"Jim Munroe - Angry Young Spaceman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Munroe Jim)

He gave me a guarded look.
тАЬMaybe in the beer,тАЭ I said.
He went back to his drink.
тАЬIтАЩm here because IтАЩm going to Octavia,тАЭ I said, picking up the thread.
He looked at me slowly. тАЬOctavia, eh? ItтАЩd be a nice place, except for all
the sea monkeys.тАЭ
I froze. My grandfather would use that slur, war vet that he was, but IтАЩd
never heard it from the mouth of someone my age.
 тАЬNot that IтАЩve been there, of course. Someone like me canтАЩt afford to...тАЭ
He made jerky hand movements meant to resemble carefree
planethopping. тАЬ...to flit about any time he wants. Some of us have to
work for a living.тАЭ
I guessed he was a driver or worker at the spaceport. And he had a
point. Anyone without money or a university education couldnтАЩt hope to
leave Earth. All they could hope for was some lame vacation someplace
like Barcelona or Tokyo, while the privileged class got to go ring surfing, or
swim in the molten core of a star...
But the bud of sympathy quickly withered.
тАЬNot that IтАЩd go to that fucking... hole. You must be fucked, buddy.тАЭ
I shrugged. Oh well, there goes civility. тАЬYou seem to know a lot about a
place youтАЩve never been to,тАЭ I said, speaking with a mildness I didnтАЩt feel.
тАЬOh, I know. I know enough. Robot, another for this poor jackass. On
me.тАЭ
I debated whether it was worth it as the charliebot was filling my glass.
I checked the time. Still had a while.
Looking at the charliebot made me think about the free beer IтАЩd just
scammed. тАЬHeh, you know if you ...тАЭ
I stopped when I saw the way his eyes were locked on the glass in front
of him, hovering but going nowhere. I waited to see if he would prompt
me to continue and when he didnтАЩt I started to see how quickly I could
drink my drink without being completely obvious about it.
Pretty quickly, it turned out, but not quickly enough.
His head swung towards me as if on a hinge. тАЬI know enough. I had
something going with one of those cold fish once.тАЭ
I nodded. Lifted my glass.
тАЬA digital romance is what they call it,тАЭ he said, his face rippling with
scorn.
I knew this was going to get nasty. тАЬRemoteтАЭ is what they actually called
it; тАЬdigitalтАЭ had less pleasant connotations.
тАЬSo fucking high and mighty.тАЭ He pulled at the collar I had admired
earlier.
 Lifted my glass.
тАЬAll that bullshit about mating.тАЭ
Thought it might have had something to do with that. What a prick.
тАЬFrigid sea monkey bitch. She had some problems all right. She тАФтАЭ
тАЬSounds like youтАЩre the one with the problems.тАЭ
He looked at me. Nothing in his eyes. I stared him down.
He looked back at his drink. Shrugged a little. тАЬYouтАЩll see. Fuck.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, IтАЩll see, for real. I wonтАЩt be some jacked-in jack-off, pulling his
pud to four-second-old relays.тАЭ