"Asaro, Catherine - Echea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asaro Catherine)

Echea had flown in on a previous shuttle.
She had been in detox and sick bay;
through psychiatric exams and physical
screenings. We did not know we would get
her until they called our name.

We met her in a concrete room with no
windows, shielded against the sun,
shielded against the world. The area had
no furniture.

A door opened and a child appeared.

Tiny, pale, fragile. Eyes as big as the
moon itself, and darker than the blackest
night. She stood in the center of the
room, legs spread, arms crossed, as if she
were already angry at us.

Around us, through us, between us, a
computer voice resonated:

This is Echea. She is yours. Please take
her, and proceed through the doors to your
left. The waiting shuttle will take you to
your preassigned destination.

She didnТt move when she heard the voice,
although I started. My husband had already
gone toward her. He crouched and she
glowered at him.

"I donТt need you," she said.

"We donТt need you either," he said. "But
we want you."

The hard set to her chin eased, just a
bit. "Do you speak for her?" she asked,
indicating me.

"No," I said. I knew what she wanted. She
wanted reassurance early that she wouldnТt
be entering a private war zone as
difficult and devastating as the one she
left. "I speak for myself. IТd like it if
you came home with us, Echea."

She stared at us both then, not