"Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars 3 - Green Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

тАЬWhich is?тАЭ

тАЬNitrates into nitrogen. From the ground into the air.тАЭ

тАЬVery good. A very useful microbe, that.тАЭ

So Sax forced him to pay attention to the moment, but the price was high. He found himself exhausted at
midday when school was over, it was hard to do things in the afternoon. Then they asked him to give
more marrow for Simon, who lay in the hospital mute and embarrassed, his eyes apologizing to Nirgal,
who steeled himself to smile, to put his fingers around SimonтАЩs bamboo forearm. тАЬItтАЩs all right,тАЭ he said
cheerily, and lay down. Although surely Simon was doing something wrong, was weak or lazy or
somehow wanted to be sick. There was no other way to explain it. They stuck the needle in NirgalтАЩs arm
and it went numb. Stuck the IV needle in the back of his hand and after a while it too went numb. He lay
back, part of the fabric of the hospital, trying to go as numb as he could. Part of him could feel the big
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marrow needle, pushing against his upper arm bone. No pain, no feeling in his flesh at all, just a pressure
on the bone. Then it let up, and he knew the needle had penetrated to the soft inside of his bone.

This time the process did not help at all. Simon was useless, he stayed in the hospital continually. Nirgal
visited him there from time to time, and they played a weather game on SimonтАЩs screen, tapping buttons
for dice rolls, and exclaiming when the roll of one or twelve cast them abruptly onto another quadrant of
Mars, one with a whole new climate. SimonтАЩs laugh, never more than a chuckle, had diminished now to
just a little smile.

NirgalтАЩs arm hurt, and he slept poorly, tossing through the nights and waking hot and sweaty, and
frightened for no reason.

Then one night Hiroko woke him from the depths of slumber, and led him down the winding staircase
and over to the hospital. He leaned groggily against her, unable to wake fully. She was as impassive as
ever, but had her arm around his shoulders, holding him with surprising strength. When they passed Ann
sitting in the hospitalтАЩs outer room something in the slope of AnnтАЩs shoulders caused Nirgal to wonder
why Hiroko was here in the village at night, and he struggled to wake fv.lly, touched by dread.

The hospitalтАЩs bedroom was overlit, sharp-edged, pulsing as if glories were trying to burst out of
everything. Simon lay with his head on a white pillow. His skin was pale and waxy. He looked a
thousand years old.

He turned his head and saw Nirgal. His dark eyes searched NirgalтАЩs face with a hungry look, as if he
were trying to find a way into NirgalтАФa way to jump across into him. Nirgal shivered and held the dark
intense gaze, thinking, Okay, come into me. Do it if you want. Do it.

But there was no way across. They both saw that. They both relaxed. A little smile passed over SimonтАЩs
face, and he reached over with an effort and held NirgalтАЩs hand. Now his eyes darted back and forth,
searching NirgalтАЩs face with a completely different expression, as if he were trying to find words that
would help Nirgal in the years to come, that would pass across whatever it was that Simon had learned.