"Octavia E. Butler - Bloodchild" - читать интересную книгу автора (Butler Octavia E)

I looked into the yellow eyes, wondering how much I saw and understood there, and how much I only imagined."No one ever asks us,"I said."You never asked me."

She moved her head slightly."What's the matter with your face?"

"Nothing. Nothing important."Human eyes probably wouldn't have noticed the swelling in the darkness. The only light was from one of the moons, shining through a window across the room.

"Did you use the rifle to shoot the achti?"

"Yes."

"And do you mean to use it to shoot me?"

I stared at her, outlined in the moonlight - coiled, graceful body."What does Terran blood taste like to you?"

She said nothing.

"What are you?"I whispered."What are we to you?"

She lay still, rested her head on her topmost coil."You know me as no other does,"she said softly."You must decide."

"That's what happened to my face,"I told her.

"What?"

"Qui goaded me into deciding to do something. It didn't turn out very well."I moved the gun slightly, brought the barrel up diagonally under my own chin."At least it was a decision I made."

"As this will be."

"Ask me, Gatoi."

"For my children's lives?"

She would say something like that. She knew how to manipulate people, Terran and Tlic. But not this time.

"I don't want to be a host animal,"I said."Not even yours."

It took her a long time to answer."We use almost no host animals these days,"she said."You know that."

"You use us."

"We do. We wait long years for you and teach you and join our families to yours."She moved restlessly."You know you aren't animals to us."

I stared at her, saying nothing.

"The animals we once used began killing most of our eggs after implantation long before your ancestors arrived,"she said softly."You know these things, Gan. Because your people arrived, we are relearning what it means to be a healthy, thriving people. And your ancestors, fleeing from their homeworld, from their own kind who would have killed or enslaved them - they survived because of us. We saw them as people and gave them the Preserve when they still tried to kill us as worms."

At the word"worms,"I jumped. I couldn't help it, and she couldn't help noticing it.

"I see,"she said quietly."Would you really rather die than bear my young, Gan?"