"David Marusek - Getting to Know You" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marusek David)

Victor stood in the doorway. тАЬNo!тАЭ he cried. тАЬNever sign!тАЭ

тАЬHush, Victor,тАЭ Nancy said.

He entered the room, stepping through beds and bodies. тАЬNever sign
away your life, Mrs. Hurley.тАЭ The woman appeared even more frightened.
тАЬWeтАЩve returned to Ro-man society,тАЭ he bellowed. тАЬMasters and servants!
Pluto-crats and slaves! Oh, where is the benevolent middle class when we
need it?тАЭ

тАЬVictor,тАЭ Nancy said sternly and pointed to the door.

And she nodded to Zoranna, тАЬYou too. Have your tea. IтАЩll join you.тАЭ
 Zoranna followed Victor to the kitchen, sat at the counter, and
watched him set out cups and saucers, sugar and soybimi lemon. He
unwrapped and sliced a dark cake. He was no stranger to this kitchen.

тАЬItтАЩs a terrible thing what they did to your sister,тАЭ he said.

тАЬWho? What?тАЭ

He poured boiling water into the pot. тАЬTeaching was her life.тАЭ

тАЬTeaching?тАЭ Zoranna said, incredulous. тАЬYouтАЩre talking about
something that ended thirty years ago.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs all she ever wanted to do.тАЭ

тАЬTough!тАЭ she said. тАЬWeтАЩve all paid the price of lon-gevity. How can
you teach elementary school when thereтАЩre no more children? You canтАЩt. So
you retrain. You move on. WhatтАЩs wrong with working for a living? You join
an outfit like this,тАЭ she gestured to take in the whole tower above her,
тАЬyouтАЩre guaranteed your livelihood for life! The only thing not handed you on
a silver platter is longevity. You have to earn that yourself. And if you canтАЩt,
what good are you?тАЭ When she remembered that two dozen people lay
dying in the next room because they couldnтАЩt do just that, she lowered her
voice. тАЬMust society carry your dead weight through the centuries?тАЭ

Victor laughed and placed his large hand on hers. тАЬI see you are a
true freebooter, Zoe. I wish everyone had your initiative, your drive! But
sadly, we donтАЩt. We yearn for simple lives, and so we trim peopleтАЩs hair all
day. When we tire of that, they retrain us to pare their toenails. When we tire
of that, we die. For we lack the souls of servants. A natural servant is a rare
and precious person. How lucky our masters are to have discovered
cloning! Now they need find but one servile person among us and clone
him repeatedly. As for the rest of us, we can all go to hell!тАЭ He removed his
hand from hers to pour the tea. Her hand immediately missed his. тАЬBut such
morbid, talk on such a festive occasion!тАЭ he roared. тАЬHow wonderful to
finally meet the famous Zoe. Nancy speaks only of you. She says you are