CHAPTER XIX.

 He leaned against the table. After a moment, he straightened out the note. A second reading didn't help. There it was, if he could make sense from it.

 

Luise and himself, probably in that order. There was no proof, but it seemed likely that she had been retrogressed first, since she had been discovered first.

 

There was also Dorn Starret, the criminal from Ceres who had hidden the gun in the Shelter that he, Luis, had been found in. And there was now a fourth person: the psychologist who specialized¹ in depriving retrogression victims of what few memories they had left.

 

Luis grimaced². Here was information which, if the police would act on it properly ... but it was no use, they wouldn't. Any solution which came out of this would have to arise out of his own efforts.

 

He folded the note carefully. It would be handy to have if Luise came back and didn't know who he was.

 

Meanwhile, the psychologist. Luise hadn't said who he was, but it shouldn't be difficult to locate him. He went to the screen and dialed the directory. There were many psychologists in it, but no name that was familiar.

 

He pondered. The person who had retroed Luise and himself—what would he do? First he would take them as far from familiar scenes as he could. That tied in with the facts. Dorn Starret came from Ceres.

 

Then what? He would want to make certain that his victims did not trace their former lives. And he would be inconspicuous in so doing.

 

Again Luis turned to the screen, but this time he dialed the news service. He found what he was looking for in the advertisements of an issue a month old. It was very neat:

 

DO YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING—or is your mind hazy³? Perhaps my system can help you recall those little details you find it so annoying to forget. MEMORY LAB.

 

That was all. No name. But there was an address. Hurriedly Luis scanned every succeeding issue. The advertisement was still there.

 

He was coming closer, very close. The ad was clever; it would attract the attention of Luise and himself and others like them, and almost no one else. There was no mention of fees, no claim that it was operated by a psychologist, nothing that the police would investigate.

 

Night after night Luise had sat alone; sooner or later, watching the screen, she had to see the ad. It was intriguing⁴ and she had answered it. Normally, so would he have: but now he was forewarned.

 

Part of the cleverness was this: that she went of her own volition⁵. She would have suspected an outright⁶ offer of help—but this seemed harmless. She went to him as she would to anyone in business. A very clever setup.

 

But who was behind MEMORY LAB? Luis thought he knew. A trained psychologist with a legitimate⁷ purpose would attach his name to the advertisement.

 

Luis patted the retro gun in his pocket. Dorn Starret, criminal, and inventor of a fictitious⁸ memory system, was going to have a visitor. It wasn't necessary to go to Ceres to see him.

 

1 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

2 grimaced   

v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He grimaced at the bitter taste. 他一尝那苦味，做了个怪相。
• She grimaced at the sight of all the work. 她一看到这么多的工作就皱起了眉头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 hazy   

adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的

参考例句：

• We couldn't see far because it was so hazy.雾气蒙蒙妨碍了我们的视线。
• I have a hazy memory of those early years.对那些早先的岁月我有着朦胧的记忆。

4 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 volition   

n.意志；决意

参考例句：

• We like to think that everything we do and everything we think is a product of our volition.我们常常认为我们所做和所想的一切都出自自己的意愿。
• Makin said Mr Coombes had gone to the police of his own volition.梅金说库姆斯先生是主动去投案的。

6 outright   

adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的

参考例句：

• If you have a complaint you should tell me outright.如果你有不满意的事，你应该直率地对我说。
• You should persuade her to marry you outright.你应该彻底劝服她嫁给你。

7 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

8 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。