"Linda Evans - Time Scout 1 - Time Scout" - читать интересную книгу автора (Evans Linda)

the
countertops brimmed with higher quality wine than anything down time. Better
cafes were designed like temples, private courtyards, even colonnaded gardens
complete with fountains and flowerbeds. The clink of glassware and the rich
scents of coffee, warm pastries, and expensive liquor caressed Malcolms
nostrils
like a lover's fingertips. His belly rumbled. God, he was hungry ....
He nodded to a few friends already seated at cafe tables. They waved and
were
kind enough not to offer him a seat, since he was clearly dressed for
business.
As he approached the Down Time's narrow, dim storefront, half-hidden under the
crossbeams of a support for a second-story catwalk (cleverly disguised, as
"marble" columns and balcony), he spotted Marcus and waved. His young friend
was
busy setting out shot glasses at one of the window-seat tables the bar
boasted.
A three-foot porthole affair, it gave the impression of peeping out through
the
side of an ancient sailing ship.
"Bona fortuna," the bartender mouthed through the glass; then he touched
his
temple and winked. Malcolm grinned. Marcus-who possessed no last name-had once
expressed a private opinion that anyone who wanted to visit the genuine Urbs
Romae was slightly off in the head.
"Go back?" he'd said the one time Malcolm had suggested they combine their
respective talents as partners in the freelance guide business. Startlement in
his young eyes had given way almost immediately to a glint akin to fear. "You
do
me honor, friend. But no. Shangri-la is more fun." The strain around his smile
prompted Malcolm to change the subject with a mental note never to raise it
again.
Urbs Romae was Malcolm's favorite part of Shangri-la Station, probably
because ancient Rome was his specialty. Beyond the entrance to the Down Time
Bar
& Grill, the Commons stretched away like the inside of a shopping mall
designed
by Escher. Two hundred yards across and nearly three times that length, the
Commons was a multi-level monstrosity of girders, broad catwalks, ramps,
balconies, and cantilevered platforms disguised as an astonishing number of
items. Many of them led absolutely nowhere.
Pleasant fountains and pools splashed under the perpetual glow of the
Commons' lights. The occasional flash of color against blue-tiled fountains
betrayed the presence of exotic fish kept to graze the algae. Urbs Romae's
floor
was a colorful patchwork of mosaics in the ancient style, most of them put
together by the enterprising merchants whose shops bordered them. Signs
shrouded
the walls at random intervals, while staircases stretched upward past
storefronts and hotel windows to unpredictable levels along the walls.