she "arranged" for this elderly couple, pillars in their fundamentalist church, to receive nothing but pornographic channels on their holo-vid viewer for weeks. Service technicians were unable to solve the problem, necessitating a memory-core wipe and replacement.
Rob smiled reluctantly, shaking his head. He'd read and reviewed this file before, but he'd forgotten that bit. But his
7
expression darkened at the next paragraph: We do not know even now whether the power shutdown that plagued the school and delayed finals last year was sabotage... but only Heather, out of all the students and faculty, turned out to have complete backup cassettes of all data following the isolated power loss that managed to bypass all fail-safe levels simultaneously. When questioned about this, she told us she'd had a
"hunch." Even the most painstaking analysis of the systems revealed nothing to link her with the shutdown. "System failure by unknown causes"
remains the official diagnosis. But, still, we wonder...
"Rob!" He jerked his head up, realizing that was the second time Hing had called his name.
"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I missed out on my beauty sleep last night. What did you say?"
Hing regarded him over her teacup. "How old is Heather?"
Rob took a deep breath. "Eleven. Twelve at midterm."
The young woman groaned loudly. "Rob! What do I look like, a babysitter?"
"No, of course not," he hastened to assure her. "Heather will have to take responsibility for herself, just like any other student. But she needs a friend, Hing, and like many other kids, she's wary of authority figures. Like me." He spread his hands, palm up, and shrugged. "So I thought that someone the age of an older sister, someone who gets along well with just about everyone, might be just what she needs." He gave her a pleading glance.
"C'mon, O Little Friend of All the World. Here's your chance to help someone out. It'll be good for your karma."
Hing smiled, albeit a bit reluctantly, at this reminder of Kim, an old book for which they shared a common fondness. Rob had shown her the movie
version right here in this office, four years ago, when Hing was a freshman.
Ever since then he'd kiddingly referred to her that way, after watching how easily she made and kept friends.
The student sighed, then nodded. Rob relaxed, realizing .that he'd won her over. "She's had a rough time?" Hing asked.
Rob nodded assent, then hesitated, wondering what he could answer that would give Hing something to go on without compromising Heather's confidentiality. Another passage from the file caught his eye:
Heather Farley's telepathic index tops the scale. We cannot measure her innate ability. Extremely precocious intellectually, her intelligence approaches the genius range. This, coupled with
8
an artificial sophistication gained from her indiscriminate telepathic contacts, makes her seem, at first encounter, older than her years .. . Unresolved feelings of abandonment due to trauma incurred from loss of maternal parent at age five have resulted in stunted emotional development. . .
Maternal parent, Rob thought impatiently. Why can't they just say "mother"?
Her father, he remembered from his earlier reviews, was still alive. If you could call it that. . . . paranoid schizophrenic, with frequent violent psychotic episodes exacerbated by his telepathic ability. . . delusional, subject to hallucinations . . . first institutionalized two weeks after death of his wife, he has shown little improvement in the intervening years . .. prognosis for recovery is poor.. .
Poor kid, Rob thought grimly. When he glanced at Heather's birth date, he realized the girl was two months older than his own daughter, Claire. Pity stirred in him again as he struggled to find words to answer Hing. "Heather hasn't had it easy. Her mother is dead, and her father--it's not possible for her to live with him, for ... health reasons. She lived with an aunt and uncle for a while, but that
Rob smiled reluctantly, shaking his head. He'd read and reviewed this file before, but he'd forgotten that bit. But his
7
expression darkened at the next paragraph: We do not know even now whether the power shutdown that plagued the school and delayed finals last year was sabotage... but only Heather, out of all the students and faculty, turned out to have complete backup cassettes of all data following the isolated power loss that managed to bypass all fail-safe levels simultaneously. When questioned about this, she told us she'd had a
"hunch." Even the most painstaking analysis of the systems revealed nothing to link her with the shutdown. "System failure by unknown causes"
remains the official diagnosis. But, still, we wonder...
"Rob!" He jerked his head up, realizing that was the second time Hing had called his name.
"Sorry," he muttered, rubbing his eyes. "I missed out on my beauty sleep last night. What did you say?"
Hing regarded him over her teacup. "How old is Heather?"
Rob took a deep breath. "Eleven. Twelve at midterm."
The young woman groaned loudly. "Rob! What do I look like, a babysitter?"
"No, of course not," he hastened to assure her. "Heather will have to take responsibility for herself, just like any other student. But she needs a friend, Hing, and like many other kids, she's wary of authority figures. Like me." He spread his hands, palm up, and shrugged. "So I thought that someone the age of an older sister, someone who gets along well with just about everyone, might be just what she needs." He gave her a pleading glance.
"C'mon, O Little Friend of All the World. Here's your chance to help someone out. It'll be good for your karma."
Hing smiled, albeit a bit reluctantly, at this reminder of Kim, an old book for which they shared a common fondness. Rob had shown her the movie
version right here in this office, four years ago, when Hing was a freshman.
Ever since then he'd kiddingly referred to her that way, after watching how easily she made and kept friends.
The student sighed, then nodded. Rob relaxed, realizing .that he'd won her over. "She's had a rough time?" Hing asked.
Rob nodded assent, then hesitated, wondering what he could answer that would give Hing something to go on without compromising Heather's confidentiality. Another passage from the file caught his eye:
Heather Farley's telepathic index tops the scale. We cannot measure her innate ability. Extremely precocious intellectually, her intelligence approaches the genius range. This, coupled with
8
an artificial sophistication gained from her indiscriminate telepathic contacts, makes her seem, at first encounter, older than her years .. . Unresolved feelings of abandonment due to trauma incurred from loss of maternal parent at age five have resulted in stunted emotional development. . .
Maternal parent, Rob thought impatiently. Why can't they just say "mother"?
Her father, he remembered from his earlier reviews, was still alive. If you could call it that. . . . paranoid schizophrenic, with frequent violent psychotic episodes exacerbated by his telepathic ability. . . delusional, subject to hallucinations . . . first institutionalized two weeks after death of his wife, he has shown little improvement in the intervening years . .. prognosis for recovery is poor.. .
Poor kid, Rob thought grimly. When he glanced at Heather's birth date, he realized the girl was two months older than his own daughter, Claire. Pity stirred in him again as he struggled to find words to answer Hing. "Heather hasn't had it easy. Her mother is dead, and her father--it's not possible for her to live with him, for ... health reasons. She lived with an aunt and uncle for a while, but that
Similar Books
Captives
Emily Murdoch
A Life's Work
Rachel Cusk
Drive
James Sallis
Immortals After Dark 06 - Dark Desires After Dusk
Kresley Cole
Natural Blond Instincts
Jill Shalvis
The Wolf Sacrifice
Rosa Steel
The Rose of Tibet
Lionel Davidson
Love Storm
Jennifer McNare
Lioness Rampant
Tamora Pierce
False Bottom
Hazel Edwards