Busby, F M - Long View 2 - Young Rissa

VIP免费
2024-12-16 0 0 277.16KB 80 页 5.9玖币
侵权投诉
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
\iBerkley Books by F. M. Busby\i
THE RISSA KERGUELEN SAGA
\cYOUNG RISSA
RISSA AND TREGARE
THE LONG VIEW
\c\bBOOK ONE OF THE RISSA KERGUELEN SAGA\b
\bF.M. BUSBY\b
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
\c\iYoung Kissa, Rissa and Tregare,\i and
\iThe Long View\i were originally published
in two volumes as \iRissa Kerguelen\i and
\iThe Long View.\i They were also published in
one volume as \iRissa Kerguelen.\i
YOUNG RISSA
\cA Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Berkley Medallion edition / June 1977
Berkley edition / May 1984
Second printing / September 1984
\cAll rights reserved.
Copyright \a169 1976 by F. M. Busby.
Cover illustration by Barclay Shaw.
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part,
by mimeograph or any other means, without permission.
For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
\cISBN: 0-425-07991-0
A BERKLEY BOOK \a174 TM 757,375
The name "BERKLEY" and the stylized "B" with design are trademarks belonging to Berkley Publishing
Corporation.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
For Michele
PROLOGUE:
TWENTY-THREE years before Rissa Kerguelen was born ...
Aged ninety-two, Heidele Hulzein died. Control of the Hul-zein Establishment passed to Heidele's
parthenogenetic gene-replicated daughter, Renalle.
The bid of United Energy and Transport won the North American election and ousted the Synthetic
Foods combine from control of that continent. UET's new Presiding Committee immediately began
construction of the controversial Total Welfare Centers.
Near Crater Lake, Oregon, the first known alien spaceship landed. UET pronounced it a hoax,
meanwhile sending Committee troops to investigate.
The commanding general followed orders. As soon as he ascertained that the Shrakken lacked
faster-than-light communications, he pumped their ship full of cyanide gas. The media reported the
aliens' unfortunate susceptibility to Earthly infections.
Within the year UET's laboratories duplicated the Shrakken space drive. Earth-or rather, UET-
began interstellar travel. Going always away from the Shrakken worlds, UET found
habitable planets and began colonizing-not always with the colonists' consent.
Some ships did not return. Space is vast and light-speed imposes limits, but dissidents spoke of
Escaped Ships and of Hidden Worlds. UET halted exploration to guard its holdings against outlaw
raids. Such raids were not long in coming.
Twenty-three years after the Shrakken landing, UET moved -massively-against the Hulzein
Establishment. Aged eighty-six, Renalle Hulzein fought and died where she had lived, but her
daughter Erika-also parthenogenetic, carrying only Renalle's replicated genes-escaped southward.
By Renalle's forethought and her own, she salvaged much of the Establishment's assets and a
majority of its personnel.
Fourteen days after Renalle Hulzein's life ended, Rissa Kerguelen's began.
\bYOUNG RISSA\b
RISSA and her brother-Ivan Marchant, three years older- were born to free parents. David Marchant
and Selene Kergue-len, married oldstyle, worked as a Tri-V reporting team. Rissa could not
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (1 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
remember a time when she had not watched the Tri-V news, hoping to see them reporting an item from
the field. When she did see them, she waved-and took it as a matter of course that when they
finished speaking they usually waved back.
She did not know what "condominium" meant, but she knew she lived in one-a massive building of
many levels, bounded by streets. One level was for school, but even when she was too young for
school, she was never lonely. First there had been the men and women who tended the creche, and
later the ones in the Flat-V beside the kitchen-if she needed something she pushed the button and
asked for it, and the person talked to her and usually sent or brought it. Occasionally someone
came and helped her when she had not asked, so she knew they could see and hear her, regardless of
whether she pushed the button. She liked these people well enough. But she loved David and Selene
and Ivan and was always glad when they came home from work and from school.
1 •
\c
\cRissa was five and had begun school herself the day her parents did not come home. Voris
Kerguelen, her uncle, came instead. He prepared a meal for her and Ivan-it was past din-nertime-
and refused to answer questions until the children ate. Rissa did not protest; she was hungry.
She was wearing a favorite red dress; her long dark hair was in pigtails. Ivan wore green
coveralls; when he grinned he showed new front teeth too big for his young jaws. But when Uncle
Voris told them what had happened, Ivan grinned no more. He cried instead, and so did Rissa. She
also threw up her dinner.
On assignment, covering a Total Welfare Center riot, David and Selene had been taken hostage.
When Colonel Osbert Newhausen ordered his Committee troops to gas the entire block-building, they
had been killed with the rest. Tri-V had not shown that incident.
One arm around each child, Voris said, "It happens; they knew the risks. Those murderers-there's
no safety anymore." His arms tightened. "But don't worry. I'll take care of you."
He stayed the night, sleeping with a child held close on either side. Rissa slept with an arm
across his body, holding Ivan's hand.
THE door buzzer, next morning, interrupted breakfast. Voris admitted a stocky, uniformed woman.
She brushed unruly graying hair back from her eyes and said, "Welfare Agent Compter. I have a
pickup order for two kids-Ivan Marchant and Rissa Kerguelen. These them?"
"Wait a minute! You can't do that-these are my sister's children. I-"
"You're the uncle?" She presented a document. "Here's the pickup-read it and sign it. Or don't,
for all I care. Consent isn't legally necessary-just makes it neater."
Voris began a violent motion, then checked it and took the papers. "Hold on a minute, will you,
Ms. Compter? I said
these children are my sister's. I'm ready and willing to take the responsibility, so your good
offices aren't required."
She took back the folder, thumbed through it. "Voris Ker-guelen?" He nodded. She shook her head.
"You know better than that, Kerguelen. It says here-not married, oldstyle or freestyle-authorized
bachelor quarters only, no children allowed. What do you think you're trying to pull here?"
"Damn it, I can \iget\i married. Or arrange for child care. I-"
"It won't work-the kids aren't yours and you can't afford it. So sign the pickup or don't, but
quit holding up my schedule. I'm busy, even if you're not."
Rissa looked from one to the other, not understanding, and began to cry. Ivan came to hold her,
and Voris to hold them both. He said, "Compter-can't you give me some time? Schedules-" He shook
his head. "Sure-I know. But these are \ichildren-and\i Total Welfare is no more than legalized
slavery. I can' t let you-''
Flat-voiced; "You can't stop me. And watch your mouth, Kerguelen-or you could be next. Total
Welfare is an accepted principle; when the government takes over all your debts and
responsibilities and provides subsistence, what more can you ask?"
Voris's fists clenched. "Did you ever hear of choice? \iThat's\i what I ask-for these children.
In your hands they'll never have it."
The woman sneered, but spoke formally. "As you well know, when Clients are old enough to be sent
out to work, their earnings go into their personal accounts. Thrifty Clients who pay off their
obligations and achieve a positive balance have the right to buy out at any time."
"If they don't eat! How many ever make it?" He shook his head. "No-the only ones who ever get
out are the few who win big in the lottery."
"We can't help it that these people are basically lazy. That's the \ireason\i for Total
Welfare."
"If you say so." He leaned forward. "And how many are on it now? Fifteen percent? Twenty? The
way it's growing, you'd think UET wanted \ieveryone\i Welfared."
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (2 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
Without expression she looked at him. "That's not such a
\c• 3 •
\cbad idea, Kerguelen-within limits, not bad at all. And the percentage is nearly thirty. Now-are
you going to sign or aren't you?"
He held up a hand. "Wait-you pushed me too fast-I wasn't thinking. What about my sister's
estate, and her husband's? I'm executor of their wills; surely I'm authorized to use the money for
the children's care. So-"
Compter laughed. "Estates? Those two were charged and convicted of helping instigate the riot.
Their assets are forfeit."
"Damn you! I'll appeal that-and sue in the children's name for damages, for their parents'
deaths. You'll see-"
"I see you're as reckless as you are ignorant. Do whatever you please-\iafter\i I get these kids
to the Center, where they belong."
Voris squatted to hold both children tightly. "All right. Ivan-Rissa-you'll have to go with Ms.
Compter now. But it won't be for any longer than I can help." He stood again. "Very well. I'll get
their things together-it won't take long."
"They take nothing." She unzipped her tote bag. "Get them out of those clothes, into these
jumpsuits and sandals. That's all they need, where they're going."
Saying nothing, Ivan exchanged his clothing for the shapeless blue-gray garment. Voris undressed
Rissa, but as he fastened the jumpsuit, she reached out.
"My pretty dress!" Voris looked at the woman; she shook her head and put the dress aside. Rissa
evaded Compter's reaching hand and ran to a closet; when she turned back to the room, she held a
doll. "My dolly-I \ineed\i my dolly."
"Take it away from her, Kerguelen."
Voris gestured, entreating. "But a doll-just \ione\i doll? \iWhy?"\i
"No personal possessions. The others steal them; it causes fights." Voris did not move. Compter
shrugged and slapped the small girl, then took the doll and tossed it away. Voris started toward
the woman; she laughed. "Touch me and you're Welfared-you know that."
Tears wet Rissa's cheeks. Compter said, "Come on, crybaby."
\c. 4 .
\c"She is not!" Ivan's voice raised. "Don't call her that! She hardly ever cries."
Fists clenched, Voris said, "She's always been ... a happy child."
"Then she shouldn't have much trouble adjusting. All right-let's go."
Voris crouched before Rissa, hands cupped near his chest. "Rissa? Look, Rissa." She stopped
crying and nodded. "Rissa, this is a pretend doll. See how I hold her? Now I'm going to give her
to you, and nobody can ever take her away."
He reached out, and Rissa did; and then it was she who held the doll-sized space of air. "What's
her name, Uncle Voris?"
"You name her, Rissa."
"All right." She thought. "She's Selene-like Mommy."
Foot tapping, Compter opened the door. Voris kissed both children and let them go. When he would
have followed, the woman shook her head. Rissa looked back and saw him standing, gaze downcast.
She waved, but he did not look up.
Then the door closed.
FIRST the familiar corridor, then a moving walkway, then an elevator that sank past many levels to
a vast, dimly lit space. Rissa and Ivan followed the woman past massive concrete pillars to one of
many parked groundcars, and entered it. Compter drove along aisleways and up a spiral ramp to
outdoor sunlight.
They rode for a long time, but Rissa paid little heed to what they passed. Softly, under her
breath, she hummed-and in her arms she rocked Selene.
The car slowed. Rissa looked outside and saw they were approaching six massive, grouped
buildings, each covering a city block, and connected by enclosed overhead bridges. She saw no
windows, only blank slabs colored blue-gray, slightly darker than her jumpsuit.
High fences blocked the perimeter streets; a guard checked them through a gate. Compter drove to
the second building on
\c• 5 •
\cthe right, parked and took the children inside-through a lobby, along a large hall and then to a
smaller one, and into an office.
Behind a desk sat a fat man whose voice wheezed. Before Compter could speak he said, "Wrong
place. Admissions- Division Male, Juvenile, Prepube-that's in 7-A. Female, 9-C. Down to your left
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (3 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
and-"
"I know how to find the rooms. I've been on other work lately and didn't know they'd moved
Admissions."
As though she had thanked him, the fat man waved a hand and said, "Anytime." She nodded and
walked out; the children followed.
In another room, Compter handed papers to a slim black woman. She said, "Ivan Marchant. His
docket's in order."
Surprising Rissa, this woman smiled. "All right, Ivan- we'll get you a physical exam and have
you settled in no time."
Compter's hand on Rissa's shoulder. "Come on."
Rissa pulled away. "No! I have to be with Ivan!" She ran to hug him.
"But you can't, honey," the black woman said. "Boys and girls live in different divisions."
Rissa looked at her, made an effort, and did not cry. She kissed her brother and turned to go.
Ivan called after her. "I'll come see you, Rissa. I'll make them let me!" Then she was in the
hall, the door closed behind her.
Along the hall, up flights of stairs to another office-the man Compter greeted was thin, pale-
faced, and red-haired. Unsmiling, he looked from papers to Rissa and said, "It's all in order."
With a nod Compter turned away, giving Rissa no word or look. When she had gone, the man said,
"Five, are you? Young enough to adjust. This time next year, you won't know you ever lived
anyplace else." Rissa clenched her jaw, thinking, \iNo! I'll never forget .'-but\i she said
nothing.
A brown-haired woman, plump in white uniform, took Rissa to another room. White uniforms meant
doctors and nurses, so Rissa was not surprised to be undressed while the woman looked and
listened, touched her with cold instru-
ments, and felt and thumped here and there. When she was dressed again, the woman finished marking
a sheet of paper and said, "You'll do." She called a younger woman in. "Take her up to Dorm
Eighteen, will you, Theda? Is she in time for dinner there?"
Theda took papers in one hand and Rissa's hand in the other. "I think so. I'll see that she gets
something." They walked out; an elevator took them up several floors to an anteroom that led to a
larger room filled with cots. The woman sat and typed on a small card. "This is your nametag. Can
you read your name? We'll put it on the head of your cot."
"I can read."
"Good." She patted Rissa's head. "Now sit here a minute and then we'll assign you a bed and go
get you something to eat." Rissa sat. Theda opened a drawer and brought out an electric clipper.
"Hold still now." And very quickly she clipped Rissa's hair-not to bare scalp, but closely. "All
right; let's go."
Rissa's head felt cool; she put her hand to it and felt the short growth, at the borderline
between bristle and softness. She did not look at the wastebasket, where Theda had dropped the two
long pigtails.
She followed the woman past rows of cots and saw her nametag affixed to one, then to a dining
hall filled with long tables. Other small girls in jumpsuits ate silently at those tables. Rissa
looked at them; their clipped heads, ears seeming to protrude, were ugly to her. Then, in a
polished metal tray, she saw her own reflection.
Theda filler her tray and sat her at a table. "You'll be all right now; the other girls will
show you where everything is." And the woman left. Rissa sat, staring at the tray so that she
would not have to look at anything else.
She did not eat; she was concentrating totally on not crying. The girl next to her whispered,
"Aren't you hungry? You'd better eat." She shook her head, and the other girl quickly exchanged
her empty tray for Rissa's full one.
After the meal Rissa followed the others' lead-putting her tray with theirs, following when some
visited the washroom
\c. 7 .
\cand, although she thought she knew the way, back to the dormitory and her own cot. There she
lay, saying nothing, staring at the ceiling until the lights were extinguished.
Only then, in the dark, she turned on her side and curled up into the smallest, tightest space
she could manage. Holding her head in both hands she cried herself to sleep.
THE Center was a simple world; Rissa's first day set a pattern for the endless time that followed.
Dormitory Eighteen was one of many, each housing forty girls aged four to twelve. The older ones
told the younger what to do and brusquely helped them when necessary; Rissa saw few adult
supervisors.
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (4 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
Thrice a day she was fed. After breakfast she was first instructed and then given practice in
such skills as scrubbing blue-gray walls and brown floors. After lunch she was free to play in the
bare gymnasium or watch Tri-V in the auditorium. She liked Tri-V because nowhere else did she see
printed words; she had been reading for a year and was proud of the ability. She was less fond of
the play group because there some of the older girls bossed the younger ones, teasing them or
forcing them into unwelcome competitions. When one such, from a different dormitory, tried to
coerce Rissa, she ran away and shunned the gymnasium for several days. When she did return, the
other paid her no attention.
After dinner, when the dormitory lights had gone dark, Rissa lay wrapped in her one blanket on
the plastic mattress. It was then, before she went to sleep, that she cuddled and crooned softly
to Selene, the pretend doll that Voris had given her.
EVERY seventh day, after lunch, her dormitory group left jumpsuits on the cots and marched down
the hall to showers.
Before every fourth shower, the forty girls waited in line for their hair to be clipped to short
plush.
TWICE, Voris visited her. The first time .she was called to the anteroom to meet him, he dropped
to his knees, hugged her and cried, repeating her name. Then he said, "I don't know how long it's
going to take-the lawsuit to get you and Ivan out of here. The government-it's stalling, of course-
is looking for grounds to Welfare \ime.\i If I don't come back sometime, you'll know they've
succeeded." He blinked tears away and smiled. "But that won't kill the lawsuit, honey-my lawyer's
tied it in with nearly a hundred others, on a class-action basis."
She did not understand, and asked only, "Where's Ivan?"
"Only one building away-Division Male, Juvenile, Pre-pube. I saw him, Rissa; I just came from
there. He says to tell you he loves you."
"Tell him I love \iMm,\i too!"
"I already did."
"Why can't I \isee\i him?"
"I've asked, but they stalled me. Next time I'll ask again." They talked a little longer. He
said, "Do you still have . . . Selene?"
She smiled. "Oh, yes! I do-and thank you, Uncle Voris!"
He kissed her and left. Her days continued as before; she did not see Ivan, nor hear of him.
When Voris came again, she had almost forgotten that there was such a thing as the outdoors-but
only almost, for she tried very hard to remember all that she could. And each night before sleep
came, she repeated to Selene as much as she could recall.
This time she sat on Voris's lap. When she asked of Ivan, he said, "They wouldn't let me see
him. Said he was in punishment status, whatever that means. They wouldn't say, but it can't be too
serious-he's only eight. Next time-" Then, in a voice that raised prickles on Rissa's spine, he
said, "There's a
\c• 9 •
\cname-I'm going to tell you, and you must never forget. Newhausen-Colonel Osbert Newhausen. Rissa-
can you remember?"
She frowned. "Newhausen?" She was no longer sure of her memory. "Just a minute, Uncle Voris."
She jumped down, ran to the dormitory, and brought back the nametag from her cot. "Write it down
for me? On the back of this?" He took the card; she saw him print the name carefully. She repeated
it and said, "Why do I have to remember that?"
"This is the man who killed your mommy and daddy-Selene and David-so that you were put in here,
and Ivan where he is." Voris sighed. "Rissa-it's a lot to ask of a little girl. But if I and the
others fail-perhaps someday you'll get the chance to pay him back for all of it." She was not sure
she understood but unsmiling, she nodded.
When he left she returned the nametag to its place, and that night she told Selene about Colonel
Osbert Newhausen. "You have to help me remember, Selene-will you?"
Voris did not come again, nor did she see Ivan. She asked older girls about seeing her brother,
and then an adult supervisor who told her, "I don't have the authority. Mr. Croutch does."
Rissa nodded. "All right. Can I ask him?"
"He doesn't come here."
"Then how-?"
"I'll put in the request for you. But don't expect anything."
RISSA ate and slept, worked and played and watched Tri-V, and at dark she talked to Selene. Her
jumpsuit wore out and became too small; she was issued a larger one. By accident she learned a way
to touch herself so as to feel excited, and then relaxed; every night, after she told Selene
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (5 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
goodnight, she did this.
Some of the girls, she saw, had friends. But Rissa had never had any friend but Ivan.
\c• 10 •
\cIN the windowless Center, Rissa knew no seasons; time passed uncounted. One afternoon in the
gymnasium she wrenched her ankle and limped back to lie on her cot alone. She was dozing when the
new chief supervisor, a middle-aged woman, brought in a small, crying girl. Rissa sat up, yawning.
The woman said, "Can you take care of this one for a while?" And, as Rissa nodded, "What's your
name? How old are you?"
"Rissa Kerguelen. I'm five."
The woman shook her head. "You're older than that."
"No-my last birthday, I was five. I remember." " "But-oh, never mind. Here-take this kid-talk to
her or something. Somebody's scared her." The woman turned away, then looked back. "You're a hell
of a lot older than five; I know that much."
When the woman was gone Rissa considered the crying child-small, with big ears and a thin face
below the freshly clipped blonde hair. She ran her hand over the plushlike texture and tipped the
little girl's face up to look at her.
"I'm Rissa. What's your name?"
The child gulped, hiccupping. She shook her head. "I want Ladygirl!" Again she cried. Rissa drew
the small form to her-clasping, cuddling, putting the head to her shoulder and stroking it.
"Who's Ladygirl?"
"My best dolly-they said-they said I could have her!"
Remembering, Rissa thought, \ithey lied to her, to keep her quiet until they got her here.
That'seven worse than ...\i
She shifted the child off her lap and sat her on the cot, turned to face her. "Look," she said,
and placed her arms and hands to hold Selene. Back and forth she rocked Voris's gift.
"What are you doing ... Rissa?" Then; "I-I'm Elena."
"All right, Elena." She continued rocking. "Now maybe Ladygirl can't get here for a while-you
see? But right here-" She patted Selene's head. "-I have a pretend doll.
\c• 11 •
\cHer name's Selene. My uncle Voris gave her to me, and nobody can ever take her away from me."
Elena's eyes were huge. Rissa thought, \iI know it's only pretend-but I can't give Selene away!\i
So she said, "Would you like to hold her for me?" Elena nodded. Rissa moved to make the transfer.
"Be careful, now-don't drop her."
"I won't." Carefully Elena held air as though it were substance. Rocking, she crooned to what
she held. Her voice sounded sleepy.
Rissa spoke. "Why don't you take a nap with her? You don't have a cot yet, do you?" Elena shook
her head. "All right; you can use mine."
Soon Elena slept. When the supervisor came in, Rissa put finger to lip. The woman nodded and
beckoned. Limping not so much now, Rissa followed to her office.
"I see you handled her all right; thanks. Here's her nametag; pick any vacant cot you like."
Rissa nodded. "Now, then, sit down." She sat. "What's the idea of telling me you're only five
years old? I looked it up-you're eight, almost nine."
Rissa shook her head. "No. How could I be? I haven't had any birthdays, and-"
"Of course you've had birthdays! Three of them, since you came here."
"Nobody ever told me ..."
Eyes narrowed, the woman said, "Why, you're telling the truth, aren't you?" And frowning now,
"I'm new here-I don't know all the problems-but that's ridiculous. It \ican't\i be all that much
extra work to keep track of the dates so you kids could sing 'Happy Birthday' for each other. I'll
put it up to the Director." She paused. "What happens here at Christmas? Anything?"
"No-there isn't any Christmas here, I think."
"Hmmm-well, maybe I couldn't swing that one; funds \iare\i short. But I'll ask." She stood and
held out her hand; Rissa rose and grasped it. "I'm Natalie Kimbrough. Anything you want to know,
come and ask me.''
"Could-can I see my brother Ivan? I haven't, since \i'..\i."
-"Ivan Kerguelen? How old is he?"
\c\b• 12 •\b
\c"Ivan Marchant. He's-he was eight when I was five."
"Do you know your birthdays?"
Rissa shook her head. "No. I did, but I forgot."
"Then he could be either Prepube or Postpube by now. I'll
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (6 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
check, and let you know."
"Thank you, Natalie Kimbrough. Uh-should I go now?" "All right-no, wait a minute. You're old
enough to be
helping with the younger ones. Have you been?" "No. Not much, anyway." "Why haven't you? You seem
to be good at it." Rissa shrugged. "I just-I don't talk a lot, I guess." "I see. Well-will you
take care of little what's-her-name?" "Elena? All right." "Good. Okay-maybe you'd better hop to it
now." And as
Rissa left, for the first time she smiled at a Welfare supervisor.
SHE affixed Elena's nametag to a vacant cot near her own and turned to find the child awake,
watching her. "Here's your cot. I put your name on it-see?"
A nod. The little girl rose, still holding Selene, and moved to her place. Rissa thought, and
said, "Here-I'll have to put Selene back now, where she's used to sleeping." Elena whimpered, and
Rissa said, "-but you can have her \isister."\i The small girl quieted. "Here-let me put Selene to
bed before she wakes up and cries. Then I'll bring you, uh-"
\i"Who,\i Rissa?"
"Oh! We haven't named her yet. She's very young." Rissa pantomimed the taking, the laying down
of one, then the picking up and transfer of the other. "What would \iyou\i like to name her?"
Brows wrinkled above Elena's small face. "I think- Ladygirl!"
"But-" Then Rissa realized that Elena \iknew.\i She said no more.
\c\b13\b
\cRISSA adopted Elena as her charge, and suddenly found herself talking more with other girls of
her own age and older, mostly in regard to their young wards. It was from a twelve-year-old,
suddenly transferred to Postpube, that she informally inherited small Marie. Marie, dark and
chubby, seemed content to be Elena's shadow; Rissa was equally content to leave it at that.
In the dining hall Natalie Kimbrough hung a large page-per-day calendar; onto each child's
nametag she stuck a tiny replica of the appropriate birthday page. Few could read but all could
memorize the sticker and recognize, at breakfast, the calendar page that matched it. Each girl-had
the responsibility of announcing her own birthday, so as to be sung to by the rest at dinner.
In Natalie Kimbrough's office: "Rissa-about your brother -I tried, but no permission. First,
he's in Postpube; that makes it tougher. Worse, every time I ask he's in punishment or on
probation and can't have visitors-or messages, even. I'm afraid the boy isn't doing too well."
"But if I could see him-I could \itell\i him, don't do things and get punished. I-"
"I know-but that's not the way they work it here."
ONE morning, short of Rissa's own birthday, the calendar was gone. She went to Natalie Kimbrough's
office; a stranger greeted her.
"Kimbrough? She's not here any more. A troublemaker, she was. But I'm putting a stop to all
that." The woman scowled. "And what did \iyou\i want with her?"
Rissa thought fast. \iTroublemaker?\i "I-I was just supposed to report whether Elena and Marie
were getting over their colds. They are-they're fine now."
"All right. You-whatever your name is-get back to work."
Rissa went. And now again, as before the time of Natalie Kimbrough, she stayed well clear of the
supervisor's office.
\c\b• 14 •\b
\cBut she could now, after a fashion, count time. She could name the months and knew how many
days made a year. She stole a pencil-her very first theft-and along the inside of her cot's frame
she listed months and days.
She knew her calendar was not exact. She was not sure which months were longer; to fill out her
year, she assigned them thirty days or thirty-one at random. And she was uncertain of the exact
time-lapse between the loss of the large calendar and the beginning of her own-five days? Eight?
She settled for a week and began from there.
But \iher\i year did not run January-to-December. She began it with her birthday. And since she
had forgotten the date of Christmas she put it at the end of her year, giving her two consecutive
personal holidays to share with Elena, Marie, Selene, Ladygirl and-Marie's pretend doll, Selene's
\iother\i sister- Samantha.
So when Rissa first bled-her breasts as yet hardly noticeable-she knew she was eleven, nearly
twelve. She also knew she must report the occurrence or be punished when it was discovered. She
was frightened because girls who bled were taken to Postpube and did not return, even to visit.
But no one had said they were punished, so-after saying good-bye to her two young friends and
seeing them safely in charge of another girl-she went to the chief supervisor.
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (7 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
She pointed to her stained jumpsuit. "I've started."
He nodded, unsmiling, and rose. "Come with me."
"My papers?"
"I'll see to them. And you don't need to return to the dormitory; you own nothing there." So she
followed him, down corridors and up stairs she had never seen, to a door marked "Surgery."
\c• 15 •
\cInside the first room-green walls, a carpet on the floor-behind a desk sat a woman with
undipped hair. She looked at Rissa. "Tubal ligs, right? All over before it begins."
"Probably. But this one-I checked-she's named in that old recovery lawsuit. So use the magnetic
sections, just in case. Not much chance, of course, but there's no point in giving the Underground
any more to make a stink about, than we can help."
The woman snorted. "All right, if you say so. You sign the authorization, though. \iI'm\i not
financing any reversibles."
Rissa understood none of it. The supervisor left; the woman took her to another room. Soon she
was on a table with a cone over her face, fighting to breathe. When she woke, her belly hurt.
She lay on a cot in a strange dormitory, almost like the one she knew except that the cots were
larger. And so were the girls-some of them she knew from before. So she knew she was in Section
Female, Juvenile, Postpubertal.
She remembered the tall, pale girl-Sandra?-yes-who came to stand by her bed. "Rissa, isn't it?
Hadn't expected you so soon. How you feeling?"
Rissa touched the blanket over her belly. "It hurts. What did they do?"
"You're sterilized, that's all. Like the rest of us."
"What's sterilized? Why do they-"
"So we won't ever have babies. They cut out something so we can't. Too many of us already, they
say.''
"Oh." As Sandra walked away, Rissa thought, / \ididn't want any babies anyway-not in here. And I
don't need any. I've got-\i
But she hadn't! Now she realized-she had left Selene on her old cot! She formed her arms into
cuddling embrace and whispered, "It's pretend-she can be \ihere,\i just as easy." But no matter
how she willed it, there was no Selene. Nor could she now conjure a substitute.
Fatigue overcame her. Before sleep, her last thought was: \iWhoever gets my cot, I hope she'll
know Selene's there-and be good to her....
• 16\i
\c
\cHER belly's soreness eased; the bandages came off. She was left with minor scarring, and
gradually it faded to whiteness.
She had lived with children; now she was among adolescents. And adult supervisors were more in
evidence. Emil Gerard, chief supervisor in Postpube, was a fattish man. He smiled a great deal,
but the smile did not reach his eyes or voice.
She learned new tasks. Among them, once a week she dusted Gerard's office, early in the morning
before he arrived. In that office were wall and desk calendars-she discovered and corrected the
errors in her own. Her accumulated discrepancy, she found, was only six days.
Some things here differed from Prepube. Not many girls used this gymnasium. Rissa did not mind-
she liked to run, and here she had more room and fewer obstacles.
Missing Selene's solace she needed others to talk to, and became less solitary. Sandra, fat
Eloise, a black girl named Delia-these came to be, if not friends, her closest acquaintances. The
four shared rumor and gossip and minor conspiracies against Authority-such as smuggling tidbits
from dinner for late snacks.
One night Sandra came to Rissa's cot. "Let me show you something," she began to touch Rissa in
the way Rissa liked to touch herself. "Have you done this before?"
"Only by myself."
"Do it to me, too." Rissa did. After a time, Sandra stopped. "That's enough. Wasn't it good?"
"I guess so. But not like it is when I do it myself."
"Oh. Well, here-maybe \ithis\i is better." But to Rissa it was not. And when the next night's
attempt also failed, Sandra did not try again.
\c\b17\b
\cRISSA was fourteen when the epidemic struck. She was one of the last to succumb. Several had
died, she knew, so the illness terrified her. Fever racked her, and delirium; she dreamed of
horror and was not sure of reality. Once she thought she saw Gerard and heard him ask an
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (8 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
attendant, "This one-you think she'll live?"
"I doubt it, sir. She's pretty bad."
"That's all. You can go." The other left; Gerard locked the door and pulled a screen to shield
Rissa's cot. Then he removed his garments and climbed atop Rissa-and now she knew it was real
enough. He angered her so with pain that she set her mind and refused to die.
When she recovered and next saw Gerard she feared his look. "How are you feeling?" he said.
"Stronger?"
"Yes. But I cannot remember anything-except such terrible dreams." He nodded and turned away,
and then she felt safer.
Now she was old enough to be sent outside, carrying a date-stamped Welfare pass, to work. The
first day, waiting with her group, she listened carefully. The speaker, a Client from Section
Female, Adult, began, "Most of you are new so I'll tell you the rules. First, stay with the group
and do \inot\i lose your passes. Or your lunchbags-our employers don't feed us and it's a long
haul from breakfast to dinner. If you ever do get lost, ask the nearest freeperson to call the
number marked on your pass. You'll be picked up-and punished, of course, enough so you'll be more
careful next time."
Her lopsided grin lacked humor. "Anyone who's thinking of running away-and hell, I \iknow\i some
of you are-forget it." She touched her head, then her jumpsuit. "There's no refuge on this
continent for Welfare haircuts and Welfare clothes. And when you're brought back, you're
\ireally\i punished."
She looked back and forth across the group, keeping her gaze on someone to Rissa's left.
"Anytime I give this talk, I
\c\b• 18 •\b
\ccan spot the smart ones. You're thinking; steal a wig, steal a dress. Sure-it's been done. Steal
some money, even-right? But where are you going to steal a freeperson's ID with \iyour\i
fingerprints on it, sealed in plastic?" She shook her head. "No-don't try it. I'm no Welfare toady-
I hate this place and make no secret of it. That's why you can believe me when I say there's no
way out. Because if there were, \iI'd\i be out."
Rissa did not hear the question, but the woman's answering laugh held even less humor than her
grin. "The Underground? I wouldn't know. I tried to get in contact with it-never mind why. That's
what put me in here-turned out I was talking to an undercover Committee agent instead.
"All right; the bus should be ready. Let's go."
The work, that day and most later ones, was scrubbing, washing-any task freepersons would not
perform for the pittance Total Welfare charged. Working outside had advantages -Rissa knew that
each day meant a small credit to her Welfare account. And she enjoyed seeing different places,
outside the Center-and morning and evening, from the bus, the almost-forgotten outdoors!
There was one disadvantage. In the Center her afternoons were free. Outside work occupied the
entire day.
She did not go every day. Employers' demands varied, and when fewer workers were needed they
were chosen at random or-sometimes-allowed to volunteer. Rissa's choice, when given it, depended
on how recently she had had a free afternoon. But the occasional change of routine helped relieve
monotony.
ONE morning Gerard summoned her. "I need more singles." Not understanding, Rissa said, nothing.
"Girls to go work by themselves, not in groups." She nodded. "I hear you're a good worker-no
trouble. The problem is, we give you a pass on public transit, but how much of the city do you
know? How much information do you need, to be able to find an address?"
\c
\c"If you could show me on a map ..."
"That's no good. We'd have to teach you to read first."
She shook her head. "No. I can read."
"Oh, a few words, I suppose-off the Tri-V. But \ireally\i read? There's no way you could have
learned that."
"I always could. From before I was here, I mean."
He leafed through some papers, chose one and handed it to her. "Here. Read that to me."
Stumbling over a few unfamiliar words, she did so. He took the paper back.
"You should have told someone-you could be doing more valuable work. Come with me; we'll have to
test you."
She followed him down two levels to a small, brightly colored office. There a short Oriental man
heard Gerard's instructions. "Test the reading level and general intelligence. She can't know any
math, but she might have the aptitude. We're too short of help to waste brains with any kind of
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%2...g%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (9 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt
head start." The man nodded and Gerard left.
"Sit down, please. I'm Doctor Otaka. And you are ... ?"
"RissaKerguelen."
"Age? And how long have you been in Welfare?" She told him; he began to ask another question,
then said, "No, never mind-that's all in your file. Gerard forgot to bring it, but I can check
later." He smiled-a real smile-Rissa remembered Natalie Kimbrough.
He said, "Reading level, eh? A rare request these days. What else can you do? Anything with
numbers?"
"I can-I can add and subtract. I used to know how to multiply, but I forgot. I was just starting
to learn division when they came and took me-took me and Ivan ..."
"Ivan?"
"My brother. They've never let me see him. Could you-"
He shook his head. "Not a chance. Last year, maybe. But the new chief in Division, Male, is a
real pile-with barnacles!
"Now, then." He shoved papers at her, and a pencil. "Can you read the directions all right? "
She looked. "Yes."
"Then go ahead. Starting-\inow."\i
Not quite understanding the purpose but willing to oblige,
\c\b20\b
\cshe read, wrote, read and wrote again. When she was done, Otaka said, "You're fast. Finished
with three minutes to spare. Now, then-do you know what an intelligence test is?"
She thought. "When I was four-matching patterns, putting pegs in holes."
"Well, this one is a little different."
And it was. Written questions, each with five answers from which to choose. Some she did not
understand at all; some she comprehended vaguely; many were clear to her. At last she said, "I
don't think I can answer any more of it. Was I fast again?"
He smiled. "Yes, somewhat. And now it's time for lunch."
"All right. I can find my way there. Should I come back? Is there any more you want me to do?"
He looked at his watch. "Actually, it's past time to eat at your dining room,"
She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I've missed lunch before -I'm not very hungry."
"No, no! We'll have no work on empty stomachs. I intended, anyway-you'll lunch with me in the
staff dining room."
Dubiously, "I don't think they'll like that."
"I'm conducting tests and you're my subject-enough said. Come along."
She did, and although uneasy in the strange circumstance, enjoyed the food, the unfamiliar
variety and flavors. The meat and some vegetables were quite new to her, but she asked no
questions.
Afterward, again in Otaka's office, he said, "Would you mind doing a few more series? I'd like
to establish a psychological profile."
"I don't know what that means, but all right."
"Well, I'm studying the effects of the Welfare environment, especially on children." He smiled
again. "That's not much better, is it? Let's just say I'm trying to learn about people and I'd
like you to help me. But you don't \ihave\i to-this is my own idea, not Gerard's orders."
"Sure. Sure-I'll help \iyou."\i And it was along three hours
\c• 21 •
\cbefore Rissa was done with the succession of tests. When she left, what most surprised her was
the doctor's handshake as he said good-bye.
WHEN Gerard next called her he said only, "You're too smart for scutwork. You're going to save me
some money." He turned to the woman at a smaller desk, a woman whose hair was undipped and who
wore a bright dress. "Rissa, this is Elva Sommrech, my aide. Elva, as soon as you teach Rissa
enough to handle your desk, you're free to take that promotion over in Prepube."
Sommrech's high-arched eyebrows disappeared under heavy brown bangs. "A little for me, a lot for
you? Oh, no, Emil-I want a percentage! How about a third?"
Gerard frowned. \i"In private,\i Elma!"
"What's the difference? She'll have access to the records -and see you have her coded as paid
staff, not as a Client." She shook a finger at him. "I want my cut." .
He shrugged. "I don't pay blackmail. If the promotion isn't enough for you, we'll drop the whole
thing."
After a frowning pause, Sommrech grinned. "What the hell-it was worth a try. Excuse me a minute,
file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%...%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txt (10 of 80) [7/14/2004 3:21:59 PM]
摘要：

file:///C|/WINDOWS/Desktop/Incoming/Busby,%20F.%20M%20-%20L....%20M%20-%20Long%20View%2002%20-%20Young%20Rissa%20v1.0.txtiBerkleyBooksbyF.M.BusbyiTHERISSAKERGUELENSAGAcYOUNGRISSARISSAANDTREGARETHELONGVIEWcBOOKONEOFTHERISSAKERGUELENSAGAF.M.BUSBYBERKLEYBOOKS,NEWYORKciYoungKissa,Rissaand...

展开>> 收起<<
Busby, F M - Long View 2 - Young Rissa.pdf

共80页,预览16页

还剩页未读， 继续阅读

声明：本站为文档C2C交易模式，即用户上传的文档直接被用户下载，本站只是中间服务平台，本站所有文档下载所得的收益归上传人(含作者)所有。玖贝云文库仅提供信息存储空间，仅对用户上传内容的表现方式做保护处理，对上载内容本身不做任何修改或编辑。若文档所含内容侵犯了您的版权或隐私，请立即通知玖贝云文库，我们立即给予删除！

相关推荐

更多
立即下载
分类：外语学习 价格：5.9玖币 属性：80 页 大小：277.16KB 格式：PDF 时间：2024-12-16

开通VIP享超值会员特权

  • 多端同步记录
  • 高速下载文档
  • 免费文档工具
  • 分享文档赚钱
  • 每日登录抽奖
  • 优质衍生服务

作者详情

相关内容

更多

热门标签

人际关系 配电装置 动力学连接体 力的合成 高考理综 全宋诗作者索引 公务员考试
/ 80
评分 收藏
分享
立即下载 VIP免费下载
客服
关注