"Peter F. Hamilton - The White Stuff" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

soup bowl away from her.

"Another bottle of champagne," Nigel said to the wine waiter.

"Don't waste your folding," Miranda said. "I've already decided to fuck you."

They lay on his bed, the curtains of his room drawn back and the strange spectral light from the flashing
and steaming Cesar Pelli tower reflecting on the perspiration of their naked bodies. He tried to get her to
tell him where she got all the strange new merchandise. One slip of the tongue, one name, was all he
needed to make his killing on the floor.

"Secret."

"Ah, come on!" His voice mellowed out. "Between us?"
She flinched, confused and vulnerable. "Don't know much. Honest. All I know, it's called afto-aspro.
Same stuff in the electronics as does for the gleam."

He puzzled over that. "Afto-aspro?"

"Yeah. Ilkia says that's what the Greeks called it. Means white stuff."

"It's manufactured in Greece?"

"No. That's just where it turned up first. Couple of weeks back."

"So where does it come from originally?"
"Ilkia says the exos brought it in with them when they come over from Africa. It's all over the estate
now."
"Who's this Ilkia character?"

"Mate of mine. He'd kill me if he knew I was here."

"Jealous type, is he?"

"Not thatтАж Well, sometimes. He gets us the afto-aspro gear, see. I have to keep him sweet; and he
don't like the likes of you."

"White?"

"Nah. Rich. Ilkia says companies like yours are the generals on your side of the class war."

"Oh, Jesus wept. Look, does this Ilkia know who's manufacturing afto-aspro?."

"Dunno. He never says much about it, just bangs on about how it's gonna make things different for us. All
the global capitalist state is gonna get whacked. It'll start with the electronics companies, and when they
go, they'll bring everything else down with them."

"I think your friend is talking out of his arse. He really doesn't know much about enterprise economics.
The electronics industry is a perpetual war of innovations and next generation chips. That's what makes
the companies so dynamic, and strong. One new gizmo isn't going to bring civilization to a halt."