Cyteen: The Betrayal Read Online Free PDF Page B

to understand, in our science, there’s a particularly difficult constraint: the scientist himself has to live long enough to draw his conclusions; and Dr. Emory is not young, Every azi experimentation takes at least fifteen years. The Rubin project is going to take at least twenty. You see the difficulty. She has to take some small risks.”
    “Health problems?” Corain said quietly, recollecting the subtle change in skin tone, the loss of weight. Rejuv lasted an unpredictable number of years. Once it started to lose its effect-problems started. And aging set in with a vengeance.
    Warrick’s eyes left his. He was not going to answer that question frankly, Corain reckoned before he said anything. He had pressed too closely.
    “Mortality is an increasing concern,” Warrick said, “for anyone her age, in our field. It’s what I said: the time the projects take.”
    “What’s your estimate of this project?” Gorodin asked.
    “It’s very, very important to her: all her theories, understand, all her personal work, her work on endocrine systems and genetics, on psychstructures-lead toward this.”
    “She’s a Special. She can requisition damn near anything she needs-“
    “Except the Special status that would protect her subject from what happened to Bok. I agree with her on the matter of not using someone inside Reseune. The clone will be at Reseune, but not Rubin. Rubin is young. That’s a prerequisite. He’s brilliant, he was born on a station, and every move he’s ever made down to buying a drink out of a machine is there in station records. He was also born with an immune deficiency, and there are extensive medical records that go back to his infancy. That’s the most important part. Ari can do it without the Council’s approval; but she can’t keep Fargone’s local government from doing something that might compromise her results.”
    “Is Rubin supposed to be aware of this?”
    “He’ll be aware he’s a blind control on an experiment at” Reseune. More significantly, his clone won’t know Rubin exists until he’s the same age Rubin is now.”
    “Do you think it’s a valid project?” Corain asked.
    Warrick was silent a moment. “I think whether or not one equals the other, the scientific benefits are there.”
    “You have reservations,” Lu said.
    “I see minimal harm to Rubin. He’s a scientist. He’s capable of understanding what blind control means. I would oppose any meeting of the two, at any future date. I’ll go on record on that. But I wouldn’t oppose the program.”
    “It’s not yours.”
    “I have no personal work involved in it.”
    “Your son,” Corain said, “does work closely with Dr. Emory.”
    “My son-is a student,” Warrick said, expressionless, “in tape design. Whether or not he’ll be involved is up to Dr. Emory. It would be a rare opportunity. Possibly he might apply for the Fargone office, if it goes through. I’d like to see that.”
    Why! Corain wondered, and wished he dared ask it. But there were limits with a hitherto friendly informant, and there were persistent rumors about Emory that no one proved.
    “Student,” Lu said, “at Reseune, means rather more than student at the university.”
    “Considerably, yes,” Warrick said. All liveliness had left his face. It was guarded now, extremely careful of expressions and reactions.
    “How do you feel about the Hope project?” Corain asked.
    “Is that a political question?”
    “It’s a political question.”
    “Say that I avoid politics, except as a study.” Warrick looked down and up again, directly at Corain. “Reseune no longer depends on the azi trade. We could live quite well off our research, whether colonies go out or not, -there’ll be a need for what we do, never mind the fate of the other labs-who couldn’t undercut us. We have too great a head start on other fields. We wouldn’t be as rich, of course. But we’d do quite well. It’s not economics that troubles me. Someday we