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

тАЬBut I put detectives on the trail years ago, and thereтАЩs no evidence
he was ever captured. No evidence that he met with anyone from the other
side,тАЭ she says with surprising diplomacy. тАЬNo evidence that his ship was
captured. No evidence that he vanished during the last conflicts of the war,
like the official biographies say.тАЭ

тАЬNo real evidence?тАЭ I ask. тАЬOr just no evidence that can be found
after all this time?тАЭ

тАЬNo real evidence,тАЭ she says. тАЬWeтАЩve looked in the official records
and the unofficial ones. IтАЩve interviewed some of his crew.тАЭ

тАЬFrom the missing vessel,тАЭ I say.

тАЬThatтАЩs just it,тАЭ she says. тАЬHis ship isnтАЩt missing.тАЭ

So I frown. She has no reason to approach me. Even in my old
capacity, I didnтАЩt search for missing humans. I searched for famous ships.

тАЬThen I donтАЩt understand,тАЭ I say.

тАЬWe know where he is,тАЭ she says. тАЬI want to hire you to get him back.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt find people,тАЭ I say mostly because I donтАЩt want to tell her that
heтАЩs probably not still alive.

No human lives more than 120 years without enhancements. No
human who has spent a lot of time in space can survive an implantation of
those enhancements.

тАЬIтАЩm not asking you to,тАЭ she says. тАЬIтАЩm hoping youтАЩll recover him.тАЭ

тАЬRecover?тАЭ SheтАЩs got my full attention now. тАЬWhere is he?тАЭ

The tip of her tongue touches her top lip. SheтАЩs nervous. ItтАЩs clear she
isnтАЩt sure she should tell me, even though she wants to hire me.

Finally, she says, тАЬHeтАЩs in the Room of Lost Souls.тАЭ

****

Ask anyone and theyтАЩll tell you. The Room of Lost Souls is a myth.

IтАЩve only heard it talked about in whispers. An abandoned space
station, far from here, far from anything. Most crews avoid it. Those who do
stay do so only in an emergency, and even then they donтАЩt go deep inside.
 Because people who go into the room at the center of the station,
what would be, in modern space stations, the control room but which clearly
isnтАЩt, those people never come out.