"Jerry Davis - Opposite Ends Meet Here (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

"Bodyguard!" His father's expression brightened, a smile coming to his wrinkled old face.
"That you'd be good at!" He thumbed through the cash for a moment, then tossed it onto a
table. "When are you leaving, son?"
"Early in the morning. I've got to go take care of some stuff and then I'll be back, and we
can spend some time together before I leave."
"You feel right about this new job? I mean, in your gut?"
Kyle nodded. "Yes. I've got that feeling."
Kyle's father smiled, nodding, showing him the pride in his eyes that he always had for his
adopted son. "Trust that feeling, Kyle. You've got good instincts. What life denied you in
other things, it made up for it in your instincts."
Kyle nodded. He'd heard all this before. "I'll be back in a few hours, Dad." With that he
headed for the front door.
Returning to his rented room, Kyle sorted through what little possessions he had. He
packed them up and took them down to the local pawnshop. They bought it all: a folding bed,
a communications terminal, and some clothes. Then he settled with his landlord, paid off some
bills, and went to the market and bought some nice leather. Knee pants, a vest, and a long coat
in case he ended up somewhere cold. He found a spacer's sack that would hold a few things
plus his gyro stick. After that he had just enough to buy some of his father's favorite imported
tea, which he took back to his dad's house. Kyle meant to have a long father and son talk with
the old guy, wanting to thank him for everything he had ever done for him. The words never
did make it out of his mouth, as they sounded too corny in Kyle's head. Instead, the two men
silently sipped tea together for most of the night. When the second pot was gone, Kyle gave
his dad a long hug, which expressed all the words he'd intended to say anyway, and he left.

#


The spaceport at night had always seemed an eerie place to Kyle. During his years on this
planet, he'd watched the town spread out to the hills and up and down the Vendies River, but
the spaceport never changed. They would re-pave the surface every once in a while, paint new
lines and string brighter landing lights, but the perimeter fence and the buildings within
remained the same. Everything was metal, everything seemed to hiss and let off steam. At
night, there were rotating red and yellow beacons everywhere, many rising into the air or
coming down out of the starry sky.
The guard at the gate wore a black and gold uniform with a tiny red fez. His face twitched
with the characteristic brain-chemistry imbalance of a cyber-interface; Kyle saw the cables
running down from the back of his head and into the terminal beside him. "Can I help you?"
he asked Kyle.

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Opposite Ends Meet Here

"I'm supposed to meet Debbie Hitler here. We're scheduled to leave."
The face twitched, the eyes blinked. Kyle couldn't see much detail because of the shadows.
"You are...?" he asked Kyle.
"Kyle Dacron."
"The...?"
"New bodyguard."
A machine in the booth made a low buzzing sound. "You are expected," the guard said,
and handed him a freshly printed pass. "Report to the ship on pad area C-5." He pointed.