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

as much energy into the flywheel that way."

"Thanks, but no," Gavra smiled. "Your girls have served their time on boredom duty. We'll just give
them a free day."

Lisa nodded and made her way back to her own table. The EightsтАФmost of them at least halfway
finished with their foodтАФseemed more subdued than usual, enough so that she wondered if Sheelah
had taken advantage of her absence to clue them in on her mood. In a way it made things worse; she
remembered vividly a couple of the "evergrouch" preteens she'd been terrified of as a young girl. I
will not become like that, she told herself fiercely, and made a supreme effort to smile at the others
before starting to eat. The underlying feeling of tension remained, though. Hurrying through her
breakfast, she set her tray on the conveyor and got out.

But harsh moods had never been able to get a solid hold on her, and this time, fortunately, was no
exception. Somewhere en route to the west power station her depression vanished into the brilliant
June sunshine as she and her chattering Sevens soared high above the rooftops, the younger ones
engaging in the sort of free-form tag forbidden inside the hive buildings. Watching them
playтАФfeeling the wind in her hair as Barona's buildings rolled beneath themтАФit was somehow
impossible to truly believe she would ever lose her teekay. She chose, at least for the moment, to
ignore the quiet voice of logic within her.

Lisa hadn't been to any of Barona's three power stations since she was eight, but the place was no
less intimidating now that she was older and bigger. The main room's two massive flywheels, in
particular, were still sort of frighteningтАФshe could still remember nightmares she'd had where one
of them broke loose and she couldn't move to get out of the way....

Giving her head a sharp shake, she put the memory out of her mind. "Let's sit over here, shall we?"
she said to her crew, indicating a spot a dozen meters from the flat side of their assigned flywheel.
"Everybody bring a chair over and let's get busy."

The task was accomplished with a good deal more noise and banging of chairs than was necessary,
but Lisa knew enough to be patient. "All right," she said when they were finally settled. "What
would you like to do first?"

"See a movie," one of the boys spoke up promptly.

"Oh, you like movies, do you?" Lisa asked, her eye on the gauge set into the flywheel's housing. The
rotational speed, which had been dropping slowly as its energy was turned into electricity, was now
holding steady as the kids began teeking. Still lower than the power station people liked to have it,
but Lisa knew they'd be able to catch up later. "What sort of movie would you like?"

"Monsters!" the boy exclaimed.

"Can't we sing instead?" a girl spoke up. "Or see a movie about real animals?"

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A Coming of Age