"James Patrick Kelly - Fruitcake Theory (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

Bjorn pops the appetite pacifier out of his mouth. "I
think thatтАЩs тАЩJingle Bells,тАЩ " he says excitedly.
"The
eeking." He makes a note of this. Bjorn is new to the
following team. HeтАЩs twenty-four and takes everything
too seriously, except himself. HeтАЩs fat and blond and
sweet as a jelly donut. I really do like him; he just
hasnтАЩt realized it yet. He brings out the mother in
me.
 I yawn. IтАЩm not a night person and IтАЩm riding in a
van
at two in the morning. ItтАЩs the roosterтАЩs fault, of
course. ItтАЩs December 22 and the rooster has got a
bad
case of holiday spirit, even though he doesnтАЩt know
an
elf from an elephant. He wants to do a little
shopping.
ItтАЩs a security nightmare, but we accommodate him. We
always do because weтАЩre asking for the Kuvat
encyclopedia for Christmas. Not that we know whatтАЩs
in
it exactly, but these creatures come from a planet a
hundred and thirty light years away. TheyтАЩre bound to
have a grand unified theory, the secret of cool
fusion,
and a cure for cellulite.
=Persons?= The rooster turns toward us. =This one has
hunger.=
"Me too. I havenтАЩt eaten since dinner." Bjorn is
always
happy to interact with our charge. "Wait until you
see
the food court at this mall. ItтАЩs totally grade. Must
be
thirty different kinds of ethnic." HeтАЩs starting to
bubble with enthusiasm; I give him a needle stare.
"Well, maybe only twenty," he mutters.
=This one has also thirst, persons.=
"This one is called Maggie." I touch my chest.
"Mag-gie." The rooster canтАЩt tell humans apart. This
continues to annoy me; IтАЩve been following him for
four
months and he still doesnтАЩt know who I am.
=Laughing all the way, person, ha, ha, ha.=
There is some debate as to the accuracy of Kuvat
translations.
IтАЩm sick of this rooster. IтАЩve asked to follow any
other
Kuvat, preferably a scarecrow, but IтАЩd even settle