"James Patrick Kelly - Dividing the Sustain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

deal for transport back to NonnyтАЩs Home. He could offer partial payment and then
join the crew to work his passage back. Once he was home, he could either insist on
being paid in full or else return the personality transplant to AllSelf for a salvage fee.
But first he had to see Harlen Quellan and the captain had proven impossible to see.

тАЬBeen Watanabe,тАЭ Zola said over the din of the second seating for break-fast,
тАЬthis is Ilona Quellan.тАЭ

Zola had been standing between Been and Ilona. Now she stepped back so
that he had an unobstructed view. Ilona sat by herself, as was her custom. She
glanced up warily from a bowl of steamed rice, a short stack of pancakes spread
with butter, a fillet of lightmeat, and half a grapefruit. Zola seemed to expect Been
and Ilona would shake hands, but Been sensed that this was not an intimacy the
pregnant woman would welcome. Instead, he circled to the other side of the long
table, put his bowl of Figs тАШN Flakes down, and sat opposite her, fighting the absurd
attraction he had felt ever since he had first seen this unhappy woman.

тАЬHello, Been Watanabe,тАЭ she said. тАЬI understand you want something of us?тАЭ

Been touched his forefinger and middle finger to his eyes, nose, and lips
before turning them toward Ilona. тАЬHello, Ilona Quellan. Tomorrow is my birthday.тАЭ

тАЬHappy birthday to you then, sir.тАЭ She spread a hand over her huge belly.
тАЬThis baby and I rejoice that you continue to exist.тАЭ

The rest of BeenтАЩs pod settled around the two of them. Zola inserted herself
next to Ilona and introduced her to Sandor and Nelly. She had met Ilona at the
ArachnophiliacтАЩs Meetup and had twice taken care of IlonaтАЩs marbled spider Rags
while Ilona was getting the baby reembodied. Rags was an Araneus marmoreus that
daily filled her terrarium with webs of hyp-notic complexity.

There was a long moment when nobody had anything to say. Zola and Nelly
perched expectantly at the edges of their chairs. Sandor began to eat. Ilona gazed at
Been, apparently waiting for him to answer her original ques-tion. Been smiled back.

There was nothing remarkable about Ilona Quellan, other than that she was
extremely pregnant. She was a small woman, and her belly was so huge that the baby
almost seemed to be more of her than she was of herself. She had fine features:
subtle lips, steep eyebrows. Her black hair had highlights of gray. She looked tired,
but that was only to be expected. She had been pregnant with her son for more than
three years, if the rumors were to be believed. The babyface medallion that hung
around her neck showed the baby to be asleep.

If he tried, Been could look at Ilona critically. For example, no one could miss
her constant scowl. Been could count the wrinkles and hear the mis-trust in her voice
and sense the wall she had built around herself to keep the world away. But he didnтАЩt
care; he imagined smoothing her wrinkles with his kisses and climbing the wall to win
her heart. Of course, he had nursed his impossible infatuation from a distance
because he was afraid of where it might lead him. She was the captainтАЩs ex,
pregnant, sad, unattainable, and aloof. Been had had many slipship romances, but