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chairs flanking the fireplace.  I suppose you found out I was the only one of
us who d talk to you.
 That s right, said Ett.
 Of course it s right, said Malone. His voice was back on its cracking,
irascible old-man s tone.  But don t blame them. In fact, make a good start of
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it. Don t blame anyone except yourself. No one twisted your arm to make you
take the RIV. So forget about blaming and concentrate on what can be done;
that s my advice.
He looked into the dancing flames.
 Not that you ll take it probably, he said.
 Why shouldn t I? Ett asked.  It makes sense.
Malone looked up from the fire at him and their gazes locked.
 People seem to run on rails, no matter what I tell them, said the older man
softly.  Take you, now. So far you ve done everything wrong, every time you
had a choice. To begin with, what status did you opt for with the EC, Ward or
Citizen? No, don t tell me. I ll tell you. You picked Citizen status, didn t
you?
 I shouldn t have?
 Hell, no! snapped Malone.  Couldn t you see that choice was being forced on
you?
 I ve got things I want to do, said Ett.  I needed the extra freedom.
 Extra freedom! Malone snorted.  The only status that gives you anything
approaching some freedom is Ward. What do you think I am?
 Ward, obviously, said Ett.
 That s right. But then I was one of the early ones. Know how long I ve been
a Master?
Ett shook his head.
 Forty years.
Ett looked at him closely. It was not that Malone looked hardly more than his
late fifties, until he spoke. There were ninety- and even hundred-year-olds
around nowadays who could pass for Malone s younger brother. It was the fact
that if Malone was telling the truth, he must have been among the first half
dozen or so of the Masters to be produced by RIV.
 That s right, forty years, said Malone.  And I m the only Master left that
goes anywhere near that far back. But you won t listen to me, any more than
any of the others I ve talked to ever did.
 You keep insisting on that, said Ett gently,  and maybe you ll end up
talking me into it.
Malone stared at him for a second and then burst into a shout of laughter,
not an aged cackle, but a full-throated roar of humor.
 All right! he said.  All right! Maybe you re worth the trouble, after all.
But let s look at what you ve done so far.
 I  began Ett, but Malone cut him short.
 Don t tell me. I ll tell you, he said.  I have myself briefed on what every
new Master does, as soon as he reacts to the RIV. Not that I need briefing any
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more. I know without being told what you or anyone else is going to do
first and it s always the wrong things. Take you. First you tried to see how
much the EC would do for you. Then you tried to see how much they d spend on
you. Then, when you got nowhere with both tries, you finally thought of doing
what you should have thought of in the first place asking somebody who knows.
But nobody who knows would talk to you but me. And the way things are set up,
I don t look like anyone you can trust, even if I do tell you.
 Look, said Ett. He had liked the other man without reason, from the first
moment of seeing him. But he was heavy with tiredness and his head throbbed.
 Just answer a few questions. Why don t I feel like I m an R-Master, if I am
one?
 Why, now, said Malone,  don t tell me you feel just like you always did?
 Of course I  Ett broke off.  You mean the way I feel now? I m out on my
feet and uncomfortable right now. But don t tell me& 
He paused.
 Or, he went on slowly,  do tell me, come to think of it. Do you mean anyone
who has the kind of reaction to RIV that makes him an R-Master is bound to go
around feeling this bad? You mean all sixty-three Masters feel like this all
the time?
Malone chuckled.
 I don t, he answered,  but I m different. The rest yes, they feel like you
do, most of the time. The only time they don t is when they get worked up
about something, worked up enough to override their ordinary sensations with
excitement, such as when they re figuring something out, or when they re doped
up with medicines that damp out their discomforts.
He laughed sarcastically.
 Shakes you up, doesn t it? he said.  You thought being a lucky ticket
holder in the renatin sweepstakes was nothing but peaches and cream. Why
should it be? Your whole system s been kicked out of focus to gear up with a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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