"Allen Steele - The Tranquillity Alternative" - читать интересную книгу автора (Steele Allen)

visit to the far north provinces will prove ... inspirational.
He smiles and is about to reply in kind when there's a
knock upon the door. Finally! He immediately scoots back his
chair, then remembers his manners. BRB ... pizza man's here.
"I'll get it," Mister Mom says, already on his feet and walk-
ing toward the door, pulling on his jacket to hide the shoulder
holster. "Who's there?" he calls out, his hand on the door-
knob.
A muffled reply comes from the other side of the door. The

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security man slides the window curtain aside an inch to peer
outside; satisfied, he unlatches the lock and opens the door.
The college-age kid standing on the walkway outside the
room cradles a red thermal pizza bag in his arms; in the park-
ing lot behind him is an old Honda Civic, its hazard lights
flashing against the darkness.
The kid glances at the order slip taped to the top of the bag.
"Mr. Smith? Large cheese pizza, pepperoni and olives?"
"That's it, yeah." Mister Mom digs his left hand into his
jacket pocket, pulls out a small roll of bills.
"That'll be ten-seventy-five, sir." The delivery boy reaches
into the bag and carefully withdraws a brown cardboard box;
as Mike peels off a ten and three ones and holds it out to him' ,




the kid simultaneously thrusts the box into his hands.
A line of type appears on the screen: Pizza? Mmmm ... cut
me a slice, will you?
Caught off-guard, Mister Mom tries to balance the box and
at the same time keep the money from falling to the floor.
"Oh, and I've got a coupon here, too," the kid says as his right
hand disappears into the bag. The security man is still at-
tempting to juggle pizza and cash when the kid pulls his hand
out of the bag once more.
It is a weird sound-thufft! thufft! like tiny fists punching
through a thick pillow-that makes him look up from the
computer screen, just in time to see his bodyguard stagger




8

ALLEN STEELE