[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
make sure all the pre-selects didn t carry augmentation and genetic
pre-selection too far. I shook my head. He said twenty percent of the
pre-selects would die.& I forced myself to slow down and to go over the
entire conversation with Eldyn. Majora deserved to hear it, and she might
catch something I d missed. & after that, I just ran & there was nothing to
be gained by staying in Eldyn s retreat. Good thing I did, because once I was
in the escape tunnel the house exploded. I shrugged.
That s & horrible.
I nodded slowly, not quite sure what she meant. So many aspects of what I d
discovered were horrible.
What do you think about the aliens? I finally asked.
They are & or were real, she said slowly. From what you ve said, and what I
know, the original plague was probably their creation. After that &
Eldyn?
Majora lifted her shoulders, dropping them as if helplessly. It s hard to
believe, even for me, that anyone could be that angry, angry enough to kill
children like Syrah.
I think he was angry for a long time.
But & children & people he didn t even know?
I didn t have an answer, not a good one. So I stood up and paced to the
window, looking out into the garden, dark under dark gray clouds, dark in the
growing dusk.
There s more, I said slowly. Eldyn gave me the names he thought were behind
trying to kill me and Elora. He thought they were after him, too, from the way
he acted, but there s no proof, not that would stand up before a justice or
even convince an advocate general to investigate. No pre-select would waive
privacy. I don t have the resources or the infrastructure to strike back the
way they struck at us, and I m so exposed that if I tried anything direct, the
CAs would be at my door in hours.
Not today, or tomorrow, Majora observed, pausing before adding quickly, I m
not suggesting you do that. That just lowers you to their level.
Page 149
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
The way I feel, that wouldn t bother me at all.
The way you feel now. You have to live for more than now. You don t want to
end up like Eldyn, do you?
I didn t, but, tired as I was, I was still shaking with rage and
frustration. The only man I knew with any degree of certainty who was
responsible for any of the carnage was Eldyn, and he was dead. His wife was
dead, and his daughter probably scared and hiding in fear. I could speculate
about Eldyn, the aliens, the source of the octagonal pathogens, the names
Eldyn had given me, but I had no proof & not of anything, except attempts on
my life and people dying.
I turned to Majora. There s another question. Why didn t Eldyn make sure my
father had the protective nanites? I could see why he didn t want to give
them to Gerrat, although I wasn t about to voice that thought.
Did he want your father to be protected? Majora s dark brown eyes looked
shadowed in the dimness of the room. He had to have considered who would be
affected because you said he thought I d be all right.
Apparently they re mobile. He actually asked if I d slept with you. I
flushed.
You obviously thought about it. She was blushing, too, and I could sense
that, even if I couldn t see it.
I offered a smile. I ve been thinking about it more often.
Daryn &
I know. It s a horrible time to say something like that. I turned back to
the window and stared at the grayness of the shadowed garden.
There was a soft sound behind me, not quite a laugh nor a sob.
After a moment, Majora spoke. Daryn. We can t do anything tonight. You really
haven t slept in three days. I didn t sleep last night. Your eyes are red and
about to become holes in your head. You re going to stay here and get some
sleep and some rest, and then we ll look at things in the morning.
The thought of sleep, I had to admit, even sleeping alone, was welcome. The
inadvertent yawn that followed emphasized how exhausted I felt.
Exhausted and numb.
Chapter 56
Helnya
Although the sleep had been welcome, I was up not that much after dawn,
worried, and looking out on the garden, where the morning sunlight had already
turned the golden daffodils into bright circles of light.
Would you like some Grey tea? Majora asked, slipping up behind me and
resting her hands gently on my shoulders for just an instant.
I turned. She was wearing the loose gray exercise clothes and a warm smile.
Her brown eyes were tired, but warm as well.
Please.
How did you sleep?
Well enough, until I woke up. What about you?
About the same. I kept thinking about Syrah. I have trouble when children or
innocents die.
So do I. That was part of the problem. Most of the time, when someone wanted
to control something, everyone else suffered. For all Eldyn s insanity and
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]