"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Disappeared" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

celebrate for a long time. No real highs, no real lows.
Jamal liked it that way тАФ the consistency of everyday routine. Sometimes he
broke the routine by setting the table with wineglasses, and sometimes he let
the routine govern them. He didn't want any more change.
There had been enough change in his life.
Dylani came out of their bedroom, her bare feet leaving tiny prints on the
baked
mud floor. The house was Moon adobe, made from Moon dust plastered over a
permaplastic frame. Cheap, but all they could afford.
Dylani's hair was pulled away from her narrow face, her pale gray eyes
red-rimmed, as they always were when she got off work. Her fingertips were
stained black from her work on the dome. No matter how much she scrubbed,
they
no longer came clean.
"He's sleeping," she said, and she sounded disappointed. Their son, Ennis,
was
usually asleep when she got home from work. Jamal planned it that way тАФ he
liked
a bit of time alone with his wife. Besides, she needed time to decompress
before
she settled into her evening ritual.
She was one of the dome engineers. Although the position sounded important,
it
wasn't. She was still entry level, coping with clogs in the filtration
systems
and damage outsiders did near the high-speed train station.
If she wanted to advance, she would have to wait years. Engineers didn't
retire
in Gagarin Dome, nor did they move to other Moon colonies. In other colonies,
the domes were treated like streets or government buildings тАФ something to be
maintained, not something to be enhanced. But Gagarin's governing board
believed
the dome was a priority, so engineers were always working on the cutting edge
of
dome technology, rather than rebuilding an outdated system.
"How was he?" Dylani walked to the stove and sniffed the sauce. Spaghetti was
one of her favorite meals. One day, Jamal would cook it for her properly,
with
fresh ingredients. One day, when they could afford it.
"The usual," Jamal said, placing the bread he'd bought in the center of the
table. The glasses would hold bottled water, but it was dear enough to be wine
тАФ
they would enjoy the water no less.
Dylani gave him a fond smile. "The usual isn't a good enough answer. I want
to
hear everything he did today. Every smile, every frown. If I can't stay home
with him, I at least want to hear about him."
Ever since they found out Dylani was pregnant, Ennis had become the center of
their world тАФ and the heart of Jamal's nightmares. He was smothering the boy
and