[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
mysterious man would do whatever he was doing, away from all others,
surrounded by security guards who had no idea who he was or what he was
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (29 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass doing-and who could not enter the module any more
than the admiral could.
It was keyed to the man's own brain waves, voice print, retinal pattern, gene
structure, and just about everything else any paranoid security division had
ever figured out. Anyone else attempting entry would be instantly stopped and
neatly packaged for security. Any nonliving thing that tried would be
instantly vaporized.
Although the man had been there for months, not a soul even knew his name. Not
that he was totally withdrawn-on the contrary, he joined in the sports games
in Recreation, ate his meals in the Security Mess, even wined and dined some
female soldiers and civilians aboard, many of whom were simply intrigued by
this man of mystery. He was likable, easygoing, relaxed. But in all those
months he had not revealed the slightest thing about himself, not even to
those with whom he'd been most intimate-although, security officers noted,
he'd had a positive knack of finding out the most private things about the
people with whom he'd come in contact. They admired him for his total
self-control and absolute professionalism, and even the highest-ranking of
them were scared stiff of him.
He spent several hours most days in his little cubicle, and always slept
there.
They all wondered and guessed at what was inside until they were almost crazy
with curiosity, but they never guessed the truth.
He heard the buzzer sounding as he entered the command module and for the
first time felt genuine excitement and anticipation. Long ago he'd
accomplished all he could with the physical data, but for too long now it had
been a boring exercise. The computer filed what it could from the memory
traces but gave him a picture that was too emotional and incomplete when
examined in his own mind to make much sense. Hoping this time would be
different, he headed for the master command chair and sat comfortably in it.
The computer, sensing its duty, lowered the small probes, which he placed
around his head, then administered the measured injections and began the
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (30 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Page 16
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass master readout.
For a while he floated in a semihypnotic fog, but slowly images started
forming in his brain as they had before. Only now they seemed more definite,
clearer, more like his own thoughts. The drugs and small neural probes did
their job. His own mind and personality receded, replaced by a similar, yet
oddly different pattern.
"The agent is commanded to report," the computer ordered, sending the command
deep into his own mind, a mind no longer his own.
What would happen, or so the techs had advised him, would amount to a sort of
total recall from the mind of his counterpart down below, information his own
mind would sort, classify, and edit into a coherent narrative.
Recorders clicked on.
Slowly the man in the chair cleared his throat several times. It still took
more than three hours to get him to do anything beyond mumbling some odd words
or sounds, but the computers were nothing if not patient, knowing that the
man's mind was receiving a massive amount of data and was struggling to sort
and classify it.
Finally the man began to speak.
Chapter One - Rebirth
After Krega's talk and a little preparation to put my own affairs in
order-this would be a long one-I checked into the Confederacy Security Clinic.
I'd been here many times before, of course, but never knowingly for this
purpose. Mostly, this was where they programmed you with whatever information
you'd need for a mission and where, too, you were reintegrated.
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (31 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass
Naturally, the kind of work I did was often extralegal, a term I prefer to
illegal, which implies criminal intent-and much of it was simply too hot ever
to be revealed. To avoid such risks, all agents had their own experience of a
mission wiped from their minds when it involved sensitive matters.
It may seem like a strange life, going about not knowing where you have been
or what you've done, but it has its compensations. Because any potential
enemy, military or political, knows you've been wiped, you can live a fairly
normal, relaxed life outside of a mission structure. No purpose is served in
coming after you-you have no knowledge of what you've done, or why, or for or
to whom. In exchange for those blanks, an agent of the
Confederacy lives a life of luxury and ease, with an almost unlimited supply
of money, and with all the comforts supplied. I bummed around, swam, gambled,
ate in the best restaurants, played a little semipro ball or cube-I'm pretty
good, and it keeps me in shape. I enjoyed every minute of it, and except for
my regular requalification training sessions-four- to six-week stints that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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mysterious man would do whatever he was doing, away from all others,
surrounded by security guards who had no idea who he was or what he was
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (29 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass doing-and who could not enter the module any more
than the admiral could.
It was keyed to the man's own brain waves, voice print, retinal pattern, gene
structure, and just about everything else any paranoid security division had
ever figured out. Anyone else attempting entry would be instantly stopped and
neatly packaged for security. Any nonliving thing that tried would be
instantly vaporized.
Although the man had been there for months, not a soul even knew his name. Not
that he was totally withdrawn-on the contrary, he joined in the sports games
in Recreation, ate his meals in the Security Mess, even wined and dined some
female soldiers and civilians aboard, many of whom were simply intrigued by
this man of mystery. He was likable, easygoing, relaxed. But in all those
months he had not revealed the slightest thing about himself, not even to
those with whom he'd been most intimate-although, security officers noted,
he'd had a positive knack of finding out the most private things about the
people with whom he'd come in contact. They admired him for his total
self-control and absolute professionalism, and even the highest-ranking of
them were scared stiff of him.
He spent several hours most days in his little cubicle, and always slept
there.
They all wondered and guessed at what was inside until they were almost crazy
with curiosity, but they never guessed the truth.
He heard the buzzer sounding as he entered the command module and for the
first time felt genuine excitement and anticipation. Long ago he'd
accomplished all he could with the physical data, but for too long now it had
been a boring exercise. The computer filed what it could from the memory
traces but gave him a picture that was too emotional and incomplete when
examined in his own mind to make much sense. Hoping this time would be
different, he headed for the master command chair and sat comfortably in it.
The computer, sensing its duty, lowered the small probes, which he placed
around his head, then administered the measured injections and began the
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (30 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Page 16
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass master readout.
For a while he floated in a semihypnotic fog, but slowly images started
forming in his brain as they had before. Only now they seemed more definite,
clearer, more like his own thoughts. The drugs and small neural probes did
their job. His own mind and personality receded, replaced by a similar, yet
oddly different pattern.
"The agent is commanded to report," the computer ordered, sending the command
deep into his own mind, a mind no longer his own.
What would happen, or so the techs had advised him, would amount to a sort of
total recall from the mind of his counterpart down below, information his own
mind would sort, classify, and edit into a coherent narrative.
Recorders clicked on.
Slowly the man in the chair cleared his throat several times. It still took
more than three hours to get him to do anything beyond mumbling some odd words
or sounds, but the computers were nothing if not patient, knowing that the
man's mind was receiving a massive amount of data and was struggling to sort
and classify it.
Finally the man began to speak.
Chapter One - Rebirth
After Krega's talk and a little preparation to put my own affairs in
order-this would be a long one-I checked into the Confederacy Security Clinic.
I'd been here many times before, of course, but never knowingly for this
purpose. Mostly, this was where they programmed you with whatever information
you'd need for a mission and where, too, you were reintegrated.
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20...rds%20of%20the%20Diamond%201%
20-%20Lilith.html (31 of 277) [1/17/03 4:28:28 AM]
Lilith: A Snake in the Grass
Naturally, the kind of work I did was often extralegal, a term I prefer to
illegal, which implies criminal intent-and much of it was simply too hot ever
to be revealed. To avoid such risks, all agents had their own experience of a
mission wiped from their minds when it involved sensitive matters.
It may seem like a strange life, going about not knowing where you have been
or what you've done, but it has its compensations. Because any potential
enemy, military or political, knows you've been wiped, you can live a fairly
normal, relaxed life outside of a mission structure. No purpose is served in
coming after you-you have no knowledge of what you've done, or why, or for or
to whom. In exchange for those blanks, an agent of the
Confederacy lives a life of luxury and ease, with an almost unlimited supply
of money, and with all the comforts supplied. I bummed around, swam, gambled,
ate in the best restaurants, played a little semipro ball or cube-I'm pretty
good, and it keeps me in shape. I enjoyed every minute of it, and except for
my regular requalification training sessions-four- to six-week stints that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]