Joseph Tinker

“ I let her into my thoughts. Give me some sign, I thought, as I waved a hand at Fred for quiet. Mother, tell me what to do!
Poor Joe, she thought. He loves me in spite of it all. He can't bear to do what he has to do. Joe! her mind shrieked at me. You read my mind!
I snapped upright in my chair and grabbed its arms until I could hear my knuckles crack. My mind snapped shut with an almost audible crack. I was a damned snake!
I could dimly hear Fred yammering at me. With a sick fear I slowly opened my mind again. His thoughts surged into it. Well, Anita had been right. And Anita! ”

“ By the time I reached the steps, the whole mob was cheering and yelling, "Gyp!"
As George Kelly had asked, I paused on the steps and held up my hands for a chance to speak. It's flattering when they give you silence. In the space of two breaths it was like the inside of a morgue.
"Thanks, friends," I called out to them. "George Kelly and I have already gotten the facts on the telepath who was captured here in Washington last night. There is absolutely no cause for alarm. I hope you'll go to your homes and offices promptly. Let's not give the Russians any more satisfaction than we have to. ”

“ Usually I have my taxi drop me on the roof of the building. Call it a petty vanity if you want. It's one of the perquisites of being Washington brass.
"Swell, Gyp," George Kelly said, as if there had been any question about whether I'd come in through the main entrance. "The public has a world of confidence in you. Now, damn it, Gyp, if they want to make a fuss over you this morning, let them. We've got to get that snake out of the building alive!"
"Oh, no," I protested. "You don't mean Fred took a telepath to the office?" ”

“ I told him. "Something that few can do, and that no telepath can do! How can we let you wander around Washington leaking out thoughts of every secret your mind might accidentally have overheard from some ranking official? How many Russian telepaths have been accredited to their Embassy? How many crypto-telepaths have the Reds got in town? How many secrets have you already given away? How big a traitor have you been?"
That was the one that got him. "Traitor!" he yelled at me, starting across the office to where I stood leaning against my desk. ”

“ The man gulped and started to say something, but Fred hit him hard between the shoulder blades. "Shut up," he said. "Nobody cares what you think." He walked up close to me. "Sure I know there's a mob down there," he said. "And I know why they're there. Plain scared to death of what it means to have had a telepath loose in Washington. You're wrong to hustle this guy out of town, Gyp. Look at this pathetic case—does he look like a superman?"
I looked at the snake. ”

“ That's how I learned to close my mind—closing her out as much as I could. The power got stronger as I grew older."
"It's embarrassing," George said, turning away from me to look out the window. "To have you, of all people, Gyp, with telepathic heredity. Still, if no one knows, and since you've never had the slightest manifestation of psi powers yourself, there may be some way we can preserve your usefulness."
"Today, within the last half hour, George, my latent telepathic ability became manifest. George, I'm a snake." ”

“ Wandering around in a town full of secrets—Washington, the capital of your country, where the military, the diplomatic people, the security people, all of them have locked in their heads the things that keep us one step ahead of the Russians. ”

“ A gypsy woman can give you the snootiest look in the world, right down her aquiline nose, when she feels like it. It stopped Fred Plaice in his tracks.
"Yes, Fred?" I said quietly.
"If you don't mind, Tinker," he said brusquely. "I'd like to be present for this interview."
"Tinker?"
"I'm sorry, Gyp," he said. "I'm ... I'm upset."
"I'll bet you are, you sneak," Anita said. "Chief," she told me. "He was fit to be tied when you chased us out. The first thing he wanted to know was whatever had made you decide to get Tony Carlucci in here to trick his gypsy snake. ”

“ I am very dark, and my hair is black and curly. I don't mind. With my heredity, it should be.
"Under the power vested in me—" I started.
"Aw, shet up," he said, turning to walk to the door. "I reckon I know the rest!"
Anita stayed behind after Fred Plaice dragged the snake out with him. "Better get me George Kelly on the 'visor," I said to her.
"Right away," Anita said, coming over to my desk. "But first—"
I looked up. "Yes?"
"Fred Plaice is throwing you a curve, Gyp." ”

“ I shut my mind like a clam. If there's anything I detest, it's the ghastly creeping of a telepath into my own thoughts. "Hello, Pete!" he exclaimed. "Yo' done shet yo' mind!" He shook his head. "Ain't never seen a body could do thet!" I'll bet he hadn't. There are only a few of us who can keep telepaths out of our thoughts. It takes a world of practice. Well, I'd had that.
"Can you do that?" I asked the snake. ”

“ This I take from George Kelly. First of all, he's Director of the F.B.I. Even more important, he's my boss. "Hey, George," I protested, knowing he would not have called on a routine matter. "I got up before breakfast as it is. What's up?" I hardly needed to ask. When they call me, it's always the same sickening kind of trouble.
"Fred Plaice and his gang got their hands on a telepath in the District last night," George told me. "It's been on the newscast already. There'll be a damned ugly mob at the office—a lynch mob. Listen, Gyp, I want you to go through the main entrance this morning." ”

“ No bureaucrat could want powers more absolute than mine. "Unfortunately," I growled at him. "I gave orders that no snakes were to be brought into this building without my prior consent. This ineffective-looking hill-billy has possibly read a thousand minds since you dragged him in here. ”

“ The Detention area?"
"Sure. Where else? Now relax. But for heaven's sake, don't ever leak this. We feel sure the Russians haven't discovered this business of closed-mind telepaths yet. Some day, I suppose, they will. It may take a long time. The self-realized closed-mind telepath like you, Gyp, is a rarity. Mostly we have to train people rigorously for it. It took your mother over two years to learn it."
"My mother!"
"Sure. Why did you think she was in Washington? She's part of the Sevastopol, Teheran and Cairo communications network."
"George," I insisted. "Something is shaky. ”