"Patricia A. McKillip - Fools Run" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

The ring-wall loomed before them. The shielding opened to a blazing oval of lights. The
prisoner rose. Six feet tall, bald, emaciated, she looked inconsequential enough to be borne
away on a solar wind. But the unnatural stillness of her face, the enormous, smoky grey eyes
touching the face of one guard, then the other, made them raise their weapons. She said
tiredly, with a curious logic, тАЬYou cut off my hair. How could I harm you?тАЭ

They didnтАЩt answer. Two faces: one male, one female, one light, one dark, identical in their
expressions. The cruiser-commander swiveled to look at her; beside him, the navigator eased
the vessel toward the lights.

тАЬSit down,тАЭ the commander said.

тАЬTrue or false,тАЭ she said to him, like an ancient conundrum. тАЬI am sane.тАЭ

He met her eyes a moment longer, trying to find an answer in them, then shook his head.
тАЬIn there, in the Dark Ring, it wonтАЩt matter.тАЭ He added almost gently, тАЬHow old are you?тАЭ

тАЬTwenty-one.тАЭ

тАЬChrist. Godchrist. A hundred years here. You canтАЩt be sane. They should have sent you to
New Horizon, repatterned your brain.тАЭ

тАЬI am sane.тАЭ

тАЬYou murdered one thousand five hundred and nine people. Is that sane?тАЭ

She gazed at him, hearing him as from the small end of a funnel. тАЬYou belong to one
pattern,тАЭ she said, as she had repeated a hundred times during her trials. тАЬI am caught in
another.тАЭ

He turned away impatiently. The great oval doors yawned wider; dock lights flared below
them. тАЬDrugs,тАЭ he said. But she hadnтАЩt finished.

тАЬThe vision is different.тАЭ Her thin voice was careful, insistent. тАЬThe Dark Ring is not in the
vision.тАЭ

He looked back at her, quiet again, still trying to comprehend her. тАЬWhat color was your
hair? Before they shaved you? When you were a child?тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt remember.тАЭ

тАЬDo you remember being a child?тАЭ

тАЬI was never a child.тАЭ

тАЬAre you a killer?тАЭ

тАЬYes.тАЭ