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

charts and diagrams that heтАЩs clearly worked on in the short time since he
called the meeting. Then he turns to my father.

тАЬWhat do you make of this?тАЭ Karl asks.

My father walks in front of the displays, his hands clasped behind his
back like a professor grading a studentтАЩs work. I get the sense that he likes
the attention and is milking it.

тАЬYour worry isnтАЩt necessary,тАЭ he says after a minute. He addresses
Karl as if the rest of us arenтАЩt here. тАЬIтАЩve seen this before.тАЭ

I remain still in the back of the lounge. Odette crosses her arms. Karl
tilts his head, obviously intrigued.

тАЬEvery time I come here, the station is bigger.тАЭ My father does not
pause, even though he should have. The sentence sends a ripple of
interest through the group and gives him the attention he obviously craves.
тАЬI think itтАЩs programmed to build new units, which is why the habitable ones
are on the outer layers, not in the middle.тАЭ

ItтАЩs a plausible explanation, and no one asks him for his proof. I would
have. My father is not a scientist, and he didnтАЩt back up what he just said
with any statistics or experimentation. Just observation and a supposition.

тАЬSo itтАЩs normal,тАЭ says Bria with something like relief.

тАЬThereтАЩs nothing normal about this place,тАЭ my father says.

тАЬHow do we test the growing theory?тАЭ asks Jennifer. SheтАЩs one of my
hires, and she looks at me as she asks this, all wide eyes and innocence.
But IтАЩve known her for a while, and Jennifer isnтАЩt innocent. SheтАЩs annoyed
that IтАЩve been forgotten, and sheтАЩs pointing me out to the others on
purpose.

IтАЩm glad for the opening. тАЬWe test all theories. ThatтАЩs why itтАЩs best to
go slow. The more we learn before we go to the Room, the better off weтАЩll
be.тАЭ

тАЬYou actually think weтАЩll learn something new about the Room?тАЭ
Davida asks. SheтАЩs sitting by Jennifer and Roderick on the couch. They
glance at her in surprise.
 тАЬWhy else come on this mission if you canтАЩt learn something new?тАЭ
Roderick asks.

тАЬItтАЩs just that this thing has existed for so long and no one knows
anything about it,тАЭ Davida says. тАЬThatтАЩs beginning to creep me out.тАЭ

тАЬWe know some things,тАЭ my father says and goes into his lecture on
the history of the Room. He doesnтАЩt seem to notice that heтАЩs talking mostly