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pathway.
He'll have to watch Sarah carefully. She knows how to survive in this place.
Roon's new body has only been worn for eight years and shouldn't look any
older than
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d.txt thirty, but there are lines around the eyes that can't-be entirely
hidden by the kohl, and they proclaim how hard Roon is using himself. His
scalp is shaved entirely except for an oiled, curled scalp lock over the left
eye. Diamond chips glitter in his head sockets. It looks as if he's never
brushed his teeth. He laughs, reaches for his drink. Cowboy can feel his own
eyelids tremble, fear racing up his spine.
"The well has been a barrier for both our peoples," Roon says. He reaches for
an inhaler, fires a pair of rockets, throws his head back and sniffs. His
voice drones on, unchanged, directed at the starry hologram of the ceiling.
"Consciousness has evolved differently for those outside of gravity. But
crystal bridges the gap, burning in our heads, burning away the imperfection.
Leaves us helpless before the inevitability of its logic."
He reaches a hand out, touching one of Cowboy's temple sockets. Cowboy tries
not to flinch. Roon's corpse breath enfolds him. Cowboy can see Sarah across
the dinner table, her face a mask as she watches. "It is the perfect
architecture of crystal that bridges the gap between us, Cowboy," he says.
"The barriers of Earth and its well can be dissolved. A new relationship
created. The union of exploiter and exploited, cosmic and earthly, predator
and prey."
The hand falls away. Roon turns to Sarah, his eyes looking at her aslant, and
then he leans toward her, cupping her face in his hands. Cowboy's nerves begin
to scream.
Roon's words were slurred, drunken. "It was forced at first, our new
relationship. The war-
it was made inevitable by the stupidity of the leaders of Earth. Even now you
try to resist us.
But soon it will change. You will come willingly. Become prey to our vision,
our ecstacies. The crystal will draw you."
He smiles, reaches for his drink again, leans back on his couch, closes his
eyes. Cowboy watches as his breathing deepens, as the drink slides from his
fingers to bounce soundlessly on the deep carpet. Lupe and Raul, motionless at
either side of his seat, exchange covert glances.
Cowboy rises from his chair, his head swimming with hatred. Sarah's eyes rise
to him as he stands, flicker to Roon, then turn back to him as she makes her
decision. She follows him as he begins to walk toward their suite.
They're only partway there when they hear the cry, the blow. Cowboys nerves
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trigger as he spins in the dark metal corridor and begins his run through the
alloy corridors of Roon's dream.
Raul lies unconscious on the deep carpet, the side of his face reddening. A
table knife lies by his hand, a jewel of red trembling on its tip. Roon stands
astride him, wrapping a napkin around his arm. Blood streams from his hand
onto the smooth white surface of a petroleum-plastic dish.
"A foolish act of rebellion," Roon says. His breath comes in pants. "Tried to
cut me while
I slept." A pair of guards burst trough the kitchen door with their armored
coats pulled up around their eyes, weapons in hand. Gorman is right behind
them. Roon turns his head. "The boy," he says.
"I handled it."
Cowboy kneels by Raul. His eyelids are flickering, his head lolls from left to
right.
Regaining consciousness. He looks up into the terrified eyes of Lupe, still
standing at her place by Roon's couch. Gorman is calling for a medic on his
radio. Tears are spilling silently down
Lupe's cheeks. Cowboy stands up and puts his arm around her shoulders. He can
feel her trembling, but she's too scared of Roon to leave her stance.
Raul begins to open his eyes. Cowboy looks at Roon. Feels his heart
thundering, in his throat. "What will you do with him?"
Roon looks down at the boy. His expression is mild. "Nothing," he says. "Put [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]