"Modesitt,.L.E.-.Flash" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

Before I sat down and got to work, I took a long sip of the Grey tea
from the mug I'd carried into the office, then walked to the wide
windows on the north side. From there, the Flatirons rose to the
northwestЧ red, angled-rock cliffsЧin turn overlooking Boulder
and the university. I almost could ignore the closer roofs and the
trees. That view was one of the beauties of being an independent
consultant. House and office were in the same place, and the
location was acceptable. Truly acceptable would have been
somewhere like Cedacity, also a university town, but for my work,
the Denv area was a necessity. There's always some data clients
refuse to send by link, and most of them want to meet in person at
regular intervals. It's almost as if you're not real if they can't
occasionally see you up close. Understandable enough, since
anything on the worldlink can be, and has been, counterfeited.

After a last look at early September sunlight falling on the red
rocks, I called up the holo projection for the Relaxo project. I tried
not to think too hard about the work I didn't have after I finished the
current round. Consulting's like that. No matter how good you are,
you're never sure that it will continue.

Abruptly, silver flooded between me and the projection.

"Most honored sir?" The houri wore just enough, and no more, to
get my involuntary attention. At a hundred and sixty centimeters,
she exhibited both too much and too little. "Are you looking for
theЧ"

A signal to the system commpro, and with a flash of light, the too-
perfect figure vanished.

"Frigged filter!" Disruptions like that I didn't need. My office system
was supposed to be proof against emwhores. But nothing was
proof against anything, not these days.

I settled into the ergochair, setting down the mug, and taking in the
shelves on the east wall. In addition to my collection of old-style,
leather-backed books, I'd also bound some of the studies I'd done
with particular meaning to me. Aliora teased me about my vanity in
binding them, but electronic files just didn't carry the visual impact.

Was that because I needed a physical reminder of who I was?
According to Shioban, my insecurity about who I was had been
one of the many reasons she'd decided to move on. She hadn't
mentioned the flashbacks, but those hadn't helped, either.

But you can't live in the past, no matter what happened.

I turned to the Relaxo sales figures on the holo projection. First,