"Paul Preuss - Venus Prime 1 - Breaking Strain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Preuss Paul)

AND THE HEDGEHOG




I
тАЬDoes the word Sparta mean anything to you?тАЭ

A young woman sat on a spoke-backed chair of varnished pine. Her face was turned to the tall window;
her unmarked features were pale in the diffuse light that flooded the white room, reflected from the
wintry landscape outside.

Her interrogator fussed with his trim salt-and-pepper beard and peered at her over the top of his
spectacles as he waited for an answer. He sat behind a battered oak desk a hundred and fifty years old, a
kindly fellow with all the time in the world.

тАЬOf course.тАЭ In her oval face her brows were wide ink strokes above eyes of liquid brown; beneath her
upturned nose her mouth was full, her lips innocent in their delicate, natural pinkness. The unwashed
brown hair that lay in lank strands against her cheeks, her shapeless dressing gown, these could not
disguise her beauty.

тАЬWhat does it mean to you?тАЭ

тАЬWhat?тАЭ

тАЬThe word Sparta, what does that mean to you?тАЭ

тАЬSparta is my name.тАЭ Still she did not look at him.

тАЬWhat about the name Linda? Does that mean anything to you?тАЭ

She shook her head.

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaub...0-%20Venus%20Prime%201%20-%20Breaking%20Strain.html (3 of 182)23-12-2006 18:54:42
 ARTHUR C. CLARKE'S VENUS PRIME: VOLUME I



тАЬOr how about Ellen?тАЭ

She did not respond.

тАЬDo you know who I am?тАЭ he asked.

тАЬI donтАЩt believe weтАЩve met, Doctor.тАЭ She continued to stare out the window, studying something a great
distance away.

тАЬBut you do know that IтАЩm a doctor.тАЭ

She shifted in her chair, glanced around the room, taking in the diplomas, the books, returning her gaze