"Samuel R. Delany - The Fall Of The Towers 3 - City Of A Thousand Suns" - читать интересную книгу автора (Delaney Samuel R)

Then he cried out. It was a long cry, wrenched up from inside him; it changed in the middle, rising nearly
an octave to a scream (like a trapped boar in a quicksand pool whose cry goes from the hope of
struggle, rising through sudden understanding, into final terror and submersion.) ScreeeaaaaтАж Vol sank
to the hall floor. He shook his head; tears ran down his face; but he was quiet.

тАЬMr Nonik,тАЭ Rara said. тАЬMr Nonik, get up.тАЭ

Again he stood. The silence started chills on her back. She supported him down the hall. тАЬLook, I know
this wonтАЩt mean anything to you, Mr Nonik, maybe. But listen. YouтАЩre young, and youтАЩveтАж lost
something.тАЭ He heard her through a haze of pain. тАЬBut we all do in some way or another. I wouldnтАЩt say
this if it hadnтАЩt been for what happened a month ago, that moment when we all suddenlyтАж knew each
other like that. Since then I guess a lot of people have said strange things, that they wouldnтАЩt normally.
But like I said, youтАЩre young. There are so many people that we lose one or another, whom we think
areтАж are like everyone who saw you two knew you thought she was. But youтАЩll live.тАЭ She paused. тАЬI
had a niece, once, that I loved as much as a daughter. Her mother was dead. Both she and her daughter
were acrobats. Then, four years ago, she disappeared, and I never saw her again. I lost her, lost a
person I had brought up since she was nine years old. And IтАЩm alive.тАЭ

тАЬNoтАжтАЭ he said, shaking his head now. тАЬNo.тАЭ

тАЬYes,тАЭ she said. тАЬAnd so are you. And youтАЩll stay that way. At least if we get you to General Medical.тАЭ
Suddenly the despair that she had been trying to keep out of her voice, keep away from him, broke
through. тАЬWhy must they do things like that? Why? How can they do it now, after that moment when we
all knew?тАЭ

тАЬFor the same reason they did it before,тАЭ he said flatly. тАЬJust like you,тАЭ he went on, and she frowned.
тАЬTheyтАЩre trapped in that bright moment where they learned their doom. But they wonтАЩt get me. They
wonтАЩt.тАЭ

тАЬWhat are you talking about?тАЭ she asked, but his voice (or perhaps it was the sound of the words
themselves, the double oo of doom, a rare word then, that echoed the spuming sea) brought chills again.

тАЬTheyтАЩll never find me,тАЭ he said. тАЬNever!тАЭ He lurched forwardтАФand fell a quarter of the way down the
stairs.

тАЬMr Nonik!тАЭ

He caught himself on the banister, and started on again. Rara hurried down behind him, but he was
already at the door.

тАЬMr Nonik, youтАЩve got to get to General Medical!тАЭ

He stood in the door, naked, shaking his head in animal denial. тАЬTheyтАЩll never find me!тАЭ he whispered
once more, then he was gone into the street.

Bewildered, she hesitated. When she looked she couldnтАЩt see him at all. The early morning pavement
was deserted. The sun was bright. At last she gave up looking. She found an officer to bring back to the
boarding-house and report what had happened.