From: Tamara@qconline.com
Subject: Greenwood Part I
Date: 7 Apr 1997 23:00:46 EDT

This is my first story posted to the creative list--or in truth, posted
anywhere.  It is set sometime shortly before Epiphanies and concerns
aperson mentioned in passing--Bester's daughter.  The use of sleepers as
a therapy for telepaths who cannot cope with their abilities is my own
speculation.  Anyway, here goes  . . .

Babylon 5 is the property of an awful lot of people including JMS,Warner
Bros., and PTEN.  No copyright infringement is intended etc.(Can
somebody help me with this wording?)
-----------------------------------
Greenwood, Part I

      <<Why do you have to go, Daddy?>>
      <<I explained this all to you before, Torey.  I have some business
in the outer colonies.  Important business.  Corps business.>>  Daddy
looked down at her sternly as they walked toward the training center.
Mommy wasn't there.  She was never there.  She was at the hospital
again, on sleepers.  Daddy walked faster, so Torey had to jog behind
himto catch up.
      "But you were lying that time, Daddy," she said aloud between
breaths.  "Where are you really going?"  Torey was only seven, but she
was smart and fast approaching a P10.  Her teachers said she'd probably
be a P12 like her mommy and Daddy by the time she was a grownup.
      Her father said nothing.  The trotted along beside him, clutching
her overnight bag.  They passed a group of normies, men in engineer's
coveralls, clustered by a school transport.  They were always chatter
chatter, mumble mumble in her head.  One of them glared at her and her
Daddy as they passed.  Words floated into her mind on a wave of hate.<<
. . . blow off your freak heads and watch them roll . . .>>  Torey felt
suddenly very cold.
      After they turned the corner she said, <<How come the normals hate
us?>>
      <<People like you and me are the future.>>  Daddy replied.  <<The
normals are dinosaurs.  They would like to think they can control us,but
they know they can't.>>  He flashed his lopsided smirk--the one Torey
was already beginning to pick up.  <<It scares them.>>
      They were approaching the tall, pretty training facility.  It had
arches in the front covered with swirly stucco and a garden in the
middle, just like some pictures she had seen of buildings on Earth.Torey
stopped at the bottom of the steps.  <<You know what, Daddy?  Oneof
those guys was thinking about blowing of our heads.>>  She knew shewas
going to get in trouble for telling.  Unauthorized scans were illegal,
and if she admitted her shield had slipped, her Daddy would be
disappointed.  Slipping was a sign of weakness, and Daddy was always
afraid Torey would turn out to be weak--like Mommy.  <<He sounded
dangerous, is all,>> she added apologetically.
      <<Remember, Torey.  Dinosaurs.>> He checked the time
impatiently.<<Can you walk the rest of the way by yourself?>>
      She nodded.  He started to turn away.  <<Dinosaurs were really
big, you know.  They could eat little kids, I bet.>>
      He paused.  His uniform stood out black against the orange Martian
   sky.  He looked important in it.  Invincible.  "Not you.  You're
special.  You're a Bester."  He turned sharply on his heel and strode
away.
      <<Will you remember to come for me?>> she shouted silently after
him, but he didn't acknowledge her.  Maybe he just didn't hear.Victoria
Bester hefted her bag and climbed the steps of her second home.

Comments and griping welcome.