"Jerry Davis - Strong Metallic Arm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

she kept her tongue between her teeth to keep them from vibrating
against each other. She felt a strange motion and she opened her
eyes. The boat was slowing, lowering itself into the water.
She could hear it now, the great churning of waters. This
was where the East and West forks of the Dime river met. She
looked over the side as the boat touched the water and floated.
Blue and green waters mixed in torrid upheavals and violent
whirlpools. The river was wide here. Seven kilometers.
The boat turned. "We're going out toward the middle,"
Duane's voice came from somewhere up front, out of sight. "The
biggest fish are out in the middle."
Odd, she thought. He had always said the best fishing was
near to the shore.
Duane made his way back with rods in his hands. "Are you
ready for this?"
"We're going to the middle?"
"Yes."
"The only big fish out there would be a cleotis; they eat
tiny insects. You can't catch them with hooks."
He was smiling.
Erin took a close look at the rods he was holding and
realized they weren't rods at all. They were expensive, programmed
fish guns with intelligent harpoons. "Where's the sportsmanship in
that?" she said.
Duane laughed. "To hell with sportsmanship. I want a big
fish."
Erin didn't like the way he'd said that. Her fear was coming
back. He's talking about fish, she told herself. Fish. Regardless,
she found herself in her own nightmare, all the terror was coming
to her, all the horrible helplessness. She sat rigidly in front of
him, unable to move.
There was a signal from her interface, and she heard the
calm, clear thought-voice of her executive AI. Would you like to hear the morning report?>
Yes, she thought. Yes, it'll calm me down.
TIM summarized the day's global business since the report
last night. Her labor service, which provided 32% of the robotic
rental and leasing of all of Terranova colony, was still healthy
and thriving. Echoes of her husband's last scandal still had
stocks down 9%, but the company was riding it out. A hacker had
tried to enter her system, but TIM had turned him away. Five new
models of industrial robot were announced by Terranova Machinery.
Other news . . . Erin went into unnecessary details to delay her
return to the real world. Then business was concluded, and she
focused her eyes to find Duane staring at her.
"I can tell when you're interfacing," he said. "Your eyes
get glassy, like when you're drunk."
"I just received the morning report."
"I know, it's nine."
"TIM said another hacker's been trying to get into my

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