The Collection (79 page)

"But
I might." She laughed. "And you'd have to le me strap you in again
anyway. And that reminds me. You're supposed to be unconscious when I leave
this room. You
^'
ll have to fake that. The guards come in and unstrap you.
They take you to a hospital room until you come around.
^"

"Helping
me do so with rubber hose?"

"No,
that's all over with. You
^'
ll be a new man-not the man who killed a
guard yesterday. They won
^'
t have any resentment against you."

"How
long am I supposed to be unconscious?"

^"
Half an hour to an hour. And
you
may leave as soon thereafter as you wish. Better stay an hour or two; most
of them do. You're supposed to be a bit dazed when you come to, and to orient
yourself gradually. And don
^'
t forget you're not supposed to remember
your own name, or any crimes you've ever committed-or anything you've ever
done, for that matter.
^"

"Just
like amnesia, huh?"

^"
Exactly like amnesia-and,
besides that, all the causes of maladjustments are supposed to be removed.
You're supposed to love everyone in particular and humanity in general."

Crag
laughed.
^"
And does a halo come with it?"

"I'm
not joking, Crag. Take that idea seriously-at least until you're safely away
from here. Don't act as though you still have a chip on your shoulder or they
may suspect that something went wrong with the psycher and send you back for
another try. And I'll be off duty by then."

"If
I don
^'
t remember who I am-I mean, if I'm supposed not to
remember-isn't it going to be funny for me to walk out without being curious?
Do they just let psyched guys walk out without a name?"

^"
Oh, no. Each one has a sponsor,
someone who volunteers to help orient them to a new life. Jon has volunteered
to be your sponsor and to give you a job. You'll be told that and given his
address and cab fare to get there. He's supposed to explain things to you when
you see him, to orient you."

"What
if a guy would lam instead of going to his sponsor?
^"

"After
the psycher, they're adjusted. They wouldn't. Remember, Crag, you've got to
play it to the hilt until you're safe at our house. If anyone steps on your
toe, apologize."

Crag
growled, and then laughed. It was the first time he'd laughed-with humor-in a
long time. But the idea of him apologizing to anyone for anything was so ridiculous
he couldn't help it.

Evadne
reached across his shoulder and did something; he couldn
^'
t tell what
because his head was strapped against the back of the chair.

"Disconnected
a terminal," she said. "I'll have to run the machine for a while;
someone might notice that it isn't drawing any current."

She
went to one side of the room and threw a switch. A low humming sound filled the
room, but nothing happened otherwise. Crag relaxed.

She
was standing in front of him again. She said, "You know, Crag, I
^'
m
almost tempted to give you a partial psyching-just to find out what made you
what you are.
^"

"Don't
start anything you don't finish," he said grimly. His right hand clenched.

"Oh.
I know that. I know perfectly well that if I got any information from you under
compulsion-as I could if I reconnected that terminal-I'd have to finish the job
and adjust you or blank you out. Your ego wouldn't let me stay alive if I knew
things about you that you'd told me involuntarily.
^"

^"
You
^'
re smarter than I
thought," he said.

"That
isn't being smart, for a psychiatrist. Even a layman could guess that. But,
Crag, you
^'
ve got to tell me a few things."

"Why?"

^"
So I can turn in a report. I
don't have to turn in a detailed one, but I must at least write up a summary. I
could fake it easily, but it just might be checked and fail to tally with some
things about you that are already known. You can see that."

^"
Well-yes."

"For
instance, the loss of your hand. That was back before you turned criminal, so
the facts about it will be on record somewhere. And I'd be supposed to ask you
about that because it may have been a factor in your turning against
society."

"I
guess it was," Crag said. "And, as you say, it's on record so there's
no reason I shouldn
^'
t tell you. It happened on the
Vega 111,
when
I
^'
d been a spaceman eight years. It was a pure accident-not my fault
or anyone else's. Just one of those things that happen. Mechanical failure in a
rocket tube set it off while I was cleaning it.

"But
they sprang a technicality on me and kept me from getting the fifty thousand
credits compensation I was entitled to. Not only that, but took my license and
rating away from me, turned me from a spaceman into a one-handed bum."

^"
What was the technicality?"

^"
Test for alcohol. I'd had
exactly one drink-a stirrup cup, one small glass of wine-six hours before,
which was two hours before we left Mars. Orders are no drinks eight hours
before blast-off, and I hadn't drunk anything for longer than that, except that
one drink. And it had nothing to do with the accident-nobody feels one glass of
wine six hours after. But they
^,
used it to save themselves what I
had coming.
^"

"And
after that?"

"After
that I got kicked around a while until I started in to do my share of the
kicking.
^"

"That
wouldn
^'
t have been very long," she said. It wasn
^'
t a
question and he didn
^'
t answer it.

She
said, "I know what crimes they know you committed-without having been
able to prove it. I'll say you confessed to them."

Crag
shrugged. "Tell them what you like."

"Why
do you hate women so much?"

"Is
that personal curiosity? Or does it have to go in your report?"

She
smiled. "As a matter of fact, both."

"I
was married at the time I lost my job and my hand and my license. To a girl
with hair like yours. Married only a few months and mad about her. Do I have to
draw a diagram of what she did to me?
^"

She
said soberly,
^"
I can guess.
^"

"You
should be able to. You're more beautiful than she. And more evil.
^"

Her
face flamed and for a moment he thought she was going to strike him. But
training told, and in seconds she was smiling again.

She
said,
^"
Not evil, Crag. Just ruthless, like you. I try to get
what I want. But we're not psyching me, and it
^'
s time to end this
now. Close your eyes and pretend to be unconscious.
^"

He
did. He heard her walk to the wall and throw the switch that shut off the
machine. She came back and reconnected the terminal behind his shoulder, and
still he kept his eves closed.

He'd
half-expected it, but it jarred him when it came. It was a kiss that should
have wakened a statue, but outwardly he took it with complete passiveness. He
kept his own lips still.

And
he hated her the more because the kiss brought to life in him things he
^'
d
thought were dead. And
he
knew that he'd hate her forever and probably
kill her when he saw her again if, now, she laughed.

But
she didn
^'
t laugh, or even speak. She left the room very quietly.

NEW LIFE

A
few minutes later the guards came. Only two of them this time; they weren't
afraid of him now. They unstrapped him from the chair and carried him somewhere
on a stretcher and rolled him off onto a bed.

When
he was pretty sure that at least half an hour had gone by, he opened his eyes
and looked around as though dazed. But the acting had been unnecessary; he was
alone in a room. A few minutes later a nurse
^'
looked in and found
him sitting up.

She
came on into the room.
^"
How are you feeling, sir?
^"

Crag
shook his head. He said, "I
feel
all right, but I can
^'
t
seem to remember anything. Who I am, or how I got here-wherever here is."

She
smiled at him and sat down on the chair beside the bed.
^"
You
^'
ve
just had the equivalent of an attack of amnesia. That's all I
^'
m
supposed to tell you. But as soon as you feel equal to it, we'll send you to a
man who will explain everything to you, and help you. Meanwhile, there
^'
s
nothing for you to worry about. When you feel able to leave, come to the desk
in the hall and I'll give you the address and money to get there.
^"

Crag
swung his feet off the bed. "I can go now,
^"
he said. But
he made his voice sound uncertain.

"Please
lie down and rest a while first. There's no hurry."

She
went out, and Crag lay back down, obediently. He let another half hour pass and
then went out into the corridor and to the desk. The nurse looked up at him and
handed him a card and a ten-credit note. She said,
^"
Please go
to that address before you do anything else. Judge Olliver has a job for you
and he will explain about your amnesia and tell you as much as it is necessary
for you to know about your past."

He
thanked her and went out, alert to watch his temper if any incident were staged
to test him. But none was, although he was, he felt sure, watched to see
whether he headed immediately for the atocab stand just outside the building
and gave the address he'd been handed on the card-an address he already knew
but pretended to read off the card to the cabby.

Twenty
minutes later he walked up to the guard at Olliver's front door and asked if he
might see the Judge. "Your name Crag?
^"

He
almost said yes before he thought. "Sounds silly," he said, "but
I don't know my name. I was sent here to find out.
^"

The
guard nodded and let him in.
^"
He
^'
s waiting for you,
^"
he said. "Second door down the hall.
^"

Crag
entered the small room in which he'd talked to Olliver and Evadne the evening
before. Only Oliver was " there now, at the desk.

^"
Everything go all right?
^"
he asked.

Crag
threw himself into a chair. "Perfect," he said, "except for two
beatings up that weren't on the menu."

"You
should feel it's worth that to be free, Crag. And now-you
^'
re still
interested in earning that million?
^"

"Yes.
But the price has gone up."

Olliver
frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

^"
I mean besides that I want you
to do a spot of research downtown and get me twelve names, and addresses for
each. The six guards who put me in a cell last night and the six-they were
different ones-who put me back in the cell after the trial this morning.
^"

Olliver
stared at him a moment and then laughed. He said, "All right, but not till
after the job is over. Then if you're fool enough to want to look them up, it's
your business, not mine.
^"

"Which
gets us to the job. Where is it, what is it, how long will it take."

"It's
on Mars. We're going there in four days; I can
^'
t get away any sooner
than that. I told you what it is-a job of burglary, but not a simple one. How
long it takes depends on you; I imagine you'll need some preparation, but if
you can't do it in a few weeks, you can't do it at all.
^"

"Fair
enough," Crag said. "But if I've got that long to wait, how about an
advance?"

"Again
on a condition, Crag. I don't want you to get into any trouble before you've
done the job. I want you to stay here. You can send out for anything you
want."

Crag's
short nod got him a thousand credits.

He
needed sleep, having got none the night before because of pain from the first,
and worst, beating. And every muscle in his body still ached.

But
before he even tried to sleep he sent out for Martian
tot,
and drank
himself into insensibility.