how Harry Keogh wouldn't hear of Zek using her talent anywhere near Janos Ferenczy. Janos was a powerful mentalist, too, but according to what Lardis has said about Malinari, Janos couldn't have held a candle to him] And it might well turn out that Nephran Malinari is our man, that he's the one we're dealing with here. It's unlikely to be Szwart, we're fairly certain of that, so it has to be either Vavara or Malinari. But if it's the latter, and if he really is better than Janos ...
'Listen, twenty-odd years ago I had a friend called Trevor Jordan. He was E-Branch, and a telepath. Janos Ferenczy caught
Trevor spying on him and got into his head - I mean literally! And later, at a distance of some seven hundred miles, Janos was able to invade and even inhabit Jordan's mind. And just to show us how good he was, he made Jordan put a gun to his own ear and pull the trigger! Now that... is mentalism!
&O'But this Nephran Malinari isn't just another telepath. In his own world, in Starside four hundred years ago, his own kind, the Wamphyri, called him Malinari the Mind. Doesn't that say it all? Anyway, we've learned the legends from Lardis, and the Old Lidesci's word is good enough for me. And even if it wasn't... well, I know I'll never forget the things that Zek showed me on the night she died. That bastard vampire thing, trying its best to leech on her mind.'So I'm asking you, Liz. Please be careful. You... you're very special, and in my time I've lost too many special people. I just need to be sure you fully appreciate the danger. I don't want you locking on to something - and perhaps receiving something - that you don't want and can't get rid of.'That had been some three hours ago, but now...... Trask's words were still echoing in Liz's mind when the pilot's voice climbed a notch in her headset to declare: 'We're going down now, folks. Gladstone next stop. So if yer'll excuse me, I'll just radio a pal o' mine on the ground, tell him to get the beer out o' the cooler, and slice up a fresh batch o' sarnies. By the time yer've all freshened up, I'll be done refuelling and we'll start back. A slightly different route this time, if yer'd like. We can stick more closely to the coast and - ''No,' Liz interrupted him. Tm sorry, but we're especially interested in mountains. On the way back, it would suit us just fine if you'd show us some mountains that we haven't seen yet.' And then, perhaps a little self-consciously, 'Er, sorry to be a nuisance.'The pilot glanced back though his window, looked from face to face, shrugged his shoulders and said, 'Suit yerself, Miss, fellers. I'm to accommodate yer as best I can, so whatever yer say is okay with me.'
At which Liz craned her neck and looked for confirmation from David Chung where he sat behind her ... only to find that the locator's attention, indeed his concentration, seemed rapt on something that no one else could see. With his jaw hanging slack, he gazed as if transfixed eastward, out across the open sea. It lasted for a single moment only, then Chung started as he became aware of Liz's eyes upon him, the unspoken question that was written in them.His gaze met hers and he half-nodded, half-shrugged, then said, 'I... I don't know. I can't be sure. It was so faint.'They were settling fast towards a small airport. The locator snapped out of it, put his headset on, and asked the pilot, 'What's out there? I mean east, er, the sea?''Exactly, mate,' the other's tinny voice came back, seeming to vibrate as the pitch of the rotor vanes changed to landing mode. 'The sea, a handful o' little rocks, and stretching a thousand miles to the north, the Great Barrier Reef And then a laugh. 'Sorry, but all that's way out o' our itinerary...'They freshened up, drank ice-cold beer out of glasses dripping with condensation, ate prawn sandwiches and barbecued chicken, and talked while they waited for their pilot to call for them.They were in a private Skytours suite that overlooked the small airport through a soundproof panoramic window. While eating they had watched a handful of planes coming and going, not said too much, been glad of the overhead fan that struggledO OOto waft a stream