#!/bin/ksh93
#
#  showme
#

TMP=file.$$

cat <<'EOT' >$TMP
first
test
dfgsdgs
sdgsg
3
4
sd
6
sdgsdg
8
9
**
last
EOT

# read required lines into var
var=$(
exec 3< $TMP
3<#'test'
3<# ((CUR + 5))
3<##'\*\**'
exec 3<&-
)

rm $TMP

# remove newlines
tmp=$(print $var)

print "var: $tmp"

exit 0

$ ./showme
dfgsdgs sdgsg 3 4 sd 6 sdgsdg 8 9
$