“I can answer this question, too,” Komov said, “only when I find out everything about you.”
“So find out!” The Little One demanded. “Find out soon! Why aren’t you finding out? I’ll tell you. There was a ship, bigger than yours, now it has shrunk, but it used to be much bigger. You know that. Then, it happened like this.”
Loud cracking and rustling came out of the intercom, and immediately, a child’s high-pitched squeal. And through that squealing, through the gradually quieting down cracking, the bangs, the sound of breaking glass, a man’s choking voice rasped,
“Marie… Marie… Ma… rie…”
The child was still squealing, and for a while, nothing else could be heard. Then, there was a quiet rustling sound, then a muffled groan. Someone crawled across the floor strewn with rubble, something r
