"Kraus-WhiteWalls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kraus Stephen)

STEPHEN KRAUS

WHITE WALLS

RUN THAT AGAIN," JACOBSON said.

The system obliged immediately, respectful of Jacobson's priority. The image on
the monitor reset to the first security checkpoint. Fish-eyed optics stared out
through glass doors to a broad plaza lined with olive trees. The glass doors
opened, and a single figure walked through uncertainly. The camera zoomed in,
focused. The camera-robot's point of view was only a few centimeters off the
floor: the subject seemed to taper upwards, face all nostrils.

The robot scuttled backward on rubber treads. The figure framed in its
camera-eye was clearly female now from the less extreme angle. The robot issued
a command, repeated it. The woman followed hesitantly, glancing back toward the
checkpoint and the glass doors and the sunlight beyond.

The robot's servos whined. For a moment, the woman's dark, frightened eyes
stared straight into the camera. Jacobson flinched, as if she could see him
watching. She brushed her long black hair back nervously with her hand, seeking
protection in its thickness and its familiarity. Her face was striking -- fine,
sharp-boned features with a distant, mournful look. But it was her walk that
held Jacobson's attention: tuned, exact, every movement under absolute control.
The clean precision of her steps and the swing of her arms and hips made him
realize how complex a process walking really was, and how badly most people did
it.

The mild summer afternoon, still visible through the doors behind her, vanished
as she turned a corner. She moved between white walls now, raked by fluorescent
glare. The harsh light bled all the color from her narrow face; the planes and
angles of her cheekbones shone hard as knives.

Jacobson leaned back in his chair, tented his fingers. Except for the display,
his office was dark. There were no windows, no carpeting, only blank
enamel-white walls too distant to reflect the glow from the monitor.

"Subject's name?" Jacobson asked. He wondered why he was watching this sequence.
He'd just happened on it by chance while browsing through the system. Her name
wasn't any of his business.

"Establish your need to know."

"I have none. Tell me anyway."

The system hesitated for a moment. "Julia Sholokov."

"Why is she here?"