"Dickson, Gordon - Stranger Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

Church did not make the mistake of asking more than thatЧthere were limits even to his innocence, apparently. Many families had been split by the galloping inflation and the lack of jobs.

"Do you hear from her much?" Church asked.

"No."

The monosyllable finally stopped Church's questioning. They sat a while longer in silence; then, glancing at the clock. Merlin saw that it was almost noon. His mindless period had lasted longer than it seemed. He stood up, went over to the desk and told the clerk he was checking out.

"Right." The clerk punched keys on his computer terminal, not looking up. As he turned away from the desk, Merlin bumped into Church, also on his feet.

"I haven't gotten anything all morning here, either," said Church. "Do you mind if I walk along with you?"

"Yes," said Merlin- Church blinked. "Yes? You do mind?" "That's right. No company."

"Oh." Church fell back. Merlin turned and went past him and out the door into midday heat that was now like radiation from the hearth of a blast furnace.

He walked back the way he had come, downtown toward the International Trade Center. On the way he stopped at a discount market and bought a quarterliter foil package of uncooked Quaker Oats for eighteen dollars. A smal! detour took him to Aimsbury Park, where he ripped open the package and ate the dry oats by the handful, washing them down with water from a public fountain. The oat flakes, under their dustiness, had an aimost nutty taste. They were the most food available for the money, and he felt better with something in his stomach. "Courage is food; food is courage." Someone had told him that when he was young.

It was nearly one o'clock. He went on to the International Trade Center, to the office of International Positions, and gave his name to the receptionist-

"Oh, yes." She checked her computer screen. "Mr. Ghosh will see you. Just a few minutes... if you'll sit down."

It was, of course, more than just a few minutes. His mouth began to feel dry from the oat flakes, and he got to his feet.

"Would I have time to find a drinking fountain?" he asked.

"I'm sure you will." She smiled at him. She was thin, in her forties, and in spite of having a steady job, she seemed prey to inner anxiety. "There's one just outside, to your left."

He went out through the "glass door and found the fountain. After drinking, as he straightened up, he heard a throat cleared behind him. He turned to see Church standing there.

"I hope you don't mind," Church said. "I just wanted to see how you'd come out..."

Under his immediate irritation, something he thought he had long since repressed, something dangerousЧsympathy for another human beingЧ stirred in Merlin. Church was so helpless, so inoffensive, it was impossible not to feel sorry for him.

"All right," said Merlin. "But don't hang around here. Wait for me outside and I'll tell you about it when I leave."

"Thanks." said Church, looking up at him. "Really. I mean thanks!"

"I'm not doing anything special for you," said Merlin. He went back into the office.

"Oh, good. There you are," said the receptionist as he stepped through the door. "Hurry! Mr. Ghosh is waiting for you. Straight ahead and to your right!"

Merlin hurried into the corridor beyond her desk and found his way to the open doorway of a wide room, brightly lit by a wall-wide window. The room was pleasant with air conditioning and the green of potted plants. Behind a wood-and-chrome desk sat a dark-skinned man in his forties, wearing a chalkstriped blue suitЧthe value of which would have given Meriin financial security for a year. Ram Ghosh, said the nameplate on his desk. But his eyes were not unkind, and he did not exhibit the condescension, the air of veiled exasperation and impatience with Americans, that so many foreigners showed these days.

"Mr. Swenson? Sit down, please." Ram Ghosh's English was almost accentiess, with only a slight prolongation of the vowels. Merlin took a chair. Ghosh tapped the papers on his desk with the nail of an index finger.

"Six months," he said. "You've waited a long time for a job offer from us."

"Lots of people wait longer," Merlin said. Ghosh smiled at him, a little sadly.