"Kim Stanley Robinson - Sixty Days and Counting" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

adequate, and we can get to work making them even better. Joe will be my target
audience. YouтАЩd like to play all day with a bunch of kids, wouldnтАЩt you Joe?тАЭ
тАЬYeah Phil,тАЭ Joe said, happy to be included in the conversation.
тАЬWeтАЩll set up whatever system works best for you, what do you think of that?тАЭ
тАЬI like that,тАЭ Joe said.
Charlie started to mutter something about the Chinese women who buried their
infants up to the neck in riverbank mud every day to leave them to go to work in the
rice paddies, but Phil overrode him.
тАЬGymboree in the basement, if thatтАЩs what it takes! Laser tag, paintball warsтАФyou
name it! YouтАЩd like paintball wars, wouldnтАЩt you Joe?тАЭ
тАЬBig truck,тАЭ Joe observed, pointing at the traffic on Independence Avenue.
тАЬSure, we could have big trucks too. We could have a monster truck pull right on
the White House lawn.тАЭ
тАЬMonster truck.тАЭ Joe smiled at the phrase.
Charlie sighed. It really seemed to him that Joe should be shouting big trucks right
now, or trying to escape and crawling around among the turning pedals underfoot,
or leaping overboard to go for a swim. Instead he was listening peacefully to PhilтАЩs
banter, with an expression that said he understood just as much as he wanted to, and
approved of it in full.
Ah well. Everyone changed. And in fact, that had been the whole point of the
ceremony Charlie had asked the Khembalis to conduct! Charlie had requested
itтАФhad insisted on it, in fact! But without, he now realized, fully imagining the
consequences.
Phil said, тАЬSo youтАЩll do it?тАЭ
тАЬI donтАЩt know.тАЭ
тАЬYou more or less have to, right? I mean, youтАЩre the one who first suggested that I
run, when we were over at Lincoln.тАЭ
тАЬEveryone was telling you that.тАЭ
тАЬNo they werenтАЩt. Besides, you were first.тАЭ
тАЬNo, you were. I just thought it would work.тАЭ
тАЬAnd you were right, right?тАЭ
тАЬApparently so.тАЭ
тАЬSo you owe me. You got me into this mess.тАЭ
Phil smiled, waved at some tourists as he made a broad champing turn back toward
the other side of the Basin. Charlie sighed. If he agreed, he would not see Joe
anywhere near as much as he was used toтАФan idea he hated. On the other hand, if
he didnтАЩt see him as much, he wouldnтАЩt notice so often how much Joe had changed.
And he hated that change.
So much to dislike! Unhappily he said, тАЬIтАЩll have to talk to Anna about it first. But I
think sheтАЩll go for it. SheтАЩs pretty pro-work. So. Shit. IтАЩll give it a try. IтАЩll give it a
few months, and see how it goes. By that time your task force should be on their
way, and I can see where things stand and go emeritus if I need to.тАЭ
тАЬGood.тАЭ And Phil pedaled furiously, almost throwing CharlieтАЩs knees up into his
chin with the force of his enthusiasm. He said, тАЬLook, Joe, all the people are waving
at you!тАЭ
Joe waved back. тАЬHi people!тАЭ he shouted. тАЬBig truck, right there! Look! I like that
big truck. ThatтАЩs a good truck.тАЭ