AH right then, he asked himself, how did he get into Geri’s booth? Precofznition? He realized ahead of time that Odal would appear and frighten Ceri? Then why doesn’t he remember it, or even remember going from ne booth to the other? And why the enormous power drain? What happened to the machine to cause it?
There was only one answer that Leoh could see, but it was so farfetched that he wanted to find another one. The one answer was teleportation.
The dueling machine amplifies the powers of natural telepaths. Some telepaths have been reported to be able to move small objects with no apparent physical force. Could the dueling machine amplify that talent, too? And drain all the power in the building to do it?
Leoh shook his head. Too much theorizing, not enough facts. He wished there were tape cameras in the booths;hen he could have timed Hector’s arrival. Did he make the trip in four picoseconds? Or was it four-trillionths of a second?
The door slid open and Hector stood there uncertainly, his lanky form framed in the doorway –
Leoh looked up at him. Tes?”
“It’s time … the, uh, newsman and his seconds are here for the duel.”
Feeling annoyed at the interruption, Leoh pushed himself out of the chair and headed for the dueling machine. “A lot of silliness,” he muttered. “Just a publicity stunt.”
The chief meditech. in his professional white coverall now, introduced the duelists and their seconds. For Leoh, only Hector. For the newsman, his editor—a thin, balding, nervous type—and a network vice president, who looked comfortable and well-fed. Probably keeps three dietitians and a biochemist busy preventing him from going overweight, Leoh groused to himself.