Rolf shook his head, replied, his voice low, "Not yet—not until you replace him. That's how short-handed we are. We've lost too many the last few months. And there simply aren't any replacements. That's why I rushed to Earth when I heard about you, why perhaps I used unscrupulous methods to get you to come. There are less than a million people on all of Mars."
She understood his unspoken analogy. Less than a million people—less than a hundred telepaths, to maintain communications over the entire planet. Then she thought of something else, said, "My headaches—they're telepathic, aren't they? Caused when my brother has one of his attacks?"
"That's right as nearly as we can judge," he told her. "You seem to have an intense sympathetic affinity. It's not unusual between identical telepaths."
"And there aren't many of those," she said idly. She looked at him. "How about your brother, Rolf. Isn't he...?"
"Unfortunately not," he replied. "He has some tendency toward E.S.P. but insufficiently strong to be reliable."
Lynne sensed his thoughts shifting to his brother, then to hers—and was astounded by the depth of dislike he suddenly projected. It came as another shock and she said, "You hate my brother, don't you, Rolf? If you didn't you'd have managed to get him the care he must have to survive."
"I don't hate your brother," he said wearily and she realised he spoke the truth. What he felt for Revere Fenlay was the rather arrogant dislike and distrust toward a weaker man that is so frequent among the strong. Lynne resented it, resented him, bitterly.
She said, "Then why haven't you replaced him? You're a telepath—why haven't you given him relief?"
Again he looked defeated and, with feminine illogic, her heart went out to him. He said, "I wish I could—unfortunately I'm not permitted to go out in the field alone."
Annoyed by her heart's betrayal she let herself think, Ah, an armlounge admiral, a user of men who saves his own skin! She watched anger wash defeat from his face, for a moment felt fear at its intensity. Then, without a word, he turned and left her alone in the corridor.