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.“Are you scanned? I can barely paddle.” He looked atthe length of split reed in his hand.“Not that it’s doing us any good, now.” He tossed the paddleaway.It splashed into the water and then popped up again, bobbing along far more convincinglythan the raft.Fredericks shouted in horror and stretched toward it, as though he could reverse physics anddraw it back through the air.“I can’t believe you just did that!” He looked down at the raft again,full of twitchy, terrified energy.“I have an idea.We’ll get in the water, but we’ll use the raft as afloat – you know, like those rafts in swimming class.”Orlando had never been in a swimming class, or anything that his mother feared might bedangerous to his fragile bones, but he was not disposed to argue anyway.At his friend’s urginghe slid off the raft into the cool water: Fredericks splashed in beside him, then braced his chestagainst the trailing edge of the raft and began to kick in a manner that was a credit to his longago instructors.“Can’t you kick, too, at least a little?” he panted.“I am kicking,” Orlando said.“Whatever happened,” Fredericks gasped, “to all that Thargor strength? All that monster-asskicking muscle? Come on!”It was an effort even to explain, and frequent mouthfuls of salt water didn’t help.“I’m sick,Frederico.And maybe the gain isn’t turned up as high in this system – I always had to crank thetactor outputs way up to make it work as well as it did for someone normal.”They had only dog-paddled for a few minutes when Orlando felt his strength finally desert him.His legs slowed, then stopped.He hung onto the back of the raft, but even that was difficult.“Orlando? I need your help!”The city, which once had waited squarely before them, had now shifted to the right The bluewater between the raft and the beach, however, had not narrowed appreciably.They weredrifting out to sea, Orlando realized – as he himself was drifting.They would get farther andfarther from land, until eventually the city would disappear entirely.But that’s not fair.The thoughts seemed to come in slow bumps, like the waves.Frederickswants to live.He wants to play soccer and do things – wants to be a real boy, just like Pinocchio.I’m just holding him back.I’m the Donkey Island kid.“Orlando?”No, not fair.He has to paddle hard enough to pull my weight, too.Not fair.He let go and slid under the water.It was surprisingly easy.The surface snapped shut over himlike an eyelid closing, and for a moment he felt complete weightlessness, complete ease, and acertain dull smugness at his decision.Then something seized his hair, jerking him into fiery painand a throatful of sea water.He was pulled to the surface, spluttering.“Orlando!” Fredericks shrieked, “what the hell are you doing ?”He was clinging to the raft with one hand so he could maintain his grip on Orlando’s –Thargor’s – long black hair.Now nobody’s kicking, Orlando thought sadly.He spat out salty water and barely avoided acoughing spasm.It isn’t doing any good at all.“I’m.I just can’t go any farther,” he said aloud.“Grab the raft,” Fredericks directed.“Grab the raft!”Orlando did, but Fredericks didn’t relinquish his grip.For a moment they just floated, side byside.The raft rose and fell as the waves moved past.Except for the stinging pain in his scalp,nothing had changed.Fredericks, too, had gotten a mouthful of seawater.His nose was running, his eyes red-rimmed.“You aren’t going to quit.You’re not going to!”Orlando found enough strength to shake his head.“I can’t.”“Can’t? You impacted bastard, you’ve made my life a living hell about this stupid goddamnedcity! And there it is! And you’re just going to give up?”“I’m sick.”“So what? Yeah, yeah, it’s really sad.You’ve got some weird disease.But that’s the place youwanted to go.You’ve dreamed about it.It’s the only thing you care about, practically.So eitheryou’re going to help me get to that beach, or I’m going to have to drag you like I learned in thatstupid swimming class, and then we’ll both drown, five hundred yards away from yourgoddamned city.You goddamned coward.” Fredericks was breathing so hard he could barelyfinish his sentence.He clung to the bobbing raft, neck-deep in the water, and glared.Orlando was faintly amused that anyone could muster so much emotion about a pointless thinglike the difference between going on and going down, but he also felt a slight irritation thatFredericks – Fredericks! – should be calling him a coward [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]