and then he shrugged sharply. "So be it. Captain Shannon has spoken." He straightened up and walked out.
"What you say makes good sense," Jasper said in his quiet voice. "Let me know the schedule, Craig." He went out with his usual soundless tread.
Tau looked from Rip to Dane, smiled a little, then he left.
Rip grimaced. " "Captain Shannon." I could bust his vid-star nose for that."
"But it"s true. Everyone heard it over the com-I don"t think you even noticed. You were probably too busy setting up the run for hyper."
Rip grinned sheepishly. "Oh, I noticed, but I didn"t think anyone was listening."
"And I don"t think Ali really meant it as a dig. It was an order, but a good one, or he"d have spoken about that."
"I know. He hates this psi thing, and nothing is going to change that, I suspect. I don"t think Jasper likes it any better.
Truth to tell, I don"t know how / feel about it-except it"s there. We may as well face it, and learn all we can, or it will end up controlling us, instead of us controlling it."
"I feel the same way," Dane said. "Craig"ll give Ali some time to cool off before we experiment. But it really is better to know what we"ve got."
Rip grinned, then turned back to his work, and Dane left the control deck.
As he started down to his domain, he shook his head. Sounded like even hyper wasn"t going to give him a chance to sample that boring duty time. Well, that was fine. He could handle it.
They had two working ships, and excellent cargo. They even had enough crew. Their next port could launch them toward prosperity at last-which they might end up gambling again. Win or lose, this was the life for him. He liked not being able to predict where they would go next, or what would happen. He liked the changes, the widening awareness of all life had to offer.
As for the psi link, he-knew he"d made peace with the changes going on inside him. Rip hadn"t surprised him with his willingness to accept it; that was what one would expect of a leader. Perhaps the other two would accept, in time, that the farther human beings go from Terra, the less human they become. Or the more human they become. It was up to them to define human-and the wider the definition, Dane felt, the better for human potential. Though the four of them were not and never could be entirely what they were, he felt more each pa.s.sing day like part of the greater universe.
About the Authors For over fifty years, Andre Norton, "one of the most distinguished living SF and fantasy writers" (Booklist), has been penning bestselling novels that have earned her a unique place in the hearts and minds of millions of readers worldwide. She has been honored with a Life Achievement award by the World Fantasy Convention and with the Grand Master Nebula award by her peers in the Science Fiction Writers of America. Works set in her fabled Witch World, as well as others, such as The Elvenbane (with Mercedes Lackey) and Black Trillium (with Marion Zimmer Bradley and Julian May), have made her "one of the most popular authors of our time" (Publishers Weekly). She lives in Monterey, Tennessee.
Sherwood Smith is the author of over a dozen novels, including "Wren to the Rescue and two other Wren adventures. She is also the coauthor, with Dave Trowbridge, of the Exordium series of adventures. Smith lives in California.
Together, Ms. Norton and Ms. Smith wrote a previous Solar Queen adventure, Derelict for Trade. That book and this are new additions to the series created in four previous novels by Ms. Norton, including Sarga.s.so of s.p.a.ce and Galactic Derelict.
ANDRE NORTON.
accorded the honor of Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America, has written well over one hundred novels of science fiction and fantasy, which have sold millions of copies worldwide. This is her second collaboration with SHERWOOD SMITH, author of the Wren young-adult fantasy series. Norton and Smith are currently at work on their first new Time Traders novel.
The End