The Lion Game - Hub Universe Author:James H. Schmitz The Lion Game is three consecutive Telzey Amberdon stories, packaged as a novel. — Contents: — ~"Goblin Night" - On a field trip with fellow students, Telzey discovers a malign psi hunter, who wants her as his next prey — ~"Sleep No More" - Telzey is pursued by a dagen, a fearsome teleporting hunting beast — ~"The Lion Game" - Telzey cooperates with... more » the Psychology Service to solve a series of murders, only to get trapped in a deadly conflict between two rival humanoid factions.
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Beneath the peaceful star-blaze of Orado's night sky, Telzey's mind suddenly meshed with another -- just in time to experience his hideous death under the claws of a psi-controlled monster.
For Telzey Amberdon there was no choice. She had to discover the identity of the murderer. And so she made her first move, and unknowingly became a player in the Lion Game. Before long, she discovered that the stakes she was wagering were the freedom of the Galaxy -- and her own life.
"What's the Lion Game?" asked Telzey of her captors.
"You're engaged in it now," was their answer. They hadn't told her the rules -- part of the game was that a psi should be able to find out without being told.
It was a game of mental chess played on the intricate closed transit circuits of an entire world. The players were a race of giant mentalists who acknowledged no allegiance to the civilized planets.
Telzey was a human and as such she was a test piece. She was either a pawn to be sacrificed or a wild queen who could make her own decisions, she was never sure which. Either way, the loser would not be just one talented kidnapped Earthling... the loser would be a whole civilization and possibly a few peaceful planets as well...the Lion Game was played for keeps by a race of high-powered double-dealers.« less