Buzz! Buzz! Right in her ear. Ruth squeaked and her eyes flew open. For a moment it seemed to her that she had been Outside. Then she saw the rows of girls, each with folded hands and obediently closed eyes. Bother! I've done it again! She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to empty her mind of everything except her connection with the minds of the girls on either side of her.

“All right, students. Eyes open. Stretch ... and now relax. Let's see how we did.” Teacher Jonson bent over the inked record that spilled out of the potentiometer on her desk. She tore the paper free and held it up for them to see.

A smoothly pulsating line - with a sudden jagged break in it like a spike on a fever chart.

“Ruth gain, wouldn't you know?” Angela muttered.

Charity groaned and rolled her eyes up.

“Quiet, please. Ruth, was it you?”

Ruth's cheeks grew hot. She stared at the plastic top of her desk until it went out of focus and shimmered. “I'm sorry,” she muttered.

Teacher Jonson sighed. “All right. What was it this time?”

“I'm not sure. But it was beautiful. Green and moving colours and a golden light. Sunshine, I think. Then something buzzed in my ear and I jumped. But it was so real ...” She looked at Angela, sitting in the desk next to her.

“Well, it certainly wasn't me,” said Angela virtuously. “I was paying attention to Web Practice.”

“That's enough. Class dismissed. No, Ruth, not you.”

Ruth sank back into her desk and clenched her hands in her lap. Not another row! There had been so many in the last year that she had almost forgotten what it was to be ordinary and unnoticed. But it wasn't my fault, she thought. I do try. I really do. Oh, I wish I were like Patience. She can link her mind to anyone in the Ark, just like that. She'll become a Communicator on New Year's Day, that's certain. Or Faith. Her touch makes you feel better right away. She's sure to be a Healer. Oh, they are lucky to know who they are.

She spread her own hands in front of her, clumsy square- tipped hands, the nails bitten, the cuticles ragged at the edges. Even her hands were awful. What could be worse than being the dumbest kid ever to be born in Ark Three?

“Ruth, do pay attention!”

She jumped and hid her hands in her lap. “Sorry, Teacher Jonson. ''