"Robert Reed - The Caldera of Good Fortune" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

and freeze solid. And how big and beautiful would the new mountain be?
Enormous and gorgeous, the residents promised. And that wasnтАЩt just
because they wanted to peel more money from these prosperous souls;
even the most jaded, sun-starved citizens looked forward to the spectacle
of fragile, moon-washed ice hanging over their drab little home.

Narrow trails crisscrossed the valley walls, eventually leading to the
rim. But hiking was thankless work and a considerable investment of time.
Cable cars offered quicker, easier journeys. For thousands of years,
tourists had gathered inside the spacious, overheated cable car station,
and locals who wanted work sat with their backs to the caldera, gossiping
with one another, waiting patiently for the first worthwhile offer.

Crockett had planned to do nothing that day but sleep. The lake had
been steaming for weeks, and heтАЩd already made plenty. But then a friend
mentioned that today only, a certain pair of security officers was patrolling in
and around the cable car station.

As it happened, those officers were very beautiful and very human.

At the end of winter, when the hamlet was jammed with strangers,
outsiders were hired to help fill critical jobs. Included in their ranks was a
platoon of security officers, human and otherwise. Judging the age of
immortals was difficult; modern flesh and bone endured the ages as well as
any granite could. But those two women carried a palpable, delicious sense
of youth. They smiled constantlyтАФweightless, untroubled grins common to
barely grown people. In their walks and the secure tilt of their heads, they
looked unaffected by responsibility. Their skin was as smooth and clear as
any Crockett had ever seen, which was another clue: After a few centuries
of life, most humans cultivated wrinkles near the eyes, hinting at wisdoms
that might or might not be present. If appearances could be believed, those
two girls were thrilled to be living in the hamlet, however briefly. They always
patrolled together, whispering to each other constantly, and they shared
giggles and various knowing looks. Several times, Crockett had watched
them standing in the middle of a crowded street, ignoring the shoving
bodies, holding gloved hands as they gazed up at the distant rim of the
caldera and the curtain of fresh steam that rose into the gloom and then
froze, falling where the winds let it fall as this springтАЩs first snow.
 Those girls were the reason Crockett walked to the cable car station
and sat with his neighbors, making small talk while deflecting the tourists:
He was waiting for that moment when he would see the objects of his
affection.

тАЬIs my offer not enough?тАЭ asked a lumbering Tamias.

тАЬYour offer is most generous,тАЭ Crockett replied, examining the alienтАЩs
rodent-like face with an appropriately indirect gaze. тАЬBut my ass is
comfortable, and I will leave it where it is for now.тАЭ

Next came a Hippocamus that shuffled forwardsтАФa pregnant male,