"Foster, Alan Dean - SS3 - The Day of the Dissonance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

"You must obtain this medicine for me, my boy. I can't
trust the task to anyone else. Evil forces are afoot."

Jon-Tom sighed deeply, spoke resignedly. "Why is it
whenever you want something, whether it's help making it
to the bathroom or a snack or someone to go on a
dangerous journey for you, that evil forces are always
afoot?"

"You ever see an evil force, boy?"

"Not in the flesh, no."

"Evil forces always go afoot. They're lousy fliers."

"That's not what I meant."

"Doesn't matter what you meant, my boy. You have to
run this errand for me. That's all it is, a little errand."

"Last time you asked me to help you run an errand we
ended up with the fate of civilization at stake."

"Well, this time it's only my fate that hangs in the
balance." His voice shrank to a pitiful whisper. "You
wouldn't want me to die, would you?"

"No," Jon-Tom admitted. "I wouldn't."

4 Alan Dean Foster

"Of course you wouldn't. Because if I die it means the
end of your chances to return to your own world. Because
only I know the necessary, complicated, dangerous spell
that can send you back. It is in your own interest to see
that I remain alive and well."

"I know, I know. Don't rub it in."

"Furthermore," the wizard went on, pressing his advan-
tage, "you are partly to blame for my present discomfort."

"What!" Jon-Tom whirled on the bed. "I don't know
what the hell you've got, Clothahump, but I certainly
didn't give it to you."

"My illness is compounded of many factors, not the
least of which are my current awkward living conditions."