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

"Some."

"And you're curious. You want to see it for yourself."

"Not particularly," he answered, with conviction.
 Yet she didn't believe him. She seemed to enjoy herself. "Marvin's on
the other side. Stay with me."

Caleb obeyed. Walking between banks of instruments, he noticed that
the technicians wore bulky, heavily padded headphones to blunt the
screams. Now and again, at unpredictable moments, the bug would roar,
and again Caleb would pause, feeling a little ill for that terrible moment
when the air itself seemed to rip apart. Then just as suddenly there was
silence, save for the clicking machines and hushed, respectful voices. In
silence, Caleb found himself wondering if the guards drank because of the
sounds. Not that he could condone it, but he could anticipate their excuse.
Then he stepped off a floor of particle boards, onto rocky earth punctuated
with tree stumps, and in the middle of that cleared patch of forest,
stretched out on its apparent back, was the very famous bug. Not close
enough to touch, but nearly so. Not quite dead, but not quite alive, either.

There was some kind of face on a wounded appendage, a silent mouth
left open, and what seemed to be eyes that were huge and strange and
haunted. Dark liquid centers stared helplessly at the tent's high ceiling. It
was no bug, Caleb realized. It didn't resemble an insect, or any mammal,
for that matter. Were those legs? Or arms? Did it eat with that flexible
mouth? And how did it breathe? Practical questions kept offering
themselves, but he didn't ask any of them. Instead, he turned to the
surgeon, dumbfounded. "Why bring me here?" he inquired.

She was puzzled. "I'm sorry, isn't that what you wanted? I assumed
seeing Marvin was an excuse."

Not at all.

"You know," she informed him, "anyone else would give up a gland to
be here. To stand with us."

True. He didn't quite see why, but he knew it was true.

Another pair of guards watched them from nearby. They knew the
doctor. They had seen her come and go dozens of times, struggling to help
her patient. In the course of three days, they had watched her face darken,
her humor growing cynical, and her confidence languishing as every effort
failed. They felt sorry for her. Maybe that was why they allowed Caleb to
stand too close to government property. The soldier lacked clearance, but
he was with Hilton, and he was safe looking, and how could this tiny
indiscretion hurt? It made no sense to be hard-asses. Glancing at their
watches, they measured the minutes before their shift endedтАж and once
more that gruesome critter gave a big roarтАж !