Transcriber's Note:
This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction October 1960.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright
on this publication was renewed.
PSICHOPATH
By DARREL T. LANGART
_Given psi powers like clairvoyance and telepathy, solving
problems of sabotage would be easy, of course. That is, it
seems that way at first thought!_
Illustrated by van Dongen
* * * * *
The man in the pastel blue topcoat walked with steady purpose, but
without haste, through the chill, wind-swirled drizzle that filled the
air above the streets of Arlington, Virginia. His matching blue
cap-hood was pulled low over his forehead, and the clear, infrared
radiating face mask had been flipped down to protect his chubby cheeks
and round nose from the icy wind.
No one noticed him particularly. He was just another average man who
blended in with all the others who walked the streets that day. No one
recognized him; his face did not appear often in public places, except
in his own state, and, even so, it was a thoroughly ordinary face.
But, as he walked, Senator John Peter Gonzales was keeping a mental,
fine-webbed, four-dimensional net around him, feeling for the
slightest touch of recognition. He wanted no one to connect him in any
way with his intended destination.
It was not his first visit to the six-floor brick building that stood
on a street in a lower-middle-class district of Arlington. Actually,
government business took him there more often than would have been
safe for the average man-on-the-street. For Senator Gonzales, the
process of remaining incognito was so elementary that it was almost
subconscious.
Arriving at his destination, he paused on the sidewalk to light a
cigarette, shielding it against the wind and drizzle with cupped
hands while his mind made one last check on the surroundings. Then he
strode quickly up the five steps to the double doors which were
marked: _The Society For Mystical And Metaphysical Research, Inc._
Just as he stepped in, he flipped the face shield up and put on an
old-fashioned pair of thick-lensed, black-rimmed spectacles. Then, his
face assuming a bland smile that would have been completely out of
place on Senator Gonzales, he went from the foyer into the front
office.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Jesser," he said, in a high, smooth, slightly
accented voice that was not his own. "I perceive by your aura that you
are feeling well. Your normal aura-color is tinged with a positive
golden hue."
Mrs. Jesser, a well-rounded matron in her early forties, rose to the
bait like a porpoise being hand-fed at a Florida zoo. "_Dear_ Swami
Chandra! How perfectly wonderful to see you again! You're looking
_very_ well your-_self_."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account