"Robin Wilson - To the Vector Belong..." - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Robin)

тАЬI donтАЩt know, Jake. IтАЩm just damn glad I made it and didnтАЩt тАФ uh -abort,тАЭ
said Al. тАЬThatтАЩs what happened to the last two guys. Got down and out and got to
severance when the mother told them the time, but then they couldnтАЩt get the тАФ
uhтАФ shell open fast enough to save their aaa and she had to withdraw them . . . . тАЬ

тАЬThe mother?тАЭ said Lindstrom.

тАЬYeah. How we, how I got here. The motherтАФтАЭ He broke off, at a loss for a
description of the indescribable. тАЬUh тАФ I guess, think of an ovipositor on a, like a
bug, only it works across space, I guess, andтАФuh тАФ sort a time.тАЭ

Lindstrom has only a dim grasp of the concept. Someone on the other end of
the wire would dig up. an expert.

Aware of their listeners, he drains his glass and says: тАЬAnd so here you are.
Just for the record, let me ask one more time why youтАЩre here. Who are you and
whatтАЩs your mission, Al?тАЭ

Al shrugs. тАЬShit, Jake. IтАЩd tell you if I could. I got this memory goes back
maybe eight, ten hours, and then except for training and the academy itтАЩs zeppo. I
guess I know IтАЩve been thisтАЭ тАФ he points a thumb at his chest тАФ тАЬonly since the
time at the academy, but I donтАЩt remember anyone else IтАЩve been.тАЭ

Jake nods and does not bother to correct тАЬzeppo.тАЭ He is not going to learn
what he is now convinced Al doesnтАЩt know. тАЬMy people are going to get antsy if we
donтАЩt show pretty soon,тАЭ he says. тАЬAny little thing would help.тАЭ He half refills each
glass, emptying the square bottle. тАЬLittle things can mean a lot,тАЭ

Al sips and prints three circles interlocking. тАЬYeah, I know that one. And little
things come in big packages and how little we know and little old New York and O
little town of Bethlehem and тАФтАЭ

тАЬAl.тАЭ Lindstrom cuts him off quietly.

тАЬOkay. But can you imagine what itтАЩs like? All those тАФ uh тАФ I guess years in
the academy? Getting your own language and culture and biography wiped and
practice, practice with new stuff? Getting the littlest finger on each hand cut off just
because polydactylism has only a five decimal point occurrence on this planet? Go
through all that shit and then blow the whole thing because of some last minute glitch
in the process? Can you imagine what it must have been like for the two guys who
didnтАЩt make it? All that loneliness for nothing? Can you see why I feel so great to
make it okay into this system?тАЭ

тАЬI been wondering about that,тАЭ says Lindstrom, actually wondering why a
man in custody in a bar ringed with enough firepower to subdue the Malay Peninsula
would consider himself to have been successful in his mission, whatever in the
unimaginable name of God that was. тАЬThe extra finger. You mind if I ask you
something personal?тАЭ He is now tired beyond the point where he much gives a
damn, and as usual under such circumstances, he is feeling antic, wants to give the