"Rajnar Vajra - Afterburn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vajra Rajnar)

his brain, generating random stimuli, blocking out both pain-signals and
hypothalamic wake-up calls."
Troy opened his mouth then closed it without saying anything.
Sue didn't notice. "And four to six times an hour, a strong forty-cycle
pulse is applied to his entire reticular formation, sending him into intense
dream states."
"True enough. But you've left off something. As you probably know,
we're trying to keep him, um, somewhat _afraid_ in there." Troy aimed a thumb
toward the tank. "Loud, low-frequency sound is the ticket. It was his idea
that organisms might heal faster if they feel threatened. The theory is
unproven, to say the least, but since he can only stay in there for such a
limited time..."
"It's worth trying something radical that might speed up his
regeneration. I do understand. But according to these readouts, he's not in
one of the peak stimulation phases at the moment."
Troy tilted his chin back. "Now, I get you! We don't know why or how,
but he's recently taken to, uh, instigating some _internal_ stimulation on
occasion. At first, we were alarmed. But it didn't seem to do him any lasting
harm and perhaps it's even led to some small acceleration in the, um,
process."
Susan nodded stiffly. "Doctor Carroll mentioned that, but she didn't
say that the readings would get this high. I don't want to overreact, but I
was taught to choose safe over sorry." Christ, she thought, when did I start
talking like such a pompous ass?
Troy glanced at her speculatively. "Safe over sorry? You're right, of
course, but I'm afraid that, uh, pioneers are seldom safe and often sorry.
This is all ... terra incognita. But I'd like you to answer a question and
please be absolutely honest: how are you feeling at this very moment?"
"Well, somewhat ... on edge, to tell the truth. It's probably my
imagination, but I keep feeling like something's about to go -- " Susan
frowned as she hesitated " -- horribly wrong."
"Aha! That's our subsonics at work. They'll ruin a good mood every
time. We've tried to confine the vibration to the tank by having phase
canceling speakers built into the walls here, but the system isn't perfect.
I'm used to this place, but just standing here, I always get this feeling of
impending doom."
"Is that so? Doctor Carroll warned me that the subsonics might make me
'just a tad jittery.'" She'd made quotation marks with brusque finger motions.
Dane shifted his weight and smiled unconvincingly. "She probably didn't
want you getting nervous about getting nervous."




Page 3
 "What makes me nervous is when people don't trust me. But why do we
need the subsonics running _continually_?"
The big man's smile became more genuine. "Good question! We've tried
shutting them off several times. Each time, the patient became nearly comatose
and his metabolism slowed accordingly. If you want my intuitive opinion, I