"Dave Wolverton - Siren Song at Midnight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolverton Dave)

rifles. My father walked into the bright sunlight in company with the priest. My fatherтАЩs hands and feet
were shackled, so he took tiny, clumsy steps, pulling at his chains.

A hawk was soaring on the thermal updrafts, and my father stopped to watch it sail over a ridge. тАЬMy
God,тАЭ my father said, тАЬwhat does it find to eat here?тАЭ He looked across the desert toward the plains, and
said to the priest, тАШBeyond those valleys, there were once rain forests. Great, endless forests.тАЭ

One Marine fidgeted with his rifle. Until that moment, I do not think I believed the execution would take
place. I somehow hoped that others would recognize my fatherтАЩs innocence, that the great wise leaders
of Earth would stoop to save him. I looked at the rifles, and a thin scream issued from my lips, and I bit it
back, tried to control myself. The major escorted my father to a wall and stood with him a moment.
Everything was so quiet.

The major said, тАЬSe├▒or, do you want a blindfold?тАЭ

My father looked at the ground and shook his head and sighed. Inside his cell he had been sweating,
depressed, but the cool morning air dried his sweat, and I imagined that he was almost glad to finally
finish it.

тАЬIt is traditional to offer a cigar,тАЭ the major said. My father shook his head, still staring at the ground.
тАЬAny last words, Se├▒or Elegante? Last requests?тАЭ My father only shook his head. One reporter
coughed.

тАЬI have a last request!тАЭ I shouted, and the major looked up at me. тАЬCan I speak to my father alone, only
for a moment, to say good-bye?тАЭ

тАЬI am sorry,тАЭ the major said, тАЬbut no.тАЭ

тАЬA kiss? Can I kiss my father good-bye?тАЭ

The major looked up at me, sighed. тАЬIf you wish.тАЭ

I ran to my father. Everyone was watching, and there was no way to pass the mom-set to him. I was
afraid he might swallow the capsules instead of break them, and I had no way to tell him how to use the
drug, so I burst the capsules between my teeth, hard. The mem-set tasted bitter, slightly of anise, and I
thought I might gag, but I held it on my tongue. And as we kissed, I spat the poison into his mouth,
rubbed it onto his lips.

My father lurched backward a step and his eyes widened in horror. тАЬJosephina!тАЭhe said, crying out as if
begging to know what I had done.

тАЬI donтАЩt want to live without you!тАЭ I said. тАЬAll our work is destroyed. I will always love you! God knows
how to read the manuals of our lives. He will put everything back together. For a whileтАФonly for a
whileтАФthe restoration will continue without us!тАЭ

My father threw his arms around me and wept. тАЬNo, Josephina,тАЭ he cried. тАЬI did not want this to touch
you. I did not want to hurt you.тАЭ

Major Gutierrez pulled at my shoulders. тАЬDo you think you could die, and I would not be hurt by it?тАЭ I
asked my father. I grabbed him and held, and Gutierrez let me hug him for a full minute, weeping, then the