"Bruce McAllister- Kin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcallister Bruce)

tried to do what he'd been asked to do: Think.
****


The alien did not sit on the bed, but remained in the
doorway. The boy did not have trouble looking at him this
time.


11
 Kin
by Bruce McAllister


"You know more about us," the alien said suddenly,
severely, "than you wished me to understand.... Is this not
true?"
The boy did not answer. The creature's eyesтАФhuge and
catlikeтАФheld his.
"Answer me," the alien said.
When the boy finally spoke, he said only, "Did you do it?"
The alien ignored him.
"Did you kill him?" the boy said.
"Answer me," the alien repeated, perfectly still.
"Yes..." the boy said, looking away at last.
"How?" the alien asked.
The boy did not answer. There was, the alien could see,
defeat in the way the boy sat on the stool.
"You will answer me ... or I will ... damage this room."
The boy did nothing for a moment, then got up and moved
slowly to the terminal where he studied each day.
"I've done a lot of work on your star," the boy said. There
was little energy in his voice now.
"It is more than that," the alien said.
"Yes. I've studied Antalouan history." The boy paused and
the alien felt the energy rise a little. "For school, I mean."
There was feeling againтАФa littleтАФto the boy's voice.
The boy hit the keyboard once, then twice, and the screen
flickered to life. The alien saw a map of the northern
hemisphere of Antalou, the trade routes of the ancient
Seventh Empire, the fragmented continent, and the deadly
seas that had doomed it.
"More than this ... I think," the alien said.
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 Kin
by Bruce McAllister


"Yes," the boy said. "I did a report last yearтАФon my own,
not for schoolтАФabout the fossil record on Antalou. There were