"Patricia A. McKillip - Fools Run" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

stilled. His face, of a chameleon type that changed with every thought, lost its clinical
detachment from the noise heтАЩd been making and somehow became more magenta.

тАЬI swear every time I breathe on this thing it goes out of tuneтАжтАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs had a long and weary life,тАЭ Sidney said. тАЬIt was up in an attic in Prairie Sector for
seventy-five years until I tracked it down. Mice were nesting among the strings.тАЭ He added,
when the Magician seemed no longer in danger of vanishing back into his music, тАЬCoffee?
Beer?тАЭ

The Magician shook his head, then blew the glitter off the keys. тАЬThanks, itтАЩs bedtime.
What are you doing here so late, Sidney? ItтАЩsтАФwhatever hour that god-awful green in the walls
is.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs dawn,тАЭ Sidney said, and the Magician stopped breathing. He gazed at Sidney
expressionlessly over the piano. тАЬI stayed to listen to you. How often do I get a free Bach
concert? I had to stay after hours anyway. One of the bands nearly went Full Primal at closing
time.тАЭ The Magician made a garbled noise that Sidney took to be a question. тАЬYou were
playing, then. You didnтАЩt notice the patrollers and the ambulances.тАЭ

тАЬWhatтАФwhoтАФтАЭ

Sidney waved a hand vaguely toward a distant stage. тАЬA new band called Desperate Sun.
They seemed innocuous when they auditionedтАж They were planning to electrocute themselves
with their instruments as a gesture of support for the National Regression Coalition of
Sundown Sector. One of my bouncers cut off their electricity before they hurt themselves too
badly. They kept making speeches to the patrollers about Sundown SectorтАЩs right to bear arms,
tax itself and call itself Australia again. Though why they wanted to die for Australia in my club
eluded me.тАЭ

The MagicianтАЩs harlequin face was a patchwork of expressions. тАЬWhat was I doing through
all this?тАЭ

тАЬYou played a lot of fugues and toccatas. Then you played the Inventions. All of them. That
was a little dry,тАЭ he admitted. тАЬThen you played the Fourth English Suite. Then most of the
Fifth, and then parts of the French SuitesтАФтАЭ

тАЬI didnтАЩtтАФтАЭ

тАЬAnd you finished up with HanroтАЩs тАШCocktail.тАЩ Four hours, nonstop, with patrollers taking
statements and injured bodies being borne away under your nose. What on earth were you
thinking about?тАЭ

The MagicianтАЩs eyes lingered, wide, on SidneyтАЩs face. His right hand slid to the keyboard;
the soft, single note sounded again. His eyes, still on SidneyтАЩs face, grew opaque.

The walls blackened around him once again. They had lost their angles; in the cold, pristine
night of space, something minute, flashing dark and light, followed its changeless orbit around
himтАж
 тАЬMagic-Man,тАЭ Sidney said gently and he blinked. He stopped playing the note after a