Read Online A Creed for the Third Millennium by Colleen McCullough - Free Book Online
Authors: Colleen McCullough
Ads: Link
point you might
say, Sam, old buddy — that the chosen person not have a formal religious
occupation.'
She opened her eyes and stared straight
at Dr Abraham. 'Given this protocol, I would say I have done my job.'
'You have all done your jobs,' said Dr
Carriol before Dr Abraham could reply. 'It is not,' she went on, fingering the
file under her hands with spidery purpose, 'a competition we are engaged upon,
even if it is only an exercise designed to check the efficiency of our data
resources, computers, methodology and personnel. Five years ago, when you were
assigned this task, as well as the money and the computers and the personnel to
carry it out, you may privately have thought it was a helluva long time and a
helluva lot of Environment money to tie up on nothing more than a drill. But I
do not think any of you were more than three months into it before you began to
realize how essential a drill it was. Section Four has emerged from phase one of
Operation Search with the best data-collection protocols, the best computer
programmes, and the best statistical and humanity investigative teams in the
whole of the federal bureaucracy.'
'Granted,' said Dr Abraham, feeling, he
didn't know why, as if his knuckles were being rapped.
'Good! Now, are we finished with Dr
Hemingway? Has anyone any general objections to her candidates?'
Silence.
'All right. Thank you, Millie. And thank
you for that admirable precis of the criteria for Operation Search.'
Dr Hemingway winced, but thought better
of saying what she wanted to say.
'Dr Chasen, would you give us your
candidates, please?' asked Dr Carriol smoothly.
Wounded feelings were forgotten
immediately; as Dr Moshe Chasen gathered his little heap of files together, a
certain expectancy began to charge the atmosphere in the conference room. Dr
Chasen was a bull of a man, big and stubborn and given to strong opinions; he
was also a formidable data analyst whom Dr Carriol had stolen from Health,
Education and Welfare some ten years before, and like his colleagues Abraham and
Hemingway, he loved working for Judith Carriol.
That he had remained silent throughout
the presentation of the first six candidates was perhaps surprising, but Drs
Abraham and Hemingway now thought they knew why. The anticipated name had not
cropped up among those six people, therefore it must come from Dr Chasen, and
naturally it would come as his first choice. To a large extent it robbed his,
the last presentation, of much of its thunder; and Dr Moshe Chasen was not a man
who liked seeing his thunder stolen. Thus the atmosphere of expectancy was not
bated-breath in nature; rather, it was anticlimactic. Yet — Moshe Chasen did not
look or act like a cheated man as he shifted his bulk in his chair and opened
his first file.
'I chose the first alternative when it
came to a method of selection,' he said, his voice as deep and growly as his
face. 'Not so democratic, Millie, but in my view a lot more effective. My chief
researcher and I reserved the decision making for
ourselves, and of course our choices were mutual.'
'Of course,' said Dr Carriol, slightly
minatory.
He glanced down the table at his boss
quickly, then dipped his head. 'Our first choice — and by a very large margin of
preference — is Dr Joshua Christian. A seventh-generation American of mixed
Nordic, Celtic, Armenian and Russian blood. Aged thirty-two years. Single, no
children, and never married. Voluntarily vasectomized at age twenty. We have not
been able, given the information available to the computer — and that is very
considerable for every citizen of this country — to discover what if any is Dr
Christian's sexual preference. However, he lives within a stable family unit
consisting of his mother (his father is dead), two brothers, one sister, and two
sisters-in-law. He is the undisputed head of the family, what I would call a
born father figure. He graduated summa cum laude in basic
say, Sam, old buddy — that the chosen person not have a formal religious
occupation.'
She opened her eyes and stared straight
at Dr Abraham. 'Given this protocol, I would say I have done my job.'
'You have all done your jobs,' said Dr
Carriol before Dr Abraham could reply. 'It is not,' she went on, fingering the
file under her hands with spidery purpose, 'a competition we are engaged upon,
even if it is only an exercise designed to check the efficiency of our data
resources, computers, methodology and personnel. Five years ago, when you were
assigned this task, as well as the money and the computers and the personnel to
carry it out, you may privately have thought it was a helluva long time and a
helluva lot of Environment money to tie up on nothing more than a drill. But I
do not think any of you were more than three months into it before you began to
realize how essential a drill it was. Section Four has emerged from phase one of
Operation Search with the best data-collection protocols, the best computer
programmes, and the best statistical and humanity investigative teams in the
whole of the federal bureaucracy.'
'Granted,' said Dr Abraham, feeling, he
didn't know why, as if his knuckles were being rapped.
'Good! Now, are we finished with Dr
Hemingway? Has anyone any general objections to her candidates?'
Silence.
'All right. Thank you, Millie. And thank
you for that admirable precis of the criteria for Operation Search.'
Dr Hemingway winced, but thought better
of saying what she wanted to say.
'Dr Chasen, would you give us your
candidates, please?' asked Dr Carriol smoothly.
Wounded feelings were forgotten
immediately; as Dr Moshe Chasen gathered his little heap of files together, a
certain expectancy began to charge the atmosphere in the conference room. Dr
Chasen was a bull of a man, big and stubborn and given to strong opinions; he
was also a formidable data analyst whom Dr Carriol had stolen from Health,
Education and Welfare some ten years before, and like his colleagues Abraham and
Hemingway, he loved working for Judith Carriol.
That he had remained silent throughout
the presentation of the first six candidates was perhaps surprising, but Drs
Abraham and Hemingway now thought they knew why. The anticipated name had not
cropped up among those six people, therefore it must come from Dr Chasen, and
naturally it would come as his first choice. To a large extent it robbed his,
the last presentation, of much of its thunder; and Dr Moshe Chasen was not a man
who liked seeing his thunder stolen. Thus the atmosphere of expectancy was not
bated-breath in nature; rather, it was anticlimactic. Yet — Moshe Chasen did not
look or act like a cheated man as he shifted his bulk in his chair and opened
his first file.
'I chose the first alternative when it
came to a method of selection,' he said, his voice as deep and growly as his
face. 'Not so democratic, Millie, but in my view a lot more effective. My chief
researcher and I reserved the decision making for
ourselves, and of course our choices were mutual.'
'Of course,' said Dr Carriol, slightly
minatory.
He glanced down the table at his boss
quickly, then dipped his head. 'Our first choice — and by a very large margin of
preference — is Dr Joshua Christian. A seventh-generation American of mixed
Nordic, Celtic, Armenian and Russian blood. Aged thirty-two years. Single, no
children, and never married. Voluntarily vasectomized at age twenty. We have not
been able, given the information available to the computer — and that is very
considerable for every citizen of this country — to discover what if any is Dr
Christian's sexual preference. However, he lives within a stable family unit
consisting of his mother (his father is dead), two brothers, one sister, and two
sisters-in-law. He is the undisputed head of the family, what I would call a
born father figure. He graduated summa cum laude in basic
Similar Books
