"James Herbert - The Survivor" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert James)

'Yes, of course. Look, I can get away in about ten minutes. I'll meet you in the
High Street, in The George. It's about time for a spot of lunch anyway.' He clapped
a hand on Keller's shoulder, then turned and walked back towards the wreckage, a
worried expression on his face.

Keller returned to his car, locked it and began to walk back to the High Street.

The policeman watched him and scratched his cheek thoughtfully, Keller. Yes,

file:///F|/rah/James%20Herbert/Herbert_James_-_The_Survivor__(proofed).htm (13 of 227) [5/21/03 10:08:38 PM]
 Herbert, James - The Survivor UC FR


David Keller. Thought I recognised him. He was the co-pilot of the plane - the
Jumbo. This one. And he was the only one who walked away from it. Without a
scratch on him. The only survivor.

Keller ordered a beer and found himself a table in a quiet corner. The barman had
barely given him a second glance, and for this he was grateful. The past four
weeks had been a nightmare of questions, innuendoes, staring faces and abrupt
silences. His colleagues and bosses at Consul, the airline company he flew for, had
been mostly kind and considerate apart from the few who had viewed him with
strange suspicion. And then, the newspapers had played up the story; the crash,
dramatic and catastrophic though it had been, wasn't enough for them. That a man
could walk from the terrible carnage, unscathed, even his uniform unmarked, was
proclaimed a miracle. Intensive medical examination found no internal injuries;
there were no burns; his nerves appeared to be stable. Physically, he seemed to be
perfect except for one thing - amnesia. Indeed, he experienced total amnesia as far
as the crash and the events leading up to it were concerned. It was the shock, of
course, the doctors told him and, in time, when his mind had healed enough to
remember - to allow him to remember - then it would all come back. But there was
always the possibility his mind would never heal.

The 'miracle' story had persisted, though gradually he had become aware of a
resentment against him, not just from the public, from some of his own colleagues.
Not many, but enough to cause a feeling of guilt within himself. In the eyes of the
public, he should never have lived; he was a pilot, he represented the airline - it
was his duty to die with the passengers! Incredibly, he sensed the same feeling
amongst some of his fellow pilots. He had no right to live when innocent men,
women and children - three hundred and thirty-two of them - had died so
tragically. As a member of the crew, as part of the airline, he was to blame. Until
the cause of the crash could be discovered the pilot must take the blame. And he
was co-pilot; he had to share the responsibility.

He had taken a test flight in a private aircraft less than two weeks after the
accident, but it had been hopeless. He froze as soon as his hands touched the
controls. His pilot, the veteran who had played such a large part in his training,

file:///F|/rah/James%20Herbert/Herbert_James_-_The_Survivor__(proofed).htm (14 of 227) [5/21/03 10:08:38 PM]