Cyteen

"Damn." Get my son out of there,Warrick had said. Had meant it, evidently. "Damn."

"We want to honor our commitments. The arrangement we have in mind puts Jordan Warrick in a facility of his own, under guard. And he can go on doing work for you. We'll do the testing. You won't have to worry about its integrity. It's altogether a humane solution, one that conserves a talent we can't afford to lose."

"You've talked to Corain."

"He says he's got to study the idea. I tried to point out, there are no disadvantages to him in supporting a settlement. What does anyone gain from a prosecution of this case? What does anyone gain, except Rocher and his cronies? —And we've lost terribly by this. Not only the mind. You understand . . . we're still committed to the projects."

"The Fargone facility."

"We assume that will go forward. Perhaps—the military can make use of more of it than we pla

"Meaning the Rubin project is going under."

"No. We're still committed to that."

"Without Dr. Emory?" Gorodin drew a large breath. "You think you can succeed."

Nye was silent for a moment. "Refill," he said to the azi who served them, and that man, gray and silent, came and poured in both cups.

Nye sipped thoughtfully. Then: "Do you want the technical details?"

"I leave that to the scientists. My interest is practical. And strategic. Can you go on from Emory's notes?"

"Which had you rather have duplicated? A chemist who is, admittedly, extraordinary in potential. Or Emory herself?"

Gorodin swallowed down a mouthful. "You're serious."

"Let me go into some of the surface technicalities, at least. The project demands a subject with an extraordinary amount of documentation—on the biochemical level. There aren't many subjects of the quality we want, who have that land of documentation. Both Ari and Rubin have it: Rubin because of his medical problems, Ari because she was born to Emory and Carnath when they were both above a century in age. Born in Reseune labs, of course. By a process weran, on which our records are immaculate. Her father was dead when she was born; her mother died when she was seven. Her uncle Geoffrey brought her up beyond that. She succeeded Geoffrey Carnath as director of Reseune when she was sixty-two. And she was Olga Carnath's own prize project, the subject of intensive study and recording first by her mother and then by Geoffrey Carnath. Suffice it to say, her documentation is equal to Rubin's, if not more extensive. More than that—Ari always intendedthat she eventually be one of the Specials affected by this project. She left abundant notes—for her successor."

"My God."

"Why not? She has the value. Now that she's gone, granted her theories are valid—we have a choice between recovering a chemist who, frankly, means nothing to us, or Ari—whose mind, I don't hesitate to say—is on a level with Bok or Strehler, whose research has had profound effect on national security. And we cando it."

"You're serious."

"Absolutely. We see no reason to abandon the project. There are essentials: Warrick is one. You understand—as many of the elements of Ari's life we can study, the better our chances of success."

"What—about Rubin?"

"It would still be possible to go ahead with that. It would be useful as a control. And a cover under the cover, so to speak. I don't want the Rubin project in Reseune. I don't want it impacting what we plan to do. You understand—the name of the game is re-tracing. Intensive monitoring—Ari was used to that, but her successor ought not to have direct contact with someone else undergoing the same thing. We'd have to run both halves of the Rubin project at Fargone."

"You imply you intend to do this—whether or not you have official support."

"I'm seeking that support. I want to save Warrick. I want to cooperate fully with the military. We need the kind of security and cover you can provide us—at least until the new Ari can surface. Then it appears as a Reseune project—a thoroughly civilianproject. That's useful, isn't it?"

"God." Gorodin drank down the other half of his coffee. And held out his cup to the azi.

"Abban," Nye said. The azi came and filled the cup—while Gorodin used the delay to do some fast adding.

"What," he said then, carefully, "does this have to do with Warrick?"

"We need him. We need him to go on with his work."

"Him? To reconstruct her?Working on hertapes?"

"No. That wouldn't be wise. I'm talking about Reseune. Remember—we have to think in twenty-, fifty-year terms. He's still young. He's only now showing what he cando. His own research interlocks with Ari's. Let me be honest with you: Ari's notes are extremely fragmentary. She was a genius. There are gaps of logic in her notes—sort of an of coursethat Ari could bridge and didn't need to write down. We can't guarantee success: no program of this sort can. We only know that we have a better chance with Ari, that we knew intimately, than with a stranger that we don't. She coded a great deal. Her leaps from point to point, the co

"But what damn use is all of this, then—beyond recovering Emory herself? How many people are we going to have that land of record on? What can it apply to? It can't get us Bok."

"Emory herself is not negligible. Emory able to take up her work where she left off—but at about age twenty. Maybe younger. We don't know. We'll find out. Understand: what we learn doingthis will tell us how much data we have to have with other projects. Like Bok. We just have to be damned careful this round. Because if the worst-case holds, everyprecaution is necessary: everyinfluence is irreplaceable. Getting Ari back is step one. If there's going to be an amplification of her work on personality formation— Ariis the key to it. We have a chance with her. We knowher. We can fill in the gaps in the information and make corrections if it looks necessary. We don't know Rubin to that extent. We don't have the headstart even with him we do with her, do you see? Rubin has become a luxury. Retrieving Ari Emory is a necessity. We can try it on our own, but it would be a hell of a lot easier—with Defense Bureau support."

"Meaning money."

Nye shook his head. "Cover. The ability to hold on to Warrick. The ability to shield what we're doing. The authority to protect our research—and our subject—from Internal Affairs."

"Ah." Gorodin drew a deep breath. "But money—it always comes to money."

"We can bear our end of it if you fund the Rubin project. But the necessity to protect our subjects is absolute. Success or failure hinges on that."

Gorodin leaned back in his chair and chewed his lip. And thought again about recorders. "Have you talked to Lu?"

"Not yet."

"You haven't mentioned this to anyone outside Reseune."

"No. I don't intend to. We had one security breach—with the azi. We've covered it. There won't be another."