ly had
time to fill her in on our plans. Since their problem is a mental or
emotional one, I
expect they will emerge from stasis healthy. They will emerge on Nexus Six
Nexus Six? Rita interrupted.
Our designation for the psycho world. There are seven worlds altoget
her.
That s the maximum number we could handle. They ll emerge through a gate, but
it
will only operate one way, so they won t be able to leave.
In other words, you ve set up a fancy prison.
I shrugged. These are people who would be, or should be, in a prison
on
Earth. We both know the gates don t make mistakes. They are people without
conscience, capable of any crime. And we will try to help them once things
settle
down. With our ability to read their minds, perhaps we can find some way
to reach
them.
A whole new kind of therapy. Rita gave me an incredulous look.
Are you
planning to try this on your own?
Donna walked over to where we sat in time to hear this last remark. He d be
a fool if he did. You have a special touch with people, Rita. Lee just wants
you to
wait until things have settled down to come to Nexus Six. The next few d
ays are
going to be nuts.
I know I ll be lost without your help, I agreed, taking her hand. I want to
make sure the situation is safe, first, before you come, that s all. Trying to
help these
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people won t be easy. We may have to leave them isolated on Nexus Six
to fight
things out among themselves.
Donna shuddered. That won t be pretty.
Maybe it s what they deserve.
Rita shook her head, and smiled her gentle smile. You don t really think
that,
Lee. You re stressing out from overload at the moment. If the gates have
taught us
anything, it s that we have the ability to change sometimes in way
s we never
imagined. I m not going to give up on any of these people.
I rolled my eyes. The gates want to change us into something more th
an
human. These psychopaths are less than human. It should be interesting.
Rita and Donna exchanged a look, although it was Donna who spoke. Yo
u
don t sound like you have much sympathy for your future patients.
I shrugged. I took this world, because it s going to be a tough o
ne to handle. I
never said I liked it.
A second look flew between Rita and Donna. They were doing that feminine
thing, talking without words, although they might have shared a mental touch,
for all I
knew. Maybe women learned to read each other s minds long before the sex
gates. I
picked up some of that ability when I was a woman, but since I was a man at
the
moment, I had to guess what they were thinking. Donna turned to Rita and
stretched
out her arms.
Can I hold Justina for a little bit, while you talk to Lee?
Sure.
Rita handed over the baby, although not without five minutes of kissing and
cooing first. Remarkably, Justina never stirred. While Donna walked off
with her
precious burden, Rita turned on me, a determined look in her eye.
You re going to take me with you. That was the plan.
What about the baby?
I m confident she ll be safe here. Donna can watch over her.
She needs her mother.
She needs both of her parents. That s why I intend to come with you and
make sure you get back safely. Face it, Lee, besides housing and feeding
them, you
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have no idea what to do with a world full of psychopaths.
And you do?
At least I have the training to know when they re trying to scam
me.
She had a point there. I bit my lip and tried to think of another argume
nt. You
need to stay behind, in case something does happen to me. If Justina los
es both her
parents, she ll be an orphan.
Rita folded her arms and jutted out her jaw. You re not scaring m
e. The best
way to stop that from happening is to go with you. All the other teams have
two
people.
Except Russell, I pointed out. Donna can t go because she
s pregnant.
Which works out great for us. Donna can watch the baby.
I sighed. I knew there was no arguing with Rita when she was in this mood. I
just hoped I was wrong about Amanda. But if worse came to worse, we coul
d always
escape through the gates.
Donna must have sensed that Rita had won the argument. She came back,
holding Justina. The baby was awake at last and regarded us with big blue
eyes.
Donna, Rita began, could you
Donna kissed the top of the baby s head, and smiled. Don t even ask. I would
be thrilled to take care of Justina while you re gone.
Russell came over to join us, as the last of the stragglers left the room.
What s your pattern sense telling you? he asked.
I chewed on my lip. I don t like it. Something s wrong. Amanda
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