"Continuing Time - 98 - Lord November" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moran Daniel Keys)

I had no idea who she was. Her brother Michael had been the colonyТs priest, and
apparently Bear and Michael Wellsmith had grown close. In MichaelТs last letter
to Judith, he had written at length about his friend Bear, the atheist Father
Michael was attempting to save. Jamie had looked me up for the sake of the
ending to her brotherТs very last letter.
IТve still got the hardcopy today:

ЧheТs come to realize how his temper has damaged the people around him, how itТs
damaged his own life. IТve been after him to come to confession, and I think
heТs very near agreeing. IТm not breaking the sanctity of the confessional by
sharing this with you, since it was said to me while he and I drank together a
few nights ago; apparently BearТs older brother is Neil Corona, the young man
who surrendered at Yorktown. TheyТve been estranged for fifteen years, and today
Bear regrets their estrangement and feels that it was largely his fault. I tend
to think heТs right; in dealing with Bear, I must often hold my tongue. He takes
offense too easily, realizes it slowly; and as a result spends much of his time
apologizing for incidents that took place a day or a week or a month prior. In
his brotherТs case he was deeply hurt (over what I am still not sure) and it has
taken him all the years since to realize how deeply he, in turn, injured his
brother. Bear is a proud man; today he thinks that, after fifteen years, his
brother must be so offended at him that he would not appreciate Bear attempting
to make contact again. I understand why Bear feels this way; itТs how Bear would
react in similar circumstances. I hope heТs wrong. In any event, we will find
out; when we return to St. PeterТs next August, I think I will write to Mr. Neil
Corona, and see what his feelings are toward his brother, and possibly arrange a
reconciliation.
At times I think my calling is a fiction, Jamie; something IТve invented to give
my life some meaning.
And other times I know it is not.
I remain, your loving brother,
Michael.

I read it silently; when I was done, Jamie Wellsmith demanded with tears in her
eyes, УWell? Was my brother right? Did you want to hear from him?Ф
She stared at me unwaveringly through her tears, and I said as steadily as I
could, УI would have given ten years of my life to talk to Bear again. He was
the last family I had. He was the last person I ever really let myself love.Ф



Interlude:
from There to Here
2049-2676 Inclusive
When the rescue ships arrived at Ganymede, weeks too late, there was nothing
left of the beachhead, and little enough left of the former surface of Ganymede
itself on the hemisphere where the fragments of Europa had struck. The Zaradin
ship was gone; and the Peaceforcers and scientists who swarmed in their dozens
over the wreckage of the first Ganymean settlement found nothing that would lead
them to guess that such beings had ever existed.