Free Starship Winter (David Conway 03) by Eric Brown Page A

table, its curved length catching the glow of the fire.
    We stared at the barb, and then at Dortmund.
    “Now, watch!”
    He leaned forward, staring intently at the barb. A minute passed, and nothing happened. We looked at each other, mentally shrugging; I wanted to laugh at the sight of the effort on Dortmund’s face, but restrained myself.
    Matt broke the silence. “Just what”, he said, “are you trying to do?”
    Without taking his eyes from the barb, Dortmund said, “You doubted my abilities. I’ll show you. I learned this from a race of sentient cetaceans on Acrab IV. Telekinesis – regarded impossible by human science… but watch!”
    We watched. A minute became two, then three. We were getting fidgety when, without warning, the barb twitched slightly.
    Matt said stifling a yawn, “Impressive, Dortmund.”
    “But look!” Kee said, pointing.
    Suddenly the barb flipped, flew through the air at incredible speed and embedded itself in the timber surround of the fireplace with a resounding thunk.
    A silence, followed by, “I must admit that’s a very impressive party trick, Dortmund.” Matt concealed a smile behind his glass.
    The off-worlder collapsed back into his armchair, glaring out at us. “Christ, how I despise you all!” he spat. “All of you. Sommers – with your self-satisfied air of the Expansion-renowned artist, a mere dabbler in the shallow and the trite, and the hangers-on you call your friends. You, Maddie Chamberlain, hiding your insecurities behind a puppy-like love for this charlatan, giving the world the impression of hard-won experience to cover the fear that you’ll be thought of as intellectually lacking, which you are.”
    “That’s enough!” Matt said.
    But Dortmund swept on, “And Hawk and Kee. What can I say about the most incompatible pair of losers on the planet? The failed pilot who killed his passengers and gained a fake redemption with the fortuitous intervention of the Yall… And Kee – you’re contemptible with your dependencies on Hawk the father figure to compensate for the rejection by your own people.”
    He barked a laugh and turned his attention to me. Hannah reached out from her armchair, gripping my hand.
    “David Conway,” Dortmund said, with a sadistic leer. “In many ways, you’re the saddest of all… Your running away from attempting to save your daughter set the psychological template for everything that followed: your running away from your wife, from Earth, from the responsibilities of relationships… which will inevitably founder on your guilt and a concomitant inability to commit.”
    I balled a fist, ready to leap at him, but Hannah restrained me with a look.
    Dortmund stared at Hannah, then, and went on, “And last, but not least, we come to Lieutenant Hannah van Harben who, on the face of it, appears so very sweet and innocent, Conway’s perfect lover, who despite whatever you’ve told Conway to lure him in is living a lie, a lie hiding… what? What are you hiding, Lieutenant?”
    I stood up. “I’ve had enough of you cheap psychology, Dortmund.”
    He turned away, staring without expression at the faux flames of the fireplace.
    The Ambassador rose, gestured inexplicably and hurried from the room. Maddie moved to Matt, who hugged her and led her from the room, followed by Hawk and Kee. I took Hannah’s hand, drawing her to me. I kissed her and whispered, “Don’t cry. Come on…”
    I led her from the room. Fhen hurried after us. “If you would still like to stay the night, I will show you to your respective bedrooms.”
    Hawk said, “I’m too drunk to drive.”
    Matt nodded. “Me too. Let’s stay, then get the hell out first thing.”
    I nodded, watching them move off, subdued, up the sweeping staircase.
    “David…” Hannah said, drawing me towards stairs.
    “Give me a minute, Hannah, okay? I’m not going to let the bastard get away with…”
    Before she could protest, I slipped back into the lounge, eased the door shut