[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
futile."
Doc's eyes strayed to Murphy's waistband, which held both the LeMat and the
swordstick.
"Then let's get going," Murphy said, gesturing in front of them.
"Yes, let us," Doc added with a theatrical lack of enthusiasm before starting
to walk down the corridor, Murphy's footsteps echoing a fraction of a second
behind his own.
WALLACE WAS SITTING behind his desk, agitated and fussing over piles of
paperwork when Doc entered his office, preceded by a brisk knock from Murphy.
The sec chief brought up the rear, closing the door behind them.
"Sir, prisoner Tanner," he barked.
Wallace looked up from the paperwork, his hands freezing over sheets the
relevance of which had ceased to be of importance many decades before. Like
everything else in the redoubt, it was something Wallace did as a ritualistic
task.
"Prisoner?" he replied softly. "Dr. Tanner is our guest, our honored guest.
Without him there can be no hope for the mechanism. He was sent as a sign that
there is
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (129 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html still a point, a purpose to our existence. He
is a sign that our work can still continue."
Doc raised an eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, is this work that I can help you
to continue? Why me?"
Wallace smiled. It had that cold, leering quality often ascribed to the shark,
but no shark could convey the sinister undertone of madness in Wallace's eyes.
"You will see in time, Doctor. But first " he turned to Murphy. " I must deal
with the guard. Sarj Murphy?"
"Sir?" Murphy clicked ostentatiously to attention and stared fixedly at a
point three feet above Wallace's head. The sudden hardening of the Gen's tone
was a grim foreboding.
"Your men were a disgrace out there today. Dead or missing, you are the only
one to make it back."
"What?" Murphy's mask slipped for one second, and genuine confusion showed
through. "But that can't be possible, sir. These outsiders could never best us
in the conditions. We know them, they don't "
"I fear there was a third party to the slaughter today," Wallace mused. "The
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
valley dwellers mutie and inbred scum," he added in an aside to Doc, who
merely nodded sagely and refrained from adding the view that Wallace might
well to consider whether his description could be applied to his own men. "The
valley dwellers must have had a scavenging party in the vicinity. They must
have intervened."
"How do you know that?" Murphy asked heatedly. If the Gen had this knowledge
when they were in the field, why hadn't he passed it on?
Wallace indicated the hidden vid room with an inclination of his head.
"Why didn't you let me know?" Murphy asked.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (130 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html
The Gen's face hardened into a scowl. "Remember who you are and where you are,
Sarj. The regs have ways of dealing with impertinence. There are prescribed
punishments."
Murphy breathed deeply, slowly, to control his temper. "Sir, I apologize," he
said carefully. "But to what purpose was this knowledge kept from me?"
"It always pays to have a little training," Wallace said blandly. "I was
interested to see how you'd cope with an assault on two fronts. You were found
wanting, my friend."
The tension between the two men had escalated to a point where Doc was almost
forgotten. Doc took this opportunity to stand back and observe, filing away
character traits exposed in the argument for future reference. Who knew? It
might be of use in any escape attempt he could contrive.
"Good men died because you wanted a training exercise based on a random
factor?" Murphy railed. "Good sec is based on the elimination of the random
factor!"
"No such thing," Wallace snapped back. "Look at the failure of one part of the
mechanism. Random. The arrival of Tanner. Random& "
He turned and looked at Doc, a sudden vacancy in his eyes, as though he were
searching for something some strand of meaning that had somehow escaped him.
Then he grasped at it. "Tanner& " he said vaguely, and then with a more assured
tone, "Yes, Doctor. Forgive me, I have been neglecting you. You have work to
do, and we must prepare you for this. You are our honored guest, sent to us to
aid in the war against the Reds."
"But that all ended a long& " Doc tailed off. Yes, it had. But not for Wallace,
Murphy and the other inhabitants of this redoubt. And who was he to argue with
them? Had the world of his beloved Emily, and of the whitecoats who had kept
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (131 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html him captive at Operation Chronos, ceased to be
real to him just because they had moved on in time and space?
These men were as much prisoners of memory as he was the difference being that
at least his memories were his own, and not the half-remembered dreams of
ancestors distorted through time.
Wallace, seeming not to hear either Doc's tailing off or the long pause that
had followed, rose to his feet.
"Please, Doctor, follow me and all will be made clear."
Doc fell into step behind the waddling Gen as Wallace left his office and
headed along the corridor toward the elevator. Murphy left a short gap, then
fell in behind his prisoner.
Doc wasn't sure whether Murphy's caution in being a few steps behind him was
actually a defensive measure or intended to impress Wallace. It would be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl rafalstec.xlx.pl
futile."
Doc's eyes strayed to Murphy's waistband, which held both the LeMat and the
swordstick.
"Then let's get going," Murphy said, gesturing in front of them.
"Yes, let us," Doc added with a theatrical lack of enthusiasm before starting
to walk down the corridor, Murphy's footsteps echoing a fraction of a second
behind his own.
WALLACE WAS SITTING behind his desk, agitated and fussing over piles of
paperwork when Doc entered his office, preceded by a brisk knock from Murphy.
The sec chief brought up the rear, closing the door behind them.
"Sir, prisoner Tanner," he barked.
Wallace looked up from the paperwork, his hands freezing over sheets the
relevance of which had ceased to be of importance many decades before. Like
everything else in the redoubt, it was something Wallace did as a ritualistic
task.
"Prisoner?" he replied softly. "Dr. Tanner is our guest, our honored guest.
Without him there can be no hope for the mechanism. He was sent as a sign that
there is
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (129 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html still a point, a purpose to our existence. He
is a sign that our work can still continue."
Doc raised an eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, is this work that I can help you
to continue? Why me?"
Wallace smiled. It had that cold, leering quality often ascribed to the shark,
but no shark could convey the sinister undertone of madness in Wallace's eyes.
"You will see in time, Doctor. But first " he turned to Murphy. " I must deal
with the guard. Sarj Murphy?"
"Sir?" Murphy clicked ostentatiously to attention and stared fixedly at a
point three feet above Wallace's head. The sudden hardening of the Gen's tone
was a grim foreboding.
"Your men were a disgrace out there today. Dead or missing, you are the only
one to make it back."
"What?" Murphy's mask slipped for one second, and genuine confusion showed
through. "But that can't be possible, sir. These outsiders could never best us
in the conditions. We know them, they don't "
"I fear there was a third party to the slaughter today," Wallace mused. "The
Page 73
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
valley dwellers mutie and inbred scum," he added in an aside to Doc, who
merely nodded sagely and refrained from adding the view that Wallace might
well to consider whether his description could be applied to his own men. "The
valley dwellers must have had a scavenging party in the vicinity. They must
have intervened."
"How do you know that?" Murphy asked heatedly. If the Gen had this knowledge
when they were in the field, why hadn't he passed it on?
Wallace indicated the hidden vid room with an inclination of his head.
"Why didn't you let me know?" Murphy asked.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (130 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html
The Gen's face hardened into a scowl. "Remember who you are and where you are,
Sarj. The regs have ways of dealing with impertinence. There are prescribed
punishments."
Murphy breathed deeply, slowly, to control his temper. "Sir, I apologize," he
said carefully. "But to what purpose was this knowledge kept from me?"
"It always pays to have a little training," Wallace said blandly. "I was
interested to see how you'd cope with an assault on two fronts. You were found
wanting, my friend."
The tension between the two men had escalated to a point where Doc was almost
forgotten. Doc took this opportunity to stand back and observe, filing away
character traits exposed in the argument for future reference. Who knew? It
might be of use in any escape attempt he could contrive.
"Good men died because you wanted a training exercise based on a random
factor?" Murphy railed. "Good sec is based on the elimination of the random
factor!"
"No such thing," Wallace snapped back. "Look at the failure of one part of the
mechanism. Random. The arrival of Tanner. Random& "
He turned and looked at Doc, a sudden vacancy in his eyes, as though he were
searching for something some strand of meaning that had somehow escaped him.
Then he grasped at it. "Tanner& " he said vaguely, and then with a more assured
tone, "Yes, Doctor. Forgive me, I have been neglecting you. You have work to
do, and we must prepare you for this. You are our honored guest, sent to us to
aid in the war against the Reds."
"But that all ended a long& " Doc tailed off. Yes, it had. But not for Wallace,
Murphy and the other inhabitants of this redoubt. And who was he to argue with
them? Had the world of his beloved Emily, and of the whitecoats who had kept
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%...-%20Deathlands%2051%20-%20Rat%20Ki
ng.html (131 of 301) [12/29/2004 12:11:52 AM]
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%20E-books/James%20Axler%20-%20Deathla
nds%2051%20-%20Rat%20King.html him captive at Operation Chronos, ceased to be
real to him just because they had moved on in time and space?
These men were as much prisoners of memory as he was the difference being that
at least his memories were his own, and not the half-remembered dreams of
ancestors distorted through time.
Wallace, seeming not to hear either Doc's tailing off or the long pause that
had followed, rose to his feet.
"Please, Doctor, follow me and all will be made clear."
Doc fell into step behind the waddling Gen as Wallace left his office and
headed along the corridor toward the elevator. Murphy left a short gap, then
fell in behind his prisoner.
Doc wasn't sure whether Murphy's caution in being a few steps behind him was
actually a defensive measure or intended to impress Wallace. It would be [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]