"Bruce Sterling & Lewis Shiner - Mozart in Mirrorshades" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sterling Bruce)

The boy turned the volume down as Rice walked toward him. тАЬGood evening, Mr. Plant Manager, sir. I am not
interrupting?тАЭ

тАЬNo, thatтАЩs okay.тАЭ Rice glanced at the bristling hedgehog cut that had replaced the boyтАЩs outmoded wig. HeтАЩd seen
kid around the gates; he was one of the regulars. But the music had made something else fall into place. тАЬYouтАЩre Mozar
arenтАЩt you?тАЭ

тАЬWolfgang Amadeus Mozart, your servant.тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩll be goddamned. Do you know what that tape is?тАЭ

тАЬIt has my name on it.тАЭ

тАЬYeah. You wrote it. Or would have, I guess I should say. About fifteen years from now.тАЭ

Mozart nodded. тАЬIt is so beautiful. I have not the English to say how it is to hear it.тАЭ

By this time most of the other gate people would have been well into some kind of pitch. Rice was impressed by the
boyтАЩs tact, not to mention his command of English. The standard native vocabulary didnтАЩt go much beyondradio ,drugs
fuck . тАЬAre you headed back toward town?тАЭ Rice asked.

тАЬYes, Mr. Plant Manager, sir.тАЭ

Something about the kid appealed to Rice. The enthusiasm, the gleam in the eyes. And, of course, he did happen to
one of the greatest composers of all time.

тАЬForget the titles,тАЭ Rice said. тАЬWhere does a guy go for some fun around here?тАЭ

***

AT FIRSTSutherland hadnтАЩt wanted Rice at the meeting with Jefferson. But Rice knew a little temporal physics, and
Jefferson had been pestering the American personnel with questions about time holes and parallel worlds.

Rice, for his part, was thrilled at the chance to meet Thomas Jefferson, the first President of the United States. HeтАЩd
never liked George Washington, was glad the manтАЩs Masonic connections had made him refuse to join the companyтАЩs
тАЬgodlessтАЭ American government.

Rice squirmed in his Dacron double knits as he and Sutherland waited in the newly air-conditioned boardroom of th
Hohensalzburg Castle. тАЬI forgot how greasy these suits feel,тАЭ he said.

тАЬAt least,тАЭ Sutherland said, тАЬyou didnтАЩt wear that goddamned hat today.тАЭ The VTOL jet from America was late, an
kept looking at her watch.

тАЬMy tricorne?тАЭ Rice said. тАЬYou donтАЩt like it?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs a Masonista hat, for ChristтАЩs sake. ItтАЩs a symbol of anti-modern reaction.тАЭ The Freemason Liberation Front w
another of SutherlandтАЩs nightmares, a local politico-religious group that had made a few pathetic attacks on the pipeline.

тАЬOh, loosen up, will you, Sutherland? Some groupie of MozartтАЩs gave me the hat. Theresa Maria Angela
something-or-other, some broken-down aristocrat. They all hang out together in this music dive downtown. I just liked