"John DeChancie - Skyway 1 - Starrigger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dechancie John)

booth with an attractive young woman. I ordered an elaborate, improbable drink that was all fruit and
little paper umbrellas, and walked over to them sipping noisily.
тАЬJake? Jesus.тАЭ
тАЬHi, Jerry.тАЭ
тАЬUh... Andromeda, this is Jake McGraw. Friend of mine.тАЭ
тАЬHello.тАЭ
тАЬHello. Jerry, could I speak with you for a moment?тАЭ
Jerry hesitated, looked away. тАЬYeah, sure.тАЭ
The girl made a good excuse and left. I sat down.
тАЬGoddamn, Jake, you show up at the mostтАФтАЬ
тАЬSorry. This wonтАЩt take but a minute. By the way, are you still a Guild member? HavenтАЩt seen the
lists recently.тАЭ
тАЬYou know damn well my dues are a year behind. But thatтАЩs mootтАФI own three rigs now. Pretty
soon I wonтАЩt have to drive at all.тАЭ
тАЬMoving up to employer status, eh? Good for you.тАЭ I let him puff and preen for a while, then said,
тАЬJerry, this question may sound strange... but what have you heard about me recently?тАЭ
Jerry laughed. тАЬWho hasnтАЩt heard about the shoot-out at SonnyтАЩs? ItтАЩs all over the skyband.
WhatтАЩre you still doing here?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs not what I meant. What have you heard in the way of strange stories about me?тАЭ Apparently
he knew what I meant. He settled back, lit a cigarette, looked at me, and said frankly, тАЬJake, I donтАЩt
believe ninety percent of the road yams I hear. Who does? Someone claims toтАЩve sighted a Roadbuilder
vehicle, you hear someoneтАЩs stumbled onto a backtime route and winds up being his own grandfather,
that sort of thing. IтАЩve also heard some things about you, just as wild.тАЭ тАЬSuch as.тАЭ He was skeptical. тАЬOh
well, it seems you and Sam found a way out of the Expanded Confinement Maze and followed the
Skyway all the way out to the end.тАЭ It was crazy. You could go only so far on the Skyway before the
known routes were exhausted. Of course, you could take a chance and go through one of the many
unexplored portals ... and end up anywhere in the universe. If the planet on the other side had a double-
back portalтАФlike the one leading from here back to Tau CetiтАФyou were in luck. If not, youтАЩd тАЬbe stuck
with the option of shooting the next aperture, which could lead anywhere. The reason why all of the
above is fairly certain is that no one has ever made a convincing case for having come back from a
тАЬpotluck portal.тАЭ
 I popped a chunk of sour fruit into my mouth. тАЬI can tell you for a fact that weтАЩve done no such
thing.тАЭ
тАЬHell, I know that. But IтАЩve also heard that youтАЩre going to do it. IтАЩve heard the tale both ways.тАЭ
тАЬGoing to?тАЭ I mulled that over. тАЬHow are we supposed to accomplish this amazing feat?тАЭ I chanced
to turn my head. Perez was looking into the room, and our eyes met. He quickly ducked back. A little
too quickly.
тАЬWith a roadmap.тАЭ
I turned back to Jerry. тАЬRoadmap?тАЭ
тАЬYeah. A genuine Roadbuilder artifact. How you managed to get hold of one is covered in the next
episode, I guess.тАЭ
What was remarkable to me was how the Skyway breeds these tall tales. The Skyway is half legend,
half reality itself. Nevertheless, evidence abounds that the Skyway extends to other regions of the
galaxy. Alien vehicles are seen every day on the road, coming from parts unknown, going toтАФonly the
occupants know where. Most donтАЩt stop. Every once in a while, one does, and we meet a new race: Zeta
Reticulans, Beta Hydrans, Gliese 59ers; races like the Ryxx, the KwaaтАЩjheen, and the beings who call
themselves The People of the Iron Sun, whose home stars canтАЩt be found on any Terran catalogues;
many, many more. All in all, there are about sixty races whose Confinement Mazes, the routes that lead
from their home system to nearby colonizable planets, are known and mapped. Put all these known areas
together, and you get one big Confinement Maze, little sections of which are strewn out over a sizable