"Timothy Zahn - A Coming of Age" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

okay?"

Colin nodded. Picking up the third needle, Jarvis prepared the arm and, with only a slight hesitation,
injected the brown fluid. His hand was trembling noticeably when he returned the hypo to the table.
"Very good, Colin. Now, there's just one more thing, and then I'm going to let you go to sleep. I'm
going to have to give you these shots every couple of days for a while, and I don't want it to bother
you in any way. So whenever you hear the word 'Miribel,' I want you to go immediately into a deep
sleep. You won't wake up again until you hear the word 'Oriana.' Do you understand? Repeat the two
words to me."

"Miribel," the child murmured. His eyelids were drifting shut as the hypnotic began to lose its hold
on him. "Oriana."

"That's fine, Colin. Now in a minute you'll go to sleep, and when you wake up in the morning you
won't remember this conversation. We're going to have a good time here together, and you're going
to learn a lot about woodland life. Above all, don't worry about anything, because I care a lot about
you. All right? Good. You're a good boy, Colin, and you may go to sleep now."

A moment later the boy was fast asleep, his mouth slightly open, his breathing slow and regular.
Checking his pulse one final time, Jarvis carefully covered him with the blanket he'd had ready. Just
as stealthily, he gathered his equipment and drugs and locked them away in his work table.

With one last look at the sleeping child, he turned out the study lights and softly closed the door.
Strangely enough, though his hands were still trembling a bit, the earlier tension was gone... and the
reason for that was obvious. By illegally injecting that drug into Colin's body, he had placed himself
neck-deep in the Rubicon.

For all intents and purposes, the decision to proceed was now irrevocable.




Chapter 4
There was no wake-up buzzer on Saturdays, but the excitement of the previous night carried over
into the morning, nudging Lisa out of bed well before her usual weekend rising time of seven
o'clock. Dressing quickly, she headed downstairs to the dining room. Despite the hour, a reasonable
number of others were already there, most of them the younger boys and girls who always woke up
with the sun no matter what the calendar said. Taking her tray to her table, she was mildly annoyed
to find a yellow triangle waiting there for her.

Someone had probably seen that illegal balcony takeoff, she decided, and had complained loudly
enough for Gavra to feel she had to take action. From Lisa's point of view the fingering couldn't
have come at a worse timeтАФalong with a minor loss of points, the usual punishment for such
infractions usually included one or more weekends confined to the hive. If Gavra hit her with that


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A Coming of Age

one, she would have to postpone her trip to the library until after work on Nultday at the earliest.