Fixed by Beth Goobie Read Free Book Online Page A

frowned upon.
    Oh yeah , thought Nellie. Variety. That was fine with her.
    Suddenly she was hit with a new thought. What if Westcott figured out a way to read her mind while she was in the Pleasure Rooms? The possibility left her stunned. Carefully she shot Lierin a sideways glance. Should she tell her about this afternoon? Mind-reading technology was certain to be considered one of Detta’s security secrets and forbidden for casual conversation. But the experience had been so weird, and she was longing to tell someone.
    Nellie shot her friend another careful glance. “Lierin,” she said slowly.
    “Uh-huh?” mumbled Lierin. Riveted to the scantily clad figures on the monitoring screen, her eyes were heavy lidded, deepin Star Heat trance. The afternoon soap was rated number one by teenagers in cities across the Interior.
    “Well ... ,” Nellie faltered, her heart kicking at her throat. “This afternoon I had a session with Westcott.”
    “Oh yeah,” said Lierin, without glancing away from the screen. “So?”
    “So,” said Nellie, then fell headlong into silence. How in the sweet Goddess’s name was she supposed to explain this one — Westcott and Juba were mad scientists and Room Fourteen a mind-reading lab? It was impossible, insane . Lierin would think she was crazy. And crazy cadets — well, there were stories about what happened to them. If a cadet went over the edge she was considered no longer functional but couldn’t be discharged into the general population because of her knowledge of Detta’s programs. Rumor had it they were sent to the experimental labs in K Block. Some of the experiments held there were supposed to be so difficult, only a cadet with Advanced training could handle them. Nellie swallowed. It would be smartest to say nothing, but she wanted to talk about it. Besides, Lierin had a lot of common sense. She would know what to think about something like this.
    “Well,” Nellie said again, forcing herself to speak calmly. “I was in the middle of a session in the Relaxer, and ... “
    “And what?” Star Heat took a break for ads and Lierin began idly clicking the channel changer.
    “And, well ... “ Hunched over her stomach, Nellie wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. Carefully, very carefully she added, “Well, I think the Relaxer helps Westcott somehow read our minds.”
    “Oh yeah,” Lierin said casually. In the silence that followed, Nellie glanced up to find her friend’s eyes still riveted to the monitoring screen, all expression erased from her face.
    “Hey.” Nellie’s voice wobbled, but she plunged on. “Did you hear what I said? Westcott is using the Relaxer helmet to read the thoughts inside our heads.”
    Eyes wide and unblinking, Lierin turned to look at her. “You’re just horny,” she said slowly. “You’ve been spending too much time turning Westcott on with your snake fantasies.”
    A wall of shock slammed into Nellie’s brain. “What’s that got to do with it?” she spluttered.
    Lierin shrugged. “Your mind’s twisted. No big deal — you’ve always been twisted.”
    “Yeah, but ... “ Ordinarily Nellie would have taken this as a compliment, but nothing about this was ordinary. “He really did read my thoughts,” she insisted carefully. “I’m sure of it.”
    Lierin stared, her face blank. “C’mon, Nells,” she said finally. “I’m not Westcott. You don’t have to make up stories for me.”
    Nellie counted heartbeats. “It happened,” she insisted dully. “He read my thoughts with that helmet.”
    A grimace crossed Lierin’s face, and then she asked carefully, “When was the last time you used the Mind Cleanser?”
    Confused by the abrupt change in subject, Nellie shrugged. “Couple of days ago. Why?”
    “Don’t you think you could use a dose now?” her friend asked.
    A thin line of terror crept up Nellie’s back. “You think I’m making this up,” she said.
    “Whatever.” Lierin gave her a side-corner grin.