Free Pegasus in Flight by Anne McCaffrey Page A

realized just what we meant by noise,” she said finally. “But the cost of shielding personnel quarters for the kinetics is going to be less than the cost of materiel lost or damaged due to tired minds.”
    “You have made your points,” Per Duoml said with a grim expression. “I shall present them to Ludmilla Barchenka.”
    “Present them and insure their implementation, Per Duoml, and you will have the kinetic assistance you require. Oh, and one other minor point,” she added, smiling to take the sting out. “Barchenka is to relay all orders to the kinetics through the regular channels. We will have no more of her rousting Talents out of their quarters at inappropriate hours and insisting on ‘extra duty’ because her schedule is two minutes out of line! Have I made myself clear on that point?”
    He nodded, his expression solemn.
    Rhyssa hoped he could convince Barchenka.

 
    CHAPTER 6
     
    “No,
please
!” Peter Reidinger cried as the electrician was about to disconnect the tri-d in the ward. His cry was echoed by the other children.
    “Look, kids, there’s some kind of freaky drain on the hospital’s power supply, and we’ve finally traced it to this ward. I gotta fix it, or some of your support systems will go down when they shouldn’t,” the electrician said with a hint of exasperation in his tone.
    “No, wait, please,” Peter said. “The program’s all about the space platform and the Talents.”
    “Huh?” The electrician took a better look at the monitor.
    “It’ll only be a few minutes! Just the newscast!”
    Peter pleaded.
    “Wal, I guess—”
    “Shhhh,” Peter interrupted, straining to hear the commentator. Not that he really needed the voice-over to identify the scene as the estate of the late George Henner, one of the earliest supporters of the parapsychics. As the camera panned across the trees and lawns, the boy was startled by the place’s eerie familiarity.
This
was the place he had sought—a place of tranquil greenery and huge old trees and vine-covered buildings. The place that had scared him away. And now he knew why.
They
would not want to have their precinct invaded.
They
needed their privacy to do all the wonderful things they did. Like help to finish the last three spokes of the Padrugoi Platform so that mankind could, at last, reach for the stars.
    “It’s not only the Talented who are making a sacrifice,” the commentator went on, still standing in that marvelous oasis, “for Industry and Commerce have granted leave of absence to their Talented employees to assist with this final push out to space. Platform Manager Ludmilla Barchenka announces that the most ambitious world project yet undertaken will be completed on schedule. And now to other news in the Jerhattan district . . .”
    “Okay, mister,” Peter said, relaxing against his frame. “That’s what we wanted to see.”
    “You’re not looking for a career in space, are you?” the electrician asked, half-teasing. He was always a little nervous around kids who were so badly injured.
    Peter cocked his head at him. “Why not? With no gravity, I wouldn’t be stuck in this frame, and a push of my toe or my little finger—” He waggled the two extremeties, which were, after months of therapy, all he
could
move. “—I could float about.”
    “Yeah, I guess you could. Now, nurse, can I start with this frame?” the electrician asked, gesturing to the multiple-tasking device that gave Peter what independence he had in his condition.
    “Yes, it’s time for Peter’s body-brace session anyway,” Sue Romero said. “C’mon, Peter.”
    “Aw, do I have to? Couldn’t I watch what he does?”
    “No, the moment for positive thinking has come. Let me see that limbic-system smile on your face.”
    Peter hated the body brace and the morning’s ‘torture session,’ as he mentally categorized the therapy. He felt heavy in the frame, his body more lifeless than ever. “But see, I can move my big toe and