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

IтАЩm sure he was reflecting on them because everyone expected him to
celebrate the end of the Wars.тАЭ

тАЬHe should have celebrated,тАЭ I say.

She smiles faintly, then nods. For a moment she looks away. I can
see her make a decision. She takes a deep breath and uncrosses her
arms.

тАЬI agreed with you back then. I figured he should have been at his
happiest. But he wasnтАЩt so wrong about our jobs. I spent a lot of years as
the chief surgeon on a military ship, and mostly I handled minor injuries and
not-so-serious illness. But when we were in the middle of a battle, and the
wounded kept pouring in, I just reacted.тАЭ

I nod, not wanting her to stop.

тАЬI worked my ass off,тАЭ she says. тАЬAnd people died.тАЭ

She leans back, and rests her wrist on the side of the table. тАЬI never,
ever counted how many people I saved. I still donтАЩt. I suppose I could look
it up. But I know to the person how many have died under my watch,тАЭ she
says softly. тАЬIтАЩll wager Ewing knew too. And each one of those deaths, they
take something from you.тАЭ

A little piece of yourself, I almost add. But I donтАЩt want her to think IтАЩm
sympathizing falsely, and IтАЩm not willing to reveal as much of myself to her
as she has revealed of herself to me.

тАЬHe wouldnтАЩt have been talking about death if he was going to go to
those ceremonies,тАЭ she says. тАЬHe wouldnтАЩt have been looking at the past.
He would have been looking toward the future, at what we could build.тАЭ

She sounds so confident. Yet they were just lovers, in passing, on a
military output. How well did she really know him, after all?

And how can I ask her that without insulting her further?

So I try a different tack, partly to take my mind off those irritating
questions and partly because I want to know.

тАЬYou said itтАЩs a pilgrimage. You said only the damned can get in.тАЭ

Her frown grows. тАЬHave you never heard of the Room?тАЭ

тАЬI know it,тАЭ I say, choosing my words carefully. тАЬI just donтАЩt know the
legends.тАЭ

And I should. I used to believe that legends were more important than
тАЬfactsтАЭ or histories or stories I could verify. Because legends held a bit of