"Molly Brown - Community Service" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brown Molly)

I raced across the room and threw my arms around him, words pouring out of
my mouth in a rush. "Jimmy, for God's sake where have you been? Why didn't
you write? And what are you doing here? Oh God, it's so good to see you!"
He pushed me away and switched on the lights. When I saw his face, I was
horrified. There were deep lines around his eyes and mouth and his hair
was streaked with silver. He looked like an old man. "Jimmy, what happened
to you?"
"Hand over your weapon, Officer."
It was then I noticed he was wearing a Captain's badge. "When did you make
Captain?"
"I said hand over your weapon, Officer! Now!"
"Okay, Jimmy." I handed him my gun. "What's going on?"
"You've been breaking regulations, Officer. Leaving your own area without
permission is strictly prohibited, even the greenest rookie knows that.
But you went to Northwest today, didn't you?"
"I only went to see you, you jerk," I said, playfully punching him on the
shoulder.
He batted my hand away as if he couldn't stand the thought of me touching
him. "Don't do that again."
"Jimmy, why are you acting this way? This is me you're talking to! Me,
Nora. Remember?"
"Don't you dare," he hissed. "Don't you dare!"
My eyes filled with tears. "Jimmy, please. This isn't like you..."
He slapped me across the face, hard. "Shut up, you murdering terrorist
scum!"
"What?" I croaked. The tears were rolling down my cheeks now; I couldn't
stop them.
"Scum, that's all you are. You used to make bombs for the Spiders in a
tower in North Central. But you don't remember that, do you, Officer?"
I cursed myself for giving up my weapon. Jimmy had gone crazy. I took a
step backwards and found I was up against the wall. "Jimmy, you need
help..."
"Don't move," he said, pointing my own gun at me. "You really think you're
Nora, don't you? But then so did all the others; you must be the fifth or
sixth by now. I remember the second one used to bombard me with letters,
the stupid bitch. But you're the first to actually come looking for me."
"Jimmy," I said, keeping an eye on the gun, "you're not making sense."
"Aren't I? Then let me explain. Officer Nora Kelly agreed to take part in
an experiment -"
"I remember that," I interrupted. "I went up to personnel to demand a
transfer and they asked me if I would be willing to take part in some new
programme, then they sent me to some doctor for a physical, but all he did
was some kind of brain scan or something..."
He scowled, then carried on. "Nora Kelly's memory was downloaded into a
computer. Everything she'd ever learned, done, seen or felt."
I didn't remember that part.
"She died in a terrorist blast at Larry's Bar seven months later. That was
twenty years ago, and they've been making new Noras ever since. She's just
one of hundreds we re-use every three or four years."
"What?"