"Brian Lumley - Psychomech 01 - Psychomech" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

the sun struck in at them through curving windows. The table’s top was smooth, cool and metallic. Schroeder had
come up in a tiny lift only recently fitted, installed specially to accommodate his wheelchair. Garrison had climbed the
stairs.
‘I wish to know those portions of the dream you can’t remember. A good hypnotist could probably draw them out of
you. I know some of the very best.’
‘But is it so important? I mean, I can’t even remember now if the thing was real. Do you know what I mean? I might
have confused things. I may have dreamed it after the explosion, while I was still in hospital.’
‘I don’t think so,’ replied Schroeder. ‘You were pretty certain a few minutes ago. No, I would prefer to believe that it
was precognition. You have that sort of mind, Richard.’
‘I do? How could you possibly know that?’
‘Powers of observation," Schroeder answered. ‘Your instinctive reactions, for instance. Why, you seem sometimes
to act upon a thing before it happens. Take for example Gunter’s intrusion upon us in the woods. You sensed, heard,
knew he was there before I had even suspected it. And I can see perfectly well. And I knew that there were men in the
woods.’
‘But it’s a recognized fact that if you lose one of your senses the other four try to even up the score, become
sharper.’
‘In time, yes,’ Schroeder agreed. ‘But your four surviving senses have not yet had time to develop such an edge -or
if they have you are even more unusual than I suspect.’
‘But what is it about the dream that so interests you?’
‘What? Can I believe my own ears? Why, 1 was part of that dream, before ever you met me!’
Garrison frowned. Shadows seemed to be lifting from his mind. After a moment he said, ‘I can remember more of it
now.’
 ‘Go on then,’ said Schroeder eagerly. ‘Go on, by all means.’
‘There was a girl, with huge eyes and shiny black hair.’
‘Oh? Did she have a name?’
Garrison shook his head. ‘I can’t remember. But -1 had never seen her face. What I knew of her I knew by touch, or
perhaps I had heard it from her. I think I knew her body. I’m not sure.’
‘Anyone else in the dream who you had never seen?’
‘Yes, a man.’ Garrison tried to concentrate. ‘A man in a castle. No description but—’
‘Yes?’
‘I think - yes, he’s tall, slim, and - a liar. A cheat!’
Schroeder frowned, his grip slackening on Garrison’s wrist. ‘What else about him?’
‘Only that I couldn’t reach him. I was trying to get to him, but something held me back.’
‘And what part did I play in your dream?’
Garrison slowly shook his head. ‘I don’t know. A face in the sky. Your face. I thought of you as a man-God.’
Schroeder’s grip tightened again. ‘And Willy?’
‘A friend. He... showed me the way. It’s hard to explain. He stood on a tall rock, pointing the way. Beside him, your
Mercedes.’
‘A Mercedes, yes,’ Schroeder nodded. ‘My symbol. Here in Germany I own several. All of them are silver in colour.
And abroad I always hire one. What else?’
‘A ... Machine?’
‘Machine? You seem uncertain. And I sensed that you said machine with a capital M.’
‘I did, you’re right.’
‘And what was this machine?’
‘That’s what I’m uncertain about. 1 don’t know what the Machine was. But I think I rode it. . .’
Frustrated, Schroeder shook his, head. Garrison sensed that he was eager to know more.
‘There are no clear details,’ he told the German.
‘Again you anticipate me,’ Schroeder was quick to note. ‘Your perceptions are almost telepathic. But please go on.
What more do you remember of this dream?’
‘Only one more thing,’ Garrison told him. ‘A dog, a black bitch.’