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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] youngest of the group. He is fluent in the nine most common languages, including both English and Mandarin. Unmarried, something of a radical in university, he nonetheless was third oldest in a family of eleven and the first to ever reach university, let alone graduate with a doctorate. All of his family was wiped out, of course, including his oldest sister and his three week old godson, her baby. He wholeheartedly endorsed the plan in the meeting and was its most fervent supporter." That was interesting. It meant that he hadn't come up with the plan, either. Then again, for a pharmacologist, even a brilliant and hate-filled radical one, the drug thing was more his type of scheme anyway. Still, you could sure see how he could almost count on Mukasa's mistress and go-between to fall for him. He just took it for granted. His image went into motion. "There will have to be more production," he said in accented but excellent English. "We can not meet our schedule with what you have been putting out." Well, that was it for Carlos, but at least the words were his, and his voice was as smooth and romantic as you figured it would be. I had the feeling that he never had to yell; there was a controlled undercurrent in his tone that implied absolute menace to whoever he was talking to. He was an interesting personality, and I was happy to keep him on my prime list even if I couldn't see him as Gravel Voice, either. He was the right height, and he didn't seem to be the kind of guy to want to end this. He was so filled with hate he wanted to go on and on and on, and he was both bright enough and nervy enough to bump off Pandross in his lair, too. Considering the way I felt about him, I could see Voorhes' point in taking me over Brandy. At least I was able to consider other suspects, although no matter what else happened I wanted some dealings with dear old Carlos before this was done. "How did Carlos feel about the group selecting me for this investigation?" I asked the computer. file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...%203%20-%20The%20Maze%20in%20t he%20Mirror.txt (61 of 150) [1/19/03 4:21:15 PM] file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20G.O.D.%20Inc%203% 20-%20The%20Maze%20in%20the%20Mirror.txt "Doctor Montagne was the one who suggested you, and pressed for you against opposition. He also worked out the plan which brought you here." Uh huh. I figured as much. Carlos' main problem was that he'd go from Philadelphia to New York by way of Timbuktu and the South Pole. His plots were always so needlessly complex that they were bound to unravel. Unfortunately, that made him less a suspect here. Taking out the security chief in such a clever and essentially direct way just wasn't his style. "Gregory Yugarin," the computer said, putting up a picture of Rasputin. Well, maybe not, but he was a Slavic type for sure, and he had wild, unmanageable-looking black hair and one of those long but scraggly beards that showed a total lack of attention. "Six feet two, forty-nine years old, and a Doctor of Geography; he is an expert in mass transportation systems," the computer added. "He is known as a loner type with no family ties or background on the record. Extent of loss is therefore unknown. Speaks six languages and nine dialects but is not on record as an English speaker. It was Doctor Yugarin who researched and deduced the vast majority of inactive Labyrinth stations and lines and established the network for movement in the main system. His comrades consider him totally trustworthy but something of a Page 72 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html mystery. He is not a social man. He was, however, the one who came up with the plan now underway and the one who called the meeting." Yugarin's image came to life, this time again the Italian movie type, and he said, "My name is Gregory Ilych Yugarin and I am a geographer." The height was more than enough and the voice-well, it could have been Gravel Voice, particularly if he was using a translation module, but I had the impression from the tape that old Gravelly was less guttural and more, well, Oriental, somehow. Still, while physically the most likely suspect so far, he had the least motive if my hunch was correct. He got the idea, he called the meeting, and he'd gotten his way. Unless he was working both sides of the street with a plot of his own, it didn't make sense. "Valintina Mendelez," the computer continued, putting up a picture of a breathtaking beauty on a beach someplace wearing only the bottom of a string bikini and sun glasses and needing nothing else. Gad! Was she stacked! She was dark, even discounting the suntan, with that peculiar blend of ethnic features that had gone into creating the Brazilian race. Maria, in fact, had many of the same characteristics but, while my initial reaction to her had been as a tropical beauty, this Mendelez put Maria and almost anybody else to shame. "Age forty-five, five foot seven, botanist, specialist in rain forest plant biochemistry. Brilliant, had worked with her husband in the Amazon area, but had dropped out of university to have two children. Her husband and the children were back for a visit to the home world when the breakout and conflict occurred, and were destroyed when the world was. She is described as having become hedonistic, without any morals, mercy, or other value systems. She can be quite pleasant but will kill without hesitation, even mass murder, and indulges in experimentation on humans, masking her intellect and coldness with what you would call a 'bimbo' persona. Speaks six languages, including English. She was opposed to the plan when proposed and argued against it, but later gave in after she saw the majority favored it." Interesting. "On what grounds did she oppose it?" I asked. "On the grounds that it did not induce sufficient suffering on the part of the Company and its race," the computer replied. "Voice sample." The image came alive. "Hi, Victor!" she squealed and waved to somebody out of sight. "So glad you could come." It was a high, breathless, Marilyn Monroe type voice with just the right amount of exotic Portuguese accent. Naturally the looks had been preserved by the kind of techniques I myself knew so well, but the image of Monroe as Latin porn queen was indelible, right to that full head of blonde hair. "Why if she is a leader of the revolution does she not do something about her gross malformations?" Maria asked, in a tone that wasn't catty but serious. I could see that my Watson and I had seriously different ideas of reality. "Cultural gap," I responded. "She looks and sounds and acts like that because it is attractive to a large number of people, particularly men." file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...%203%20-%20The%20Maze%20in%20t he%20Mirror.txt (62 of 150) [1/19/03 4:21:15 PM] [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |