"Kevin O'Donnel Jr. - The Journeys of McGill Feighan 03 - Lava" - читать интересную книгу автора (O'Donnell Jr Kevin)

"But why does that matter?" Sam blinked all four lids on each eye: the
inner pair were transparent; the outer, opaque. He swished his tail. At the
scrape of his twenty-four claws on the plascelain, he shuddered. The
triangular fins running the length of his spine rippled.
"I think it makes them afraid of you." Feighan tugged a comb through his
tousled black hair, but to little effect. He made a face. "That's the way people
are."
"I'm a people, and I'm not afraid because somebody's different."
"Well, yes and no." Feighan squinted into the mirror: bloodshot brown
eyes peered back at him. You gotta start getting more sleep, he told himself.
Next time, leave Gina's earlier. "First of all, most people can't tell when
somebody wants to hurt them, like you can. Second, you're an intelligent
being, and you were born and raised right here in New York, but you're still
a Rhanghan, and when I say 'people' I mean Terran."
"What's a Terran?"
"Like me and GreysteinтАФwe're Terrans." He sighed. He and Sam must
have held this same conversation ten times in the last month alone. "Listen,
if I don't get a move on, I'm going to be late for work, soтАФ"
"Can I come with you?" His magenta tongue flickered out to sample
Feighan's forearm. Please, McGill, can I?"
"That's 'may I,' and the answer is no." He pirouetted to inspect himself in
the mirrored back of the bathroom door. The black boots and white pants
accentuated his height, and the interwoven color bands of his energy tunic
set off his muscled frame nicely. "Not today, Sam."
"But there's nothing to do here!"
"Believe me, it'd be just as dull in the Flinger RoomтАФ worse, 'cause
there's no holo. And you'd have to keep quiet all day long. You wouldn't
like that, would you?"
"No, I guess not." His surrender sounded like a snake's hiss. "How come I
can't go to school like the other kids?"
"I told you, you start at All Saints in September."
"But the other kids go to O'Toole."
"That's a public school. The law says you have to be five years old to get
into public kindergarten, and you're only three."
 "That's not fair."
"HeyтАФwhy don't you go pester Greystein while I eat breakfast?"
"I wanted to, but he's not home."
"He's not?" Feighan stepped out of the bathroom; Sam slithered off the
tub and followed. "Where'd he go?"
"I don't know. His bedroom's empty, though."
"Did you check?"
"McGill, you know I don't have to checkтАФI just know it's empty."
"I wish I knew how you did that." Feighan headed for the kitchen. "When
did you see him last?"
"The night before yesterday."
He frowned. "I'll bet he's on Canopus Eighteen again, on that beach he
calls Hideaway." To the computer that ran the penthouse apartment, he
said, "Oscar, query: where is Greystein; answer it now."
A ceiling speaker replied. "No data."
That worried Feighan. His roommate might go off without notifying his