"Harry Harrison - Galactic Dreams" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harrison Harry)

"You want me to kill Barre?тАЭ he asked.

"You're the only one who can . . . Davy . . . and it must be done. For all
these years I have hoped against hope that it would not be needed. That the .
. . ability you have would not be used. But Barre lives. For all our sakes, he
must die.тАЭ

"There is one thing I don't understand," David said, rising and looking out
the window at the familiar view of the trees and the glass canopied highway.
"How was this change made? How could I miss the conditioning that is a normal
part of existence in this world?тАЭ

"It was your teddy bear," Eigg explained. "It is not publicized, but the
reaction to killing is established by the tapes in the machine that every
child has. Later education is just reinforcement, valueless without the
earlier indoctrination.тАЭ

"Then my teddy... ?тАЭ

"I altered its tapes, in just that one way, so this part of your education
would be missed. Nothing else was changed.тАЭ

"It was enough, Doctor.тАЭ

There was a coldness to his voice that had never existed before. "How is Barre
supposed to be killed?тАЭ

"With this.тАЭ Eigg removed a package from the table drawer and opened it.

"This is a primitive weapon removed from a museum. I have repaired it, then
charged it with the projectile devices called shells.тАЭ

He held the sleek, ugly, black thing in his hand. "It is fully automatic in
operation. When this device, the trigger, is depressed a chemical reaction
propels a copper and lead weight named a bullet directly from the front
orifice. The line of flight of the bullet is along an imaginary path extended
from these two niches on the top of the device. The bullet of course falls by
gravity. But in a minimum distance, say a meter, this fall is negligible.тАЭ

He put it down suddenly on the table. "It is called a gun.тАЭ

David reached over slowly and picked it up. How well it fitted into his hand,
sitting with such precise balance. He raised it slowly, sighted across the
niches and pulled the trigger. It exploded with an immense roar and jumped in
his hand. The bullet plunged into Eigg's chest just over his heart with such a
great impact that the man and the chair he had been sitting in were hurled
backwards to the floor. The bullet also tore a great hole in his flesh and
Eigg's throat choked with blood and he died.