"Jody Lynn Nye - The Grand Tour" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

four visitors through a door that emerged onto a crowded railway station platform. No, Keir had taken
on another shape, indicating that he was expecting a client. Incongruously for the busy workaday
setting, he was now a dolphin, hovering about four feet above the ground, flicking his crescent-moon-
shaped tail to propel him through the air. He swam to the tracks just as the sound of a train reached
ChuckтАЩs ears.
But what a train! The shining green-and-black locomotive rose only three feet above the tracks. The
clicking wheels were the size of ChuckтАЩs hand. Its smokestack was so low that the puffs of white steam
blew into the face of the bearded man sitting astride the middle car.
тАЬWeтАЩre not riding on that, are we?тАЭ Chuck asked. тАЬNone of us will fit!тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs an arrival,тАЭ Keir said. His voice was squeezed down to a soprano gurgle. тАЬNot a departure.тАЭ
As it neared the platform, Chuck got a good look at the train cars. They appeared to have been fitted
together from integrated circuits and solar panels. It ought to have generated plenty of power to run. If
that was the case, why did it need a firebox?
тАЬWhat is it?тАЭ asked the dark-haired man, speaking for the first time.
тАЬA search engine,тАЭ Keir said, unapologetic, as the red-haired woman groaned. тАЬDreaming minds
make puns. You may as well get used to it. It represents nothing. ItтАЩs simply another means of finding
oneтАЩs way here. Welcome,тАЭ he chirped to the newcomer.
The new visitor did a startled double take.
тАЬYouтАЩre a dolphin,тАЭ he said.
тАЬDelfinitely,тАЭ Keir squeaked. тАЬWelcome.тАЭ Chuck gave a brief snort of laughter at the strangerтАЩs
surprise, but smothered it.
The newcomer gave Keir a curt nod, and bent to unstrap his bag from the roof of the caboose. His
movements were precise and focused. Chuck eyed his trim, charcoal-gray suit, and wondered if he was
a clockmaker or a banker. He worked a hand free and extended it for the bag so the stranger could
climb up to the platform unencumbered, but a fierce glare from the manтАЩs gray eyes made him step
back a pace. Chuck resented him all over again.
тАЬNo. Thank you.тАЭ The newcomer wrapped a protective arm around his suitcase and clutched it to
him. The ubiquitous workmen in paintersтАЩ overalls bustled over and rolled up a set of steps for him to
ascend to the platform. Six more disassembled the search engine and took it away. The stranger sent a
distrustful eye around at them all. Chuck vowed not to touch the suitcase if he could possibly avoid it.
The guy might go ballistic. He had a precise manner about him like a scientist. He looked to be
somewhere in his middle age, with gray starting in his hair and deep lines at the corners of his mouth
and eyes. Chuck noticed he was studying them, too. The blonde woman suddenly looked around, as if
she realized for the first time that she was not alone.
тАЬWhere did the angel go?тАЭ she asked, innocently. Chuck blinked at her. HadnтАЩt she been watching
Keir change shape? It wasnтАЩt the kind of thing youтАЩd miss.
тАЬHere at your side,тАЭ Keir said, shifting effortlessly back to the luminescent presence. The woman
breathed a sigh as the sunlight caught his halo and fell around him in coruscating rainbows. Chuck
watched the transformation with renewed astonishment. How could she have missed seeing that? She
must be completely unaware of her surroundings. He hoped he wasnтАЩt being such a dunce.
A burst of static exploded from the fan-shaped loudspeakers tucked in the corners of the
overhanging roof.
тАЬGarmurfle vargh grmfoah nah rmhm Platform Two!тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs ours,тАЭ Keir said happily. тАЬPlease follow me.тАЭ
He floated ahead of them, his bare feet not touching the boards of the platform. Light from his
wings and halo tipped the dull-colored paint and bricks of the station as he passed, and made them
beautiful. If any of the other travelers were disconcerted at his shapechanging, they didnтАЩt show it.
Maybe they couldnтАЩt see it, Chuck reasoned. Perhaps he was the only one who could. This was
supposed to be his vision quest, after all.
The railway station didnтАЩt look exactly like any of the stations heтАЩd visited over the course of his