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 I think I ll sleep here tonight and start back early in the morning.
 Be my guest, Trigger said affably. She hesitated, added,  The fact is I ll
be rather glad to know you re around.
Telzey looked at her.  You get lonesome at night in this big old house?
 Not exactly lonesome, Trigger said.  I ve never minded being by myself. She
smiled.  Has your house ever had the reputation of being haunted?
 Haunted? Not for around a hundred years. You ve had the impression there s a
spook flitting about?
 Just an odd feeling occasionally, Trigger said. She paused, added in a
changed voice,  And by coincidence, I m beginning to get that feeling again
now!
They stood silent then, looking at each other. The feeling grew. It swelled
into a sensation of bone-chilling cold, of oppressive dread. It seemed to
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circle slowly about them, drawing closer. Telzey passed her tongue over her
lips.
Psi slashed out twice. The sensation blurred, was gone.
She turned toward the Siren container. Trigger shook her head.  The psi
block s on, she said.  It was on the other times, too. I checked.
And the psi block was on. Telzey asked,  How often has it happened?
Trigger shrugged.  Four or five times. I ll come awake at night. It ll last a
minute or two and go away.
 Why didn t you tell me?
 I didn t want to disturb you, Trigger said.  It wasn t as strong as this
before. I didn t know what it was, but it didn t seem to have anything to do
with the Siren. She smiled, a trifle shakily.  An Amberdon ghost I could
stand.
 Let s sit down, Telzey said.  It wasn t an Amberdon ghost, but it was a
ghost of sorts.
They sat down.  What do you mean? Trigger asked.
Telzey said,  A psi structure. Something with some independent duration. A
fear ghost. A psi mind made it, planted it. It was due to be sensed when we
sensed it.
Trigger glanced at the container.  The Siren?
 Yes, the little Siren. Telzey blinked absently, fingering her chin.  There
was nothing human about that structure. So the Siren put it out while the
block was off. It s telling us not to fool around with it . . . But now we
will have to fool around with it!
Trigger looked questioningly at her.
 It means you were right, Telzey said.  The Siren has intelligence. It knows
there s somebody around who s trying to probe it, and it doesn t want to be
probed. It s tried to use fear to drive us away. Any psi mind that can put out
a structure like that is very good! Dangerously good. She shook her head.  I
don t think anyone could say exactly what a whole world of creatures who can
do that mightn t be able to do otherwise!
 Three worlds, said Trigger.
 Yes, three worlds. So the Siren operation can t just stop. They don t know
enough about us. They might think we re very dangerous to them, and, of
course, we are dangerous. The three worlds are there, and sooner or later
somebody s going to do something stupid about them. And something will get
started if it hasn t started already.
She glanced at Trigger, smiled briefly.  Until now, I was thinking it might be
only your imagination! But it isn t.
This is a really bad matter.
Trigger said after a moment,  I wish it had been only my imagination! She
looked at the Siren container.  You still think you can handle it?
Telzey shrugged.  I wouldn t know by myself. But I m sure Pilch gave that
careful consideration.
Trigger reflected, tongue tip between lips, nodded.  Yes, she must have. It
seems you ve been pushed into something, Telzey.
 We ve both been pushed into something, Telzey said.
Trigger sighed.  Well, I can t blame her too much! It has to be done, and the
Service couldn t do it at least not quickly enough. But I won t blame you at
all if you want to pull out.
 I might want to pull out, Telzey admitted.  It s more than I d counted on.
But I d be going around worrying about the Sirens then, like you ve been
doing. We know more now to be worried about.
 So you re staying?
 Yes.
Trigger smiled.  I can t say I m sorry! Look. It s getting late, and you ll
have to be off to college early. Let s talk about strictly non-eerie things
for a little, and turn in.
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So they talked about non-eerie matters, and soon went to bed, and slept
undisturbed until morning, when Telzey flew off to Pehanron College.
That evening, she slipped a probe lightly into the psi-emptiness of the
Siren an area she d kept away from since her first contact with it. She
thought presently it didn t seem quite as empty as it had. There might be
something there. Something perhaps like a vague, distant shadow, only
occasionally and briefly discernible.
She withdrew the probe carefully.
 Let s leave the psi block on until I ve finished with the exams, she told
Trigger later.  I ve picked up as much as I can use for a start. She wasn t
so sure now of the psi block s absolute dependability when it came to the
Siren.
But it should act as a temporary restraint.
Trigger didn t comment. Telzey slept in the house the rest of the week, and
nothing of much significance happened. What remained of the exams wasn t too
significant either; she went breezing through it all with only half her
attention. Then the end of the week came, and she moved into the summerhouse.
In three weeks, she d be attending graduation ceremonies at Pehanron College.
Until then, her time was her own.
7
It was early on the first morning after the exams then that Telzey had her
first serious session with the Siren. She d closed the door to the study and
moved an armchair to a point from where she could observe the container.
Trigger wasn t present; she d stay out in the house to avoid distracting
Telzey, and to handle interruptions like ComWeb calls. Ezd Malion, the
caretaker, usually checked in before noon to get shopping instructions.
Telzey settled herself in the chair, relaxed physically. Mentally there d be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]