"Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars 1 - Red Mars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

walk away from the question's implications.

Angrily Frank circled her, stood in her path. тАЬThat time on the Are s,тАЭ he said. His
voice was tight, and he twisted his neck to loosen his throat, to make speech easier.
тАЬWhat happened, Maya? What happened?тАЭ

She shrugged and did not meet his gaze. For a long time she did not speak. Then
she looked at him. тАЬThe spur of the moment,тАЭ she said.

###

And then it was ringing midnight, and they were in the martian time slip, the thirty-nine
and a half minute gap between 12:00:00 and 12:00:01, when all the clocks went blank or
stopped moving. This was how the first hundred had decided to reconcile MarsтАЩs slightly
longer day with the twenty-four hour clock, and the solution had proved oddly satisfactory.
Every night to step for a while out of the flicking numbers, out of the remorseless sweep
of the second handтАж

And tonight as the bells rang midnight, the whole city went mad. Forty minutes
outside of time; it was bound to be the peak of the celebration, everyone knew that
instinctively. Fireworks were going off, people were cheering; sirens tore through the
sound, and the cheering redoubled. Frank and Maya watched the fireworks, listened to
the noise.

Then there was a noise that was somehow different: desperate cries, serious
screams. тАЬWhatтАЩs that?тАЭ Maya said.

тАЬA fight,тАЭ Frank replied, cocking an ear. тАЬSomething done on the spur of the moment,
perhaps.тАЭ She stared at him, and quickly he added, тАЬMaybe we should go have a look.тАЭ

The cries intensified. Trouble somewhere. They started down through the park, their
steps getting longer, until they were in the martian lope. The park seemed bigger to
Frank, and for a moment he was scared.

The central boulevard was covered with trash. People darted through the dark in
predatory schools. A nerve-grating siren went off, the alarm that signaled a break in the
tent. Windows were shattering up and down the boulevard. There on the streetgrass was
a man flat on his back, the surrounding grass smeared with black streaks. Chalmers
seized the arm of a woman crouched over him. тАЬWhat happened?тАЭ he shouted.

She was weeping. тАЬThey fought! They are fighting!тАЭ
 тАЬWho? Swiss, Arab?тАЭ

тАЬStrangers,тАЭ she said. тАЬAusl├дnder .тАЭ She looked blindly at Frank. тАЬGet help!тАЭ

Frank rejoined Maya, who was talking to a group next to another fallen figure. тАЬWhat
the hellтАЩs going on?тАЭ he said to her as they took off toward the cityтАЩs hospital.

тАЬItтАЩs a riot,тАЭ she said. тАЬI donтАЩt know why.тАЭ Her mouth was a straight slash, in skin as
white as the domino still covering her eyes.