"Karin Lowachee - Warchild" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowachee Karin)

verge of dying.



V.
┬л^┬╗
Was there ever a time you didnтАЩt feel afraid? You couldnтАЩt
remember. You had to eat. When the bread and soup came you
ate. You used the dirty toilet. You no longer smelled the stink.
Mama and Daddy were dead. TheyтАЩd left you in this place and
all the crying in the universe didnтАЩt change a thing. You got
used to the drives of this ship, the higher whine than
Mukudori тАЩs. You learned the cadence of the thumps and
screeches that was the sound of this ship moving through
space. Sometimes in your sleep you thought you heard voices.
Sometimes light appeared behind your eyes. But you knew it
was a lie. You knew your world was only darkness.



VI.
┬л^┬╗
 The hatch opened when you were sitting on the toilet. The
man there laughed and swore and waved his hand in front of
his face.
тАЬWipe your ass. LetтАЩs go.тАЭ
You washed your hands slowly because you didnтАЩt want to
go with this pierced, pale man. The light in the corridor
blinded you. He grabbed your arm because you couldnтАЩt walk
steady.
The corridors looked the same as the last time youтАЩd seen
them. Ugly. Battle worn. Were you the only kid here?
Probably. If not, they were probably all in small rooms like the
one you lived in.
The man took you up the loud, rattling lev and in front of a
hatch with a strange red emblem on it, then hit the
comm-panel there. A voice you recognized said, тАЬEnter.тАЭ
The man dragged you in and left you there with Falcone.
It was a small room. A gray desk, a narrow bed, and
webbing for storage. Two cabinets high on the wall. Falcone
sat on the bed with a slate in his hand. He looked at you with
the flame-blue eyes you remembered, that you were never
going to forget.
тАЬJoslyn Aaron Musey.тАЭ He smoked. He flicked ashes into a
small tray beside him on the blankets. тАЬLooking worse for
wear.тАЭ
You didnтАЩt know if you had a voice. You werenтАЩt sure how
long it had been since the others were taken or since youтАЩd last
spoken. It seemed many shifts. But it didnтАЩt matter; you didnтАЩt
want to talk to this man.