"Mary Rosenblum - Breeze from the Stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rosenblum Mary)

dispatcher. This was still a dispatch job.
тАЬYou didnтАЩt intend to become Dispatch,тАЭ Delfinio agreed as the pod
accelerated and the webbing tightened around JeriтАЩs body. Like the jock, he
capitalized the word. тАЬNo fun chases. No hunt and capture. No shoot тАШem up.тАЭ
Delfinio cackled.
Great, a mind reader. Jeri wondered if Delfinio was a high-number empath.
ThatтАЩs all he needed ... get shut up in a can with someone who could read his every
emotional shift. But if Delfinio overheard that, he didnтАЩt say anything about it.
It didnтАЩt take long to reach Dispatch. An even larger version of the egg-shaped
jock pods, its matte black hull emerged suddenly from the star-sprinkled space
between cans. The pod docked like silk, not a jar as it merged with the smart-alloy
hull of Dispatch. A whisper of breeze told Jeri that the atmospheres were one. He
didnтАЩt need that whisper. He smelled ... well ... living space. Delfinio freed himself
from his web with a single, fluid motion, kicked off, and arrowed through the port
that had opened in the joined hulls. Jeri untangled himself and pushed after, feeling
clumsy and slow compared to DelfinioтАЩs fluid moves.
 Dispatch didnтАЩt offer much. He hung up on the port and surveyed. Curved
hull walls of off-white immediately bored him. Controls and decorations would be in
virtual and he didnтАЩt have the password yet. A grav-gym occupied space and he
counted two privacy closets that he could just about bet on would contain a simple
micro-g hammock, the kind youтАЩd sleep in if you rode a miner out in the тАШroid belt.
тАЬThereтАЩs nothing here.тАЭ He didnтАЩt try to hide his surprise. тАЬThis is central dispatch,
right? I mean, if youтАЩre processing all the input, sending it out to the platform
dispatchers, where are the others?тАЭ
Delfinio hovered in front of a section of curved hull without answering. Jeri
recognized a kitchen wall ... drink dispensers, meal oven ... the whole works.
тАЬYou want to eat?тАЭ Delfinio didnтАЩt look at him. тАЬOr you want more to drink?
You can get plastered tonight.тАЭ He turned and bared his teeth at Jeri. тАЬNot after
tonight. But I think you will not wish to, eventually.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm not hungry.тАЭ Jeri pushed off too hard, arrowed across the space,
rebounded from the hull beside the kitchen wall, managed to spill his momentum
with a somersault. None of this made sense. тАЬI want to know what this is and why
the hell IтАЩm here.тАЭ
тАЬDo you believe in Hell?тАЭ Delfinio sounded genuinely curious. He pushed
away from the kitchen wall, a tube of gelatinous, pale goo in his hands. He sucked
from it. тАЬGym you saw when you came in, you sleep in this space.тАЭ He touched
open one of the closets, nodded at the micro-g hammock Jeri had expected. тАЬThe
rest of your question you will answer yourself. So what Hell do you believe in?тАЭ He
looked expectant. Like a pet waiting for a treat.
This was Dispatch? Jeri stared at the crazy old man for a moment. CouldnтАЩt
be. тАЬWhat about my birthday? Does that matter?тАЭ
тАЬOh, heтАЩs a smart one.тАЭ Without seeming to move a muscle, Delfinio
somersaulted slowly and precisely in place. тАЬI saw Zai talking to you. She told you.тАЭ
тАЬNo, she didnтАЩt.тАЭ Jeri looked around the floating closet, his mind full of stars
and vacuum and the blue-white loom of Earth. Lost to him. тАЬShe just said it
mattered. What the hell has my birthday got to do with my ending up here?тАЭ
тАЬIt is never wise to invoke something that you do not wish to experience.тАЭ
Delfinio blinked slowly. тАЬAs to your birthday, you were born up here on NYUp
platform. In the sign of Ophiuchus.тАЭ
тАЬWhat has that got to do with anything? And I never heard of that zodiac sign