Read Online Telepath (Hive Mind Book 1) by Janet Edwards - Free Book Online
Authors: Janet Edwards
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tense?”
I tried to keep my voice
calm as I answered her. “Yes. I suppose that’s natural. I won’t have to read
her again?”
“The only people in your
unit that you must read on a regular basis are the members of your Strike team,
but the telepath has the right to read anyone’s mind at any time. All
candidates for Telepath Unit positions understand that and are happy about it.”
I didn’t believe Fran was
happy about it, but if reading her mind wasn’t necessary for my work then I
wouldn’t be doing it. My mood abruptly changed from uncertainty to grim determination.
I was going to prove to Fran that I was totally different from the hated, prying
nosies that had frightened me as a child. I’d show her that I’d only read minds
when necessary for the good of my Hive, and then she’d accept me.
I needed Fran to accept
me. My hatred of nosies hadn’t vanished when I learned I was a telepath myself.
It lingered on as a nagging voice in the corner of my mind, telling me that I
was a vile and disgusting thing. If Fran accepted me, then perhaps I could
accept myself, and that nagging voice would leave me in peace. I could be happy
then, remember all the Hive Obligations and Duty songs we’d learned in school,
and celebrate the fact I was Level 1 and valuable to my Hive.
I glanced at the images on
the wall. “Adika next.”
“Adika is your candidate
for the Strike team leader position,” said Megan. “When Mira was discovered
during Lottery seventeen years ago, Adika came out of Lottery as one of her
Strike team members. Ten years later, he moved to become a deputy Strike team
leader for Morton.”
I didn’t ask what the
Strike team did. I already knew their work was dangerous, because I’d been
seeing that fact every day in Megan’s mind. Her husband, Dean, had been a
Strike team member in Keith’s Telepath Unit. It was barely a month since Dean
had been wounded on a mission and bled to death. However much Megan concentrated
on training me, there was always a deep part of her mind brooding on her loss.
On a conscious level,
Megan believed that true telepaths were incredibly valuable to the Hive and
must not be criticized or rebuked. On a subconscious level, she believed that
Dean would be alive today if Keith hadn’t been so selfishly lazy and arrogant.
The two parts of her mind were fighting a constant war.
Megan went out of the
room, and a minute later Adika came in. The holo sequence of his dark face
hadn’t prepared me for just how powerfully built the man was, and the way his
presence dominated the room. I couldn’t guess his age by looking at him. If
he’d been through Lottery seventeen years ago, then he must be thirty-five now,
a few years older than Megan.
He sat down, and gave a
relaxed nod that seemed to be an invitation to go ahead. I braced myself,
reached out to a mind with such sharply defined edges that it could have been carved
with a chisel, and tapped warily into his surface thoughts.
… physically ideal, we’ll
hardly notice her weight carrying her, but how good is she at what really
counts? Are you able to read me, Amber? Tell me what I’m thinking now. I was
born in Red Zone. I have two brothers. I broke my right arm when I was
twenty-three.
I gave a startled laugh. Adika
was utterly relaxed about me reading his thoughts. I chanted his list of facts
back at him. “You were born in Red Zone. You have two brothers. You broke your
right arm when you were twenty-three.”
He gave an approving nod. “You’re
doing well for this early in your training.”
Part of Adika’s mind was
comparing me to his memories of Mira soon after she came out of Lottery. I’d
scavenged a scanty few pieces of information about the other true telepaths
from Megan’s mind, and was eager for more. I focused on Adika’s thoughts about
Mira, saw his memory of her talking to him, and was startled to see her face had
the same distinctive features as those of my friend Casper from Teen
I tried to keep my voice
calm as I answered her. “Yes. I suppose that’s natural. I won’t have to read
her again?”
“The only people in your
unit that you must read on a regular basis are the members of your Strike team,
but the telepath has the right to read anyone’s mind at any time. All
candidates for Telepath Unit positions understand that and are happy about it.”
I didn’t believe Fran was
happy about it, but if reading her mind wasn’t necessary for my work then I
wouldn’t be doing it. My mood abruptly changed from uncertainty to grim determination.
I was going to prove to Fran that I was totally different from the hated, prying
nosies that had frightened me as a child. I’d show her that I’d only read minds
when necessary for the good of my Hive, and then she’d accept me.
I needed Fran to accept
me. My hatred of nosies hadn’t vanished when I learned I was a telepath myself.
It lingered on as a nagging voice in the corner of my mind, telling me that I
was a vile and disgusting thing. If Fran accepted me, then perhaps I could
accept myself, and that nagging voice would leave me in peace. I could be happy
then, remember all the Hive Obligations and Duty songs we’d learned in school,
and celebrate the fact I was Level 1 and valuable to my Hive.
I glanced at the images on
the wall. “Adika next.”
“Adika is your candidate
for the Strike team leader position,” said Megan. “When Mira was discovered
during Lottery seventeen years ago, Adika came out of Lottery as one of her
Strike team members. Ten years later, he moved to become a deputy Strike team
leader for Morton.”
I didn’t ask what the
Strike team did. I already knew their work was dangerous, because I’d been
seeing that fact every day in Megan’s mind. Her husband, Dean, had been a
Strike team member in Keith’s Telepath Unit. It was barely a month since Dean
had been wounded on a mission and bled to death. However much Megan concentrated
on training me, there was always a deep part of her mind brooding on her loss.
On a conscious level,
Megan believed that true telepaths were incredibly valuable to the Hive and
must not be criticized or rebuked. On a subconscious level, she believed that
Dean would be alive today if Keith hadn’t been so selfishly lazy and arrogant.
The two parts of her mind were fighting a constant war.
Megan went out of the
room, and a minute later Adika came in. The holo sequence of his dark face
hadn’t prepared me for just how powerfully built the man was, and the way his
presence dominated the room. I couldn’t guess his age by looking at him. If
he’d been through Lottery seventeen years ago, then he must be thirty-five now,
a few years older than Megan.
He sat down, and gave a
relaxed nod that seemed to be an invitation to go ahead. I braced myself,
reached out to a mind with such sharply defined edges that it could have been carved
with a chisel, and tapped warily into his surface thoughts.
… physically ideal, we’ll
hardly notice her weight carrying her, but how good is she at what really
counts? Are you able to read me, Amber? Tell me what I’m thinking now. I was
born in Red Zone. I have two brothers. I broke my right arm when I was
twenty-three.
I gave a startled laugh. Adika
was utterly relaxed about me reading his thoughts. I chanted his list of facts
back at him. “You were born in Red Zone. You have two brothers. You broke your
right arm when you were twenty-three.”
He gave an approving nod. “You’re
doing well for this early in your training.”
Part of Adika’s mind was
comparing me to his memories of Mira soon after she came out of Lottery. I’d
scavenged a scanty few pieces of information about the other true telepaths
from Megan’s mind, and was eager for more. I focused on Adika’s thoughts about
Mira, saw his memory of her talking to him, and was startled to see her face had
the same distinctive features as those of my friend Casper from Teen
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