The Reviver Read Online Free PDF Page A

The start of a beautiful day, and so far a quiet one. First up, the Vancouver conference went well. Congratulations to all who gave talks. I see most of you are back, hopefully not too hung over.’ He got scattered laughter at that; Jonah could see Pru Dryden as she shook her head with a rueful look, which turned into a sheepish smile.
    ‘Most of the presentations were recorded,’ Sam continued. ‘We’ll have them available on the intranet in the next few days. I think Never’s back tomorrow…?’ He looked over to Jonah, and got a nod. ‘He’ll organize it and mail everyone the link. The weekend was busy as always, and North East are short and might ask for cover. Anyone with court appearances lined up this week, try and find out if they really need you. We can’t afford to have our people hanging around court all day if they’re not going to be called. We need all the people we can get. Any questions?’ There were no takers. ‘Then that’s it from me. Good luck as always.’ He caught Jonah’s eye and inclined his head towards his office door with a questioning look.
    Jonah nodded. Now was as good a time as any. He walked against the tide of people returning to their desks; as he was about to reach Sam, Hugo Adler, Sam’s deputy, beat him to it and started to talk budget allocations.
    ‘Go on in, Jonah,’ Sam said, sounding like a condemned man. ‘I’ll be a few minutes.’
    Jonah took a seat, and as he waited he glanced around the walls of Sam’s office. Pictures featuring Sam, spanning his FRS career. That kind of picture would soon be no more, Jonah realized; Sam was retiring in two weeks.
    It would be strange, the FRS without Sam Deering. Sam had practically invented forensic revival. He had been working for the FBI at the Quantico forensic lab when revival had emerged, and had been their man at Baseline. Initially there to observe and validate the methods being used, it hadn’t taken him long to realize the potential and form a group of researchers whose focus differed from all the others. Rather than investigating the deeper meaning of the revival phenomenon, they would look instead at something far more practical.
    And while the other research teams struggled, Sam’s surged ahead, exploring the possibility of the forensic use of revival.
    With time and care, two key facts were established: a revived subject knew no more and no less than they had while alive; and revivers had a clear feel for the emotional state of the subject, able to tell whether what was said was truth, lies or evasion. This second fact was the single most important development for forensic use.
    To have the killer’s name spoken aloud by a victim of murder, and the truth of it known beyond doubt, was breathtaking.
    It took time for revival evidence to be accepted, but Sam and his team were patient and determined. The work paid off. And, as the number of revivers around the world increased, so did the viability of Sam’s core idea – that forensic revival could become routine.
    The first criminal application was in a simple murder case. The victim, stabbed in the heart, quickly identified his killer. Confronted with the video evidence of the corpse accusing him from the grave, the murderer confessed. Press response was dramatic, calling for widespread use of the technique; public opinion concurred.
    Sam was asked to head up a small unit of revivers for a trial period at Quantico. A tiny office building housed Sam, five administrative assistants, four technicians, and the six best revivers he could steal from the various research groups at Baseline.
    There were many who expected the trial to fail. Criminals would learn, they said. Sufficient damage to the body made revival impossible. Decapitation would become standard practice.
    Those naysayers had missed the point. The true worth wouldn’t be in targeting professional criminals. Yes, those in the know would take a little extra care, but they always had. Even before