"Kate Wilhelm - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

right about them, David. TheyтАЩre up to something.тАЭ
David leaned forward and unconsciously lowered his voice. тАЬWhat do you know?тАЭ
Walt looked at him and shook his head slightly. тАЬAbout as much as you did when you first
came to me in early summer. No more than that. David, find out what theyтАЩre doing in the lab. And
find out what they think about the pregnant girls. Those two things. Soon.тАЭ Turning away from
David, he added, тАЬHarry tells me they have devised a new immersion suspension system that doesnтАЩt
require the artificial placentas. TheyтАЩre adding them as fast as they can.тАЭ He sighed. тАЬHarry has
cracked, David. Senile or crazy. W-one canтАЩt do anything for him.тАЭ
David stood up, but hesitated. тАЬWalt, I think itтАЩs time you told me. WhatтАЩs wrong with you?тАЭ
тАЬGet out of here, damn it,тАЭ Walt said, but the timbre of his voice was gone, the force that
should have propelled David from the room was not there. For a moment Walt looked helpless and
vulnerable, but deliberately he closed his eyes, and this time his voice was a growl. тАЬGet out.
IтАЩm tired. I need rest.тАЭ
David walked along the river for a long time. He hadnтАЩt been in the lab for weeks, months
perhaps. No one needed him in the lab any longer. He felt in the way there. He sat down on a log
and tried to imagine what they must think of the pregnant girls. They would revere them. The
bearers of life, so few among so many. Was Walt afraid a matriarchy of some sort would develop? It
could. They had discussed that years ago, and then dismissed it as one of the things they could
not control. A new religion might come about, but even if the elders knew it was happening, what
could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water, which
moved without a ripple, all of a piece on that calm, cold night, and he knew that he didnтАЩt care.
Wearily he got up and started to walk again, very cold suddenly. The winters were getting
colder, starting earlier, lasting longer, with more snows than he could remember from childhood.
As soon as man stopped adding his megatons of filth to the atmosphere each day, he thought, the
atmosphere had reverted to what it must have been long ago, moister weather summer and winter,
more stars than he had ever seen before, and more, it seemed, each night than the night before:
the sky a clear, endless blue by day, velvet blue-black at night with blazing stars that modern
man had never seen.
The hospital wing where W-l and W-2 were working now was ablaze with lights, and David
turned toward it. As he neared the hospital he began to hurry; there were too many lights, and he
could see people moving behind the windows, too many people, elders.
Margaret met him in the lobby. She was weeping silently, oblivious of the tears that ran
erratically down her cheeks. She wasnтАЩt yet fifty, but she looked older than that; she looked like
an elder, David thought with a pang. When had they started calling themselves that? Was it because
they had to differentiate somehow, and none of them had permitted himself to call the others by
what they were? Clones! he said to himself vehemently. Clones! Not quite human. Clones.
тАЬWhat happened, Margaret?тАЭ She clutched his arm but couldnтАЩt speak, and he looked over her
head at Warren, who was pale and shaking. тАЬWhat happened?тАЭ
тАЬAccident down at the mill. Jeremy and Eddie are dead. A couple of the young people were
hurt. DonтАЩt know how bad. TheyтАЩre in there.тАЭ He pointed toward the operating-room wing. тАЬThey left
Clarence. Just walked away and left him. We brought him up, but I donтАЩt know.тАЭ He shook his head.
тАЬThey just left him there and brought up their own.тАЭ
David ran down the hall toward the emergency room. Sarah was working over Clarence while
several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way.
David breathed a sigh of relief. Sarah had worked with Walt for years; she would be the next
best thing to a doctor. He flung his coat off and hurried to her. тАЬWhat can I do?тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs his back,тАЭ she said tightly. She was very pale, but her hands were steady as she
swabbed a long gash on ClarenceтАЩs side and put a heavy pad over it. тАЬThis needs stitches. But IтАЩm
afraid itтАЩs his back.тАЭ
тАЬBroken?тАЭ