"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

small World Spheres in opposite comers, joined them with a dotted line, and
added some flourishes. Zef let out a whistle: it was a hopeless case. There
was no point in staying any longer.
"May I leave, sir?"
The captain shook his head.
"Uh, Zef, you were working in the Zone?"
"Yes, sir."
The captain paced up and down.
"Perhaps you could - how shall I put it - give me your opinion of
this man? From, let's say, a professional point of view."
"Impossible, sir," replied Zef. "You know I've lost the right to speak
in a professional capacity."
"I understand. That's all very true. And I must compliment you for your
honesty. But..."
Zef stood at attention. The captain was clearly embarrassed, and Guy
understood his predicament well. This was a serious case. (Suppose the
savage is a spy?) Dr. Zogu was certainly a great officer, a brilliant
legionnaire, but still he was only an army doctor. Zef, on the other hand,
had really known his stuff before he was arrested.
"Well now," said the captain, "there's nothing we can do about that.
But between you and me... "He halted in front of Zef. "You understand what I
mean? Simply between you and me, do you really think this fellow is insane?"
Zef paused before replying.
"Just between you and me?" he repeated. "Well, of course, as a layman,
and laymen do make mistakes. I'm inclined to believe that this is a
clear-cut case of a split personality, where the real ego is ejected and
replaced by an imagined ego. Purely as a layman, mind you, I would recommend
electric shock therapy and tranquilizers."
Mac Sim began to speak again, addressing the captain and Zef
alternately. The poor fellow was trying to say something - some-thing was
bothering him. But just then the door opened and the doctor, obviously out
of sorts because his dinner had been interrupted, entered the room.
"Hello, Tolot," he said cantankerously. "What's the matter? I'm quite
relieved to find you alive and well. Who the hell is this?"
"The rehabs caught him in the forest. I suspect he's insane."
"He's not insane. He's a malingerer," growled the doctor, pouring water
for himself from a pitcher. "Send him back to the forest. Let him work."
"He's not ours," protested the captain. "And we don't know where he
came from. I think he may have been captured by degens, gone off his head,
and escaped to us."
"Right," grumbled the doctor. "You'd have to go off your rocker to come
running to us." He went over to the prisoner and reached out to examine his
face. The prisoner grinned and gently pushed him away. "No, no!" said the
doctor. "Stand still!"
The prisoner submitted. The doctor examined his eyes, thumped him, felt
his neck and throat, flexed his hand, tapped his knees, and then returned to
the pitcher and poured himself another glass of water.
"Heartburn," he explained.
Guy looked at Zef, who was standing off to one side and staring at the
wall with studied indifference. The doctor quenched his thirst and returned