"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Room of Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

expected.

For years, I heard her voiceтАФstrong at first and unusual in its power,
then blending, and mixing, until I canтАЩt pick it out any longer.

I didnтАЩt know if that voiceтАФmixing with other voicesтАФwas an aural
hallucination, a dream, or a reality. Sometimes I thought it all three.

But it sneaks up on me at the most unexpected moments, sometimes
beginning with just a hum. The hum sends shivers down my back, and I do
whatever I can to silence the voices.

Which is usually nothing.

Nothing except wait.

****

After three days, Riya Trekov finds me.

IтАЩm having dinner in LongbowтАЩs most exclusive restaurant. The food is
exquisiteтАФfresh meat from nearby ports, vegetables grown on the station
itself, sauces prepared by the best chef in the sector. ThereтАЩs fresh bread
and creamy desserts and real fruit, a rarity no matter what space port you
dock on.

The view is exquisite as wellтАФwindows everywhere except the floor.
If you look up, you see the rest of the station towering above you, lights in
some of the guest rooms, decoration in some of the berths. If you look out
one set of side windows, you see the docks with the myriad of shipsтАФfrom
tiny single-ships to armored yachts to passenger liners.

Another group of windows show the gardens with their own airlocks
and bays, the grow lights sending soft rays across the entire middle of the
station.

On this night, IтАЩm having squid in dark chocolate sauce. The squid
isnтАЩt what Earthers think of as squid, but an ocean-faring creature from one
of the nearby planets. It has a salty nutlike taste that the chocolate accents.

I try to focus on the food as Riya sits down. SheтАЩs carrying a plate and
a full glass of wine.

Clearly she had been eating somewhere else in the restaurant, on
one of the layers I canтАЩt see from my favorite table. But she had seen me
come in and somehow, she thinks that gives her permission to join me.

тАЬHave you thought about it?тАЭ she asks, as if she made an offer and I
said I would consider it.