Deadly Relations: Bester Ascendant by Babylon 5

Author:Babylon 5
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Space Opera, Fiction, Science Fiction, Adventure, Telepathy, General, Media Tie-In
ISBN: 9780345427168
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 1999-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 1

Thoughts slipped about him like eels through dark waters, mostly tail and fin, but here and there the occasional glimmer of an eye, the flash of moray teeth. He wasn’t among friends, which meant he was surely in the right place, after all. That was good, because coming here had been a big risk, and justifying it to the travel authority had been no easy matter, especially to follow a trail that had reached an official dead end there months ago.

Blips had gotten good at making the sorts of journeys most peoples had abandoned in their respective stone ages. Horseback. Raft. In this case, a Polynesian double canoe. A reproduction, incorporating almost no metal. A satellite would have actually had to look for it in order to find it. Three months ago, no one had thought to do that, himself included.

Jonathan Stone, rogue telepath, had gone once again on the hunt lists with the designation “whereabouts unknown.” Most had more or less forgotten about him. Alfred Bester had not. Alfred Bester hated to look foolish. Most of all, he hated to lose. It chilled him to think how close he had come, this time. Another day, and it would have been too late. It might still be, he reminded himself. He smiled pleasantly at the dark faces, often tattooed, watching him stroll up the beach. They did not smile back, made no attempt to hide their objection to his presence. Most had probably figured out why he was here. Some would act.

Even now, someone was probably realizing that his telephone wasn’t working, that the local system had been shut down. At the same time, they were also noticing that he was a lone Psi Cop, without backup. Yes, he was the gardener, turning over the rock, and soon enough things would start to squirm out. Soon enough they did, and in doing so did him a favor. All of their scuttling about, just beyond his sight, actually directed him to the right building. He knew for certain that it was the right place when six large men planted themselves on the porch, between him and the door.

“Hello,” he said, pleasantly. “How are you gentlemen today?”

They were all dark, dressed in sarongs or shorts. All but two had facial tattoos.

“Pretty well,” one of them answered, his New Zealander lilt melodic despite the subtle hint of danger built into it.

“And you?”

“I’m just great. Salt air, a beautiful beach…”

“Private property,” one of the men noted.

“Government business,” Al returned, pleasantly.

“I’m looking for a fellow named Jonathan Stone.”

“I had a cousin named Jonathan Stone,” one of the men volunteered.

“He went down at sea, some time ago. Kind of a crazy fellow, him.”

“He’s in there, isn’t he?”

“Nah. Or he’s everywhere, I guess, depending on your religion.”

“My religion says he’s alive, right in there,” Al maintained, nodding his chin up behind them.

“What’s your religion say about an afterlife?” another of the men growled.

“Tell him to come out,” Al said.

“Tell him to come out, and I won’t have to call in the choppers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.