"Mercedes Lackey - Wet Wings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

each a special burden and sent them out into the world again.

Wonder. Imagination. Joy. Diversity. Some she sent out to wake the gifts of
magic in others. Some she sent to wake simple stubborn will.

Discontent. Rebellion. She sowed her seeds, here in this tiny apartment, of
what she hoped would be the next revolution. She would not be here to see
itтАФbut the day would come, she hoped, when those who were different and
special would no longer be willing or content with sameness and equality at
the expense of diversity.

Her door-buzzer sounded, jarring her out of her reverie.

She got up, stiffly, and went to the intercom. But the face there was that of
her old friend Piet, the "Environmental Engineer" of the apartment building,
and he wore an expression of despair.

"Kathy, the Psi-cops are coming for you," he said, quickly, casting a look
over his shoulder to see if there was anyone listening. "They made me let them
inтАФ"

The screen darkened abruptly.

Oh GodsтАФ She had been so careful! ButтАФin a way, she had expected it. She had
been a world-renowned fantasy writer; she had made no secret of her knowledge
of real-world magics. The Psi-cops had not made any spectacular arrests
lately. Possibly they were running out of victims; she should have known they
would start looking at peoples' pasts.

She glanced around at the apartment reflexivelyтАФ

No. There was no hope. There were too many thing she had that were contraband.
The shelves full of books, the feathers and bones she used in her magics, the
freezer full of meat that she shared with Horace and his predecessors, the
wool blanketsтАФ

For that matter, they could arrest her on the basis of her jewelry alone, the
fetish-necklaces she carved and made, the medicine-wheels and shields, and the
prayer-feathers. She was not Native American; she had no right to make these
things even for private use.

And she knew what would happen to her. The Psi-cops would take her away,
confiscate all her property, and "re-educate" her.

Drugged, brainwashed, wired and probed. There would be nothing left of her
when they finished. They had "re-educated" Jim three years ago, and when he
came out, everything, even his magic and his ability to tell a story, was
gone. He had not even had the opportunity to gift it to someone else; they had
simply crushed it. He had committed suicide less than a week after his
release.