"Charles Stross - Singularity Sky" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stross Charles)

Fourteen

Fifteen

Epilogue




Prologue


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 Singularity Sky

The day war was declared, a rain of telephones fell clattering to the cobblestones from the skies above
Novy Petrograd. Some of them had half melted in the heat of re-entry; others pinged and ticked, cooling
rapidly in the postdawn chill. An inquisitive pigeon hopped close, head cocked to one side; it pecked at
the shiny case of one such device, then fluttered away in alarm when it beeped. A tinny voice spoke:
тАЬHello? Will you entertain us?тАЭ

The Festival had come to RochardтАЩs World.

A skinny street urchin was one of the first victims of the assault on the economic integrity of the New
RepublicтАЩs youngest colony world. RudiтАФnobody knew his patronymic, or indeed his fatherтАФspotted
one of the phones lying in the gutter of a filthy alleyway as he went about his daily work, a malodorous
sack wrapped around his skinny shoulders like a soldierтАЩs bedroll. The telephone lay on the chipped
stones, gleaming like polished gunmetal: he glanced around furtively before picking it up, in case the
gentleman who must have dropped it was still nearby. When it chirped he nearly dropped it out of fear: a
machine! Machines were upper-class and forbidden, guarded by the grim faces and gray uniforms of
authority. Nevertheless, if he brought it home to Uncle Schmuel, there might be good eating: better than
he could buy with the proceeds of the dayтАЩs sackful of dog turds for the tannery. He turned it over in his
hands, wondering how to shut it up, and a tinny voice spoke: тАЬHello? Will you entertain us?тАЭ

Rudi nearly dropped the phone and ran, but curiosity held him back for a moment: тАЬWhy?тАЭ

тАЬEntertain us and we will give you anything you want.тАЭ

RudiтАЩs eyes widened. The metal wafer gleamed with promise between his cupped hands. He
remembered the fairy stories his eldest sister used to tell before the coughing sickness took her, tales of
magic lamps and magicians and djinn that he was sure Father Borozovski would condemn as infidel
nonsense; and his need for escape from the dull brutality of everyday life did battle with his natural
pessimismтАФthe pessimism of barely more than a decade of backbreaking labor. Realism won. What he
said was not, I want a magic flying carpet and a purse full of gold roubles or I want to be Prince Mikhail
in his royal palace, but, тАЬCan you feed my family?тАЭ

тАЬYes. Entertain us, and we will feed your family.тАЭ

Rudi racked his brains, having no idea how to go about this exotic task; then he blinked. It was obvious!
He held the phone to his mouth, and whispered, тАЬDo you want me to tell you a story?тАЭ