"James Morrow - Veritas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrow James)

vigorously, I charged into the shower, where warm water poured forth the
instant the sensors detected me. IтАЩd been with Overt Intelligence for over
five years, and this was the first time IтАЩd drawn an assignment that might be
termed a plum. Spread your nostrils, Orville. Sniff her out. Sherry Urquist:
some name! It sounded more like a mixed drink than like what she allegedly
was, a purveyor of falsehoods, an enemy of the city, a member of the
Dissemblage. The day could not begin soon enough.

The Dissemblage was like a deity. Not much tangible evidence, but
people still had faith in it. Veritas, they reasoned, must harbor its normal
share of those who believe the status quo is ipso facto wrong. Paradise will
have its dissidents. The real question was not, Do subversives live in our
city? The real question was, How do they tell lies without going mad?

My in-shower cablevision receiver winked on. Grimacing under the
studio lights, our Assistant Secretary of Imperialism discussed VeritasтАЩs
growing involvement in the Lethean civil war. тАЬSo far, over four thousand of
our soldiers have died,тАЭ the interviewer noted. тАЬA senseless loss,тАЭ the
secretary conceded. тАЬOur policy is impossible to justify on logical grounds,
which is why weтАЩve started invoking national security and other shibboleths.тАЭ

Have no illusions. The Sherry Urquist assignment did not fall into my
lap because somebody at Overt Intelligence liked me. It was simply this: I
am a rou├й. If any agent had a prayer of planting this particular Dissembler,
that agent was me. ItтАЩs the eyebrows that do it, great bushy extrusions
suggesting a predatory mammal of unusual prowess, though I must admit
they draw copious support from my straight nose and full, pillowlike lips. Am
I handsome as a god? Metaphorically speaking, yes.

The picture tube had fogged over, so I activated the wiper. On the
screen, a seedy-looking terrier scratched its fleas. тАЬWe seriously hope
youтАЩll consider Byproduct Brand Dog Food,тАЭ said the voice-over. тАЬYes, we
do tie up an enormous amount of protein that might conceivably be used in
relieving worldwide starvation. However, if youтАЩll consider the supposed
benefits of dogs, we believe you may wish to patronize us.тАЭ

On the surface, Ms. Urquist looked innocent enough. The dossier
pegged her a writer, a former newspaper reporter with several popular
self-help books under her belt. She had some other commodities under her
belt, too, mainly fat, unless the accompanying OIA photos exaggerated.
The case against her consisted primarily of rumor. Last week a neighbor, or
possibly a sanitation engineer - the dossier contradicted itself on this point -
had gone through her garbage. The yield was largely what youтАЩd expect
from someone in Ms. UrquistтАЩs profession: vodka bottles, outdated caffeine
tablets, computer disk boxes, an early draft of her last bestseller, How to
Find a Certain Amount of Inner Peace Some of the Time If You Are
Lucky. Then came the kicker. The figurative smoking gun. The nonliteral
forbidden fruit. At the bottom of the heap, the report asserted, lay тАЬa torn
and crumpled pageтАЭ from what was тАЬalmost certainly a work of fiction.тАЭ