"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Dancers Like Children" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

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Dancers Like Children
by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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Copyright (c)1991 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
First published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, September 1991

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Science Fiction


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I
I lie in this cool bed on Lina Base, my body coated with burn creams
and wrapped in light bandages in the areas where the skin grafts have yet to
take. I told my counselor that every time I wake up, I remember something
else. I told her that I wanted to make notes, to organize my thoughts before
the second round of questions begin. This morning she brought me the small,
voice-activated computer that hangs on the side of my bed rail. I don't know
if someone else can access what I write; I suspect anyone can. I don't care. I
do need to get organized, for myself. I need to write down the entire story my
way before too many questions taint it. I used to counsel my own patients to
do that -- fifteen years ago, when I was Justin Schafer, Ph.D., instead of Dr.
Schafer, the man whose name is spoken in a cool, dismissive tone.
Fifteen years ago. When I had friends, respect, and a future, when
people believed in me, even more than I believed in myself.
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II
They brought me in after the fifth murder.
The shuttle dropped me on the landing site at the salt cliffs,
overlooking the golden waters of the Singing Sea. Apparently, something in the
shuttle fuel harmed the vegetation near the small colony, so they developed a
landing strip on the barren cliff tops at the beginning of the desert. Winds
and salt had destroyed the plastic shelter, so I wore the required body scarf
and some specially developed reflective cream. Before he left, the shuttle
pilot pointed out the domed city in the distance. He said he had radioed them
to send someone for me. I clutched my water bottle tightly, refusing to drink
until I was parched.
A hot, dry breeze rustled the scarf around my face. The breeze smelled
of daffodils, or so it seemed. It had been so long since I had been to Earth,