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

тАЬOK, but if the woman had stuck with her first offer, what oh! I see. YouтАЩd have gone to
another stall.тАЭ
Suze grinned, passing back the joint. тАЬMake an economist of you yet.тАЭ
тАЬHah! Hard to believe, now, that the whole world was once run like this.тАЭ
Suze nodded soberly. тАЬThis, and various combinations of this and pushing people around.
Weird.тАЭ
We got up to leave, and were recalled by an indignant yell from the food-stall minder.
тАЬSorree!тАЭ Suze said to him, blushing as she passed him a silver coin. тАЬKeep the change.тАЭ
It took her even longer to explain to me about that: the custom of a price that wasnтАЩt a price, on
top of the price; a sum that was never asked for, but whose omission was always resented. We
wandered on towards the stalls of books and machines. The smoke, and the coffee and food, had
shifted my brain chemistry in the way IтАЩd hoped. They were helping me to adjust to what was
going on around me, but I still let Suze do the talking.
She browsed the bookstalls and _machine. shops and nanotech tanks, making the occasional
small purchase and apparently idle inquiries after Malley. Sometimes she used his full name,
sometimes she just wondered aloud if anyone had heard of тАЬthe scientistтАЭ or тАЬthe old docтАЭ. Most of
the sellers seemed to know her by sight, and gave her less of a hard bargain than some other Union
tourists were getting. At the last stall she picked up and leafed through an obsolete textbook of
physics which sheтАЩd dug up from one of the plastic boxes at the foot of the stall.
тАЬI wish I knew someone who could explain this to me,тАЭ she said, casually handing the book to
the seller. He was plump, even for a non-co, pink-skinned, and wrapped in a curious multicoloured
patchwork coat that made him look like some tubby wizard. He glanced at the book; his eyes
narrowed and his grip suddenly tightened. He pulled the book back.
тАЬSorry, miss,тАЭ he said. тАЬNot for sale.тАЭ
Suze gave him her best innocent-tourist look.
тАЬOh? ThatтАЩs a shame. Why not?тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩve been asked to save anything by this bloke Wheeler for the professor.тАЭ
тАЬSure,тАЭ said Suze. тАЬProfessor Malley, isnтАЩt it?тАЭ She seemed to forget the matter, leaning
forward and pouncing on a copy of the rare Home Workshop Nanotech (Loompanics, 2052). тАЬHey,
look at this!тАЭ She passed it to me and looked again at the stall-holder, eyebrows raised.
тАЬYeah, Malley,тАЭ he said. тАЬHe comes by now and again. AinтАЩt seen him for a few weeks,
though.тАЭ
тАЬHeтАЩs still running a school down Ealing way, ainтАЩt he?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs right,тАЭ said the stall-holder. His accent blended in with the local speech, but his diction
was clearer, at least to me. Suze glanced at the price pencilled on the bookтАЩs inside cover, and
passed the man a gold coin, without her customary haggling. He seemed to take this as a payment
for a little more than the book (I was beginning to grasp how these peopleтАЩs minds worked, I
thought smugly) and went on: тАЬFunny you should be asking after him.тАЭ He scratched the stubble on
his upper chin. тАЬCouple of your lot -тАЬ he coughed тАЬuh, Union members were through the other day,
looking for him.тАЭ
I felt a jolt of surprise.
тАЬYes, heтАЩs quite famous really,тАЭ Suze responded lightly. тАЬIтАЩm sure lots of people want to talk to
him. I wonder if theyтАЩre anyone I know?тАЭ
He shrugged. тАЬHard to say, you people all what I mean is, they were two blokes, right, about
your age real age and about her height.тАЭ He indicated me. тАЬTall, dark, but not uh, more sort of
Indian-looking than you ladies, if you know what I mean.тАЭ
тАЬDid you notice,тАЭ I asked carefully, тАЬanything unusual in the way they moved?тАЭ
His face brightened. тАЬYeah! ThatтАЩs it! Something about them bothered me. CouldnтАЩt put me
finger on it. But one of them had a funny way of hanging on to the edge of the table, like what
youтАЩre doing now -тАЬ I let go and straightened up, self-consciously тАЬand they both had a way of