Office of Mercy (9781101606100) Read Online Free PDF Page A

perspective, and who would never consciously allow the pursuit of his own happiness to interfere with the chance of living a fully ethical life. Because what were the fleeting highs of romance and love (Natasha could almost imagine him saying) compared with the exaltation of creating a pain-free and carefully maintained paradise here on Earth? What was an obsessive commitment to one individual compared with committing oneself to the whole of humankind? Jeffrey also took very seriously the Alphas’ boast that all emotional and physical needs could be met within the bounds of a person’s everyday work and leisure activities. For companionship, the citizens should find fulfillment among the members of their own generation and the people they worked with. For physical pleasure, they had the Pretends.
    Of course, the majority of citizens did not follow the Alpha guidelines too strictly. People often met up for covert encounters with various favorites, and Natasha herself had never found such acts detrimental to a capacity for ethical thinking. Not that her opinion was based on any very recent experiences. For the last couple of years, Natasha had been slowly straying from these kinds of brief partnerings—with the exception of what she did in the Pretends. She attributed this change in herself to moving out of the old Epsilon living quarters and focusing on her career. And not, as Min-he would have done, to a preoccupation with a certain unobtainable coworker. As for actually romantically committing herself to one single person one day, even Natasha felt that was a long shot. Some people did it. There was an entire hallway of couples’ sleeprooms on level one, with double-sized mattresses and bed frames and a table and lamp on each side. In general, though, those sleeprooms were never in high demand. Solitude was hard to come by in America-Five, and the citizens didn’t relinquish it easily. The single rooms, for instance, had a waiting list of nine years.
    At last, Natasha finished uploading the necessary coordinates and found the three Pine men whom she would track for the day. She could not get a good visual—only a limb here or there, the foliage was too dense—so she chose the infrared (or “IR”) option. Three red streaks jumped out against the muted background. For now, at least, the men appeared to be stationary.
    â€œYou know,” Jeffrey said, “as soon as we take care of the Pines, there’s going to be a Crane Recovery mission. Arthur’s put me in charge. I’m on my way to meet with the Alphas about it right now. They want me to assemble a team within the next few days. The mission can’t happen for a while, of course, not with the Pines crawling all over the field . . .”
    He trailed off as Natasha turned expectantly toward him. Could he be saying what she thought he was saying?
    â€œI was planning to bring up your name at the meeting. The Alphas have the final say, but I can do my best to get you on the team. If you’re interested.”
    â€œAre you serious?”
    â€œWould you want that? This sweep has been hard on you.” He paused, his brow wrinkled. “Maybe it’s too much.”
    â€œBut Jeffrey, you know,” she could hardly get the words out. “You know I’ve been dying to see the Outside all my life!”
    â€œDon’t use that word.” Jeffrey’s face had turned as pink as the scars on his scalp. “Don’t say you’ve been
dying
.”
    â€œSorry, sorry, I’m just so excited.”
    â€œWell, don’t get too excited. Remember, most people have ten years in the Office before they get assigned to a mission. I only wanted to tell you that I’d give it a try.”
    â€œYeah, but it’s different if you recommend me.”
    On the screen, the three red streaks billowed up and drifted like angry little clouds out of view.
    â€œMother,” Natasha cursed. She