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Isle Of The Dead :: Zelazny Roger
Страница: 37 из 110He is then in a position to supply the information which the entire World Congress has deemed to be of sufficient value to warrant Recall. An iron-clad security setup guards the entire system, which is housed in a quarter-mile square fortress in Dallas.
"Do you think I stole the tapes?" I asked.
He crossed and uncrossed his legs, looked away.
"You'll admit there's a pattern, and that it seems somehow related to you?"
"Yes. But I didn't do it."
"You'll admit that you were investigated and charged at one time for attempting to bribe a government official in order to obtain the tape for your first wife, Katherine?"
"It is a matter of public record, so I can't deny it. But the charges were dismissed," I said.
"True--because you could afford a lot of bad publicity and good lawyers, and you hadn't succeeded in obtaining the tape, anyway. It was later stolen, though, and it was years before we discovered that it hadn't been destroyed on the scheduled date. There was no way of linking it to you, or of obtaining jurisdiction in the place you were then residing. There was no other way of reaching you, either."
I smiled at his accent on the word "reaching." I, too, have a security network.
"And what do you think I would have done with the tape, had I obtained it?"
"You're a wealthy man, Mister Sandow--one of the few who could afford to duplicate the machinery necessary for Recall. And your training--"
"I'll admit I once had that in mind. Unfortunately, I didn't obtain the tape, so the attempt was never made."
"Then how do you explain the others? The subsequent thefts which occurred over several centuries, always involving friends or enemies of yours."
"I don't have to explain," I said, "because I don't owe you an explanation for anything I do. But I will tell you this: I didn't do it. I don't have the tapes, never had them. I had no idea up until now that they were missing."
But, Good Lord! _They_ were the six!
"Then accepting that as true, for the moment," he said, "can you supply us with any sort of lead as to who might have had sufficient interest in these people to go to such extremes?"
"I cannot," I said, seeing the Isle of the Dead in my mind's eye, and knowing that I would have to find out.
"I feel I should point out," said Briggs, "that this case will never be closed on our books until we have been satisfied as to the disposition of the tapes."
"I see," I said.
"Do you think I stole the tapes?" I asked.
He crossed and uncrossed his legs, looked away.
"You'll admit there's a pattern, and that it seems somehow related to you?"
"Yes. But I didn't do it."
"You'll admit that you were investigated and charged at one time for attempting to bribe a government official in order to obtain the tape for your first wife, Katherine?"
"It is a matter of public record, so I can't deny it. But the charges were dismissed," I said.
"True--because you could afford a lot of bad publicity and good lawyers, and you hadn't succeeded in obtaining the tape, anyway. It was later stolen, though, and it was years before we discovered that it hadn't been destroyed on the scheduled date. There was no way of linking it to you, or of obtaining jurisdiction in the place you were then residing. There was no other way of reaching you, either."
I smiled at his accent on the word "reaching." I, too, have a security network.
"And what do you think I would have done with the tape, had I obtained it?"
"You're a wealthy man, Mister Sandow--one of the few who could afford to duplicate the machinery necessary for Recall. And your training--"
"I'll admit I once had that in mind. Unfortunately, I didn't obtain the tape, so the attempt was never made."
"Then how do you explain the others? The subsequent thefts which occurred over several centuries, always involving friends or enemies of yours."
"I don't have to explain," I said, "because I don't owe you an explanation for anything I do. But I will tell you this: I didn't do it. I don't have the tapes, never had them. I had no idea up until now that they were missing."
But, Good Lord! _They_ were the six!
"Then accepting that as true, for the moment," he said, "can you supply us with any sort of lead as to who might have had sufficient interest in these people to go to such extremes?"
"I cannot," I said, seeing the Isle of the Dead in my mind's eye, and knowing that I would have to find out.
"I feel I should point out," said Briggs, "that this case will never be closed on our books until we have been satisfied as to the disposition of the tapes."
"I see," I said.