“And they said I might have trouble with you,” the Sec commented with a good deal of amusement, not minding in the least that he was talking to the top of my head. “You won’t ever give me trouble, will you, pretty girl? See you again some time.”
With that he walked away, leaving the lounge without even a single glance back. I found I was trembling so hard I might have had the chills, and if I hadn’t been controlling myself rigidly I would have thrown up what I’d just eaten. I put one hand to my head and leaned back against the soft leather trying to calm down, trying to understand why I felt like that when that one Sec was near me. He was far from being the only null in the place, so why did I go into a panic only when he was anywhere near me? What could my reaction possibly mean?
Thinking about it got me absolutely nowhere, and all that came out of the time was a reconfirmation of my decision not to tell what he was doing. No one in that facility cared enough about me to stop him from doing just as he pleased, at least not on a permanent basis, so what was the point in saying anything? There wasn’t anyone anywhere who really cared about me, something I’d understood and accepted a long time ago, so getting used to that new situation wouldn’t be all that hard. It really added very little to the hurt, but the cold was something else again.
It wasn’t more than another few minutes before Kel-Ten’s breathing rate changed again, showing he was coming out of it. When he did he stretched hard and called up another drink, downed it as fast as he had the first, then pulled me off the couch and out of the lounge. He was all recovered and ready to go back to it again, and I had just enough time to wonder what was in those drinks he’d had. Iii thought at first that they might be alcoholic, but they seemed, instead, to be bracers of another sort. I could just remember that alcohol ruined control and concentration more than almost anything, which meant they were giving him something else. If there was one thing they didn’t want, it was having their star Prime lose his control and ability to concentrate.
His next class was already assembled and waiting for him, and this time it was a matter of delicate handling rather than gross manipulation. The Primes had a different group of men in orange coveralls to work on, and what they did was have a victim walk from one side of the room to the other, each Prime deciding when he would cause his target to trip, or fall, or forget where he was going, or suddenly become unsure of himself, or any one of another half dozen things. Some of the targets were set to putting something simple together, like a child’s building toy, and the object then was to keep them from doing it right. The Primes were scored on the unnoticeability of what they did, the largest number of points being given to Kel-Ten when he caused his target to put a piece in wrong but fail to notice the error. The target was confused when his building collapsed, not knowing why it had happened, but the other Primes cheered and the black-uniformed instructor grinned and offered his congratulations.
Again the class didn’t last very long, but this time we didn’t go anywhere when it was over. Kel-Ten sat crosslegged next to me in my corner and closed his eyes, this time in a light trance rather than a deep one, waiting only until the room was cleared of its previous occupants and the new ones had arrived. The newcomers turned out to be an instructor and five strange Primes, and when the men were standing along one of the lines and the man in black was to the far side of them, Kel-Ten opened his eyes and got to his feet. He strolled more than walked to the short line previously used by an instructor and stood himself on it facing the five men, and then he smiled at them. Although their backs were to me I had the impression they weren’t returning his smile, and when the instructor told them all to get ready they seemed to stiffen. Kel-Ten, twenty feet away from their line, was the only one who didn’t.
“Number one, please begin,” the instructor said, and the man at the extreme right stirred when Kel-Ten’s eyes went to him. They stared at each other in silence for a while, the seconds ticking heavily by, and then the man with his back to me grunted and staggered backward from the line he’d been standing on. It was almost as though he’d been pushed away, and I looked over to see that Kel-Ten’s smile had returned.
“Not bad, sir, not bad,” the instructor said to the man who wasn’t returning to the line, true satisfaction in his voice. “Your strength is improving quite a bit from what it was, and this time you were able to hold your ground for eight seconds. You other gentlemen will take your marks from that, and please note that the Prime is remaining back from the line now that he’s been forced away from it. Number two, if you please.”
Kel-Ten looked at the man who had been second from the right, and again his stare was returned. This time, however, there was less of a wait before the man stumbled back, and then it was the third man’s turn. Seconds for him and seconds for the last two, and then none of them remained on the line they’d started from. Kel-Ten was sweating hard and looking drained again, but his smile was one of triumph as he stood proudly on the same spot he’d started from.
“For four of you gentlemen, that was your initial experience against the strength of the First Prime, Kel-Ten,” the instructor said to the men who were standing where they’d been forced to, most of them also looking drained. “This exercise lets you compare your own strength to his, and tells you how far you’ve yet to go before you can consider challenging him. I’m sure each of you noticed that the distance was minimum rather than maximum, which is another point for you to consider. When you think you’ve made significant progress you’ll ask to come back here, and then, like the fifth of your number, you’ll find out whether or not you have. This is a practice rather than a challenge situation, something you’ll find out more about as your growth continues. That’s it for now, gentlemen, and I hope to see you all again quite soon.”
His dismissal of them was polite but cuttingly casual, especially when he turned his back on them to go to Kel-Ten, and began pouring out congratulations and praise. The five men were silent as they filed slowly out of the room, but their sullen anger and jealousy and airs of vindictiveness were so strong I could almost feel them where I sat. Kel-Ten was being used as an object of hatred to goad the others on to try for his level of ability and position, but I doubted that he realized that. He must have thought they were simply after the golden prize, the thing his masters wanted him to believe.
The First Prime was stroked hard and long for his excellent performance, and then the man in black left the room. I was already on my feet and waiting by then, not exactly patiently, which Kel-Ten noticed with a grin when he finally called me over to him.
“I know you couldn’t appreciate that, but you can take my word for the fact that I was great,” he said, putting an arm around me. “Doesn’t it give you a thrill to have been chosen by the best man here?”
“I’m absolutely overcome with awe and gratitude,” I said with a yawn, ignoring the rough arm around my shoulders. “What heart-stopping excitement do we go to from here?