"Peter F. Hamilton - Softlight Sins" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

It worked, punishment and redemption wrapped in one neat package. Taking
away the threat and salvaging our conscience. I ought to be grateful. If
only Adrian didn't look so pitiful, so... wasted. But at least I cannot be
faulted for that, I did my best for him.
"Abschaum!"
The vehement shout electrified Douglas. He jerked round to see Barbara
Johnson stumbling back from Adrian in panic.
Adrian stared at them with a covetous birdlike expression, his nostrils
flaring as he sucked down deep breaths. He shouted at them again, the
words making no sense as he snarled and spat.
Douglas heard Harvey Boden saying, "That's German."
"What's happening?" Judge Hayward demanded.
Dr Elliot shook his head, staring at Adrian in numbed consternation.
"It didn't work," Douglas blurted.
"It did work," Barbara Johnson insisted. "The brainwave function was
zero."
"Does this sound like he's empty headed?" Douglas waved his hand angrily
at Adrian.
She appealed to Dr Elliot. "Some kind of residual activity?"
"I don't know," he said in a shaken tone.
"What's Adrian saying?" Judge Hayward asked.
"I've no idea, I don't speak German," Douglas said. "My God, neither does
Adrian."
Judge Hayward gave him a sharp look, then turned to Dr Elliot. "Find
someone who does, and fast."
"Not necessary," Barbara Johnson told her. She took some headsets from the
desk and handed them round. Douglas slipped his on as she voicelined the
computer terminal for a translation program. The earplugs muted another of
Adrian's invectives, then the translator cut in.
"...bastard Yankees. No better than fucking Jews. Queers and women,
nothing more, we'll shit on you yet. Your President Roosevelt is dead,
from shame, from the pox- "
Douglas voicelined the headset to stand-by mode, an unnerving chill
blossoming inside his head.
"All right," Judge Hayward said. "I want best guesses, and I want them
now."
"It's quite obvious Softlight doesn't work," Harvey Boden said. "It
doesn't wipe memories, it simply jumbles them up."
"There was no primary brainwave activity for two minutes," Barbara Johnson
said stubbornly.
Harvey Boden shrugged. "People recover from comas. Weeks and months spent
like a vegetable, then they're up and talking as if nothing had happened."

Douglas knew what Boden was doing. The Prosecution Officer wanted Adrian
dead. For real.
It's obviously not just my skull those two girls are haunting.
"I can't even pretend to understand what's happened," Douglas said as
Barbara Johnson and Dr Elliot started whispering together. "And you're
certainly not in a position to give qualified neurological opinions,
Harvey. We'll need a complete assessment made before any decisions are