Hyperspace
The cold and emptiness of space was tugging at his mind; not because of the presence of anything, the exact opposite was the case: there was nothing out there, or at least not anything his human mind would have been able to perceive. The fact that this disturbed him so much always managed to surprise him, even after all those years. Sometimes you had to lose something to realize that it had been there in the first place, and the psychic noise that surrounded all places inhabited by living beings was no exception to that rule.
Alfred Bester had grown up in Teeptown, and although he hadn't recognized it at that time, he had been able to sense the hundreds of thousands of minds that made up Geneva even as a toddler. They had always been here, just like the skyline of the city, or the mountains, or the sound of all kinds of transports in the air above him on their way to Earthdome. Normals couldn't help being noisy like that, and to some extent he actually found that fact comforting; a telepath as strong as him could tell where he was without having to open his eyes, simply because of the way a place felt.
Space, however, was silent. There was nothing for him to p'hear, nothing to tell him where exactly they were right now. All he was able to sense were the shielded minds of the fellow officers on the ship, but from the outside he only got the telepathic equivalent to static, and even that was barely audible. He knew that some Corps scientists believed this strange noise to be a psychic echo of the big bang, but he didn't agree with that theory. The human mind simply couldn't grasp the idea of complete silence, and it wouldn't have surprised him at all if the noise he believed to hear only existed in his own head. Well, either that, or he was listening in to a conversation between a couple of alien gods.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he turned away from the window, his thoughts once more concentrating on more substantial matters: his objective, Babylon 5.
He was curious how the crew would react to his visit this time. Of course he hadn't announced his plans in advance, he loved surprising them far too much to do them such a favour. It was always fascinating to see how easily he could upset these mundanes. Just a small joke here, and a brief comment there, and they were about to explode. Well, he would have to be a bit more tactful this time since he didn't really feel like spending his visit in the brig. And sleepers weren't an option either; he needed - wanted - to talk to Carolyn, and if he had understood her right, then she wouldn't be able to contact him if his telepathic abilities were blocked. Damn, he had been looking forward to a nice talk with Mr. Garibaldi about certain… developments! There was always a price to pay, wasn't there?
With a sigh he realized that he was more than willing to pay this price for Carolyn. He would have to be careful, or this might make him too vulnerable in the future. For now, however, he decided not to care.
Alfred Bester had grown up in Teeptown, and although he hadn't recognized it at that time, he had been able to sense the hundreds of thousands of minds that made up Geneva even as a toddler. They had always been here, just like the skyline of the city, or the mountains, or the sound of all kinds of transports in the air above him on their way to Earthdome. Normals couldn't help being noisy like that, and to some extent he actually found that fact comforting; a telepath as strong as him could tell where he was without having to open his eyes, simply because of the way a place felt.
Space, however, was silent. There was nothing for him to p'hear, nothing to tell him where exactly they were right now. All he was able to sense were the shielded minds of the fellow officers on the ship, but from the outside he only got the telepathic equivalent to static, and even that was barely audible. He knew that some Corps scientists believed this strange noise to be a psychic echo of the big bang, but he didn't agree with that theory. The human mind simply couldn't grasp the idea of complete silence, and it wouldn't have surprised him at all if the noise he believed to hear only existed in his own head. Well, either that, or he was listening in to a conversation between a couple of alien gods.
A small smile tugged at his lips as he turned away from the window, his thoughts once more concentrating on more substantial matters: his objective, Babylon 5.
He was curious how the crew would react to his visit this time. Of course he hadn't announced his plans in advance, he loved surprising them far too much to do them such a favour. It was always fascinating to see how easily he could upset these mundanes. Just a small joke here, and a brief comment there, and they were about to explode. Well, he would have to be a bit more tactful this time since he didn't really feel like spending his visit in the brig. And sleepers weren't an option either; he needed - wanted - to talk to Carolyn, and if he had understood her right, then she wouldn't be able to contact him if his telepathic abilities were blocked. Damn, he had been looking forward to a nice talk with Mr. Garibaldi about certain… developments! There was always a price to pay, wasn't there?
With a sigh he realized that he was more than willing to pay this price for Carolyn. He would have to be careful, or this might make him too vulnerable in the future. For now, however, he decided not to care.