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

‘Well, it was then, towards the end of the war, the collapse, that I became interested in the, shall we say, esoteric
sciences? And it was an interest which has never flagged. What I have learned has been profitable. I am "instinctive"
in business, too, you see? By 1952 I was a millionaire, by ’57 a multi-millionaire. Now . . .’? Suffice it to say that I am
very, very rich.
‘However, I do not wish to bore you with the entire story, which would take up far too much of our time. Only
believe me when I tell you that I have come to be extremely learned in several obscure fields. Not a master in any of
them, no, for I started too late; but I do have contact with the masters.
‘Adam Schenk is one such. He is the astrologer, a great clairvoyant, an interpreter of dreams. In short, the stuff of
ESP is strong in him.
‘As to why he came to me: he said I needed him, that the cosmic influences on my life were bending towards a focus,
and that the genius loci lay in an outsider, a foreigner to whom I owed a great debt.’
‘Myself,’ said Garrison.
‘Who else? And so Schenk came, cast my horoscope and those of my inner circle of friends, and yours—’
‘Mine?’ Garrison felt a small annoyance.
‘Yes, it was necessary. If the idea offends you then I am sorry. But since I had already collected together so many of
your, shall we say, "details", it was not a difficult task. And once you were so obviously indicated by my own
horo-scope, I requested that he do it.’
Garrison’s annoyance turned to amusement. Suddenly the whole thing seemed funny to the point of ridiculous, ‘I’rn
listening,’ he said, ’and I’m trying to keep an open mind, but—’
‘Be quiet!’ Schroeder snapped, angry in a moment. ‘Open mind, you say? You had better keep an open mind! We are
talking about your entire future. We may even be talking about my entire future. ..’ And again that strange chill struck
at Garrison out of nowhere.
‘Copies of Schenk’s forecasts,’ Schroeder continued in a moment, ’are still here on this very table.’ There was the
rustle of paper. ‘Here is yours. There, hold it up for me while I read it. If you don’t believe what I tell you is on it, take it
to Willy and ask him.’
The strip of card, perhaps three inches wide and nine long, felt heavy as a death warrant in Garrison’s hand. He held
it up towards Schroeder’s voice. ‘OK,’ he said, ’what’s in it?’
Schroeder drew a deep breath. ‘Just a series of words, Some bunched together, others by themselves, written in ink
to form a column down the left-hand side of the card. There’s a time-scale on the right. Are you ready for this, Richard
Garrison?’
‘Is it as bad as all that?’
‘It is... remarkable.’
Garrison nodded. ‘Let’s see if I find it remarkable,’ he said.
‘"Richard Garrison,"’ Schroeder commenced. ’"Darkness. Time-scale: now."
‘"Limbo. Time-scale: to six months."
‘"WK and Black Dog, ‘S’? Time-scale: to three years."
‘"Girl "T. Time-scale: to eight years."
‘"Machine. Time-scale: to eight years."
‘"RG/TS..."
‘"Light!"’
Garrison was cold, his flesh creeping. He shuddered, his voice shaky when he asked, ‘That means something to
you?’
Schroeder had seen his condition, however, and tossed the question right back to him. ‘How do you read it?’
‘Mumbo-jumbo!’
‘Wrong! This is the meaning:
‘That you are blind, and for six months your life will be meaningless, suspended in a sort of limbo. Then there will be
a decisive change, brought about by WK and a black dog, "S". After three years you will meet a girl, "T", with whom
your involvement is to last for four years before—’
‘Before the Machine,’ said Garrison.
‘Yes.’