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

Then out on the streets.
As they ran, Frank said, тАЬHave you had that thing for long?тАЭ
тАЬToo long, my friend.тАЭ Edgardo veered side to side as he ran, warming up his ankles
in his usual extravagant manner. тАЬBut I havenтАЩt had to get it out for a while.тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt you worry that having it there looks odd?тАЭ
тАЬNo one notices things in the locker room.тАЭ
тАЬAre our offices bugged?тАЭ
тАЬYes. Yours, anyway. The thing you need to learn is that coverage is very spotty,
just by the nature of the activity. The various agencies that do this have different
interests and abilities, and very few even attempt total surveillance. And then only for
crucial cases. Most of the rest is what you might call statistical in nature, and covers
different parts of the datasphere. You can slip in and out of such surveillance.тАЭ
тАЬButтАФthese so-called total information awareness systems, what about them?тАЭ
тАЬIt depends. Mostly by total information they mean electronic data. And then also
you might be chipped in various ways, which would give your GPS location, and
perhaps record what you say. Followed, filmedтАФsure, all thatтАЩs possible, but itтАЩs
expensive. But now weтАЩre clear. So tell me whatтАЩs up?тАЭ
тАЬWellтАФlike I said. About the election results, and that program I gave you. From my
friend. What happened?тАЭ
Edgardo grinned under his mustache. тАЬWe foxed that program. We forestalled it.
You could say that we un-stole the vote in Oregon, right in the middle of the theft.тАЭ
тАЬWe did?тАЭ
тАЬApparently so. The program was a stochastic tilt engine that had been installed in
some of Oregon and WashingtonтАЩs voting machines. My friends figured that out and
managed to write a disabler, and to get it introduced at the very last minute, so there
wasnтАЩt any time for the people who had installed the tilter to react to the change.
From the sound of it, a very neat operation.тАЭ
Frank ran along feeling a glow spread through him as he tried to comprehend it. Not
only the election, de-rigged and made honestтАФnot only Phil Chase elected by a
cleaned-up popular and electoral voteтАФbut his Caroline had proved true. She had
risked herself and come through for the country; for the world, really. And soтАФ
Maybe she would come through for him too.
This train of thought led him through the glow to a new little flood of fear for her.
Edgardo saw at least some of this on his face, apparently, for he said, тАЬSo your
friend is the real thing, eh?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
тАЬIt could get tricky for her now,тАЭ Edgardo suggested. тАЬIf the tweakers try to find the
leakers. As we used to say at DARPA.тАЭ
тАЬYeah,тАЭ Frank said, his pulse rate rising at the thought.
тАЬYouтАЩve sent a warning?тАЭ
тАЬI would if I could.тАЭ
тАЬAh!тАЭ Edgardo was nodding. тАЬGone away, has she?тАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ Frank said; and then it was all pouring out of him, the whole story of how
they had met and what had followed. This was something he had never managed to
do with anyone, not even Rudra or Anna, and now it felt as if some kind of
hydrostatic pressure had built up inside him, his silence like a dam that had now
failed and let forth a flood.
It took a few miles to tell. The meeting in the stuck elevator, the unsuccessful hunt
for her, the sighting of her on the Potomac during the flood, the brief phone call with
herтАФher subsequent callтАФtheir meetings, theirтАФaffair.