"Michael Swanwick - Vacumn Flowers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swanwick Michael)

Then the fury overran her sense of self and swept her
under. Drowning, she was carried down into the dark
chaos of helplessness below. Into the murky despair that
had no name or purpose, where she lost her face, her
body, her being. She was a demon, blindly watching
people stream through the air and stars slide to the side,
and hating them all. Wanting to smash them all together
in her hands, cities and stars and people alike, and smear
them into a pulpy little ball, as she laughed, with black
tears running down from her eyesтАж
***
She came out of her fugue feeling weak and depressed.
тАЬPlease tell me the time,тАЭ she said, and the flat obeyed.
Four hours had passed.
A woman stepped into the niche, a skinny type in
greenface with a leather tool harness, some kind of
low-level biotech. Humming to herself, she began to trim
the walls. She worked methodically, obsessively, pausing
every now and then to train a rose back into place.
тАЬHey, sport,тАЭ Rebel said. тАЬDo me a favor.тАЭ Her loginess
evaporated as the adrenalin began to flow. She flashed a
smile.
тАЬHmm? Ah! ErтАж what is it?тАЭ With a visible effort, the
woman pulled herself away from her work.
тАЬIтАЩm getting out in a couple of hours, and nobodyтАЩs
arranged for any clothing for me. Could you drop by
wherever-it-is on the way out, and get them to send
something over?тАЭ
The woman blinked. тАЬOh. UhтАж sure, I suppose. IsnтАЩt
 your nurse supposed to take care of that?тАЭ
Rebel rolled her eyes. тАЬShe sees universal purpose in the
stars, and the meaning of existence in the growth of a rose.
The little stuff sheтАЩs not so good on. Know what I mean?тАЭ
Anyone working in a hospital with a nursing order would
find that easy to believe.
тАЬWell. Yeah, why not?тАЭ The woman returned to her
work, visibly relieved the conversation was over. Twigs
and leaves snowed down from her fingers. By the time she
left, Rebel was sure the woman had forgotten her promise.
But an hour later an orderly stepped in and wordlessly
deposited a cloak on the table by her bed. тАЬSonofabitch,тАЭ
Rebel said softly. She was actually going to break out of
this place!
***
Rebel napped. When she awoke, she spent an
excruciating hour staring at the people floating through
the eternal twilight before Sister Mary Radha returned.
The nunтАЩs belly overhung her cincture, and she was as
heavily mystic-wired as ever.
тАЬSister,тАЭ Rebel said, тАЬthe leads in my adhesion disks are