Part 2
Tyso is disappointed but understanding when you decide to spend tomorrow touring the Trig. Another planet so soon would, perhaps, just be a touch too much for you to deal with. You expect to be left out of the conversation with Tyso here, particularly when tall, blond haired Carol joins the little party. You are pleasantly surprised though to find that all four of the other Tomorrow People go out their way to make you feel included without appearing to do so. It's quite a surprise when you realise that the five of you have been talking until late in the night and only part of that was discussing the differences between your two worlds.
It takes you a while to get to sleep when you finally retire to the room that has been set aside for you. The room itself is cozy, if a little impersonal, and has none of the clinical whiteness so typical of the rest of the Trig. You feel confused and alarmed, your world turned upside down in the span of a few hours. You long to be back home with your parents, just eating dinner, but you know that that's impossible. The thought that it may never be possible again is one that you don't feel you can deal with just now. You know somehow that Stephen, Mike and the others will do all they can to get you home. Instead it's thinking about the people than the place which keeps you awake. These new Tomorrow People are not quite what you expected, not least because they are nothing like one another. Somehow, when Mike told you about them, you imagined that these Ambassadors of Earth would be distant and formal. You expected them to require the same from you. That couldn't be further than the truth. They've welcomed you wholeheartedly and you realise that you're going to have to put all your preconceptions aside.
*****
That thought is still with you when you wake to a gentle chiming sound. The room is dim, as if dawn is just beginning to peer through virtual curtains. As you sit up in momentary confusion the chiming stops and the lights begin to brighten slowly, giving your eyes time to adjust. You look around until you spot writing on the room's small viewscreen. The short message from Mike lets you know that the alarm was set to give you half an hour before breakfast and you check both your watch and the numbers on the room's integral chronometer to establish some frame of reference.
Tyso is still there for the fairly leisurely breakfast that you share with the others but as soon as you've all finished eating he says he goodbyes and heads for one of the long distance jaunting pads on which he has time booked.
Stephen gazes after his old friend for a few moments and then looks around at you.
"Well," he says. "Shall we go?"
For the first hour or so you walk through the corridors of the Trig, Stephen stopping every so often to introduce you to people you pass. The people come in a huge variety of shapes, colours and sizes and it takes much of your concentration to keep calm polite thoughts in your head. Several times you feel Stephen gently reinforcing your mental shields and you realise the truth of his assertion that that is something you're going to have to work on. Even so the people you meet seem genuinely friendly and several comment that it is good to see another Tomorrow Person on the Trig. Many of the people you meet are wearing long flowing robes and you look from your hard wearing jeans to Stephen's slightly smarter trousers and ask if what you're wearing is appropriate. Stephen shrugs.
"People here come in such a variety of shapes and sizes and with such a range of aesthetic sensibilities and optical sensitivity profiles that the idea of a dress code for the Trig isn't really workable. People talk about it from time to time but realistically people wear whatever they're most comfortable with, no more or less."
He looks at you thoughtfully.
"Are you ready to try jaunting around up here? We want to go to the common leisure area and it's a little far to walk. Jaunting's a little trickier than down on Earth because the habitable areas don't have the same kind of curve, rotation or proper motion to them that you've learnt to anticipate on the surface of a planet. And if there's one thing you don't want to do here it's end up 10 miles adrift. We're too close to the vacuum of space for that." He frowns. "From what I saw in your mind you don't need a belt like the rest of us and I'm a little reluctant to give you one in case it does something funny to your powers. You seem to be able to use natural and artifical telepathic beacons to navigate instinctively and there are plenty of those on the Trig."
"I think I can see how to do it." You tell him, realising with some surprise that the techniques do indeed seem to be falling into place in your mind. You feel Stephen's mind contact yours.
[Show me.] He tells you and you try to. He nods in cautiou satisfaction and then puts his hands to his belt [I'll go first, home in on me.] He says and jaunts.
*****
You marvel at the huge entertainment and leisure complexes. In a space station that houses literally millions of sentient beings it's clearly vital to see to everyone's psychological well being by providing areas in which to unwind.
Stephen shows you around centres for forms of entertainment that you could never have imagined and can still only partially grasp. You both laugh as you ride a series of fairground like rides that leave you breathless and a little dizzy. Stephen smiles at the expression on your face as he offers you snacks and nibbles from distant worlds. Finally, he guides you into what he describes as a form of sports centre or gymnasium.
The complex sits under a domed roof that must be a mile in diameter at least. Its inside is divided into a dizzying maze of small rooms and large areas laid out for games at least a few of which seem to range over three dimensions rather than the usual two.
Stephen leads you into a smallish room with six padded walls. Around the upper half of the room windows are arranged to allow spectators to peer down at the inside. Inside the room itself there is only a bulky piece of equipment that looks alarmingly like some kind of gun. Stephen shuts the door behind you before explaining.
"This is a court for a game called 'qrtzellion'. At least," He adds with a grin, "That's about the closest I can actually manage to how it's actually pronounced. Anyway, it has the advantage of having the same kind of low level damping field as our quarters and soft walls so I thought it might be a good opportunity to see how far your telepathic and telekinetic abilities have progressed without disturbing too many people."
"How?" You ask cautiously.
Stephen holds out his hand and after a moment a small hard ball appears on it.
"This is what they use for the game. It's a bit like tennis except that the ball is a lot harder, usually travels at well over a hundred miles an hour and the aim is to keep it in play as long as possible."
You think about that.
"So not like tennis at all, in fact."
Stephen gives you a smile.
"No, not really now you come to mention it. Anyway, the balls are fired into play by that machine over there. I just 'borrowed' this one from its reserve tank." He concentrates momentarily and the ball vanishes. "Now you get it."
You frown from Stephen to the machine and then close your eyes. With all your concentration you reach out telepathically and feel the shape of the device. Pushing a little harder you probe inside it and with a triumphant feeling locate the ball chamber inside. A moment later you are standing with a ball in your hand and a smile on your face. The basics of learning to control your powers are instinctive but you have never been rigorously tested in the way Stephen now tests you.
He throws balls at you and catches balls you throw. He throws you back against the walls with just the power of his mind and teaches you to block the telekinetic thrusts. He concentrates to bring a teacup from your quarters into the room and smashes it before fusing it again with a thought. That little challenge remains beyond you, as do several of the others but Stephen promises that you'll have many chances to try again.
As you work together you both get a feel for one another's strengths and abilities. In some ways, the way your mind works is very simillar in other ways they are very different. The constant presence of static electricity flares seems to confuse Stephen utterly while you remain baffled when he tells you that an adjustment to their belts was enough to stop the visual disturbance when he and his friends jaunted.
The mental exercise is exhilarating but it is also very tiring and it is not long before your control begins to feel a little shaky.
"Alright," Stephen tells you. "Now we're going to explore the inside of this ball serving machine with our minds. Reach out with me. I want you to feel every groove in every component. I want you to feel the electron potentials in the electronic circuitry. Concentrate, Jay!"
You feel your mental touch wobbling but can also feel the myriad of tiny patterns in the device thrilling you.
Do you:
a) admit to Stephen you're too tired?
b) try to go on?
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