She felt that she had somehow ... changed. She had entered into womanhood--but there was more to it than that. She felt stronger, more assured. Her very awareness seemed to have sharpened, to be reaching out and bringing her new impressions she could not identify. She closed her eyes and sent her flowering perceptions out and away. For a moment she seemed to float in nothingness, disembodied ... spreading. And then she had the sensation of touching something. She drew back, startled, yet fascinated and curious, like a child discovering some new wonder. And a voice spoke to her, bell-like and ringingly dear--a voice which in some incredible way she heard with her mind. "Why, hello! Who is this?" "I ... my name is Fran." "Oh, I understand. This is the first time for you, isn't it?" "Yes," she said. "I mean, whatever this is, it never happened before." In some odd way, the voice seemed to smile. "Don't let it frighten you, Fran. You'll get used to your new ability." "But ... but what does it mean? And who are you? Where are you?" "You can call me Tom. I can't tell exactly where I am, because distances and locations have no meaning when a mind can reach anywhere. I don't think I'm very far away, though. As for what this means ... well, that's a little difficult to explain, Fran." * * * * * The voice--she knew now that it was more than just a voice--seemed to look out over an awesome vista, as if in search of some point of interest, some particular feature she could understand. "You know about the war, Fran, and what happened to the big cities?" "Yes. I've heard about that." "Well, the war was fought with a new type of atom bomb, Fran. It was designed to keep people out of cities, because cities were centers of resistance. The bombs contaminated the cities with a deadly radiation that's still there. People had to leave--but many of them were affected by the radiation, and gave birth to children that were ... different. Some were monsters, Fran. And some ... well, they didn't _look_ changed, but they were--in strange and wonderful ways. It all depended on the intensity of the radiations that produced them, you see. "You're one of those changed children, Fran--and so am I. Our ability to receive each other's thoughts proves that. But what you really should know is that there's serious danger in letting ordinary people find out you're different. Because, Fran, when the monsters started appearing they were done away with--killed. People were afraid of them. And they're more afraid now than ever."