"C. S. Friedman - The Wilding" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

they'll have a full head of hair, you know when their first tooth will come in, you pretty much know when
they're going to say their first word. Not much is left to chance, in that race. It's the genetics thing. They
don't trust Nature much.
Tell us about that night.
(Pause.) I was alone with them, you know? Both of their parents were out. I had the alarm system onтАФI
re-ally did, they've asked me about that a hundred times, you know, but I made sure of it!тАФ Anyway, things
were quiet until about midnight. I had them in bed long be-fore then, of course.
And then IтАФ
(Pause.)
Kallesi?
I'm sorry ... it's hard to remember this part... I don't know why....
Take your time.
(With obvious effort:) I . . . I think I went into the li-
brary to read. Funny, how even that memory is hazy now, it's all going away, like it never really happened
... I went in there and called up a book. I don't remember what book it was. They've asked me that over
and over again, you know, but I just can't remember. It seems a stupid thing to forget, doesn't it? But how
much can it matter, what book I was reading?
(Gently:) Go on.
Anyway, I must have been there a while. Then ... it was strange ... I thought I heard the portal chime.
But it didn't, did it? The records say no one used it in that time, at least that's what the others told me, when
they investigated.
Just tell us what you remember, Kallesi. Don't worry about the others.
My first thought wasтАФand this was odd, I thought that even at the timeтАФ"Ah, he's here." Like I had
been expecting someone all along. But I wasn't, I've told you all that. Aleys and Kel didn't like me
entertaining when no one was home. It was all that security stuff, you know. Something about the kids. So
even then I knew it was a pretty strange reaction to have. Like, I felt. . . . (Pause.)... it was almost like I
was inside my own head, watching my thoughts. You know? Observing them from the outside. Very
strange.
What did you do then?
I . . . I ... (Long pause.) I think I went to the portal. I'm sorry I can't be sure ... this whole thing, I can't
re-member it clearly. Like half of me wasn't there at the time. I think I went to see who was there. I
figured I would just tell them to go away and come back later, but I ought to see first who it was....
The portal has a message recorder.
Yes. Yes. I know that. (Pause.) I don't know why I didn't just tell him to use it. That would have been
the right thing to do. That's what I usually did. (Pause.) How much trouble am I going to be in? I mean, the
childrenтАФ
(Gently:) We'll worry about that later. For now just go on with the story.
Anyway I... I guess I opened the portal. To see who it was.
You couldn't see him through the viewport?
(Long pause.) I guess I could have. I felt... like that wasn't enough. Somehow. It was strange....
Can you describe him?
He was Azean. At least, I thought he was Azean. They tell me now the security images don't match that,
that he didn't look Azean at all. But that's what I saw. And it seemed to me at the time that he was familiar
to me, and I knew from past experience that he was a regular visitor.
So you let him in.
Yes. I let him in.
It's strange, I remember us talking for a while ... but again, there are no records of that, are there? Just of
him sort of staring into my eyes for a few minutes. If not for that I'd have said we spent a long time talking,
about all sorts of things. That's what I remember, you see, even though they tell me now it never happened.
I mean, could the records be wrong? (Pause.)