"Jack Dann - The Diamond Pit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dann Jack)

 Everybody -- ? I thought.
"Would you like to kiss me now?" Phoebe asked, as we looked out at a
herd of Master Jefferson's zebras grazing on a hill beyond the gardens. I said
something inane about Isaac lurking behind us -- which he was -- and the
moment passed.
Of course I wanted to kiss her. But she looked so vulnerable -- and she
was so young.
"Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"Airplanes, I think. Listen -- "
Sure enough, I could hear engines. But I couldn't see anything in that
eggshell sky, which was the exact color of Phoebe's eyes.
--------
*Five*
An alarm sounded and a chill caught the air as we made our way back to
the castle, which Phoebe called _Adamas_. She told me with breathless
conviction that the king of France hadn't lived in anything half as nice, and
she ought to know, she said, because Poppa had all the plans of the greatest
castles in the world, and he made sure that his was the best. She was excited
about reaching the roof garden so we could watch the airplanes through the
telescope there.
Although she hurried to the castle, she was not in the least afraid.
Isaac tried to say something to her, but she had only to shout something quick
and guttural at him and he fell back behind us, properly cowed.
Then a porcine, well-dressed young man flanked by what I took for two
slaves caught up with us by the Roman ruins beside the pool. He was nervous
and out of breath, and kept looking at the sky as if lightning were going to
strike him down at any second. Just ahead was a marble staircase that led to
the western exposures of one of the buildings that adjoined the chateau. I
could see a glint of metal: the telescope mounted on the embrasure.
"Father sent me to find you," he said, out of breath. "You won't
believe how angry he is. You're supposed to be in the bunkers, and not legging
around with _him_." He meant me, and his eyebrows knitted together and his
face got all scrunched up when he said "him." I couldn't help but smile.
"You won't even get to keep him until September, if you act like that,"
the young man continued. "And that's _exactly_ what Father said. I didn't make
it up."
The alarm sounded again.
"Now come on, for crying out loud, or do you want to get killed out
here?"
"Those airplanes are probably just mail carriers, like always," Phoebe
said. "And mail carriers don't carry bombs. But they're all gone now."
She cocked her head, obviously listening for the sound of airplane
engines. Everything was quiet, but for the wind.
"You see, false alarm. All that trouble for nothing -- and I _was_
coming back."
"Well, you can tell that to Father," the young man said.
"You're not my boss, Mr. Near Beer."
The young man blushed at that, and Phoebe said, "Mr. Orsatti, this is
my brother, Morgan."