"FWLS57" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

Father backed away in horror, shocked at what I had done. I
could tell I had frightened him, although I didn't mean to do so.

"Wha... what are you?" he asked.

"I'm your daughter... right?" I asked. "Please, it's
important for me to know--"

The entire dojo heaved, lurching up and down. My arm
skittered away across the mat, sliding out the open dojo door...
I ran after it before remembering the steep drop below that door,
the one that faced the heavens--

"Man, the heavens are certainly bein' relentless tonight,"
the man in the seat next to me said, tapping the spaceline
window. "I've had some lousy landings before, but this is nuts.
You okay, miss?"

"Fine," I said, shaking away the thoughts of my nightmare.

"You travel much?" he asked.

"A bit," I said. "You get used to it."

"I've been travelling for sixteen years working for
Macroware, and I'm still not used to it. What're you going to
Macroworld for? Visiting relatives? New hired help at the
cafeteria?"

"Visiting relatives," I said, bracing for the momentary
impact as the shuttle touched down. "Relatives of a friend,
mostly."

"Holiday deals. I know what that's like. Need a hand with
your bag?" he asked, pointing to the gigantic duffel bag I had on
my lap.

"No, I think I can carry it," I said, making sure the zipper
was closed. "Thank you for the offer, however."

*

Macroware had very bad food.

The cafeteria was deserted... very few Macroware employees
seemed to use it. The ones I had seen roaming the halls all
carried box lunches... what was so important that they could not
take the time to enjoy a fine meal?

I sat there, looking at my sad hamburger. The grease was