Jezebel's Ladder Read Online Free

The
most important thing to remember as an agent is that your cell is your
family. Do nothing to endanger them. Talking to outsiders about the project can
get us all killed.
    “Your immediate supervisor is
Oobie–that’s an acronym for Out of Body. By now, you probably know that. It’s a
powerful technique, and he is the only one to assimilate that page fully. He
heads Eye Corps, our scouting branch.”
    “Your official title will be
executive assistant in the human resources’ scouting division. You will have a
salary, benefits, and a travel allowance.”
    Jez raised an eyebrow. “You’re
telling me I went through all this to be a glorified secretary? Why? Because I
only read about a paragraph before I passed out?”
    “That’s called a theta trap. It
sends a receptive brain into a deep-theta state used for learning during sleep.
You’re lucky. If you had read the whole thing, you might not be here. Not
everyone can handle the input. We usually give the first page to candidates as
a litmus test.”
    “So you take just anyone?” Jez
asked.
    Benny shook his head. “Normally,
we’re more selective. There are weeks of pre-tests. You have significant
training to catch up on. We will be sending you some tutors. The first thing
you’ll learn is how to go in and out of deep-theta state at will. This can
immunize you to the side-effects of a page and enable you to hide from
interrogation.”
    Jez swore at this revelation.
    Benny went on with the indoctrination.
“Don’t worry; your cell always has a hypnotic key to bring you out of the
state, to make sure you’re not stuck there permanently. Because I’m an
entertainer, my key is a tug on the right ear lobe and the Carol Burnett
closing song.”
    “And Oobie?”
    “He’s big on video games. For him,
pull on his right forefinger, and say ‘Game over.’ What would you like your key
to be?”
    Jez thought about this and
answered, “Chance would always clap me on the shoulder and tell me ‘Good show.’
That should work.”
    “What did you do as a magician’s
assistant?”
    She snorted. “It was like ballroom
dancing; the woman does all the work. I had a lot of contortions and escapes to
do, but he got the applause and his name on the marquee.”
    He nodded, remembering the show-biz
adage. “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, backwards and in high
heels. Why didn’t you find a job with another magician?”
    “I had an offer, a disgusting one.
He made sure I didn’t work as an assistant again. Enough about my depressing
life, what about you? If this boss is so obnoxious, why not just read another
page?”
    “The powerful ones are a mental
balancing act. We’re very careful about trying new combinations, just like
medication. Empathy combined with the collective unconscious is a two-edged
sword. I can affect others, but their emotions affect me. If I use the ability
too often, I open myself up to a sort of externally imposed manic depression.
Worse still, if I read another page and went insane, I might be contagious.”
    “That gives me warm fuzzies,” Jez
mused.
    “I told you I’d answer what I
could, whether you wanted to know the answer or not.”
    “Let’s go back to the basics.
What’s with the funny, gold color?”
    “The paper is really a composite
fiber, not unlike Kevlar. Normal fire will not harm it, nor can scissors.
They’ve even been known to stop a bullet.”
    “Pretty advanced material,” she
admired.
    “More than you know.” Benny placed
the page in front of her again. “Without touching the surface, what do you
notice about it this time?”
    “It’s blank. Is this a joke?”
    Benny shook his head. “You’ve heard
of that new, smart paper? Lower your hand toward it very slowly and watch the
surface.”
    Jez obeyed, and saw black flicker
for an instant. The print went through several types of characters before
settling on English. “Benny, this paper is too smart.”
    Benny nodded. “Everyone sees their
own