"Marina Fitch - Sarah at the Tide Pool" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fitch Marina)

“Strangers in my lab always make me nervous.”

The man stood. He stroked the base of the STM settled on the counter next
to the aquarium. “Dr. Huron, I’m hardly a stranger — well, not to the company.”
Heextendeda hand. “Jason Whitcomb. I’m also with MediChem.”

She shook his hand, then pulled her own away.

“You’re developing an artificial skin,” he said.

She leaned against the far counter, pressing against it as if she could embed
herself into the pine cabinets. “An organic skin, to replace damaged skin,” she said.

“And a temporary one people can apply instead of sunscreen,” Jason
Whitcomb said. He pursed his lips. “You know, I’ve found that a lot of researchers
have a personal motive behind their work. What about you? What would this skin
allow you to do that, say, a sunscreen wouldn’t? Swim?”

Sarah studied him; she didn’t trust him, not with knowledge as personal as her
mother’s cancer. “Swim, yes. And I, uh, I miss visiting the tide pools at Thieves’
Point.”

“Thieves’ Point.?”

“I used to go there a lot as a child. I still go there once in awhile when I need
to think or when I’m stressed.”

He nodded, eyebrows raised. “I understand your research is coming along
very well.”

Sarah reached behind to steady herself. Her fingers tightened on the lip of the
steel sink. “My project is classified.”

“I have top security clearance.”

“You haven’t proved that, your clearance.”

He smiled; a broad grin further flattened his nose and narrowed his gray eyes.
“No, I guess I haven’t,” he said. He unclipped his badge and handed it to her. She
scrutinized it, then handed it back.

“Why so many nudibranchs?” he said.
 “I like them. Each species is different. Each has its own defense.”

“You like that.”

“Everything should have a defense,” Sarah said softly.

STILL AND quiet, Sarah watches the tide pool. Her knees are a little unsteady; she
places a hand carefully on the rock, avoiding the sharp edges of the mussels and