"Robert Reed - A Place With Shade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

ROBERT REED

A PLACE WITH SHADE

The old man was corpulent like a seal, muscle clothed in fat to guarantee
warmth, his skin smooth and his general proportions -- stocky limbs and a
broad
chest -- implying a natural, almost unconscious power. He wore little despite
the damp chill. The brown eyes seemed capable and shrewd. And humorless. We
were
standing on a graveled beach, staring at his tiny sea; and after a long
silence,
he informed me, "I don't approve of what you do, Mr. Locum. It's pretentious
and
wasteful, this business of building cruel places. You're not an artist, and I
think it's healthy for both of us to know my objections to your presence
here."

I showed a grin, then said, "Fine. I'll leave." I had spent three months
inside
cramped quarters, but I told him, "Your shuttle can take me back to the
freighter. I'll ride out with the iron."

"You misunderstand, Mr. Locum." His ham e was Provo Lei, the wealthiest person
fora light-month in any direction. "I have these objections, but you aren't
here
for me. You're a gift to my daughter. She and I have finally agreed that she
needs a tutor, and you seem qualified. Shall we dispense with pretenses? You
are
a toy. This isn't what you would call a lush commission, and you'd prefer to
be
near a civilized world, building some vicious forest for society people who
want
prestige and novelty. Yet you need my money, don't you? You're neither a tutor
nor a toy, but your debts outweigh your current value as an artist. Or am I
wrong?"

I attempted another grin, then shrugged. "I can work on a larger scale here."
I'm not someone who hesitates or feels insecure, but I did both just then.
"I've
had other offers --"

"None of substance," Provo interrupted.

I straightened my back, looking over him. We were in the middle of his house
--
a sealed hyperfiber tent covering ten thousand hectares of tundra and ice
water
-- and beyond the tent walls was an entire world, earth-size but less massive.
Not counting robots, the world's population was two. Counting me, three. As we