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

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A Coming of Age

means he'll be less powerful."

"Not always; and smaller kids usually keep their teekay a little longer as preteens," Tirrell corrected
absently, staring at nothing in particular. "But that's still a darn good questionтАФfagins aren't
interested in the long-term teekay characteristics of their victims. And this guy Oliver seems to have
latched specifically on to Colin a long time ago."

"You suppose it was because Colin was adopted? It might not be as hard on his parents that way."

"Fagins aren't noted for that kind of consideration, either," Tirrell said, a bit tartly. "No, there has to
be another reasonтАФsomething about Colin himself. Something the average person wouldn't know,
perhaps?" He got to his feet and started back toward the vault door. "Let's go find out."

The preteen followed him. "We going to call the Brimmers?"

Tirrell shook his head. "I think we'll start at the hospital instead. I'd like to take a good look at the
rest of Colin's medical records. And at the people who compiled them."




Chapter 6
"Now look, Kelby, this is ridiculous," Jarvis said as patiently as possible into the radiophone. "I'm
supposed to be on vacation out here, remember? Or is one week your idea of a long time away from
the lab? I don't want to hear about your troubles."

"Now, now, Matt; let's not overdo the hyperbole, eh?" Even Jarvis's less-than-magnificent equipment
couldn't filter out the bluff good humor that was a permanent feature of Kelby Somerset's voice. "In
the first place, this is not going to become a regular event; and in the second place I doubt very much
you're really forgetting about work out there. I'll lay you very heavy odds you've got yourself a cozy
little lab in this allegedly rustic cabin of yours. You're probably working your tail off, making twice
your usual progress now that you don't have to worry about trivia like staff meetings and faculty
lunchesтАФnot to mention simple food and sleepтАФ"

"All right, all right," Jarvis interrupted with a sigh. "I give up. Ask your question and let me get back
to my book, okay."

"Right. It's about the results of that test you and Cam ran last monthтАФthe induced-hibernation one.
We've been running through the data and are getting a strange sort of anomaly between the eight-
and ten-milligram dosages. The rate of decrease of heartbeat, respiration, and brain electrical
activity goes way down all of a sudden. As you increase the dosage the decreases plot out smoothly,
but that discontinuity's driving everybody crazy. We've looked at the obvious possibilities and they
all washed out. I thought you might have a brilliant suggestion or two on something new to try."

Jarvis sighed. "Disturbing my privacy isn't enoughтАФnow you want long-distance prophesy, too?"

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