Epilogue

I've been troubled by quite a number of strange dreams in the ensuing years and decades.

I think a certain amount of "data osmosis" -- memory leakage or maybe something analogous, takes place in a Znosko-Borowski Somatic Transfer. Yes, there actually is such a thing, and it even has a scientific-sounding label. Apparently it was an accidental byproduct of a super-secret Soviet psychic research project in the late '60s. (I had hired an ex-NSA employee to dig the relevant information out of Kremlin archives soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union.) Anyhow, data osmosed, or memory leaked, and I began remembering things. Things Amelia probably didn't intend for me ever to know.

In the first place, her name was not Amelia Gilbert. She was Amalya Trepper, and she worked for the KGB. Espionage and intrigue were deeply embedded in her family history. Her uncle was Leopold Trepper, a shadowy and mysterious figure. For a time he had served as the controller for the western section of the notorious "Rote Kapelle" spy ring in World War II, and he held the rank of colonel in Soviet intelligence. His cover was as a Belgian businessman, name of Jean Gilbert. Gilbert -- my, my, what a coincidence.

The particular operation Amelia/Amalya pulled me into involved stealing computer chip secrets. For something as mundane as industrial espionage she had to swap bodies with me? Well, it wasn't quite that simple.

You see, a certain engineering v.p. from Positron Semiconductor just happened to have in his possession the plans and specs for a newly-developed ultra-fast 16-bit microprocessor chip. Yeah, I know, I know, nowadays a 16-bit CPU is old hat, laughable even. But this was almost 30 years back, and Intel was only just getting ready to release an 8-bit CPU that would stand the computer industry on its ear. So, yes, the Positron P-16062 seemed like pretty hot shit at the time.

Here's where the plot thickens. Amalya planned to seduce this engineering guy, drug him, photograph the documentation, and leave. The classic plot: steal, then steal away, as Conan Doyle or someone or other wrote. Only it wouldn't work. This particular guy didn't go for women. He only liked other guys. A lot. Amalya couldn't get close to him, and she was the only operative in place with the knowhow to recognize the critical info. It seems that spies with an electronic engineering background are a pretty rare commodity.

Amalya had to fall back on "Plan B." This called for finding some chump who would temporarily "lend" her a body. But not just any old chump. The Z-B Transfer failed nine times out of ten. Something about incompatible neural impedances in the nervous system of the transferees. Moreover, she needed a target body with the right involuntary muscle responses and reflexes trained. In other words, a male capable of and experienced in receptive anal intercourse. Because that was what this engineer fellow was into. Oh yes, he was very much into asses. Male asses.