"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

I believe him. I've already said that, and maybe it's not so important
because it concerns only me. But this man possesses talents that can be
useful to all of us. He can heal not only his own wounds, but others' too.
No offense intended, doctor, but far better than you can."
The doctor sniffed. "Forensic medicine is my field."
"But that's not all," continued Ordi. "He knows how to remove pain."
"How's that?" asked Forester.
"I don't know how he does it. He massages the temples, whispers
something, and the pain passes. I had two radiation seizures at my mother's
house, and he helped me both times. Not very much the first time, but still
I didn't lose consciousness the way I usually do. And the second time I
didn't feel any pain at all."
The mood in the room changed abruptly. A few minutes ago they were his
judges, deciding whether he should live or die. Now the judges had vanished,
and in their places sat tormented, doomed people who had suddenly caught a
glimmer of hope. They looked at him expectantly, as if here and now he would
sweep away the nightmare that had been tormenting them every minute of every
day and night for years on end. "Well," thought Maxim, "here, at least, I
will be needed to cure and not to kill." But something was missing. To cure
was not enough. "The towers - what a sick idea. Only a sadist could have
thought them up."
"Can you really do it?" asked the doctor.
"Do what?"
"Remove pain."
"Remove pain? Yes.''
"How?"
'I can't explain it to you. Your language doesn't have the words, and
you don't know enough. But there's something I don't understand: don't you
have any sort of painkilling drugs?"
"There are none. The only relief is from a lethal dose."
"Listen," said Maxim, "I'm willing to try to help you, to remove your
pain. But that isn't a real solution! A mass drug must be developed. Do you
have chemists?"
"We have everything," said Broadshoulders, "but the problem is not
solvable. If it were, the prosecutor would not be suffering these agonizing
pains, too. Believe me, he would get his hands on that drug damn fast. But
before each radiation strike, he gets drunk and soaks in a hot tub."
"The state prosecutor is a degen?" Maxim was bewildered.
"So go the rumors," replied Broadshoulders coldly. "But we're getting
off the subject. Have you finished your piece, Ordi? Who else wants to
speak?"
"Just a minute, general," said Forester to Broadshoulders. "What does
it all add up to? Is he going to be our savior?" He turned to Maxim. "Can
you take away my pain? Comrades, this man is so valuable I won't let him out
of this cellar! My pains art unbearable, I can't take it any longer. Maybe
he will really come up with some powder, eh? No, comrades, such a man must
be guarded like a treasure."
"Then you're in favor of him," said the General.
"More than that. If anyone so much as lays a finger on him..."
"We get the point. What about you. Doctor?"