Psychological fiction; Science fiction; Short stories
The big man turned. "You can tell the Chief he's awake," he said.
Zarwell followed his gaze to where a younger man, with a blond lock of
hair on his forehead, stood behind him. The youth nodded and went out,
while the other pulled a chair up to the side of Zarwell's cot.
While their attention was away from him Zarwell had unobtrusively
loosened his bonds as much as possible with arm leverage. As the big man
drew his chair nearer, he made the hand farthest from him tight and
compact and worked it free of the leather loop. He waited.
The big man belched. "You're supposed to be great stuff in a situation
like this," he said, his smoke-tan face splitting in a grin that
revealed large square teeth. "How about giving me a sample?"
"You're a yellow-livered bastard," Zarwell told him.
The grin faded from the oily face as the man stood up. He leaned over
the cot--and Zarwell's left hand shot up and locked about his throat,
joined almost immediately by the right.
The man's mouth opened and he tried to yell as he threw himself
frantically backward. He clawed at the hands about his neck. When that
failed to break the grip he suddenly reversed his weight and drove his
fist at Zarwell's head.
Zarwell pulled the struggling body down against his chest and held it
there until all agitated movement ceased. He sat up then, letting the
body slide to the floor.
The straps about his thighs came loose with little effort.
The analyst dabbed at his upper lip with a handkerchief. "The episodes
are beginning to tie together," he said, with an attempt at
nonchalance. "The next couple should do it."
Zarwell did not answer. His memory seemed on the point of complete
return, and he sat quietly, hopefully. However, nothing more came and he
returned his attention to his more immediate problem.
Opening a button on his shirt, he pulled back a strip of plastic cloth
just below his rib cage and took out a small flat pistol. He held it in
the palm of his hand. He knew now why he always carried it.
Bergstrom had his bad moment. "You're not going to ..." he began at the
sight of the gun. He tried again. "You must be joking."
"I have very little sense of humor," Zarwell corrected him.
"You'd be foolish!"
Bergstrom obviously realized how close he was to death. Yet
surprisingly, after the first start, he showed little fear. Zarwell had
thought the man a bit soft, too adjusted to a life of ease and some
prestige to meet danger calmly. Curiosity restrained his trigger finger.
"Why would I be foolish?" he asked. "Your Meninger oath of inviolable
confidence?"
Bergstrom shook his head. "I know it's been broken before. But you need
me. You're not through, you know. If you killed me you'd still have to
trust some other analyst."
"Is that the best you can do?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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