"Robert Reed - Decency" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

than it was. Most people were asleep; it was three in the morning. A
quarter moon hung overhead, the January stars like gemstones, brighter
and more perfect than the battered diamond shard that rode against
Caleb's hip. But the sky barely earned a glance, and despite the
monumental events of the last weeks and days, the guard felt no great
fortune for being where he was. His job was to deliver the criminal to his
superiors, which he did, and he did it without distraction, acting with a
rigorous professionalism.

The duty officer, overworked and in lousy spirits, didn't want the shard.
"You take it back to the science people," he ordered. "I'll call ahead. They'll
be watching for you."

Mistrust came with the job; Caleb expected nothing less from his
superior.

The bug was at the center of the city, under a converted circus tent.
Adjacent tents and trailers housed the scientists and their machinery. One
facility was reserved for the press, but it was almost empty, what with the
hour and the lack of fresh events. Overflow equipment was stored at the
back of the tent, half-unpacked and waiting to be claimed by experts still
coming from the ends of the world. Despite the constant drone of moving
air, Caleb could hear the bug now and again. A wail, a whimper. Then
another, deeper wail. Just for a moment, the sound caused him to turn his
head, listening now, feeling something that he couldn't name, something
without a clear source. An emotion, liquid and intense, made him pay
close attention. But then the bug fell silent, or at least it was quieter than
the man-made wind, and the guard was left feeling empty, a little cold,
confused and secretly embarrassed.

He was supposed to meet a Dr. Lee in the press tent; those were his
orders, but nobody was waiting for him.

Caleb stood under a swaying fluorescent light, removing the diamond
shard from his pocket and examining it for the first time. Cosmic dust and
brutal radiations had worn at it; he'd seen prettier diamonds dangling
from men's ears. What made it valuable? Why care half this much about
the bug? The Earth had never been in danger. The sail's lone passenger
was dying. Everyone who visited it said it was just a matter of time. To the
limits of his vision, Caleb could see nothing that would significantly
change people's lives. Scientists would build and destroy reputations.
Maybe some fancy new machines would come from their work. Maybe.
But the young man from central Missouri understood that life would go on
as it always had, and so why get all worked up in the first place?

"You've got something for me?"

Caleb looked up, finding a middle-aged woman walking toward him. A
very tired, red-eyed woman. She was one of the nation's top surgeons,
although he didn't know or particularly care.