"Bova, Ben - Orion 01 - Orion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bova Ben)

She happened to glance in my direction, and her
calm, intelligent eyes penetrated to my soul. Her
eyes were large, gray as a polar sea, and seemed to
hold all the knowledge of the world. Suddenly I
realized that I was not merely a solitary man; I
was a lonely man. Like a love-struck puppy, I
wanted desperately to go over to her table and

introduce myself.

But her gaze shifted to the door. I turned to see
a man enter, a strikingly handsome, gold-maned
man of that indeterminate age between thirty and
fifty. He stood by the door for a moment, then
went to the bar up by the curtained plate glass
window and took a stool. Even though he was
wearing a conservative gray business suit, he looked
more like a movie idol or an ancient Greek god
than a Manhattan executive who was getting an
early start on the cocktail hour.

My gray-eyed beauty stared at him, as if unable
to pull herself free of his spell. There was an aura
about him, a golden radiance. The air almost
seemed to glow where he was sitting. Deep inside
me, a long-buried memory began to nag at me. I
felt that I knew him, that I had met him long ago.
But I could not remember where or when or under
what circumstances.




10

Ben Bova

ORION

11

I looked back at the young woman. With a visi-
ble effort, she tore her gaze away from the golden
man and looked toward me. The corners of her
lips curled upward slightly in a smile that might
have been an invitation. But the door opened again
and she looked away from me once more.

Another man entered the restaurant and went
directly to the bar, sitting around its curve so that