Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant by J. Gregory Keyes Read Free Book Online

Bester.
    He didn’t know what was going on here-whether the Grins had gone insane, or whether this was some horrible plot somehow perpetrated by mundanes - but when the Psi Cops found out about this, somebody would pay. They would pay, and he would be there to see it. He jerked, suddenly, like the fish he had once seen a man pull out of Lake Geneva. A scan blasted through his defenses as if they weren’t there. He rallied a defense-and let it drop. No one was allowed to challenge the Grins. But if the Grins had gone insane…
    It was too late, anyway. They were dragging glyphs from his mind, scattering them to the other kids: Him looking longingly at Julia. Wetting his pants when he was six. Stealing a candy when no one was looking. The things he kept locked away-black spiders in secret jars, bright hopes he hoarded like jewels. All were torn from him and thrown into the air like confetti shredded from his soul. And the air was suffocating with such confetti.
    There was Brett, peeking through a cracked door at Ms. Chastain as she bathed. There was Milla, bleeding between her legs and crying, so humiliated she couldn’t think straight. Azmun, sitting in class, suddenly losing control of his bowels, afraid to let anyone know, unable to admit what he had done, as the smell got stronger and stronger… It went on and on, the wailing and bawling worse and worse, until finally, something cracked in Al.
    He stood up, and it was like his mind was on fire, like he was shooting comets out of his brain instead of thoughts.
    STOP IT.! STOP IT! STOP IT! YOU STINKING GRINS, STOP IT!
    The other kids took it up, first one, then another, then all of them, screaming at the Grins to stop. Al felt suddenly as if he were an atom of water in a huge wave, a tsunami of anger and justice. And the Grins-stopped. But the kids didn’t-the wave grew and grew, crushing down on the Grins, as they psionically gorged on each other’s anguish, fear, and hatred.
    Then a terrible white light filled the room, blinding, and everything broke off into confusion again. When the light came back down, when they could see again, they were so stunned that no one said or psied anything. Because the Grins had taken off their masks. Al knew them. Teacher Roberts. Teacher Hua. Ms. Chastain. Ms. Kitsuru. Teacher Alverado. Mr. King. Nurse Childress, who had held him and talked softly to him, sung him bedtime stories. They were all Grins. All of the adults. All of the people who had raised him. The Corps.
    Teacher Hua, the oldest, stepped forward into the stunned silence.
    “Now you see,” he said, gently.
    “And now, hopefully, you understand. The Corps is mother and father - and we are all mother and father to one another. We are the ones who raised you, taught you right from wrong, pleased you - and yes, frightened you. This is all to the good, and in the future you shall understand, even if you don’t now.
    “You are Cadre Prime. All telepaths are special, but you are the most special. The powers of most children do not bloom until they are eleven, twelve, older. Most of you manifested almost as you were born. Only five percent manifest before puberty. You are all rare.
    “Cadre Prime. Telepaths born, and you have raised each other as much as we have raised you. When you move from here, from cadre dorms and into the academies - it will be different. You will live and work beside those who were raised as Normals who realized their abilities later in life, who do not understand the Corps as you do. They say the words but do not understand in their hearts what it is to be Corps. It is your special gift to be able to teach them that, to show them by the example of how you live, how you learn, how you work together and apart.
    “All of us - all of us who stand before you-we were once members of Cadre Prime. We are your mothers and fathers, we are your sisters and brothers. We stood before our elders as you now stand before us. We were frightened, humiliated, angry -