"James Patrick Kelly - Dividing the Sustain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

vital signs. “Why is it always boys?”

“It’s my fault,” said the woman, probably the mom. She sniffed but did not
cry.

“Our fault,” said the dad.

“Yes, you’re right,” she said miserably.

“Let’s make Joss comfortable.” Been heard hissing as Emsley pressed the
medfinger to the boy’s temple. Joss immediately went limp. Emsley closed the boy’s
eyes and unwrapped the towel. “Oh, dear,” he said. Blood spattered onto the float.
“Were you able to find any of the fingers?”

The dad was already offering him a blood-smeared plastic bag containing the
severed fingers.

Emsley held it up to the brightly illuminated overhead. “Hmm,” he said. “Too
mangled.” He dropped the plastic bag into the trash. The mom gave off a strangled
yip of protest as the lid closed for incineration.

“Don’t worry.” Zelmet Emsley smiled at the boy’s parents. “We’ll grow him
better ones.” As he maneuvered himself behind the float to push it into the BioCore,
he noticed Been still squeezed against the bulkhead. “Ah, Been. I’ll see you
Thursday, then?”

****

Been didn’t know exactly who had bought the personality transplant that he was
carrying in his mindsync, but that was often the case in his line of work. Besides, it
all was perfectly legal. Everyone had the right to be recast, especially when there was
a possibility that the client might go stale. Of course, the citizens of Little Chin could
ostracize anyone who was recast without consensus approval. Been suspected that
he was working for one of the leaders of the colony, which was why the client had
paid extra for covert delivery. Been’s problem was that he had no idea where he was
supposed to download the transplant. His contact on Nonny’s Home had never
shown up. There had been no final briefing. With a one-way ticket, false ID, the
transplant, and a third of his fee in hand, Been had chosen at the last minute to
continue on to Little Chin in the hopes that the client would contact him there.

But as the year aboard the slipship dragged by, he had come to regard his
decision as foolhardy. How was he supposed to make delivery while remaining
undercover? Sneak up on Lars Benzonia, Acoa Renkl, and Elma Stitch and ask if
they were going stale? And if he couldn’t connect, he might be stuck on Little Chin
with a personality transplant that only his client could unlock. His partial fee would
pay for a ticket to someplace else, but probably nowhere he wanted to go.
Meanwhile, the Consensualists would surely shun him once they found out that he
barely knew the difference between agronomy and astronomy. Been needed a
backup plan. He was sure that if he could only get a chance to talk to Harlen
Quellan, captain and owner of the Nine Ball, he’d be able to strike some kind of