"Connie Willis - The Sidon in the Mirror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

I couldnтАЩt see her very well. She was wearing a chemiloom lantern strapped to her forehead, and she had
brought one for me, but they didnтАЩt give off much light, and her face was in shadow. My uncle had told
me she had a big scar that ran down the side of her face and under her chin. He said she got the scar
from a fight with a sidon.

тАЬIt nearly cut the jugular,тАЭ my uncle had said. тАЬIt would have if they hadnтАЩt gotten it off of her. It cut up
quite a few of the tappers, too.тАЭ

тАЬWhat was she doing with a sidon anyway?тАЭ I asked. I had never seen one, but I had heard about them:
beautiful blood-red animals with thick, soft fur and sot-razor claws, animals that could seem tame for as
long as a year and then explode without warning into violence. тАЬYou canтАЩt tame them.тАЭ

тАЬJewell thought she could,тАЭ my uncle said. тАЬOne of the tappers brought it back with him from Solfatara in
a cage. Somebody let it out, and it got away. Jewell went after it. Its feet were burned, and it was
suffering from heatstroke. Jewell sat down on the ground and held it on her lap till someone came to help.
She insisted on bringing it back to the abbey, making it into a pet. She wouldnтАЩt believe she couldnтАЩt tame
it.тАЭ

тАЬBut a sidon canтАЩt help what it is,тАЭ I said. тАЬItтАЩs like us. It doesnтАЩt even know itтАЩs doing it.тАЭ

My uncle did not say anything, and after a minute I said, тАЬShe thinks she can tame us, too. ThatтАЩs why
sheтАЩs willing to take me, isnтАЩt it? I knew there had to be a reason sheтАЩd take me when weтАЩre not allowed
on Solfatara. She thinks she can keep me from copying.тАЭ

My uncle still did not answer, and I took that for assent. He had not answered any of my questions. He
had suddenly said I was going, though nobody had gone off-planet since the ban, and when I asked him
questions, he answered with statements that did not answer them at all.

тАЬWhy do I have to go?тАЭ I said. I was afraid of going, afraid of what might happen.

тАЬI want you to copy Jewell. She is a kind person, a good person. You can learn a great deal from her.тАЭ

тАЬWhy canтАЩt she come here? Kovich did.тАЭ

тАЬShe runs an abbey on Paylay. There are not more than two dozen tappers and girls on the whole star. It
is perfectly safe.тАЭ

тАЬWhat if thereтАЩs somebody evil there? What if I copy him instead and kill somebody, like happened on
Solfatara? What if something bad happens?тАЭ

тАЬJewell runs a clean abbey. No sots, no pervs, and the girfs are weff-behaved. ft s nothing like the happy
houses. As for Paylay itself, you shouldnтАЩt worry about it being a star. ItтАЩs in the last stages of burning
out. It has a crust almost two thousand feet thick, which means thereтАЩs hardly any radiation. People can
walk on the surface without any protective clothing at all. ThereтАЩs some radiation from the hydrogen taps,
of course, but you wonтАЩt go anywhere near them.тАЭ

He had reassured me about everything except what was important. Now, trudging along after Jewell
through the sooty carbon of Paylay, I knew about all the dangers except the worst oneтАФmyself.