Voices - Vornholt John - Страница 23

“Sir,” said Gray, taken aback, “what about your own Psi Cops?”

Bester smiled with satisfaction. “We have Ms. Winters, or soon will have her. She’s our dirty laundry, and we will wash it ourselves. We’ll find out as much as there is to know from her, but there may be other leads. Follow them, Gray. Get to the bottom of it.”

The young telepath felt a grip on his forearm, and he looked down to see burnt fingers wrapped in bandages, smearing blood on his sleeve.

“Promise me,” rasped Bester.

“I’ll find them,” said Gray, removing his arm.

Garibaldi pulled open the door in slow motion, but the lights and the voices struck her in high-speed, strobelike bursts. Garibaldi grabbed her arm and dragged her out of her quarters, because she couldn’t make herself move. Talia felt like she was staring at an oncoming train, the rush of people was so intense. The lights blinded her, the hands pushed in, while Garibaldi’s security people pushed out. The black-suited ones stood on their tiptoes and shook their fists, shouting:

“Murderer!”

“Traitor!”

“Back!” snapped Garibaldi, like a lion tamer.

She could see a wedge of gray-suited backs forming before her and leading the way down the corridor. Garibaldi wrapped his arms around her like armor and steered her behind the wedge. People stood in doorways and clung like flies to the wall to get a look at her. The same people would have only given her a glance the day before.

The flying wedge swept through a bulkhead and down a ramp, and the crowd of people vanished. She was surprised to see only Garibaldi and his gray-suited security people. As they weren’t needed to spearhead the charge anymore, the officers fell back to rear-guard positions. Soon it was just her and Garibaldi, followed by a man holding a PPG rifle.

Irrationally, she thought for a split second, Can I get that rifle away from him? But where would she go? How would she get off the station? Talia had to think about it—she just had to think.

Her inner voice was telling her to escape. It wasn’t right or wrong, or even logical, but she had to listen. There was only one thing Talia Winters knew for sure—she had to get off Babylon 5 and exit from this nightmare!