"Mack Reynolds - After Utopia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

evidently he was being kept under wraps. The table in
the breakfast nook was automated; it operated by dials.
Betty did the ordering, and when the dishes
appearedтАФthe table top had sunk and then returned with
themтАФserved them.
The food, admittedly, was out of this world. He
wondered if Betty Stein had cooked it herself, earlier.
But no, of course not. Betty Stein was much too
decorative to have any useful qualities. She was dressed
today in a brief outfit that looked something like TarzanтАЩs
wife, Jane, used to wear in Edgar Rice Burroughs
movies.
The conversation was desultory, and obviously
deliberately so. Walter Stein even avoided TracyтАЩs eyes
for some reason. However, there was still amusement
behind those of Jo Edmonds.
Toward the end of the meal, Stein said, тАЬHow do you
feel, Mr. Cogswell? Up to the little jaunt that Betty
suggested yesterday? YouтАЩre sure it wouldnтАЩt tire you too
much? After all, itтАЩs been just a few days.тАЭ
Tracy growled, тАЬI donтАЩt see why not.тАЭ
The way he felt, the more information he gathered
about his surroundings, the better prepared he would be
to take care of himself when and if he went on the run
from whatever situation theyтАЩd gotten him into. In his
time, Tracy Cogswell had been on the run more than
once; his experience had taught him to case the area as
well as he could.
He was able to walk by himself to the garage, although
Academician Stein bumbled worriedly along beside him
all of the way.
Cogswell was settled into the front seat of a vehicle
that didnтАЩt look so much different from a sport sedan of
his own time, except for the fact that it lacked wheels.
Betty took her place behind the controls, beaming at him
reassuringly. The controls didnтАЩt look too much different
from those of a car of the late 1950s, a steering wheel,
some foot pedals, and a conglomeration of gadgets on the
dashboard.
The difference came, Cogswell found, when they
emerged from the garage, proceeded a few feet, and then
took to the air, without wings, rotars, propeller, jets, or
any other noticeable method of support or propulsion.
She could see he was taken aback and said, тАЬWhatтАЩs
the.matter, Tracy?тАЭ
Cogswell said wryly, тАЬI hadnтАЩt expected this much
progress in this much time.тАЭ
тАЬOh, you mean the car?тАЭ
So they still called them cars.
 тАЬYou needed wings in my day,тАЭ Cogswell said dryly.