"Anthony,.Piers.-.Mute (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Susan)

"You seemed to like it well enough last time!" Finesse snapped, glancing again at the place where they had lam. "Not that I remember how / felt." How cleverly her manner deviated from her mood!

"Just how much detail did that recording show? If you had a bug hidden on your person, it could not have picked up a great deal of detail of that sort."

"See for yourself," she said, smiling grimly. She brought

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out a sphere, holding it in her hand. In a moment a haze formed around it. A larger sphere of image developed, obliterating her hand and her arm to the elbow. It showed Knot and Finesse in quarter size, standing-together, kissing, and proceeded in full-color animation from there.

Knot watched, spellbound. There was no doubt about it: This was a genuine recording, not a re-creation. He remembered the episode vividly. Now, as voyeur, he became strongly excited. There were details he could perceive now that he had been unable to see while in action, pornographically complete, and theyЧ

He saw Finesse's eyes beyond the spherical image, bearing on him. She was watching this too! How could a man properly appreciate a stag film when its object was watching the subject? Yet that instant of embarrassment, of realization only increased his reaction. He wanted her again, with a craving much greater than before. The first time, there had been great promise; this time there was confirmation.

But he controlled himself. "You were angry because I made you forget this," he said. "Because you had to learn it from the recording."

"Wouldn't you be angry? You robbed me of my most intimate experience! And you did it deliberately!"

"Involuntarily," he said. "I don't control my psi. Everyone forgets me, within an hour of separation from me. Sometimes much sooner. My own enclave supervisor meets me for the first time every few days. I always eat in the newcomer section of the mess hall. The people I interview and place in compatible positions never remember who did that favor for them, and no one reminds them. I am the original forgotten man. So I live for the present, taking my joys on an immediate basis, knowing memories count for nothing. I couldn't have let you retain that experience anyway."

"What about your secretary, Pork? She knows."

"Her name is York. She transcribes my interviews from a distance, so is not affected. She remembers what she needs to, and more important, remembers that everyone else forgets. She covers for me all the time. But when I seduce her, she too forgets. She knows it has happened because she makes notes on everything, but she can't
remember it personally. It's a great frustration to her. She always hopes one day she'll find the key and retain a memory. It's a game we play."

You are holding something back, Hermine thought. It is In your background mind. There is a way to retain memoryЧ

Keep the secretl Knot thought.

"And I, a top-notch investigative interviewer, with the assistance of clairvoyance, precognition and telepathyЧ you made a complete, utter and thorough fool of met My report was at absolute variance with my recording. CC must have laughed its circuits loose!"

She's working into another fit, Hermine thought. I haven't perceived a show like this in months!

"I'm sorry," Knot said. "We all do what we must do. You were playing cruel games with me, so I played back my trump. I love this enclave, I like the work I do, I value my freedom, and I am loyal to my own kind. You are a normal, representing the galactic government I detest. I had to put you off."

She's going to destroy yonl

"At least you could have warned me," Finesse said sweetly.

"And had the warning recorded on your holograph, for all the galaxy to know! My secret is virtually worthless if it isn't secret." He was still watching the image, fascinated. At the time of his performance, he had been under the impression that he was doing the doing and she the acquiescing, but from this vantage it was evident that she had keyed in many of his doings, leading him from one exploit to another. She was certainly no amateur! "Where was the pickup?"

"In my hair. It's a heat reader. CC interprets the variance patterns and renders them back into a visual representation. It is independent of line-of-sight. I still think you could have made your point without humiliating me."

"There would have been no humiliation for anyone without that recording. I never intended anyone to know about my ability, apart from necessary individuals like York. I would be much happier if you just forgot the whole matter."

"Which I shall surely doЧuntil I review the current recording."

"CC already knows?" That was rhetorical. Since CC had processed the recording and assimilated her contrasting report, that was a foregone conclusion. The net was drawing tight, and Knot had not yet found a way to slip free. For one thing, CC would have a copy of the recording on file, now.