"Barry Longyear - Dark Corners" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

“No. Do you think I’m crazy?”

“You sure?”

“I don’t remember it, Danny.” I lower my voice. “I didn’t write it down, so how could I remember it?”

I give Danny a big hug and whisper in his ear, “You remember Herb Liselli, that editor you want to
dismember?”

I feel Danny’s head nod against my cheek. “He’s coming here as a patient, Danny. It shouldn’t be more
than a few weeks.”

“Are you sure?” Danny asks in a whisper, his eyes as wide with promise as a child’s on Christmas
morning.

“The Misty Man worked it. Call it a gift from me to you.” Danny holds me at arm’s length, tears of
gratitude in his eyes. I squeeze Danny’s shoulder and look at the other patients. Teddy, Mike, Grandma,
Rough Stuff and the rest. I nod to a few, touch hands with them, give another hug or two.

When done, I ask Danny, “Where’s Hicks?”

“We brought him.” Danny points to a patient squatting and leaning his shoulder against the wall, his arms
wrapped around his knees. Hicks’s eyes look around, his neck muscles twitching. Danny stands next to
him and Hicks cowers and covers his head with his arms.

“Don’t hit me!” he cries quietly. “Please, don’t hit me.”

I squat in front of him. I can see one of Hicks’s eyes, wide and frightened, peering at me from between
trembling forearms. “I’m leaving now, Hicks. Keep trying, let these people help you, and you’ll be fine.” I
pat his arm. “Every now and then I’ll be back to visit you.”

Hicks violently shakes his head and whimpers. I squeeze his shoulder and stand up. I hug Danny again,
say some more good-byes, and go to the security door. I hug the new doctor and nod at the guard. The
guard isn’t a hugger.

“What’ll you do after this, Paul?” asks the new doctor.

“I’m going back to my old job at Defense. But, Doc, come the election don’t be surprised if the
President nominates someone who looks a lot like me to be the new Secretary of Defense.”

The doctor frowns and cocks his head to one side. “You’re not setting yourself up for a big fall, are you,
Paul? Those confirmation hearings can get pretty rugged. Even though you were cleared of those
charges, you did have a minor breakdown. Are you certain the President would want to put you through
something like that?”

“Yes,” I agreed, “Things like that often place a nomination under a shadow.” I gave a tiny giggle and then
took control of myself. “The Cold War is over, doctor, and the world is swamped with tens of thousands
of nuclear weapons that no longer have any purpose. I have a couple of ideas for what to do with them.
The value of the ideas should outweigh any reservations concerning the state of my mental health.