your powers are," I said. "They don't make you supermenimmune from the laws of libel. If you or anybody I can catchbreathes one false word about my being a snake, you'll be on thereceiving end of the roughest lawsuit you ever heard of!"
"The silliness of that statement will occur to you in a while,"he said dryly. "And truth is a defense against a claim of libel.But to get back to purpose. Our second purpose tonight is to getit through your thick head, Mr. Robertson, that the Lodge insistson its right to control your actions insofar as they involve theuse of your psi powers. We mean business, Mr. Robertson, andbefore you are through with our heartless Mr. Bupp tonight,you'll know it. That's all that's behind our little charade."
He came to a stop and took a deep breath.
"I'm going to make one statement and rest on it," I said, tryingto keep my voice calm and level.
He shrugged. "Your turn," he said.
"I'm a Normal," I said. "I flatly deny that I have the slightestshred of psi power. I accuse that freckled snake over there oflying deliberately. I'll make him pay for it, and he'll be luckyif it isn't with his blood."
"That's all?"
"Isn't it enough?"
He laughed harshly and grinned over at Lefty. "Some of youmaverick psis scream like a gelded porker," he said. "I figgeredyou'd tell me we'd cost you a fortune in prospective pokerwinnings, to say the least."
My stomach dropped. I hadn't thought of that, not as much as Ishould have. It was my only income! "Something a darn sight moreimportant than money is involved," I said.
"Maybe you aren't such a bad guy," he decided. He looked over atthe woman standing silently in her slip beside his desk, her barearms folded over her ample bosom.
"How about it, Milly?" he asked her.
She shrugged. "He believes what he says," she told him. "Hehonestly doesn't think he has any psi powers."
"That mitigates the affair," Maragon said. "Still, our purposedemands an object lesson. I have to fine you, Mr. Robertson.You've broken one of our rules by using TK to stack a poker deck.Because you weren't aware of it, though, half of your fine willbe remitted if you join the Lodge within a week. Accordingly Iassess you ... uh, how much, Milly?" he asked.
"He's got eight thousand and some in his breast pocket," she saidwith fiendish accuracy. "Every penny he has in the world."
"Assess you eight thousand dollars," Maragon concluded. He gotwearily to his feet, and started to pad past me toward the door."Mr. Bupp will collect," he said. The woman followed him, herhose hanging down around her ankles, and climbed the stairsstolidly behind him.
* * * * *
Lefty, whom Maragon had called Wally Bupp, walked around behindthe desk and took the swivel chair that the older man had justvacated. "I'll take the eight thousand now, Tex," he said, pokinghis chin at me belligerently.
"You'll take four," I said, getting my feet under me.
He frowned. "Four?" he repeated.
"Four knuckles," I gritted and started for him. The gun barrelrammed me in the kidney, harder than it had in the alley. They'dsmuggled in some protection. I really slammed on the brakes,halfway across the desk. Lefty hadn't bothered to flinch, but satthere with his legs crossed, looking idly at his fingernails.
"Look behind you," he said.
I did. The gun eased off my kidney as I turned. There wasn'tanybody there.
"TK," Lefty said. "I also used it to trip you up when you wentfor me in the alley, after I'd TK'd a left right in your gut.You're a hard guy to stop, Tex. But don't overdo it."
"Mere pain never stopped a guy who really meant it!" I went forhim again.
Then it hit me. A deep and sickening pain throbbed from mybreastbone down my left arm. The lights started to dim, and Isagged down on the desk.
"How'd that feel?" Lefty asked, apparently not expecting ananswer. "I clamped your coronary artery shut for a few seconds.A post-mortem would never be able to tell it from the real thingif I held down tight."
His grin had a viciousness in it I hadn't seen before. He heldout his hand. I struggled erect and handed my wallet to him. Heonly took out the big bills, and tossed it back across the deskto me. "Thanks," he said. "You'll get half of this back if youdecide to join the Lodge within a week."
"What's all this about a Lodge?" I tried weakly. "What Lodge?"
"Why, this Lodge," Lefty said, waving a hand around loosely."It's an organization of folks with psi powers. Guys like you andme, Tex."
"I'm no TK!" I growled. "I didn't manipulate those cards in anyway."
"Funny you say that," he said, looking interested and leaning hiselbows on the desk. "You're right. I hadn't actually bothered tostack the deck, Tex. Just kept a light TK touch on it to see ifyou were moving cards. You weren't, but you were hitting themright all the time. I haven't had time to tell Maragon the boyson the Crap Patrol were wrong. It wasn't telekinesis, Tex. It wasprecognition. You're a PC, Tex." He stood up and pointed towardthe door. I was shaking so badly from the heart attack the snakehad induced that I got up helplessly and allowed him to steer meout by the elbow.
"Remember," he said at the head of the steps that led down to thestreet. "You've got a week to make up your mind about joiningthe Lodge. In the meantime, don't gamble."
"Great," I said bitterly. "You sapped me down and rolled me formy poke, or the next thing to it. And now you tell me not to getin a game and try to get whole again. Why should you care?"
"You don't listen," he said sourly. "Look, psis _are_ supermen,in spite of your sneers. And whether you like it or not, Tex,you've got some psi powers. Normals resent, fear and hate us. Wecan't afford to have you make a killing at a poker table and thenget exposed as a 'snake.' We psis are a tiny minority. We all getblamed for things any one of us does."
"I'm a Normal," I said, a little hollowly.
"You're more fortunate than that," he assured me. "Just so youunderstand the origin and purpose of the Lodge. We find strengthin union, strength to resist the pressure of the majority. Andmembership in the Lodge gives us control--control over psis likeyou who might bring the wrath of the Normal majority down on usby their shortsightedness."
I shook my head. "You don't have to dress it up like this," Iprotested. "This is blackmail or extortion, I'm not sure which.I'm not joining anything you bunch of creeps are a part of."
"You won't find that practical," he said, turning to go backinside. "And remember: stay away from cards."
* * * * *
You're supposed to have nightmares at night. I had mine the wholenext day. No, I wasn't a TK, Lefty had said. I was a PC. Youdon't have anemia, Tex. It's leukemia!
I made a farce of trying to get some work done in the lab. Afterletting the third test tube slip through my fingers and shatteron the lab bench, I gave it up. How would you have acted if youhad gotten that kind of news? That first gut-twisting admissionthat you really _may_ be a snake! Then sharp awareness of what itmeans. A guillotine couldn't cut you off more sharply from Normalhumanity. But the spirit struggles and refuses to accept it. You_can't_ be a snake!
"Take action!" I said aloud, getting a worried look from my labassistant, busy mopping up my last shattered culture. "Don't spinaround like this. Do _something_!"
I did the only thing I could think of, and dialed Shari at herlaboratory. She refused to accept the call at first. Finally shetore herself away from a "delicate experiment" long enough tolook at me angrily in the screen.
"We don't have anything to say to each other," she said coldly."There are delicate experiments--"
"Can you test me for psi powers?" I interrupted.
"Whatever for?"
"To settle whether I have any," I snapped. "It's important tome."
"Not necessary," she said. "Do you think I'd be successful in thepsi field if I weren't sensitive to this sort of thing? Don'tworry, Tex. You're a Normal."
"Thanks," I said. "So you've told me. Now prove it to mysatisfaction."
"We shut up shop at five o'clock,"
she said. "I'll be here forabout an hour after that. My dinner date isn't until seven."
"Bet he doesn't gamble," I said, trying to win a little sympathy.
"You _bet_ he