Excerpt: The Evil That Men Do

His visitors were fifteen under officers, men and women whom he would be choosing as his staff. The Emperor had given him special permission to hand-pick them, and Sarthin had chosen to see them in a casual setting before making his final choices. He needed only five, so the competition was rather stiff.
He had already shortlisted to this fifteen from an earlier twenty-seven. The five open positions were for instructors who would do double duty—one personal assistant, one clerk, and three information gatherers. He wanted this casual setting so he could read them with their guards down, and know exactly which ones would be of the most use to him. Those who did not make this final cut would still be instructors, but without the added duties. They knew they were under review, of course, but not why.
As they arrived, he very lightly touched them with his Adept Talent. None of them noticed his small mental tap, which was as he wanted it. Not for him another Adept! No, he wanted to work only with the unTalented, as they were more easily led by one with the Talent to do so.
Mentally he again thanked Chan Bishant for forcing him to develop at least some social skills. His guests were already nervous, knowing they needed to make a good impression and yet unsure of what exactly he wanted. Adding to their insecurity was his relative youth—the youngest of them had eight years more experience than he did. They did not dare make an issue of it, for fear of losing what positions they already had. Everyone knew that Sarthin Bolt was Emperor Kent’s golden boy, and that, along with the knowledge that he was a strong Adept, kept them darting glances at him and each other as the visit progressed.
Once they had all arrived, and all had some sort of refreshment in hand and were engaged in casual conversation, Sarthin opened the business end of things in his characteristically blunt way. “I appreciate you all coming, and I know you’re all worried about why I asked you here.”
They exchanged glances, but would not meet his eyes, and none ventured a comment. Their thoughts told him they did not trust him, but also that they were very curious and wanted to know his purpose in bringing them together.
He set his own drink on a side table and clasped his hands behind him, unconsciously standing at parade rest. “I’m sure you’re aware that I’m looking for some people who can work with me, more closely than just that of superior officer and underling.”
That earned him a few nods, and a lot more tension.
“Let me start by assuring all of you that you are a fine group of officers, and that I would be quite comfortable working with any of you here in the Security complex. However, I do need a small number of you I can call on to do more specific tasks to make my own task work more smoothly.”
The tension dropped only slightly. Quite clearly none of them really trusted him. He expected that, though. Who more than he knew that trust needed to be built, not imposed?
“Emperor Kent has honored me by allowing me to make my own choices as to whom I think would best work with me, and I’d like to say right now that just the fact you’ve come this far in my selection process says much. Even if I don’t select you for my personal staff, you will still most definitely have a place here in keeping with your fine qualities.”
The tension dropped some more. Now that they knew their careers would not suffer, they were a bit more at ease. Still, Sarthin was an unknown quantity, and no one quite knew what he had in mind.
He smiled slightly, purely for effect. “I know my reputation has preceded me,” he told them. “Some have said that, oh, how did they put it? Ah, yes, I am some sort of ‘ruthless, heartless monster’ who is only interested in getting the job done and not caring who gets hurt in the process.” The uncomfortable thoughts that generated told him he had gotten that exactly right. “But really, I can’t believe that any of you would allow your natural common sense to be swayed by the ravings of some wild news story with no substance behind it.”
He chuckled, again for effect, and his guests relaxed and smiled back. “I can’t control what the press might say about me,” he added in a confiding tone. “Much as I might like to. Now if I was really as bad as they say I am, do you think I’d let them get away with such slander?”
Again by their thoughts, he knew he had put them at ease. His reasoning had made sense to them and swayed them. He retrieved his drink and took a sip before continuing. “So I’m pretty sure you’re asking yourselves, what sort of people does he want for his inner circle?” He allowed a smile again. “No, I did not read your minds for that. It’s just what I’d ask if someone had told me the same thing.”
“You could have.” The speaker was an older man, named Jerik Thal, who worked in the training sector, but had somehow gotten stuck at the rank of corporal. Sarthin had pegged him as a possible assistant within two days of meeting him. He had intelligence and he could be silent, both important qualities. Even more importantly, the man had no fear of Talents, as his words just now proved.
“Yes, Corporal Thal, I could have. My Adept Talent is certainly no secret.” The tension in the room had shot up again, and Sarthin frowned, this time without intending to do so. “But tell me this. Why would I use my Talent frivolously when by simply asking questions I get the same answers?”
Thal nodded at that. “It’s the thing some folks expect, sir.”
“Only if they haven’t been around Talents.” Sarthin eyed the corporal a bit more thoughtfully. “And that tells me you have been.”
“Yes, sir. My mate is an Empath, and her brother’s an Adept. I’ve pretty much learned just what you Talents can and cannot do.”
Ah, something he had not known. Sarthin mentally moved this corporal up to the top of his list. “I’m glad I don’t have to explain everything then.”
“We can’t all say the same thing,” said another man, a lieutenant this time, named Jorl Kardassan. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked with a Talented person. But I like to think I know that if being Talented was such a bad thing, then science would already have found a cure for it. I can see it as being quite advantageous.”
Sandy Valens, a female corporal, spoke up at that. “I suppose that’s true, if one uses it wisely. But like any other type of talent, if you use it wrongly, it can cause a good deal of damage.”
“Yes, Corporal Valens,” Sarthin acknowledged. “But with the mental Talents, if we’re strong enough, the damage can be far more than just ‘a good deal’ of it.” He nodded briefly. “And yes, I am that strong.”
“But you’ve had training!” said another, Corporal Jak Horwitz. “You know how to keep it in control.”
“Precisely.”
“Sir,” ventured Loann Prego, a shy corporal, who appeared to be about the same age as Sarthin himself even though she was actually ten years older. “Sir, exactly what is your level? I’ve never heard it mentioned.”
“At my last TR test, right before I graduated, I got the rating of eighteen.” That fact brought some gasps, but mostly it just raised the tension again. Sarthin sighed, but only inwardly. Time for a small lie. “Means I could make you do stuff, I suppose, but that’s not my main use and it would take a lot of energy to do it.”
Corporal Thal opened his mouth as if to say something, but obviously thought better of it. Only Sarthin had seen his reaction, and without even reading him knew that Thal recognized the lie. Just how strong an Adept was his mate’s brother, anyway?
“What I’m really looking for,” Sarthin now told them, “are people with whom I can work, who aren’t trying to one up each other, and who won’t go screaming to their therapists, or worse to the media if I happen to mind-speak them. All of you fit those criteria, so far as I’ve been able to discover. Now it’s a matter of the best fit possible. We’ll be a team, with me at the head, naturally, and if you can’t work with each other, and me, on those terms, then it would be best if you left now.”
“Sir,” said Horwitz, “what do you mean, mind-speak?”
That was the opening he had looked for, the final test, as it were. ::This is mind-speak.::
He stood still to watch the results. He had reached everyone, he saw, and that pleased him because it was his first widespread attempt. Of the fifteen officers present, seven of them succumbed immediately, almost melting to the floor. So much for them. Sarthin felt no regret for it, except as it deprived him of seven good workers who would not be able to do much of anything for some time, if ever.
The other eight stared at him with various looks of astonishment, excepting Thal whose attention was on those who had dropped and not on Sarthin at all. The corporal showed only a moment’s panic and horror, and then his expression went blank and he brought his gaze back to Sarthin and he heard him actually composing comprehensible thoughts as if he knew Sarthin would read them. If you try that with me, you’ll have my whole family to deal with.
Sarthin just nodded, then turned his attention to the other seven, allowing his voice to drop in both pitch and volume as he intensified his hold on their minds. “I see the competition just got a little less intense. As you can see, this task force is not going to pull any punches. I will be having to hunt down and bring in incorrigible criminals, and there will be no coddling them or letting them out on good behavior. You’ll be training officers who can be ruthless, and I cannot have anyone along with me who does not understand that. I cannot afford to be ‘nice.’ I cannot afford to be ‘kind.’ If you can’t deal with that, you may go, and without penalty. You’re all good officers, but we’re up against the worst of society, and there will be no room for the kinder, gentler approach.”
His words fell into the silence, a challenge. His inner demon glowed hot within him, slavering over the fallen, hoping for more. He wanted to shudder, but he dared not, not until he was alone.
Three of the officers moved to leave, two females and one male. “Before you go,” he told them softly, “would you be so kind as to assist these others along with you?” He couched it as a question, but with his mind he made it a command and the three helped the seven to their feet and out of his quarters, leaving him with the five who had survived the test.
“Excellent,” Sarthin said to them. The five left standing were Thal, Horwitz, Valens, and two corporals who had not spoken before: Mort Lee and Karon Vanrees. “I’m looking forward to working with all of you. You’ll report to my office in the main Security tower tomorrow morning at two daylight, and you’ll get your official orders then. Any questions?”
“No, sir,” they responded in unison.
“Have a good evening, then.”