"Who's Afraid Of Wolf 359" - читать интересную книгу автора (MacLeod Ken)

WHOТS AFRAID OF WOLF 359?
KEN MACLEOD


H
ereТs a fast-paced, freewheeling, frenetic romp that demonstrates that if life hands you lemons, make lemonadeЧno matter who gets in your way or what extremes you have to go to get the lemons out of it.

Ken Macleod graduated with a B.S. in zoology from Glasgow Univerнsity in 1976. Following research in biomechanics at Brunei University, he worked as a computer analyst/programmer in Edinburgh. HeТs now a full-time writer, and widely considered to be one of the most exciting new SF writers to emerge in the nineties, his work featuring an emphasis on politics and economics rare in the New Space Opera, while still mainнtaining all the wide-screen, high-bit-rate, action-packed qualities typical of the form. His first two novels, The Star Fraction and The Stone Canal, each won the Prometheus Award. His other books include the novels The Sky Road, The Cassini Division, Cosmonaut Keep, Dark Light, Engine City, and NewtonТs Wake, plus a novella chapbook, The Human Front. His most recent books are the novel Learning the World and a collection, Strange Lizards from Another Galaxy. He lives in West Lothian, Scotland, with his wife and children.

* * * *

When youТre as old as I am, youТll find your memoryТs not what it was. ItТs not that you lose memories. That hasnТt happened to me or anyone else since the Paleocosmic Era, the Old Space Age, when people lived in caves on the Moon. My trouble is that IТve gained memories, and I donТt know which of them are real. I was very casual about memory storage back then, I seem to recall. This could happen to you too, if youТre not careful. So be warned. Do as I say, not as I did.

Some of the tales about me contradict each other, or couldnТt possibly have happened, because thatТs how I told them in the first place. Others I blame on the writers and tellers. They make things up. IТve never done that.

If IТve told stories that couldnТt be true, itТs because thatТs how I remember them.

HereТs one.

* * * *

I ran naked through the Long Station, throwing my smart clothes away to distract the TycoonТs dogs. Breeks, shirt, cravat, jacket, waistcoat, stockings, various undergarmentsЧone by one they ran, flapped, slithered, danced, or scurried off, and after every one of them raced a scent-seeking but merciнfully stupid hound. But the Tycoon had more dogs in his pack than I had clothes in my bundle. I was down to my shoes and the baying continued. I glanced over my shoulder. Two dogs were just ten meters behind me. I hurled a shoe at each of them, hitting both animals right on their genetiнcally modified noses. The dogs skidded to a halt, yelping and howling. A few meters away was a jewelry booth. I sprinted for it, vaulted the counter, grabbed a recycler, and bashed at the display cabinet. An alarm brayed and the security mesh rattled down behind me. The dogs, recovered and furiнous, hurled themselves against it. The rest of the pack pelted into view and joined them. Paws, jaws, barking, you get the picture.

УPut your hands up,Ф said a voice above the din.

I turned and looked into the bell-shaped muzzle of a Norton held in the hands of a sweet-looking lass wearing a sample of the stallТs stock. I raised my hands, wishing I could put them somewhere else. In those days, I had some vestige of modesty.

УIТm human,Ф I said. УThat canТt hurt me.Ф

She allowed herself the smallest flicker of a glance at the EMP weaponТs sighting screen.

УIt could give you quite a headache,Ф she said.

УIt could that,Ф I admitted, my bluff called. IТd been half hoping she wouldnТt know how to interpret the readouts.

УSecurityТs on its way,Ф she said.

УGood,Ф I said. УBetter them than the dogs.Ф

She gave me a tight smile. УTrouble with the Tycoon?Ф

УYes,Ф I said. УHow did you guess?Ф

УOnly the owner of the Station could afford dogs,Ф she said. УBesides...Ф She blinked twice slowly.

УI suppose youТre right,Ф I said. УOr serving girls.Ф

The stallkeeper laughed in my face. УAll this for a servant? WasnТt it Her LadyshipТs bedroom window you jumped out of?Ф

I shuddered. УYou flatter me,Ф I said. УAnyway, how do you know aboutЧ?Ф