"E. C. Tubb - Best SF of E C Tubb" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

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*CONTENTS*
NOTE: Each section is preceded by a line of the pattern CH000, CH001,
etc. You may use your reader's search function to locate section.
CH000 *FALLEN ANGEL*
CH001 *DEATH-WISH*
CH002 *THE MING VASE*
CH003 *THE BEATIFIC SMILE*
CH004 *WHEN HE DIED*




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 CH005 *READ ME THIS RIDDLE*
CH006 *LOGIC*
CH007 *VIGIL*
CH008 *J IS FOR JEANNE*
CH009 *LEGAL EAGLE*
CH010 *THERE'S NO TOMORROW*
CH011 *TIME TO KILL*
CH012 *THE SEEKERS*
CH013 *THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER*
CH014 *EVANE*
CH015 *TIME AND AGAIN*
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CH000
*FALLEN ANGEL*
A FLASH of rose, a scent, a voice which echoed in the hollows of his
mind and, suddenly, he was alive again. Fully alive, really alive, not lying
on a slab while instruments probed and delved, measured and indexed, twisted
and tested. Not writhing in torment as muscle and nerve and sinew were
strained to the limits of endurance and then pushed further beyond. Alive and
well and soon to be free. Free!
The concept was intoxicating as the drink and drugs he had once known
which had rotted his brain and body in return for a brief euphoria. He sat and
thought about it in the place where he was kept. A mist swirled about the area
molding itself into the illusion that he sat on a bench of stone, in a chamber
of stone scented with the perfume of hidden blooms. Soon now, he would see
real flowers, walk again in sunlight, feel the wind, the rain, the touch of
snow. To eat genuine food, talk to real people, forget what had happened if
forgetting was possible.
"It is," said the alien. "Most things are." He had appeared as he
always did, abruptly, seated, a tall, lean, white-haired man looking, in his
simple robe, like an ancient Greek philosopher. It was a facade. An illusion
to mask the true shape of the creature. "But no interference on our part will
be necessary," he continued. "Your race has a peculiar ability to ignore the
unpleasant. The defensive application of a highly selective memory."