"Peter F. Hamilton - Misspent youth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

the Bakers lunch with them, he said, his smile widening eagerly.

Timothy wound up eating with two members of the board in a
glassed-off enclosure at the end of the pavilion. Their table gave
him a grand view out across the airfield, and if he did miss any
of the exciting aircraft flashing past a private TV feed to a pair of
three-metre screens allowed him to see the planes twisting and
diving at all times. It was great; his mother even let him have more
ice cream for pudding, with strawberries.

A lot of visitors stopped by their table, corporate executives
from across Europe, all of whom were eagerly introduced to Jeff
Baker by the polite ever-smiling board members. Timothy didn't
pay much attention to the adults, he was captivated by the sleek
flying cruciforms which were the newly declassified AiF-080 USAF
pilotless interceptors. The machines were less than half the size of
the old Hurricanes flown by the European Silver Sky display team,
and a lot more nimble.

Timothy asked to be excused while his parents were enjoying
coffee and liqueurs. It was very boring in the dining room,
although in truth he couldn't stop thinking about that strange
tap. The aircraft were only temporary distractions. He was overwhelmed
by the idea that magic could still exist. Such a revelation
meant that anything was possible. Anything!

His mother checked that he was wearing his tracker bracelet
and let him down from the table. 'You're not to go more than two
hundred metres,' she warned as he sped away.

As soon as he was outside, Timothy headed straight for the
hangar - it was only a little more than two hundred metres away,
after all. Well ... sort of.

The tap Was still there. He stood in front of it, his head cocked
to one side as his stare followed the stream of falling water, his
brow all furrowed up in puzzlement. It couldn't be real. Yet here
it was, happening right in front of him.

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Timothy glanced round. One of the saleswomen behind the
stall was smiling at him. 'Yes,' he said. Then, suddenly bold, he
asked: 'How did you know the magic was here?'