Читать книгу Sqerm - James A. Moore - Страница 9

Chapter 5

Sage began a lecture, but his words started to fade. He usually was focused, but today he was struggling to keep his focus. His game was off. Sage stood in front of the podium facing the class. He had begun to feel faint but did not want to elucidate to his students that he was not quite himself. He looked at his watch.

“Class, read chapters 20, 21, and 23. See you Thursday,” he said, uncharacteristically softly.

Murmurs and mumbles were heard as some students attempted to garner meaning behind the short class. Others seemed to be excited that the colloquium had ended early. Sage gathered his belongings and hurriedly headed back through the hall. He focused on the security checkpoint and then aimed for the parking lot like a bloodhound hot on the trail of an escaped prisoner’s scent.

“You all right, Professor?”

Not hearing the guard, Sage mumbled, “You too, Hal.”

Hal frowned, stared at Sage’s rapidly departing back, and returned to leafing through the other materials on his desk. Sage arrived at his vehicle, unlocked it, and entered. The heat permeated his clothing, and the seat was already warm. He shut the door, started the engine, and immediately pushed the maximum cool button on his air conditioner in an attempt to battle the early morning Phoenix sun. The engine purred, and the radio softly played. Sage drove off, headed for home.

Once home, Sage removed his shoes and loosened his tie. He sank into the couch and palmed the remote. After powering on the television, his hand leisurely flipped through a few channels until his eyelids grew heavy. He was short on sleep; his head bobbed, his lids became more burdensome, and he began to doze. He did not fight what his military counterparts referred to as the sleep monster. He let the beast win.