"Babylon 5 - The Nautilus Coil - J Gregory Keyes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babylon 5)

{/I/}... "I-" the spoken word came reluctantly from the old man, like an
antique petrol engine trying to start after a long period of rest. "Sorry,"
the stranger went on. "I haven't spoken aloud to anyone in -- well, in my
terms in around 10 years. By your reckoning, considerably longer."

"Who {/are/} you?" Garibaldi asked.

The man held out his hand. "My name is Kevin Vacit." Garibaldi took the
offered grip, tentatively. It felt like wire.

"That's impossible!" Lyta sputtered.

Vacit turned on her. "And you are most certainly an Alexander. How true runs
that blood." He smiled, tightly, as if it hurt his face.

"You two know each other?"

Lyta's eyes were somehow both dubious and as wide as a child's. "He was the
Director of Psi Corps," she said. "I mean, in the last {/century/}. My
grandmother worked with him."

"And her mother, and hers," Vacit said. "All the way back to the beginning.
The Alexander's were among the first."

Lyta nodded, studying his face. "You look like him. My mother had a picture
from her mother. She said you just vanished one day. Everyone thought you had
been murdered, but the body was never found."

"Well, now you've found it," Vacit said. He shivered. "I find the cold
unsettling, even through my insulated clothing. Won't you join me in my
house? I assure you, I'm happy to answer your questions, and I am no danger
to you at all."

"Hold on," Garibaldi said, feeling the situation somehow getting away from
him. "This family reunion is awfully keen, but how's about answering at least
{/one/} question before we enter your parlor?"

"Of course," said Vacit.

"What happened to the Psi Corps shuttle?"

A brief wince that might have signified regret folded Vacit's forehead.
"This place was where the Vorlons had their chief experimental station. All
of it was destroyed, I thought, with the exception of the reactor, which is
deep underground. I was wrong -- there were still some surface-to-air
defenses. They took me -- and the shuttle -- by surprise. I managed to locate
and disable the device before you arrived."

Garibaldi looked at Lyta. She shook her head, clearly confused. "Director