"RESNICK, Mike - The Land of Nod" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

soon we came to the front door.
Edward got out of the vehicle and approached his residence
as I followed him. He clenched his fists in a physical effort to
restrain his anger. "I agreed to let you live with us, because you
are an old man who was thrown off his world-- "
"I left Kirinyaga of my own volition," I interrupted calmly.
"It makes no difference why or how you left," said my son.
"What matters is that you are _here_ now. You are a very old man.
It has been many years since you have lived on Earth. All of your
friends are dead. My mother is dead. I am your son, and I will
accept my responsibilities, but you _must_ meet me halfway."
"I am trying to," I said.
"I doubt it."
"I am," I repeated. "You own son understands that, even if
you do not."
"My own son has had quite enough to cope with since my
divorce and remarriage. The last thing he needs is a grandfather
filling his head with wild tales of some Kikuyu Utopia."
"It is a failed Utopia," I corrected him. "They would not
listen to me, and so they are doomed to become another Kenya."
"What is so wrong with that?" said Edward. "Kenya is my home,
and I am proud of it." He paused and stared at me. "And now it is
_your_ home again. You must speak of it with more respect."
"I lived in Kenya for many years before I emigrated to
Kirinyaga," I said. "I can live here again. Nothing has changed."
"That is not so," said my son. "We have built a transport
system beneath Nairobi, and there is now a spaceport at Watamu on
the coast. We have closed down the nuclear plants; our power is
now entirely thermal, drawn from beneath the floor of the Rift
Valley. In fact," he added with the pride that always accompanied
the descriptions of his new wife's attainments, "Susan was
instrumental in the changeover."
"You misunderstood me, Edward," I replied. "Kenya remains
unchanged in that it continues to ape the Europeans rather than
remain true to its own traditions."
The security system identified us and opened his house to us.
We walked through the foyer, past the broad winding staircase the
led to the bedroom wing. The servants were waiting for us, and the
butler took Edward's coat from him. Then we passed the doorways
the lounge and drawing room, both of which were filled with Roman
statues and French paintings and rows of beautifully-bound British
books. Finally we came to Edward's study, where he turned and
spoke in a low tone to the butler.
"We wish to be alone."
The servants vanished as if they had been nothing but
holograms.
"Where is Susan?" I asked, for my daughter-in-law was nowhere
to be seen.
"We were at a party at the Cameroon ambassador's new home
when the call came through that you had been arrested again," he