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about any aliens, or any of the things you've been talking about." He stood up
and moved past Massey to help himself to coffee.
Massey glanced questioningly back at Price while Zambendorf was filling his
cup. Price could only return a helpless shrug. "It's strange," Massey said to
Zambendorf. He paused and tilted his head curiously to one side. "For once I
get the feeling that you're telling the truth. Either you're the most
accomplished liar I've ever met and I've met more than a few or there's
something very screwy going on. I'd like to believe what you just told us."
Zambendorf tired suddenly of the feeling of being scrutinized under a
microscope. "Well, why won't you believe it, then?" he demanded loudly,
turning away and sounding annoyed. "What reason would I have to lie about
something like this? If you must know, I was offered such a deal only
recently. I turned it down. There, does that satisfy you?"
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"You turned it down," Massey repeated, not quite able to prevent a trace of
mockery from creeping into his voice.
Zambendorf wheeled back again. "I turned it down." He forced the words out
slowly and deliberately, thrusting out his beard to within an inch of
Massey's face.
"Very likely the best offer you've ever had in your life, and maybe the best
you'll ever get," Price drawled sarcastically from behind them. "With
everything going for it, and all the right people lined up on your side . .
. and you turned it down. Now, why would you want to do a thing like that?"
"My reasons are my reasons," Zambendorf said. "What damn business is it of
either of you?"
"When you're helping people who are trying to condemn a whole race to
second-class status to further their own interests and claiming that they're
acting in my name, it is my business," Massey retorted.
Zambendorf colored visibly. "For God's sake, I haven't done anything to help
them!" he shouted. "I turned their offer down. How many times do I
have to say it? What's the matter with the pair of you?"
"Why would you turn it down?" Massey asked again.
"What is this? I refuse to be cross-examined in this fashion."
"Bah! . - . just as I thought," Massey snorted.
"He's copping out," Price murmured. "He has to. He's in with them up to his
neck."
"Doesn't it occur to you that you may not have a monopoly on all this touching
humanitarian concern for your brother beings?" Zambendorf raged.
"If you must know, I turned it down for the simple reason that I care what
happens to the Taloids just as much as you do ... even more, possibly. Do
file:///F|/rah/James%20P.%20Hogan/Hogan,%20...s%20P%20-%20Code%20Of%20The%20Li
femaker.txt (140 of 222) [1/19/03 5:15:03 PM]
file:///F|/rah/James%20P.%20Hogan/Hogan,%20James%20P%20-%20Code%20Of%20The%20L
ifemaker.txt you understand that? Is it plain enough to get through your thick
skulls?"
He glowered at Massey defiantly, then shifted his gaze to Price for a moment.
When he resumed speaking, his voice quivered with emotion. "I
probably know them better than any other person on this mission. Wasn't it
I who exchanged the first meaningful information with them? Didn't they
continue to come to me for confirmation even after they'd been told repeatedly
that Giraud and those walking procedure manuals that he calls aides were the
mission's official spokesmen? . . . Don't ask me how, but I
can sense the Taloid world that lies behind the words we see on screens, and
those unmoving metal faces."
Zambendorf's manner calmed a little. "There is a world there, you know not a
world that we are able to experience directly, or even one that we're capable
of conceiving, maybe . . . but it's there as warm, and as rich, and as
colorful when perceived through Taloid senses as Earth is to us. I can feel it
when I talk to them." The other two listened silently as he went on, now in a
distant voice, "The Taloids know I can too. That's why they trust me. They
trust me to teach them about the worlds that exist beyond their sky, and the
new worlds of mind that exist beyond the clouds obscuring their present
horizons of knowledge. They trust me to show them the ways of discovery that
will enable them to explore all those worlds.
That's more than all those fools back on Earth ever asked for, or understood
that I could have done for them." His expression became contemptuous. "And you
think I would have traded that for anything a bunch of deadhead executives and
bureaucrats might have to offer people who've never in their lives had an
inspired thought or a vision of what could be?"
Zambendorf focused his gaze back on Massey and Price, and shook his head.
"No, don't you go preaching at me about the meaning of the word human, the
insignificance of accidental differences in biological hardware, or any of
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that crap. Because I could give both of you a whole lesson on it."
The cabin remained very quiet for what seemed a long time. Massey drank the
last of his coffee, then looked across at Price with his eyebrows raised
questioningly. Price looked uncomfortable and said nothing. "I, er . . . I
guess we owe you an apology," Massey murmured.
Zambendorf nodded curtly and left it at that. He looked at Massey curiously.
"You still haven't explained what made you think I'd accepted a deal," he
said.
Massey looked over at Price again. Price made a face and shrugged. "I guess
he's got a right to know," he said. Zambendorf frowned uncomprehendingly.
Massey drew a long breath, held it for a second or two, then exhaled abruptly
and nodded his agreement. "Set it up, Vernon." Massey turned to
Zambendorf. "Obviously what you're about to see is not intended to become
public knowledge. I don't know if you're aware that the news from Earth is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]