"Anthony,.Piers.-.Mute (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Susan)

Хthought I had escaped detection."

"You are the son of a man who traveled In space within a year before you were born. That made you a potential mutant. The sperm of the male is affected by the radiation of deep space, so that for up to three months thereafter, until the affected reservoir is used up, the offspringЧ"

"And I am a mutant, as is plainly evident," Knot said. He put his hands together, making obvious the disparity in their sizes and configurations. "Here I am working in a mutant enclave, doing a satisfactory jobЧ"

"More than satisfactory," she said. "Enclave MM58 is, as you surmised, No. 1 on the index for client adjustment. That points right to the placement officer."

"So I'm doing a good job, then. An excellent job. A superlative jobЧwhatever you will. I happen to have empathy, a feel for the needs of mutants, and I like my work. I like helping people. This is no psi-power; it is just personality and inclination and effort. And luck. Next year some other enclave will be No. 1, when one of its gardeners discovers a diamond mine in the barren soil and

27

Piers Anthony

it can suddenly afford to cater to all its outre* whims, and its placement officer will seem suddenly more talentedЧ while simultaneously our own enclave has to make do without our illicit income from transmuted gold. A great fat huge lot that will prove!"

Finesse was watching him, smiling. That only spurred him to further commitment. "I empathize with mutants because I am one, and I work hard to make my clients comfortable. Had you been a client, I would have worked just as hard for you, to place you where you would do best and be happiest This is the one job I am really fitted for. Why should CC want to take me away?"

"You're beautiful when you're earnest," Finesse said, stroking the side of his face. "Maybe your psi-talent is not useful elsewhere in the galaxy. Why don't you just tell me what it is and let me form an opinion? I can't make the decision, of course, but I am a trained interviewer, just as you are, and I might be able to provide some hint how CC will react."

There was a kind of exhilaration he obtained fr.om fencing with another person in his specialty. Knot interviewed physical mutants and placed them compatibly; she did the same for mental mutants. But this time he was the subject, and he did not want to be placed. "Why don't you just kiss me and slap me and go home in a huff?"

"I'll try," she agreed. She stood, kissed him on the lips, slapped him lightly on the cheekЧand remained blithely looking at him. "Give me a nudge. I haven't quite mastered the third action yet."

Is she really as seduceable as she seems? Knot thought fiercely at the weasel, not certain whether the little animal remained in range.

"Of course I am," Finesse said.

He started. "OhЧHermine broadcast to you instead of to me?"

"She knows me better. She decided I would want to make that particular decision for myself. Most females do, regardless of what they profess openly, and she's one of us. Not that I needed any telepathy to grasp that particular thought."

"You have encountered it before?" He felt jealous.

"Many times. That's par for the course. I hardly even
need to work at it anymore; the signals come naturally. But what I really want at the moment is your secretЧ and Hermine, a pox on her secretive little heart, has not vouchsafed that to me."

"Suppose I ask her to report to me on your questions?"

"Be my guest."

Knot concentrated, seeking contact with the weasel. Finesse seemed to be doing the same. They were outside Hermine's immediate range, but within her general range.

Knot laughed, receiving the telepathic message. "Right nowl" he said, and took Finesse in his arms.

Ellipsis, Hermine thought, and went back to the vole she was stalking.

CHAPTER 2

In the afternoon Knot called on Hlet, the enclave supervisor. Hlet was proportioned like a normal, but he had two facesЧone on each side of his head. This was hardly noticeable until he walked awayЧand he preferred to sit at his desk, his back to the wall. Knot wondered whether the backface got bored staring at the blankness, or whether it merely slept.