"Susan Palwick - Going After Bobo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Palwick Susan)

GOING AFTER BOBO
Susan Palwick

Not nearly as prolific as she should be, Susan Palwick's eloquent work has appeared
in Asimov's Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction,
Amazing, Sci Fiction, Starlight 1, Not of Women Born, Pulphouse, Xanadu 3,
Walls of Fear, The Horns of Elfland, Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears, and other
markets. Her acclaimed first novel Flying in Place was one of the most talked-about
books of 1992, and won the Crawford Award for Best First Fantasy Novel, which is
presented annually by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts.
She's currently at work on her second novel, Shelter. She lives in Reno, Nevada,
where she's an assistant professor of English at the University of Nevada, teaching
writing and literature.

Here she gives us a moving portrait of a young boy growing up fast in a troubled
near-future world, one who's forced to face some choices that are hard to make at
any age...

****

I WAS THE ONLY ONE HOME when the GPS satellites finally came back online.
It was already dark out by then, and it had been snowing all afternoon. I'd been
sitting at the kitchen table with my algebra book, trying to concentrate on quadratic
equations, and then the handheld beeped and lit up and the transmitter signal started
blipping on the screen, and I looked at it and cursed and ran upstairs to
double-check the signal position against my topo map. And then I cursed some
more, and started throwing on warm clothing.

I'd spent five days staring at my handheld, praying that the screen would light up
again, please, please, so I'd be able to see where Bobo was. The only time he'd even
stayed away from home overnight, and it was when the satellites were out. Just my
luck.

Or maybe David had planned it that way. Bobo had been missing since Monday, the
day the satellites went down, and David had probably opened the door for him when
I wasn't looking, like always, and then given him an extra kick, gloating because he
knew I wouldn't be able to follow Bobo's signal.

I hadn't been too worried yet, on Monday. Bobo was gone when I got back from
school, but I thought he'd come home for dinner, the way he always did. When he
didn't, I went outside and called him and checked in neighbours' yards. I started to
get scared when I couldn't find him, but Mom said not to worry, Bobo would come
back later, and even if he didn't, he'd probably be OK even if he stayed out
overnight.

But he wasn't back for breakfast on Tuesday, either, and by that night I was frantic,
especially since the satellites were still down and I had no idea where Bobo was and
I couldn't find him in any of the places where he usually hung out. Wednesday and
Thursday and Friday were hell. I carried the handheld with me every place, waiting
for it to light up again, hunched over it every second, even at school, while Johnny