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

Besides, I’ve done a few favors that have placed some good people on my side.”

The doctor’s eyes say that he thinks I’m chasing a fantasy. I shake hands with the doctor one last time,
the security guard smiles through the grill, unlocks the door, and I step into the chill of a winter afternoon.




Somewhere, somewhen, in a distant dimension, the essence of Iyef Nu Reyitim was released from its
restraint field and was returned to its body to resume normal life. The investigator, recently placed in
charge of the case, said many, many apologies to Iyef, for no one could remember why Iyef had ever
been placed in restraint. There were empty files and blank data cores at the mental support facility, as
well as several counselors who had literally lost their minds. Strangest of all were the curious blanks that
appeared in news and history cores all over the world. Nonetheless, Iyef accepted the apology, ate most
of the investigator, and streaked away from the facility directly toward the closest major population
center.

Iyef Nu Reyitim and his shadow were free.




L.A. in L.A.
Lyle Bennet tried to hide his facial expression from Dr. Raeder by looking down at his notes. He needed
a moment to think. Lyle had always envisioned himself as a future psychological explorer blazing new
paths in the treatment of mental disorders. He had found himself, however, contemplating a master’s
thesis comparing the performances of two breeds of lab rats running a slight modification of the Hauser
Maze. After hearing a description of the project, his thesis advisor had suggested he look for something
else. That’s what Lyle had thought even before the suggestion had been made, and that was what he was
doing that morning in Dr. Raeder’s office. But Raeder had to be kidding.

Lyle looked up from his notes, stifled a giggle, and leveled his gaze at his thesis advisor. “Let me get this
straight, Dr. Raeder. You’re telling me wolf men are real? Silver bullets, full moons, bad hair days, and all
that?”

Janos Raeder returned the gaze and didn’t change expression as he tapped the tip of a freshly sharpened
pencil against his desk blotter. Abruptly he tossed down the pencil, leaned forward in his chair, and
clasped his hands in front of him, his wrists on the edge of his desk. “No, that is not what I said. What I
said was that you should check out a meeting of that new twelve step program.” He glanced at a sheet of
paper on the desk. “Let’s see. This is the thirty-first, right? Friday?”

“That’s right.”

Dr. Raeder moved a finger down the list. “Here it is. There’s an L.A. meeting tonight on Alameda. I think
you should at least go and check it out.”

Lyle’s eyebrows went up. “L.A.? Lycanthropics Anonymous? Werewolves, right?”

“Look, Lyle, you were the one who came to me for suggestions regarding a new thesis topic.”