[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
them together."
Tepp looked rueful. "I was hoping that if they got to talking, they might say
something useful."
"Did they?"
"Not really, Colonel. I have the recordings-"
Hilda waved away the notion of looking at the recordings. "I didn't think they
would. Danno's too smart for that, but it was worth a try. Means you were
using a little initiative. I see by your file that you've only been with the
Bureau for a little over a year."
Merla Tepp did not show any surprise at finding that the colonel had called
her file up on the table screen. "That's right, ma'am. Mostly in the field in
New Mexico, after I finished training."
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"Checking into the religious nut groups." Hilda nodded. "I get the impression
that you've been pretty interested in religion all your life."
Tepp hesitated. "You could say I was a seeker, Colonel. I was born
Pentecostal, then when that didn't seem to be giving me what I wanted I tried
Catholic. Then I went to shul for a year-I guess that's why you asked about
dietary requirements? Then I tried Buddhism-"
The American radical religious right came in five main flavors. There were the
fundamentalists, who believe in the "verbal inerrancy" of the Christian Bible;
the born-agains, who claim a personal experience with Christ; the
evangelicals, who are either of the above plus a drive to convert others; the
pentecostals, who are any of the above plus public demonstrations of ecstasy;
and the charismatics, who differ from the others only in that they retain
communion in a conventional Protestant or Catholic denomination. Generally
speaking, what the fundamentalists thought the government ought to do about
the possible space aliens who might have occupied Starlab was, if possible, to
kill them, because they were probably the Antichrist. While most of the others
thought they were probably angels of some kind and what the government should
be doing was arranging for them to be worshipped. What they all agreed on was
that everything the government actually was doing was wholly and unforgivably
wrong.
She broke off as the sandwiches and salads arrived. Colonel Hilda waved to her
to eat, doing so herself. She hadn't realized quite how hungry she was. With
her mouth full, she paused long enough to ask: "And now?"
The girl grinned. "I guess you'd say the Bureau's my religion now, ma'am."
Hilda nodded. It was a good answer. It was the kind of answer she might have
given herself, and, as a matter of fact, she suddenly real-i/.ed what that
puzzling familiarity was all about. Agent
file:///F|/rah/Frederik%20Pohl/Pohl,%20Frederik...haton%202%20-%20The%20Siege%
20Of%20Eternity.txt (17 of 126) [1/15/03 6:27:06 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Frederik%20Pohl/Pohl,%20Frederik%20-%20Eschaton%202%20-%20The%2
0Siege%20Of%20Eternity.txt
Tepp was just about her height, just about her weight, just about her general
build; taken all in all, she was not far from a copy of what Colonel Morrisey
had been, long before she became a colonel.
She had nothing more to talk about, so she switched the screen over to repeats
of the news digests and watched them as she ate her meal. Another good thing
about Agent Tepp was that she took the hint and didn't speak, either. When the
waiter brought their coffee, she said, "Thanks for keeping me company, Agent
Tepp, but I imagine you have duties here-"
Agent Tepp touched a napkin to her lips. "Yes, ma'am. Can I ask you something?
If you're going to be on permanent duty here, you'll probably need an aide-"
Hilda didn't let her finish. "What's that about permanent duty? Have you been
hearing latrine talk?"
"No, ma'am. It's just logical, I thought. But if I was wrong-"
"I hope to God you were wrong." Hilda thought for a moment. "Still," she said,
"I wouldn't mind thinking about having you in my command if you wanted to come
to New York."
Tepp looked disappointed. "Thank you, ma'am, but I'd really like to stay at HQ
for a while."
"Fine. Now if you'll excuse- Wait a minute."
It was the deputy director on her screen. "Hilda, we need that Ad-cock woman.
Get her down to the pit galleries."
So that was where he'd been holed up! Pell didn't wait for an answer. Hilda
started to get up just as Agent Tepp was doing the same, saying regretfully,
"Thank you for the meal, ma'am. It was a pleasure to talk to you."
Hilda put her hand on the woman's arm. "Maybe you can do me a favor. You look
like you're about my size. Do you keep a change of clothes here? Fine, then
lend me some clean underwear and find me a shower I can use."
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CHAPTER FIVE
Dr. Patrice Adcock hadn't been taken back to her cell. Instead they put her in
a quite comfortable bedroom in a little suite that apparently was kept for VIP
visitors who couldn't, or didn't choose to, go home to sleep. It had a really
comfortable bed, which was a nice change from the iron-hard cot in her old
cell. For all the good it did her. First she lay awake, wondering just what
the hell was going on now? Another Dannerman? Radioing to Earth from Starlab?
When she did at last fall asleep it didn't last, because that Morrisey woman
woke her to say the deputy director needed to talk to her. Right now.
So Pat climbed wearily back into her jail uniform. She let herself be
conducted to where Marcus
Pell and six or seven other people were huddled around screens and little
tables littered with coffee cups and the remains of largely uneaten food, and
then what was it he asked her? It was, Did Starlab have facilities for
something called a 300-digit-prime coordinated-chaos encryption system? Of
course she had no idea about that. Whatever it was. Well-less patiently-who
would know the answer? Anyone at the Observatory? She thought about that, then
shrugged. Maybe, but they would all be asleep now, for God's sake, and anyway
the real expert was Rosaleen Artzybachova, who was dead.
And then, the funny thing, they all suddenly looked both surprised and
relieved. The deputy director man-was his name Pell?- nodded to the Morrisey
woman. That was the end of it. The woman took Pat back to her new home and
left her to lie awake an hour or so longer, with all the old questions and a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
them together."
Tepp looked rueful. "I was hoping that if they got to talking, they might say
something useful."
"Did they?"
"Not really, Colonel. I have the recordings-"
Hilda waved away the notion of looking at the recordings. "I didn't think they
would. Danno's too smart for that, but it was worth a try. Means you were
using a little initiative. I see by your file that you've only been with the
Bureau for a little over a year."
Merla Tepp did not show any surprise at finding that the colonel had called
her file up on the table screen. "That's right, ma'am. Mostly in the field in
New Mexico, after I finished training."
Page 21
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"Checking into the religious nut groups." Hilda nodded. "I get the impression
that you've been pretty interested in religion all your life."
Tepp hesitated. "You could say I was a seeker, Colonel. I was born
Pentecostal, then when that didn't seem to be giving me what I wanted I tried
Catholic. Then I went to shul for a year-I guess that's why you asked about
dietary requirements? Then I tried Buddhism-"
The American radical religious right came in five main flavors. There were the
fundamentalists, who believe in the "verbal inerrancy" of the Christian Bible;
the born-agains, who claim a personal experience with Christ; the
evangelicals, who are either of the above plus a drive to convert others; the
pentecostals, who are any of the above plus public demonstrations of ecstasy;
and the charismatics, who differ from the others only in that they retain
communion in a conventional Protestant or Catholic denomination. Generally
speaking, what the fundamentalists thought the government ought to do about
the possible space aliens who might have occupied Starlab was, if possible, to
kill them, because they were probably the Antichrist. While most of the others
thought they were probably angels of some kind and what the government should
be doing was arranging for them to be worshipped. What they all agreed on was
that everything the government actually was doing was wholly and unforgivably
wrong.
She broke off as the sandwiches and salads arrived. Colonel Hilda waved to her
to eat, doing so herself. She hadn't realized quite how hungry she was. With
her mouth full, she paused long enough to ask: "And now?"
The girl grinned. "I guess you'd say the Bureau's my religion now, ma'am."
Hilda nodded. It was a good answer. It was the kind of answer she might have
given herself, and, as a matter of fact, she suddenly real-i/.ed what that
puzzling familiarity was all about. Agent
file:///F|/rah/Frederik%20Pohl/Pohl,%20Frederik...haton%202%20-%20The%20Siege%
20Of%20Eternity.txt (17 of 126) [1/15/03 6:27:06 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Frederik%20Pohl/Pohl,%20Frederik%20-%20Eschaton%202%20-%20The%2
0Siege%20Of%20Eternity.txt
Tepp was just about her height, just about her weight, just about her general
build; taken all in all, she was not far from a copy of what Colonel Morrisey
had been, long before she became a colonel.
She had nothing more to talk about, so she switched the screen over to repeats
of the news digests and watched them as she ate her meal. Another good thing
about Agent Tepp was that she took the hint and didn't speak, either. When the
waiter brought their coffee, she said, "Thanks for keeping me company, Agent
Tepp, but I imagine you have duties here-"
Agent Tepp touched a napkin to her lips. "Yes, ma'am. Can I ask you something?
If you're going to be on permanent duty here, you'll probably need an aide-"
Hilda didn't let her finish. "What's that about permanent duty? Have you been
hearing latrine talk?"
"No, ma'am. It's just logical, I thought. But if I was wrong-"
"I hope to God you were wrong." Hilda thought for a moment. "Still," she said,
"I wouldn't mind thinking about having you in my command if you wanted to come
to New York."
Tepp looked disappointed. "Thank you, ma'am, but I'd really like to stay at HQ
for a while."
"Fine. Now if you'll excuse- Wait a minute."
It was the deputy director on her screen. "Hilda, we need that Ad-cock woman.
Get her down to the pit galleries."
So that was where he'd been holed up! Pell didn't wait for an answer. Hilda
started to get up just as Agent Tepp was doing the same, saying regretfully,
"Thank you for the meal, ma'am. It was a pleasure to talk to you."
Hilda put her hand on the woman's arm. "Maybe you can do me a favor. You look
like you're about my size. Do you keep a change of clothes here? Fine, then
lend me some clean underwear and find me a shower I can use."
Page 22
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
CHAPTER FIVE
Dr. Patrice Adcock hadn't been taken back to her cell. Instead they put her in
a quite comfortable bedroom in a little suite that apparently was kept for VIP
visitors who couldn't, or didn't choose to, go home to sleep. It had a really
comfortable bed, which was a nice change from the iron-hard cot in her old
cell. For all the good it did her. First she lay awake, wondering just what
the hell was going on now? Another Dannerman? Radioing to Earth from Starlab?
When she did at last fall asleep it didn't last, because that Morrisey woman
woke her to say the deputy director needed to talk to her. Right now.
So Pat climbed wearily back into her jail uniform. She let herself be
conducted to where Marcus
Pell and six or seven other people were huddled around screens and little
tables littered with coffee cups and the remains of largely uneaten food, and
then what was it he asked her? It was, Did Starlab have facilities for
something called a 300-digit-prime coordinated-chaos encryption system? Of
course she had no idea about that. Whatever it was. Well-less patiently-who
would know the answer? Anyone at the Observatory? She thought about that, then
shrugged. Maybe, but they would all be asleep now, for God's sake, and anyway
the real expert was Rosaleen Artzybachova, who was dead.
And then, the funny thing, they all suddenly looked both surprised and
relieved. The deputy director man-was his name Pell?- nodded to the Morrisey
woman. That was the end of it. The woman took Pat back to her new home and
left her to lie awake an hour or so longer, with all the old questions and a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]