"John DeChancie - Castle 04 - Castle War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dechancie John)

was a different place altogether.

The craft landed on the roof of a tall wedge-shaped office building. At gunpoint he was escorted out of
the craft and into an elevator, which descended endlessly. When the doors opened, Gene guessed the
floor was underground. He was told to go right, and he did, following a long bright corridor that put him
in mind of a hospital. Near the end of the corridor was a series of doors. He was told to stop in front of
one of them.

The man pressed a stud on the wall and the door hissed open. He was motioned inside. He went in.



file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/John%20DeChancie%20-%20Castle%2004%20-%20Castle%20War.html (28 of 255)23-12-2006 0:24:59
 Castle War

The cubicle was small. Walls, ceiling, and floor were padded. There was nothing else in the room. The
door slid shut, and he was alone. Cold bright light came from a glowing panel recessed in the ceiling.

There was lettering stenciled on the walls. Slogans. One wall read:

FREEDOM IS RESPONSIBILITY

The opposite wall told him:

PEACE IS CONSTANT STRUGGLE

The back wall stated:

CONSCIENCE IS AN INNER VOICE

He paced off the dimensions. Four steps by three steps. He palpated the walls. No one could hurt himself
here. He had expected a cell, but not a padded one. Maybe this place was a hospital, after all. A mental
hospital? He could think of no reason for his behavior being interpreted as evidence of mental
instability, unless his answers had registered to the cops as gibberish. Could be; after all, a lot of what
they had said was gibberish to him.

He waited for hours. No sounds conducted through the walls. His mind was curiously calm. He had
trouble thinking, keeping his thoughts in order.

Sleepiness gradually overtook him. He couldnтАЩt keep his eyes open. He fought it off for as long as he
could, then gave in. He stretched out on the padded floor and closed his eyes.

The slogan kept repeating in his mind тАФ Conscience is an inner voice.тАж Conscience is an inner voice.тАж


Five


Castle тАФ Laboratory
Jeremy Hochstader sat at the terminal of the castleтАЩs mainframe computer. As usual he was busy typing.