"Ken Macleod - Fall Revolution 3 - The Cassini Division" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacLeod Ken)

had to work around to it, and not pry if they didnтАЩt open up.
тАЬWhy did you tell me that thing about the old system?тАЭ I asked.
тАЬAt the moment,тАЭ Suze said, тАЬIтАЩm a sociologist.тАЭ
I dragged up the unfamiliar word from old memories.
тАЬSomeone who studies society?тАЭ She nodded. тАЬYes, but thereтАЩs not much to study any more!
тАЬHow dтАЩyou mean?тАЭ
тАЬLook around you.тАЭ She waved a hand. тАЬThese days, you want to investigate society, and what
do you find?тАЭ
It was a rhetorical question, but I really wanted to know her answer.
 тАЬWell,тАЭ she went on, тАЬitтАЩs all so obvious, so transparent. We all know how things work from the
age of about five or so. You go and try to find out, and somebody will just tell you! And itтАЩll be
true, there are no secrets, nothing going on behind the scenes. Because there are no scenes, know
what I mean?тАЭ
тАЬYes, of course,тАЭ I said, thinking Ha! Little do you know, girl! тАЬSo what society do you study, if
not our own?тАЭ
тАЬI study the old system,тАЭ Suze said, тАЬand I do learn interesting things. Sometimes I just canтАЩt
help telling people about them. And anyway, itтАЩs a way of getting people to talk.тАЭ
I snorted. тАЬYeah, itтАЩs a great line,тАЭ I said. тАЬAlmost anything youтАЩre doing, you can say to
someone, тАЬDid you know that under the wages system, some people had to do this every day or
starve to death?тАЭ тАЬ
She laughed at my mock-shocked tone and saucer eyes. For the next few minutes we vied to
suggest some activity to which the statement didnтАЩt apply, and found our resources of ribaldry and
gruesomeness inadequate to the task.
тАЬAll the same,тАЭ she said when weтАЩd given up, тАЬit is fascinating in a way.тАЭ She shot me a glance,
as if unsure whether to go on. тАЬCapitalism had a sort of ... elegance about it. The trouble is, well,
the old people, uh, no offence, arenтАЩt very good at explaining it, because they hate it so much, and
the old books . . .тАЭ She sighed and shrugged. тАЬThey just donтАЩt make sense. They have all these
equations in them, like real science, but you look at the assumptions and you think, hey, wait a
minute, that canтАЩt be right, so how did it work? Anyway,тАЭ she went on, more firmly, тАЬitтАЩs the only
interesting sociological question left.тАЭ She looked out of the window, then leaned forward and
spoke quietly. тАЬThatтАЩs why I go to London,тАЭ she confided. тАЬTo talk to people outside the Union.тАЭ
Then she leaned back, and looked at me as if defying me to be shocked, unsure that she hadnтАЩt
misjudged my broad-mindedness. I didnтАЩt need to feign my response I was pleased, and interested.
We had, of course, a network of agents and contacts in the London area, and the old comrades
could always be counted on but my mission was too secret even for them. Nobody knew I was
coming, or what I was looking for, although that information-leakage couldnтАЩt be delayed much
longer. I had expected to have to rely on hastily learned, and possibly outdated, background.
Now I had the possibility of a guide. This could be a stroke. of luck! Or something else
entirely, if I wanted to be paranoid about it. Her earlier comments about there being no secrets
were too transparent to be some kind of double bluff; if she were involved in any secrets herself
(other than her to some distasteful interests) she would hardly have brought the subject up. And
anyway, she was too young ...
I studied her face, and tried to hide my second thoughts, my second-guessing of myself. You
lose the knack for conspiracy, over the decades and centuries. The Division was not the Union,
true enough, but even our politics had weathered and softened into non-lethality, like a rusty
artillery piece in a mossy emplacement all our destructive power was directed outwards.
I decided that, whether her presence was fortuitous, or the outcome of one of those hidden forces
whose existence sheтАЩd so naively denied, I couldnтАЩt lose. If she was innocent, then IтАЩd gain some
valuable contacts and information if not, the only way to find out was by playing along.
So I said: тАЬHmm, thatтАЩs interesting. Do you know many non-cooperators?тАЭ (That was the polite