Read Online Medusa: A Tiger by the Tail by Jack L. Chalker - Free Book Online Page B

confidently know-enough to act.
    After Kabaye’s visit conversation was muted and sullen, to say the least. There were a number of attempts to figure out where the monitors were in the various rooms, but none of us found one that night.
    Still, the third day’s lessons proved to be pretty instructive as, one by one, even our most private whispers of the day before were repeated back to us by our hosts. Here was an effective demonstration of how efficient the fixed system really was—it selectively picked up one whisper even when masked by other whispers as well as fairly loud sounds. I was most interested in seeing pictures to check the angle and, therefore, locate the monitors; but we were shown none. We reached a general consensus that we were in one hell of a planetary jail cell, but there was nothing, at least for now, that any of us could do about it.
    On the fourth day, we were tested and interviewed. Various officious-looking clerks wearing the same kind of military garb as Gorn and Sugra subjected us individually to a battery of tests that took much of the day. They then conducted general interviews.
    At the end of the whole thing, each of us was taken into a small room we hadn’t known about for a final interview.
    She said her name was Dr. Crouda, and I knew immediately by her whites and her medical insignia that she had to be a psych. That really didn’t bother me—not only was I trained and fortified against the general run of psych tricks, but I was in some ways the creation of the best psychs in the Confederacy. What I needed, though, was a good performance that would cement my cover and do me the most good overall.
    She motioned me to a chair, sat back behind a small desk, and looked over my files for a moment. “You are Tarin Bul?”
    I shuffled with kid fidgets in my seat. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “And you are fourteen?”
    I nodded. “A few months ago. I’m not too sure of the time. It’s been a real long time since I could remember anything but prisons and psychs—beg pardon, ma’am.”
    She nodded and couldn’t suppress a slight smile. “I understand perfectly. Did you know that as far as we can tell you are the youngest person ever sent to the Warden Diamond.”
    “I sorta guessed that,” I answered truthfully.
    “Your education and training and your genetic inclinations are toward administrative work, but you’re hardly ready at your age. You realize that, don’t you?”
    Again I could only nod. “I understand.” Right now, in the normal course of things, Tarin Bul would still be in school.
    She sighed and looked over her reports. Real written files, I noted. How novel. “Now, your tests show a true inclination for math and a strong grasp of computer principles and operations. Have you given any thought to what you’d like to be?”
    I thought a moment, choosing the best tack. Finally I settled on the one I thought most in character. “Lord of the Diamond,” I told her.
    Again the smile. “Well, I understand that. But, realistically, considering your abbreviated education and your likes and dislikes—is there anything you really find yourself drawn to?”
    I thought a moment. “Yes, ma’am. Freighter pilot.” That wasn’t much of a risk, since it was right in character—but, oh how I wished I really were a freighter pilot! Money, mobility, status, and a lot more.
    “That’s not unreasonable,” she said, thinking it over, “but you are a long way from the age at which you could even enter pilot training.” She paused and threw me the typical psych curve. “Have you ever had any sexual experiences either with girls or with boys?”
    I acted shocked. “No, ma’am!”
    “What do you think of girls?”
    I shrugged. “Oh, they’re okay.”
    She nodded to herself and scribbled something, then asked, “How do you feel about being here? Being sent here, I mean?”
    Again I shrugged. “Beats bein’ dead, I guess. I haven’t seen enough of this world to tell