"Nancy Kress - The Rules" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

commercial for one of those do-good outfits like Amnesty International. He
called, тАЬBrenda, bring me a beer, honey, will ya?тАЭ

The commercial said, тАЬSayaтАЩs life was saved by a donation from Mr.
and Mrs. James Sellers of Atlanta, Georgia, and a prosthetic arm is being
paid for by Ms. Cassie DuForte of New York City.тАЭ

DiSarto sighed and reached for the remote to change the channel. He
wanted real news. Although, come to think of it, it was a bit odd that
individual people were being mentioned like that onтАФ

The exact same program was on ABC and CBS.

тАЬBrenda!тАЭ DiSarto called but she was already beside him, juggling the
baby and the beer.

тАЬDonтАЩt yell, IтАЩm right here.тАЭ

тАЬLook at this! ItтАЩs on all three networks, exactly the same!тАЭ

тАЬтАФmedical clinic run by the Sisters of Charity Mission.тАЭ Shots of
children huddled two and three to a bed, of empty supply shelves. тАЬтАФthree
hundred doses of penicillin, paid for by Mr. Carl Venters of London,
England. SayaтАФтАЭ

тАЬAnd itтАЩs not ending!тАЭ DiSarto said. тАЬThis is no commercial. Do you
think somebody is actually fucking with the airwaves?тАЭ

тАЬтАФnew dress, her only one, paid for byтАФтАЭ

тАЬThe FCC must be having a cow!тАЭ

тАЬThat poor little girl,тАЭ Brenda said, patting the baby on the back. тАЬGod,
sheтАЩs cute. Ronnie, we could afford the cost of a second dress for her.
How much could a dress cost?тАЭ
 ****

In the WRKC control booth, an NBC affiliate in Tampa, Florida,
technicians worked frantically at their stations. тАЬI canтАЩt override it!тАЭ

тАЬWhat do you mean тАШcanтАЩtтАЩ? Get that damn thing off the air and Tanya
Jones back on!тАЭ The chief engineer pushed the tech aside. The signal was
coming in from the outside and somehow it had seized, or replaced,
WRKCтАЩs frequency. How the hell could anything...?

The engineer tried everything he knew, including cutting off the live
feed from New York and substituting an old episode of GilliganтАЩs Island.
Nothing worked. Saya and the African village and the Sisters of Charity
played for twenty minutes, ending with a title screen: