Life Lines by Peter Viney

Streamline Connections (Units 1- 40) 1000 headwords

1 Computing the future

Rachel put down her pen, and closed her eyes. She felt tired, ery tired. She loo!ed up at the cloc!" four thirty. #ood, there was enou$h time to $et to the newspaper office %efore fi e o&cloc!, and she wanted the ad ertisement to $o into 'riday&s newspaper. (hen . . . well, she didn&t !now what was $oin$ to happen ne)t. *t was a wonderful idea, and it was a new idea. She pic!ed up the finished ad ertisement and wal!ed throu$h the office door into the computer room. (he computer room was always %usy. 'ourteen people wor!ed there. Rachel smiled and said &+ello& to e eryone as she wal!ed across the room. ,on$ pieces of %lue paper were comin$ out of the computers. (he operators were chec!in$ them carefully, then puttin$ them into en elopes. Rachel&s company used computers to do horoscopes for people. -ou sent the date, time and place of your %irthday to the company, Computer .strolo$y ,td, and the computers could do a horoscope for you. Rachel&s %oss, /er yn .stra, started the company three years %efore. /er yn .stra wasn&t his real name, of course, %ut it sounded $ood. *t sounded $ood in the newspaper and ma$a0ine ad ertisements. +is real name was 1rian Smith, %ut only a few people !new that. Rachel was his assistant. She didn&t li!e /er yn ery much. +e was a short fat man with $lasses and ery lon$ hair. /er yn dro e an oran$e Rolls-Royce e erywhere. (here were $old stars all o er it. &*t&s $ood ad ertisin$,& /er yn always said. .nyway, when Rachel had the new idea, /er yn said, &.ll ri$ht, you can try it.& 2n 'riday mornin$ Rachel $ot up early. She was waitin$ for the newspaper. *t arri ed at ei$ht o&cloc!. Rachel hurried to the ta%le, and opened it. She was loo!in$ for her ad ertisement. (here it was3 2n pa$e se en3 Rachel smiled. She didn&t really %elie e in palmistry. She thou$ht it was nonsense. 1ut she thou$ht astrolo$y was nonsense, too. .nd the ad ertisement wasn&t a lie. 4ot really. /er yn was a wonderful computer pro$rammer, and the computer pro$ram really did ha e all the information that they could find a%out palmistry. *t could &read& the photo$raphs with a special ideo camera, and it could compare them to thousands and thousands of pictures in the pro$ram. (he pro$ram was ery e)pensi e. /er yn wor!ed on it for a lon$ time. Rachel was a little worried. She wanted the idea to %e successful. /er yn could $et an$ry ery 5uic!ly, and he hated losin$ money. She read the ad ertisement a$ain, and lau$hed. &Rachel #rant, 6almistry Consultant.& (hat was funny. *t was /er yn&s idea, of course.
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE FUTURE?
Palmistry is the science of telling the future from people's hands. It's a very old science. You can learn about your life, and about important things that will happen to you. You can learn about your thoughts, future romances, and your future wealth! We use modern technology to give you a forecast of the future. Our computer has a special program, with information from all the best fortune tellers in the world. re you interested! "ust send a photograph of your left hand, with a che#ue for $%&.&& made out to 'omputer strology (td. to) *achel +rant, Palmistry 'onsultant, 'omputer strology (td, P.O. ,o- ./, ( 01234*56, ,78 4*9. (Don t forget to !rite "our n#me on the $#%& of the photogr#ph'

(The He#) *ine

!i++ te++ "ou #$out "our thought,' The *ife *ine !i++ te++ "ou #$out "our +ife #n) the import#nt thing, th#t !i++ h#ppen to "ou'

The He#rt *ine !i++ te++ "ou #$out rom#n%e #n) "our future +o-e +ife' The Fortune *ine !i++ te++ "ou #$out "our po,,e,,ion, #n) future !e#+th' COMPUTER ASTROLOGY LTD

7irector) 8ervyn stra

. /t , #++ non,en,e0

Rachel didn&t need to worry. (he idea was successful. *t was more successful than the computer horoscopes. . wee! later they had thousands of photo$raphs of hands. (hey put the ad ertisement in more newspapers and ma$a0ines. /er yn had to %uy more computers, and a month later there were thirty people wor!in$ in the computer room. /er yn %ou$ht a yellow Cadillac, and put pictures of hands all o er it. +e used to dri e the Rolls-Royce durin$ the wee!, and the Cadillac at wee!ends. +e was a ery happy man. /er yn $a e Rachel a lot more money, %ut she wasn&t happy. She was em%arrassed %y her ;o%, &6almistry Consultant&. (hree months a$o it was funny. 4ow it was em%arrassin$. <hen people said, &<hat do you do=& she usually said, &2h, * wor! with computers.& 2ne day, Rachel was at a party. She was spea!in$ to a woman. (hey were tal!in$ a%out sport, when the woman as!ed her name. Rachel told her. Suddenly the woman said, &.re you the Rachel #rant= -ou !now, the palmistry consultant=& &7r ... yes. -es, * am,& said Rachel, &<hy= +a e you heard a%out me=& &2h, yes,& said the woman, &* ha e. *& e seen the ad ertisements in all the newspapers. * used to %e ery interested in palmistry. * used to read people&s hands.& &Used to %e=& said Rachel. &.ren&t you interested in it now=& &4o, *&m not,& said the woman. &* read a lot of %oo!s a%out it, it&s all nonsense. 4onsense.& Rachel smiled. &<hy do you thin! so=& she as!ed. &<ell,& said the woman, &thin! a%out it. <hat does the life line tell you=& &*t tells you how lon$ people will li e,& she said. &-es,& said the woman. &So, in 1>14 and 1>?>, %efore the two world wars, were there a lot of people with short life lines=& &* don&t !now,& said Rachel. &*& e ne er thou$ht a%out it.& &<ell,& said the woman, &thin! a%out it for a minute. @id fortune tellers see a lot of people with short life lines= /illions of people died in the wars.& &/ay%e. * don&t !now.& &1ut no fortune teller wrote a%out it. 4e er. *& e read all the important %oo!s. 4o one wrote a%out it.& &(hat&s interestin$,& said Rachel, &%ut may%e they didn&t want to tell people a%out it. .nd it was a lon$ time a$o.& &<hat a%out the Aietnam war= .nd Cam%odia= <hat a%out 7thiopia= * can $i e you a lot of modern e)amples, too.& &'ortune tellers don&t usually tell %ad news,& said Rachel. &6eople don&t want to !now.& &+a e you read much a%out palmistry, /iss #rant=& the woman said. &<ell, yes, of course. <e had to read e erythin$ %efore we wrote the computer pro$ram,& said Rachel. &2h, yes, *&m sorry. * for$ot. -ou #re a palmistry consultant, aren&t you=& (he woman smiled. &Come on, /iss #rant,& she said, &it&s nonsense. .nd you !now that it&s nonsense don&t you= * can see that3&
1 Frightene) of the future

(he ne)t day Rachel was sittin$ in her office. She was thin!in$ a%out the woman at the party. She loo!ed throu$h some %oo!s on palmistry. She had a lot of %oo!s. She couldn&t find any information a%out life lines %efore the two world wars. /ay%e the woman was ri$ht. She stood up, and went to the door. &/ar!,& she called, &/ar!, can you come into my office for a minute=&
?

/ar! was one of the computer pro$rammers. +e wor!ed with /er yn on the palmistry pro$ram. +e came in, and sat down. Rachel told him a%out the woman at the party. &/ar!,& she said, &can we do a statistical analysis of all the palmistry photo$raphs=& /ar! loo!ed surprised, -es,& he said, &we can do that. *t&s easy. 1ut why= <hat are you loo!in$ for=& &*&m not sure,& said Rachel. &*& e $ot an idea. /ay%e it&s a silly idea, %ut * want to compare all the photo$raphs. /ay%e we can find somethin$ in all of them. Somethin$ a%out the future.& -ou mean ... you mean a lot of short life lines=& &* hope not,& said Rachel. &1ut it&s interestin$, isn&t it= * want you to compare different towns and cities. Compare them with each other, and compare them with the country areas. * want statistics for different areas of the country. <e& e $ot all this information in the computer. <hy don&t we use it= -ou can do it, can&t you=& &@oes /er yn !now a%out this=& said /ar!. &4ot yet,& said Rachel. &* pro%a%ly won&t tell him either.& -ou&re ri$ht,& said /ar!. &/er yn won&t li!e it. +e won&t li!e it at all. +e&s fri$htened of the future. @id you !now that= +e&s ne er done his own horoscope on the computer. * wanted to do it when we were writin$ the pro$ram. <e needed to try the pro$ram, %ut he didn&t want his horoscope, and he didn&t want a photo$raph of his hand, either. +e was afraid.& (hey %oth lau$hed.
2 3ome intere,ting re,u+t,

. few days later /ar! wal!ed into Rachel&s office. +e put a %o) on her des!, and sat down. &<hat&s in there=& said Rachel. &Computer printouts,& said /ar!. &<ell,& said Rachel, &what ha e you found=& /ar! loo!ed down at the des!. &4othin$ really,& he said. &*n most areas we& e $ot photo$raphs of hands with lon$ life lines, middle-si0ed life lines, and short life lines. <e didn&t learn ery much. -ou see, we ha en&t $ot enou$h photo$raphs. <e&d need a thousand or more from each area of the country %efore we could do any real statistical analysis.& &1ut we& e had thousands and thousands of photo$raphs3& said Rachel. &-es, %ut that&s from e erywhere in the country,& said /ar!. &<ait a minute,& said Rachel. -ou said in mo,t areas there are lon$ life lines, middle-si0ed life lines and short life lines, you didn&t say in #++ areas.& &(here is one area ... %ut it&s silly ...& said /ar!. &#o on,& said Rachel. &*t&s only one town ... Chatford,& he said. &Chatford=& said Rachel. &-es, it&s a middle-si0ed town in the south-west. .%out 1?0,000 people li e there. * !now the town well. * used to li e there, too.& &-Bu used to li e there=& as!ed Rachel. &* didn&t !now.& &-es, * used to %e a computer operator at the power station. (hat was four or fi e years a$o, %efore * wor!ed for /er yn. .nyway, there&s a %i$ nuclear power station, ;ust outside Chatford. * used to wor! there on computers.& &<hat a%out Chatford=& said Rachel. &'irst, we& e $ot nearly two thousand photo$raphs from Chatford ...& (wo thousand= *sn&t that a lot from one town=& -es. .nd it&s enou$h to do a statistical analysis. ,oo! at the list ... these are all towns a%out the same si0e as Chatford. (here are twenty-two photo$raphs from 4orwich, one hundred and ei$ht from 2)ford, ninety-three from 1ournemouth, one hundred and fi e from (or5uay, ei$hty-si) from 1ri$hton, forty-two from 7)eter ...& &<hy did we $et so many from Chatford=& as!ed Rachel.
4

-es, * wanted to !now that, too. *t&s ery easy. /er yn&s %rother owns the newspaper there, the Ch#tfor) E-ening 3t#r' +e $a e /er yn a lot of free ad ertisements, and he wrote a lot of stories a%out computer palmistry for the newspaper. /er yn comes from Chatford. * met him there. +e was isitin$ his %rother.& &<ell, what&s stran$e a%out the photo$raphs=& &*t sounds silly, %ut more than se enty-fi e per cent ha e $ot short life lines,& said /ar!. &@id that happen in any other town=& &4ot really. .ll the photo$raphs from 4orwich had lon$ life lines. (hen * loo!ed at the addresses on the %ac! of the photo$raphs. <e only had twenty-two, %ut twenty were all from the same hospital for old people. (hey were all from people more than ei$hty years old.& &(hat&s interestin$, you mean all of these old people had lon$ life lines= /ay%e it&s not nonsense.& &/ay%e,& said /ar!. &.nyway,& said Rachel, &how short were the life lines in Chatford=& &* loo!ed at each a$e $roup" under ten, ten to twenty, twenty to thirty, thirty to forty ... (he life lines were shorter than a era$e in all of them. * mean, they weren&t ery, -er" short.& &<ere they shorter or lon$er than mine=& as!ed Rachel. She showed /ar! the palm of her left hand. /ar! loo!ed at it carefully. &7r ... they were a%out the same,& he said. Rachel felt cold suddenly. &@on&t worry,& said /ar!. &@o you understand statistics= *f you put one foot in water at 0CC, and the other foot in water at 100C D, then statistically you&re comforta%le.& &<hat=& said Rachel. &<ell, the a era$e temperature will %e E0C D. (hat&s statistics.& Rachel loo!ed at him. &+a e you spo!en to /er yn a%out the printouts=& she as!ed. &4o, you told me not to tell him,& said /ar!. &#ood, *&ll spea! to him. Can you lea e the computer printouts here, /ar!=&
4 None of it , true0

/er yn wasn&t ery happy that day. 2n the way to wor!, he had a small accident in the Rolls-Royce. +e dro e into the %ac! of another car. (hat e enin$ he was $oin$ to %e on a tele ision pro$ramme a%out fortune tellers. +e was worried a%out it. +e was thin!in$ a%out the tele ision pro$ramme when Rachel !noc!ed on his office door. &<ho&s that= *&m %usy. #o away.& &*t&s me, Rachel.& &* said $o away3& &* must spea! to you.& &Come %ac! later.& &*t&s important, /er yn.& Rachel opened the door and went in. &-es, what do you want=& said /er yn. &<ell, /er yn, * had an idea...& &*&m not interested in your ideas,& said /er yn. &-ou were interested in my idea for computer palmistry,& said Rachel. &2F, sit down and tell me. 1ut hurry, *&m ery %usy.& Rachel told him a%out the woman at the party, and he lau$hed. &@oes it matter=& he said. &<ell, yes,& she said. &* wanted the computer to compare the photo$raphs from different towns.& &<e don&t pay you to play with the computer,& said /er yn an$rily. &.nyway, you aren&t a computer pro$rammer. -ou couldn&t do this. Someone helped you. <ho was it=& &/ar!,& said Rachel, &%ut he did the wor! in his own time.& &+e used my computer, and he used my electricity3& said /er yn.
E

&Can * show you what we found=& said Rachel. She showed the printouts to /er yn. +e $ot an$rier and an$rier. &Rachel,& he said, &this is all nonsense3 4o%ody can tell you a%out the future. -ou don&t %elie e this, do you=& &@on&t you %elie e it=& she said 5uietly. &2f course not. *t&s not true. 4one of it.& (hen you&re cheatin$ your customers.& &-es, * !now,& said /er yn. &(here&s a fool %orn e ery minute.& -ou& e heard that %efore, ha en&t you= (hat&s why *&m a rich man. .nyway, we $ot all the information a%out palmistry and astrolo$y from the %est %oo!s. (he pro$ram doesn&t cheat. *t $i es us the %est information on palmistry... %ut all of the information is nonsense.& Rachel stood up. (hat&s it, /er yn. -ou&re a cheat and a thief.& /er yn smiled. (han! you,& he said. &<ell, *&m not wor!in$ for you any more. -ou can find another palmistry consultant. .s! at the prison. (hey&ll find some%ody for you.& She left /er yn&s room, and hurried %ac! to her office. She put on her coat, and wal!ed out. (he air outside felt clean and $ood. She smiled. She wasn&t a &palmistry consultant any more. &4ow,& she thou$ht, &*&m $oin$ to $et a real ;o%.&
5 Ch#tfor)

Rachel left Computer .strolo$y on /arch 1>th. She soon found another ;o%, as a reporter for the D#i+" E%ho6 a newspaper in ,ondon. She was a reporter %efore she wor!ed for /er yn. 1ut she ne er for$ot a%out /ar!&s computer printouts, and she ne er for$ot a%out Chatford. 2ne day she was tal!in$ to her %oss at the newspaper, and she told him a%out the life lines. +e lau$hed. &@o you %elie e it, Rachel=& he said. &* don&t !now, %ut it&s interestin$.& &-es. *t&s a $ood story. ,oo!, why don&t you $o to Chatford= 6erhaps you can write a story for the newspaper.& &/er yn won&t li!e it,& she said. &.re you worried a%out /er yn .stra= 4o, you $o and write the story. ,oo! round Chatford, tal! to people ... read their hands ...& &* told you, * can&t read hands,& she said. &-ou !now enou$h a%out palmistry. (here&s a $ood story here. <rite it.& Rachel smiled, &2F, * will. *&ll $o there ne)t wee!.& Rachel arri ed in Chatford %y train on <ednesday, :0th Septem%er. She $ot a ta)i to the Royal +otel. She wal!ed into the hotel, and stopped. . short fat man with $lasses and ery lon$ hair was standin$ there. +e was shoutin$ at the $irl %ehind the des!. &@o you !now who * am=& he shouted. &/y %rother owns the Ch#tfor) E-ening 3t#r' * want a room with a %ath, and * want it now3& &.nd you didn&t write or telephone=& said the $irl. &<hat&s your name= Come on, what is it= -ou&re $oin$ to lose your ;o%3 /y %rother&s a ery important man in this town3& +is face was ery red. Rachel wal!ed o er to the des!. &+ello, /er yn,& she said. /er yn loo!ed round. &<hat are you doin$ here=& he said. &-Bu won&t $et a room. (he hotel&s full.& Rachel smiled at the $irl %ehind the des!. &Rachel #rant,& she said, &from the D#i+" E%ho' * phoned yesterday.& &.h, yes,& said the $irl, &/s #rant. . room with %ath. -ou&re in Room 4?G. *& e $ot your !ey. <ait here, someone will ta!e your case to the room.& &(han! you,& said Rachel.
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/er yn loo!ed ery an$ry. &<ell, *&m not stayin$ here. *&m $oin$ to another hotel. . %etter one.& &#ood,& said Rachel. &#ood ni$ht.& /er yn wal!ed out of the hotel. (he $irl %ehind the des! was smilin$. &7n;oy your stay, /s #rant,& she said. (han! you,& said Rachel, &* will.&
7 Terri$+e ne!,

2n the mornin$ of Septem%er :1st /ar! wo!e early. +e couldn&t sleep. +e had dreams all ni$ht a%out Rachel, and the computer printouts. +e went downstairs to $et the newspaper. *t was on the floor with the letters. +e pic!ed it up, and loo!ed at the front pa$e. @aily 7cho ,ondon, :1 Septem%er (+7 <2RS( @.- 7A7R3 4UC,7.R 7H6,2S*24 *4 C+.('2R@ I (+2US.4@S @7.@
.t 10.?E yesterday e enin$, there was an atomic e)plosion at the Chatford 4uclear 6ower Station. (housands of people are dead. (he army has closed all roads round Chatford, and there is no news from the town. 4o%ody !nows why the power station e)ploded, or how many people ha e died. 2ur reporter, Rachel #rant, was in the town when the power station e)ploded. (he army has as!ed people to stay in their homes in an area fifty miles round Chatford. (he 6rime /inister will spea! on tele ision and radio at nine o&cloc! this mornin$.

/ar! put down the newspaper. +e was cryin$. +e went to a cup%oard and too! out the %o) of computer printouts. +e loo!ed at them for a moment. (hen he wal!ed o er to the telephone. +e had to phone the D#i+" E%ho' +e found the phone %oo!, and loo!ed for the num%er. (here it was" (01G1) 1?118G8. (hen he stopped and thou$ht. +e pic!ed up the %o) of printouts, too! them into the $arden and %urned them. +e ne er told any%ody a%out the life lines.