Amaryllis

"Gifford?" Sarah's dark eyes widened in surprise. "He's not here anymore. Didn't you know?"

"No. I haven't, uh, spoken to him recently."

"He left the department two months ago. Opened his own focus agency. Took Natalie Elwick with him to run his office. Remember Natalie?"

"She was Irene Dunley's assistant."

"Right." Sarah made a face. "Guess Natalie figured she'd never be anything more than a junior secretary as long as Irene Dunley was here, so she took Gifford up on his offer."

"It's hard to believe that Gifford has gone out into the commercial sphere."

"I hear his new agency is very exclusive. Employs only full-spectrum prisms and accepts only VIP talents."

"I see."

"Is that why you're here today? Did you come to see Gifford?"

"No. I came to see Effie Yamamoto."

"You'll be glad to know that she's the new acting head of the department. Everyone expects her to be permanently appointed to the position sometime within the next few months."

"Effie will do a fine job." Amaryllis made to step past Sarah. "Is she still in her old office?"

"No, she's moved into Landreth's office." Sarah lifted a hand in farewell. "See you around."

Amaryllis hurried off down the corridor. A moment later she came to a halt in front of a familiar office. The door was open. Irene Dunley, a tall, sturdily built woman in the middle of her life, was seated behind an immaculately neat desk. The only paper on the polished surface was the one she was working on at that moment. Everything else, except for the telephone and a single pen, was stored out of sight. Irene had always been a model of organization and efficiency.

Amaryllis smiled at the sight of Irene. The woman was almost as much of a legend in the department as Landreth himself. The professor had often claimed that he could not have run the place without her.

Irene's hair was cut in a crisp, efficient style. Her firm, matronly body was encased in a serviceable blue suit. She looked up at Amaryllis's light knock.

"Miss Lark. This is a surprise."

"Hello, Irene. I haven't seen you since Professor Landreth's funeral. How are things going?"

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances. There's been an unnecessary amount of disruption and confusion, what with the suddenness of the transition, but I expect to have things under complete control very soon."

Amaryllis glanced around. "It looks like everything's already under control. That doesn't surprise me. Professor Landreth always used to say that if there was such a thing as a talent for organization, you possessed it."

Irene smiled sadly. "Professor Landreth had such a dry sense of humor. Very few people appreciated it."

"What are all those boxes doing there in the corner?"

Irene glanced at the stack. "Those are Professor Landreth's personal effects. I packed them up myself the day after he died. I notified the authorities, but so far no one has come forth to claim them. Is there something I can do for you, Miss Lark?"

Irene did not waste time during office hours, Amaryllis reminded herself. "I came to see Professor Yamamoto."

"I'll let her know you're here." Irene pressed the button on the intercom. "Miss Amaryllis Lark to see you. Professor Yamamoto."

"Oh, really? What wonderful news! Send her in."

Amaryllis nodded at Irene and then walked through the door of the inner office. "Hi, Effie."

"Amaryllis." Effie rose from behind her desk and held out her hand. "Good to see you. Come on in."

Amaryllis closed the door, went forward to shake hands, and then sat down. She grinned at her old friend. "Looks like you've come up in the world. Congratulations. About time."

Effie laughed. "Things have changed around here. Coff-tea?"

"Thanks."

Effie was several years older than Amaryllis, a distinguished scholar in her late thirties. Her dark eyes gleamed with intelligence. She had an innate sense of style that Amaryllis had always admired. Her black hair was in a sleek, chin-length bob that swung elegantly whenever she turned her head. Her trim, expertly tailored suit somehow managed to appear both professional and extremely fashionable. Amaryllis wondered if she should redo her own wardrobe now that she was making a handsome salary. One night in a flutter dress and a person's taste underwent a drastic change.

"Saw your picture in the paper." Effie winked. "Looks like your social life has improved considerably."

Amaryllis felt her cheeks grow warm. "It was a business thing."

"Ah, yes. Business. Very interesting business from what I saw. So what's the Iceman like in person?"

"He's a class nine, Effie."

"Oh. Well, so much for any long-term hopes there, hmm?" Effie handed Amaryllis a mug and sat back down behind the wide desk. "Still, that leaves open some short-term possibilities."

"I don't think so," Amaryllis said austerely.

"I assume this is not strictly a social call?"

"To be honest, no. I wanted to ask your opinion on something."

Effie spread her hands. "Ask away."

"I'll come straight to the point. Have you ever heard of a prism working with a talent for the purpose of focusing charisma?"

"Charisma's not a talent. It's just a natural part of some people's personality."

"But what if it were a talent?" Amaryllis insisted.

"Well? What of it?"

"A politician could use it to con people into supporting him."

"Politicians are in the business of conning people into doing just that." Effie grimaced. "Even if a particular candidate with a high-class talent was able to use a prism to augment an aura of charisma, it wouldn't be illegal."

"No, I suppose not. But it would definitely be unethical."

"Since when has politics ever been a model of an ethical profession?"

Amaryllis smiled ruefully. "I know what you mean." Now that she was actually sitting here with Effie, she was no longer certain quite what to say. She was not sure how to explain the sense of wrongness that she had felt when Lucas had briefly picked up Senator Sheffield's talent. "What if I told you that I think I witnessed a prism assisting a politician to focus charisma?"

Effie gave an eloquent shrug. "I'd say there wasn't much anyone could do about it."

"What if I told you that I'm almost certain that the prism was trained by Professor Landreth?"

Effie eyed her thoughtfully. "Assuming it can be done at all, a prism would have to be very powerful in order to focus something as vague as a personality trait."

"This prism was powerful."

Effie chuckled. "You know as well as I do that Landreth would never have approved of one of his students focusing for deceitful purposes. He would have made a fuss about it if he had discovered what was happening. But that would have been highly unlikely."

"Because it wouldn't be easily detected?"

"Exactly. How could anyone distinguish between a real personality characteristic and an augmented one?"

"If psychic energy was involved, a strong detector-talent could pick it up," Amaryllis said cautiously.

"Perhaps, but again, not likely. It would take a strong one. Class-nine or class-ten detectors are extremely rare."

"But they do exist."

Effie tilted her head slightly to one side. "You're convinced you encountered a prism working with a politician in an unethical manner, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"My advice is to forget about it. It would be unethical, but not illegal. Only some anal retentive type such as Professor Landreth would make a stink about it."

Amaryllis managed not to wince, but it wasn't easy. "Professor Landreth would have been very upset if he thought one of his prisms had violated the Code of Focus Ethics."

Effie leaned back in her chair. "Just between you and me and ninety-nine point nine percent of the faculty, Landreth was a brilliant man, but he was a fussy old codger."