"Gwyneth Jones - The Tomb Wife" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Gwyneth)

unimaginable. The hum of the torus was never-ending; they no longer heard
it. And if it ever stopped, that deep subliminal murmur, they would not have
time to notice it was gone.

The Active Complement had just found outтАФPanfilo Nube, Payload
Officer, had discovered the small print of the manifest, in an idle
momentтАФthat one of the pieces in the hold was supposed to be haunted. It
was a tomb, but the ghost was not the official owner, so to speak. It was
something called a тАЬTomb Wife,тАЭ some kind of ghoul associated with
tombs in LarтАЩszтАЩ culture. Nadeem, the moody, black-browed Homeostat
Commissar, had asked SigurtтАФhalf jokingтАФwas this spook definitely
dead? They didnтАЩt know much, but they knew that the people of SigurtтАЩs
World were very long-lived, with a propensity for long comas when times
were hard. Sigurt had answered cheerfully that one could not be absolutely
sure; and hence the explanation.

тАЬA Tomb Wife did not provide for herself, you see,тАЭ he continued.
тАЬShe was a hermit, a sadhu.тАЭ He smiled at Nadeem, who did not smile
back. тАЬHer family or her servants would supply food and necessities, but
they never saw her. Among the peasantry of course the widow simply went
to live in the graveyard, in full view of her neighbors. Her exclusion from
society was formal, ritual....тАЭ

Rafael, the young Assistant Navigator, frowned uneasily. тАЬBut how can
you say youтАЩre not absolutely sure sheтАЩs dead? The relics down there are
thousands of years old, arenтАЩt they? I donтАЩt mind, IтАЩd just like to know. A
ghost is cool, but a thing that lives in a tomb and isnтАЩt dead, wellтАФтАЭ

In a starshipтАЩs psychological topography, the hold is always down.
Nobody laughed. Rafe suffered from transit nightmares, an affliction as
crippling as seasicknessтАФbut it didnтАЩt affect his efficiency, or his passion
for this strange ocean.

тАЬI think we can assume sheтАЩs dead,тАЭ said the mischievous alien. тАЬIn
the records of TeneтАЩLarтАЩsznh, the royal house to which this princess
belonged, itтАЩs noted that the food-offerings first went untouched about
fifteen hundred years ago, our time. ThatтАЩs about four thousand of Blue
years, I think?тАЭ

The Active Complement nodded hurriedly, in unison. Vast timescales
made them nervous. A little less, thought Elen, the Navigator. She was
intimately aware of the relation between a Blue Planet тАЬyearтАЭ and the same
period for SigurtтАЩs planet; as she was aware of every detail of the
impossible equations of this journey. She wanted to put Sigurt right, but
how would she reach the end of that sentence? But when, in what relation,
at what particular moment? She closed the floodgates with an effort.

тАЬThe food went untouched?тАЭ she repeated. тАЬAnd thatтАЩs how they
knew? So, what did they do, when a Tomb WifeтАЩs food тАШwent untouchedтАЩ?тАЭ