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

The file ended abruptly at the conclusion of her standard training, three years ago. On the screen, only
the logo of the Multiple Intelligence agency: the fox. The quick brown fox. The fox who knows many
things . . .

The doctor observed that her cheerfulness persisted longer than usual, while she stared at that logo.
Perhaps it maintained her in a present of some continuity with her past.



file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaub...0-%20Venus%20Prime%201%20-%20Breaking%20Strain.html (9 of 182)23-12-2006 18:54:42
 ARTHUR C. CLARKE'S VENUS PRIME: VOLUME I

тАЬPerhaps you will,тАЭ he murmured.


Leaving her at the door of her roomтАУshe already forgetting him, having already forgotten what they both
had seenтАУhe moved his bulk ponderously down the old stairs to his office. The high-ceilinged, drafty
brick building, built on the flanks of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century as a tuberculosis
sanatorium, now two hundred years later well served its role as a private asylum for disturbed members
of the families of the modestly well-to-do. The doctor did his best for those who were innocently
committed here, but case L. N. 30851005 was quite different, and increasingly absorbed his attention.

On his own flatscreen he called up the clinical file the institution had kept since her arrival. An odd
emotion took hold of him thenтАУwhen decision overtakes a mind, even a normal one, it often happens so
quickly it erases the track of its own processesтАУand the doctor was shaken by a shuddering warmth, the
certainty of revealed truth.

He pressed his finger against his ear and keyed his commlink with the sanatorium staff. тАЬIтАЩm concerned
that Linda has not been sleeping well this week.тАЭ

тАЬReally, Doctor?тАЭ The nurse was surprised. тАЬSorry. We havenтАЩt noticed anything unusual.тАЭ

тАЬWell, letтАЩs try sodium pentobarbital tonight, shall we? Two hundred milligrams.тАЭ

The nurse hesitated, then acquiesced. тАЬCertainly, Doctor.тАЭ


* **


He waited until everyone was asleep except the two night nurses. The man would be prowling the
corridors, supposedly alert for trouble, actually nursing his own insomnia. The woman would be dozing
in front of the videoplate monitors at her station on the main floor.

He nodded to her as he passed by, on his way up the stairs. тАЬIтАЩll just have a look around before I go
home.тАЭ She looked up, belatedly alert.

Everything he needed fitted easily inside his luxurious Chesterfield without appreciably adding to his
bulk. He climbed the stairs and moved down the second floor corridor, conscientiously poking his head