"FWLS8" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

A Future We'd Like to See 1.8 - Todo's Guide to C'atel
By Twoflower (Copyright 1993)

Greetings. Todo here, famed travel guide writer and all
around great person. Many people have said to me, "Todo, you're
an accomplished millionaire philanthropist playboy voyager who
has brought the art of touring to new, respectable classes. But
in all of the carefree, jetsetting sojourns into the great, wild
galaxy, you've never been to C'atel."

Now, I'm not one to prejudge, but I've heard C'atel is wet
and noisy and dirty, and lord knows that I spent a good portion
of my wealth on cleaning bills alone. Since C'atel is generally
considered one in a long string of embarrassments, I naturally
avoid it. But what can I say? You are my readers, my fans. If
you say 'Todo really ought to write a high-class jetsetter's
guide to C'atel' then off I go.

DAY ONE

Surprisingly, none of the more respectable spacelines...
Class Stars, Yttian Business Shuttle, or the William Doors /
Macroware Business-Class Spaceline had flights going to C'atel
from my tastefully decorated planetoid off the orbit of Tiberius-
6. I did manage to find a 'Get-U-Qwik-E-Z-Shut-L', known
playfully as the GUQEZSL, that was headed for C'atel.

Now, I'm afraid I'll have to drop my standards a little and
go 'rustic' on this voyage, because to be frank : C'atel is no
place for the truly rich, who are used to air conditioning and
50-room mansions and a hundred servants waiting on you hand and
foot. The spaceliner itself was slightly cramped, as there was
no first class seating to speak of, and I was given this horrid
little bag of stale nuts to content myself with. One good note
in the GUQEZSL's favor is their fine assortment of beverages,
ranging from crude (straight Vodka) to respectable (Chateau de
les Fromages Inedible '34. A good year.)

Upon landing at the fine, yet slightly unpolished C'atel
spaceport, I was immediately greeted by several kind people from
an assortment of religions. Some of them even had flowers to
sell. They were quite the kind and polite sort of people one
could hope to meet after such a charmingly rustic flight.

I attempted to phone for a limo, but to my disappointment no
limo services were available. Normally I wouldn't mind a quick
stroll through the fine city air, but it was raining quite
heavily and my expensive sport jacket didn't take well to water.
I had an agenda however, assembled for me by one of my more
adventurous friends from The Club, and had to stick with it lest