Born to Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

mind further at ease, the program you’d be going into involves the study of neural integration, which, in lay terms, deals with the amount—percentage-wise—of your brain that you utilize while doing a variety of tasks—from ditch-digging to complex calculus.” He smiled. “And sometimes we’ll ask you to combine the two tosee what happens when you multitask. Bottom line, Lieutenant, we’ll run a lot of tests on you. You might get a little tired of all the medical scans, but we don’t use markers—drugs—for any of ’em. In fact, we use no drugs at all in your particular program. It’ll be in your release form—our guarantee. And you’re free, during the course of your stay with us, to get a scan from an outside medical facility to verify that. We’ll cover the cost of one, but after that, you’ll have to pay out of pocket.”
    “Fair enough,” Shane said.
    “We’ve got a bed ready for you,” Zerkowski told him. “Also FYI, you’re exactly what we want in this latest group of test subjects, so please join us. Admission is from oh-six-hundred to noon, with an orientation session at thirteen hundred hours. Right after a delicious lunch. Try to arrive early—housing is assigned on a first come, first served basis, and some of our apartments are … pretty lovely.”
    The slide show was still quietly running in the upper left corner of Shane’s monitor, and as if on cue, the picture changed to a view of what was, indeed, a very lovely apartment with a rich-looking leather sofa, upon which a young woman sat beside a little girl—both of them all smiles.
Family housing available
, Shane read.
    “Good to know,” he told the doctor.
    “Although we could probably manage to find room for you tonight, if you need a place to stay …?”
    “No,” Shane said, “thanks, but …”
    “Lockdown jitters.” Zerkowski smiled. “People hear that word,
lockdown
, and they think draconian conditions, last night of freedom, et cetera, et cetera. I get it. But while we don’t allow nonprescription drugs in the compound, we
do
have an on-site lounge that serves alcohol, including some pretty fine wine. You’ll get credit for a single drink a day—a half-bottle if wine’s your thing. You want more than that, again, you gotta pay for it. And as far as the food goes, it’s really quite good. I’ve been eating here for the past seven years, living here for the past three, and—”
    Shane cut him off. “I’m sorry, but my time’s running out and I have another question—”
    “Oh, no,
I’m
sorry,” Zerkowski said, reaching forward again to type something into his computer. “I should have realized. Better?”
    The time-clock on the comm-station monitor was now frozen at fifty-eight seconds.
    “Thanks,” Shane said.
    “So how can I help you?” Zerkowski asked, still with that friendly smile on his face.
    Shane just said it. Point-blank. “I’m blacklisted.” The word still left a bitter taste in his mouth, despite the fact that, if pressed, he’d do the exact same thing all over again. “I was kicked out of the Navy—a dishonorable discharge.” No point in saying more than that, in trying to explain what had happened, in attempting to justify what he’d done.
    But Zerkowski’s expression didn’t change. “We’re aware of that. We have access to your military records.” He shook his head. “We don’t believe in blacklisting. A good candidate’s a good candidate.” He smiled again. “Besides, who are we going to piss off by ignoring the blacklists—that we aren’t
already
royally pissing off? You know what I’m saying …? With our pesky scientific facts and all that …?”
    Shane couldn’t make light of it. “It’s a serious deal. My presence could jeopardize your funding—”
    “Our funding’s secure,” Zerkowski said. He smiled again at Shane’s obvious disbelief. “Our founder is Dr. Jennifer Obermeyer, the same Dr. Obermeyer who invented the Obermeyer medical