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

Me.

Which makes it so strange to see him now, essentially idle, in this
place of openness and reflected light.

He still looks strong, but he hasnтАЩt bothered with enhancements. His
face has linesтАФsadness lines that turn down his eyes, and pinch the
corners of his mouth. He has let his hair go completely white, along with his
eyebrows, which have become bushy. His mustacheтАФsomething I
considered as much a part of him as his handsтАФis long gone.

He makes our greeting awkward by trying to hug me. I wonтАЩt let him.

He acts like he still has affection for me. He does make it clear that he
has followed my careerтАФas much as he can through what little I make
public.

But he has respected my wishesтАФthe wishes I screamed at him the
last time I ran away from my grandparentsтАФand has stayed out of my life.

тАЬYou sent Riya Trekov to me,тАЭ I say.

I canтАЩt sit in the chair heтАЩs offered. IтАЩm too restless in his presence, so
I pace in the large room. The glass here opens onto the other rooms.
Through their glass walls I can see still more rooms, and at the very end,
the lake. Looking at it through all this glass makes it seem far away, and not
real. It looks like a holograph of a lake, the kind youтАЩd see on the distance
ships of my childhood.

тАЬI figured if anyone could help her, you could.тАЭ His voice is the same,
deep and warm and just a little nasal.

I shake my head. тАЬYouтАЩre the one who has done all the research on
the Room.тАЭ

тАЬBut youтАЩre the one who has dived the most dangerous wrecks ever
found.тАЭ

I turn toward him then. He sits in the very center of the room. His chair
is made of frosted glass and the cushions that protect his skin are a
matching white. He looks like he has risen from the floorтАФa creature of
glass and sunlight.

тАЬYou think this is like a wreck?тАЭ I ask. тАЬWrecks are known. TheyтАЩre
filled with space and emptiness. They have corners and edges and debris,
but theyтАЩre part of this universe.тАЭ
 тАЬYou think the Room isnтАЩt?тАЭ He folds his hands and rests his chin on
his knuckles.