"Paul Mcauley - Red Dust" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcauley Paul J)

morning.
"Time is not the same for us," the librarian said. "Master,
you have given me a difficult task, and I have travelled long
and hard roads to try and fulfil it. I wonder if I might ask
one question of you?"
"I would be honored."
"Master, what will you do when I find out what happened
to your parents?"
"Once you have found out where they are, I will go to
them, of course! My great-grandfather knows about them
but would never tell me and so I swore that I would find
them for myself. He said it was to protect me from taint of
my parents' Sky Roader sympathies..."
"Perhaps, Master, he had other reasons. But if you defy
your great-grandfather, who is a powerful man, surely you
would become an outcast. What then? I ask only because it
is often the case that the child's personality is a reflection
of its parents. By knowing you better, I may hasten in my
task."
Lee's patience had worn thin. "My great-grandfather is
one of the Ten Thousand Years, it's true, but I am only an
agro-tech. What have I to lose? You find them! That's all I
ask! After that, you won't have to worry about me. Who can
say what the future holds?"
"Who indeed, Master?" The librarian bowed again, and
added, "Someone wishes to speak with you."
When Lee stripped off the goggles Guoquiang said, "You
woke me up with your shouting. What were you doing? It's
no time to be visiting dream girls at Ma Zizhen's."
"That wouldn't be much use with only sound and vision,"
Lee said.
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with looking. Or talking, for
 RED DUST
13

that matter. I do it all the time. It's healthy." Guoquiang
grinned. "Now you've had a winter here you'll know why."

Xiao Bing said, "Wei Lee doesn't need goggles and a
clenched fist. He's had more luck in one winter than you've
had since your first hard-on."

Guoquiang said, "Exogamy is a strong drive. Wei Lee
shouldn't exploit it. I rely on my natural charms, not greased

hair and zither playing."

"It's a guitar."

"Of course it is," Guoquiang said. "First you rock and