"Continuing Time - 01 - Emerald Eyes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moran Daniel Keys)

that crisscrossed KalharriТs body. Almost hidden among the marks of the lasers
were the small round puckered scars where bullets had entered his flesh.
Kalharri did not even glance at Amnier. He entered the first shower in the row
as they began undressing.
Terence was sweating; he took AmnierТs coat, babbling instructions at the man.
УЕand then gargle with the mouth-wash, youТll have to swallow the second
mouthful. IТll meet you on the other side and show you how toЧФ
Suzanne interrupted him. УTerence.Ф
He stopped speaking instantly and glanced at her sidewaysЧhe was more of a prude
than most of the rest of the staff. УYes maТam?Ф
УYou took your gloves off.Ф
Terence let out a low moan. УOh, damn,Ф he swore, and began stripping down even
more quickly than the others.
The first thing that Amnier noticed, as they cycled through the double doors
that led into the labs, was the faint smell of ozone. The bubble let filtered
air through, and it was not supposed to filter anything so small as an ozone
molecule; but before he could be certain about the smell, he was led through the
inner door and found himself upon a catwalk that looked down upon chaos.
Kalharri was down there, with a pair of technicians wearing decon badges. Only
one of the decon badges bore the radiating triangle insignia that meant its
wearer had passed training to deal with radioactive materials. The tech who wore
that badge was probably paid twice as much as the tech who did not; even today,
eleven-and-a-half years after the end of the Unification War, there were not
enough skilled radiation decon techs to go around.
The lab itself was huge; it was easily the largest room in what was not a small
building. This, thought Amnier, is where they work. The things that had been
missing everywhere else were in abundance here: comic strips had been inscribed
in the glowpaint, and decorative calendars were hung in three different places.
The dozen or so desks that were scattered across the place were personalized to
various degrees; one that caught his eye held the holograph of a ballerina,
turning eternally on point.
The laboratory was the first place Amnier had seen in the building where
glowpaint gave an approximation of yellow sunlight.
A huge laser hung nose-down from the ceiling, pointing at a table that bore a
ceramic depression nearly a meter in diameter. In the middle of the depression
was a small transparent container that had been clamped into position; tubes so
small that Amnier could barely see them from where he stood led to the
container.
Amnier made his way down from the catwalk slowly. Montignet was already down at
floor level. One of the technicians was showing her listings from the devices
that were attached to the transparent container; Montignet rose up from the
computer, shouted, УEllie, get me nutrient flow now,Ф and went back instantly to
the readouts.
Amnier reached the floor and found Malko Kalharri there, waiting for him.
Kalharri was standing with his arms crossed, pale blue eyes calm and rather
relaxed. УHello, Darryl.Ф
Amnier sat down abruptly on a step four from the bottom. It put his eyes almost
on a level with KalharriТs. УHello, Malko. How have you been?Ф
УWell. And yourself?Ф
Amnier shrugged. УBusy. I work. What is happening?Ф