"Stross, Charles - The Hidden Family (v1.1)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stross Charles)

"Mind if I? . ж." Paulette picked the two lockets up and sprang the catch. She frowned as she stared at the contents, then snapped them closed. "The designs are different."

"I guessed they would be." Miriam closed her eyes.

Brill stared at the two small silver disks as if they were diamonds or jewels of incalculable value. Finally she asked, timidly, "How can they be different? All the Clan ones are the same, aren't they?"

"Who says it's a Clan one?" Miriam scooped them back into her pocket. "Look, firstly I am going to get a good night's sleep. I suggest you guys do the same thing. In the morning, I'm going to hire a car. I'd like to be able to go home, just long enough to retrieve a disk, butЧ"

"No, don't do that," said Paulette.

Miriam looked at her. "I'm not stupid. I know they're probably watching the house in case I show up. It's just frustrating." She shrugged.

"It's not that bad," Paulette volunteered pragmatically. "Either they got the disk the first time they black-bagged youЧor they didn't, in which case you know precisely where it is. Why not leave it there?"

"I guess so," Miriam said tiredly. "Yeah, you're right. It's safe where it is." She glanced at Brill, who mimed incomprehension Until she was forced to smile. "Still. Tomorrow I'm going to spend some time in a museum. ThenЧ" She glanced at Paulette.

"Oh no, you're not going to do that again," Paulie began.

"Oh yes, I am." Miriam grinned humorlessly. "It's the only way to crack the story wide open." Her eyes went wide. "Shit! I'd completely forgotten! I've got a feature to file with Steve, for The Heraldl The deadline's got to be real soon! If I miss it there's no way I'll get thecolumnЧ"

"Miriam."

"Yes, Paulie?"

"Why are you still bothering about that?"

"IЧ" Miriam froze for a moment. "I guess I'm still think-

ing of going back to my old life," she said slowly. "It's something to hang onto."

"Right." Paulette nodded. "Now tell me. How much money is there on that platinum card?"

Pause. "About one point nine million dollars left."

"Miriam?"

"Yes, Paulie?"

"As your legal advisor I am telling you to shut the fuck up and get a good night's sleep. You can sort out whether you're going to write the article tomorrowЧbut I'd advise you to drop it. Say you've got stomach flu or something. Then you can take an extra day over your preparations for the journey. Got it?"

"Yes, Paulie."

"And another thing?"

"What's that?"

"Drink your wine and shut your mouth, dear, you look like a fish."

The next day, Miriam pulled out her notebook computerЧ which was now acquiring a few scratchesЧand settled down to pound the keyboard while Paulette took Brill shopping. It wasn't hard work, and she already knew what she was going to write, and besides, it saved her having to think too hard about her future. The main headache was not having access to her Mac, or a broadband connection. Paulie, despite her brief foray into dot-com management, had never seen the point of spending money to receive spam at home. Finally she pulled out her mobile and dialed The Herald's front desk. "Steve Blau, please," she said, and waited.