In addition, he could identify three heavy-duty shields, a power levitator, a handful of destructor and paralysis rings, and a projector medallion capable of forming several hundred cubic feet of solid, detailed illusion. He shook his head.
This man must have spent the entire income of his estate for several years in assembling this array. There was enough there to outfit a battle group of competent psionics.
“If this guy needs all that stuff just to get by, he’s as near to psionic zero as you can get,” Naran told himself. “Either that, or he’s loaded with a power compulsion that’s never been equalled.” He frowned.
“Or both,” he added thoughtfully.
He looked again at the blaze of jewelry.
Faintly, he could sense the sour feel of fear. It acted as a carrier for a mixture of hatred, envy, and contemptuous hauteur. Naran whistled softly. There was more, too. He wished he dared try a probe, but with all that arsenal of psionic crystalware, it would be unwise.
“Hit those shields of his and I’d bounce off with a noise like a million bells,” he thought. He turned away.
He’d have to keep his own mind fully hooded around here. He looked back again, glancing at the distorter rod Barra carried. His eyes widened a little.
[p 40]
“Given adequate drive, that thing would stop a Fifth Planet battleship.” He grinned.
“Arm a couple of hundred men with those things and they could go out and take the Fifth apart, bit by bit. Then we wouldn’t have to worry about those people and their mechanical gadgets.”