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

his feet, smarting in a dozen different places. He pulled off
his face mask, swept his black, greased hair back into its DA,
and mopped his face with the red kerchief he'd knotted
around his neck, the way the King wore one in Charro to
hide his branded wound.
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"Help me up," Lin Yi said impatiently, and Lee said he'd
do better than that, and stalked over to the big raised water
line that served the dome's hydroponic fields. He had already
attached a hose to a spur valve and hooked it over one of
the struts which supported the water line as a kind of makeshift
shower to wash dust from the protective suits. Now he
shook it free.

Lin Yi had climbed to his feet, and the first high-pressure
burst sent him sprawling. He sputtered and spat and swore
and tried to get up again, and a second burst knocked him
on to his back. He began to laugh, paddling upside down in
mud and water like an overturned turtle, trying to splash
his fellows.

"If you can't swim," Lee said, "you should stay out of the
water!" And he lifted the jet so that it rose towards the pink
sky in a trembling fountain, glittering in cold sunlight and
torn by wind and falling in fat droplets that darkened the
red dust. The men danced beneath it, faces raised to the
precious rain, hands cupped to catch it, laughing at each
other; and Lee laughed too and sent the fountain shooting
to new heights.

A voice said loudly, "This is a noble way to waste a morning,
Wei Lee!"

Lee turned, sending water spraying in a flat fan. The men
ran from it, screeching in mock alarm.

Guoquiang reached up and shut off the valve; the hose
quivered and fell slack in Lee's hands. "A little early for a
rain dance," he remarked.

"We wash ourselves of dust, after our labours."

Beside Guoquiang, Xiao Bing held on to the harness of a
draught bact. Face pale as powdered chalk; white hair; silver
caps over pink irises. With his free hand he thumbed a vial
into the waist pocket of his long jacket and said, "You are
an inspiration to us all, with your selfless dedication. How
is my librarian?"