"Jack Vance - Assault on a City" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vance Jack)

surveyed the room, then crossed to a table under one of the tall windows
which overlooked the many-textured expanse of Hant. Bo came at a rather
foolish trot behind her, to pluck at her arm and urge her toward his usual
booth. Alice paid him no heed, and seated herself placidly at the table she
had chosen. Bo, drooping an eyelid and mouth, settled into the seat across
from her. For a long moment he stared at her. Her features were fine and
clean, but hardly extraordinary; how did she produce so much
disturbance? Because she was insufferably confident, he told himself;
because she enforced her own evaluation of herself upon those who
admired her ... He'd do more than admire her; she'd remember him to the
last day of her life. Because he was Bo Histledine! Bo the Histle! Big Boo
the Whangeroo! who accepted nothing but the best. So now: to work, to
attract her interest, to dominate her with his own pride. He said, "You
haven't told me your name."
Alice turned from the window and looked at Bo as if she had forgotten
his presence. "My name? Miss Tynnott. My father is Commander
Tynnott."
"What is your first name?" Bo asked patiently.
Alice ignored the question. Signaling the waiter, she ordered a
sandwich and a mug of Tanglefoot. She looked around at the other
patrons. "Who are these people? Workmen like yourself?"
"Some are workmen," said Bo in a measured voice. "Those two"тАФ he
nodded his headтАФ"are off a sea-ship from the river docks. That tall thin
man is from the backlands. But I'm more interested in you. What's your
life like out on Rampold?"
"It's always different. My father's work takes him everywhere. We go out
into the wilderness to plan canals and aquifers; sometimes we camp out
for weeks. It's a very exciting life. We're about finished on Rampold; it's
becoming quite settled, and we may move on to a new wild planet; in fact
that's why we're here on Earth."
"Hmmf," said Bo. "Seems as if you'd want to stay in Hant and enjoy
yourself awhile; take in the percepts, meet people, buy new clothes, get
your hair fixed in the latest style, things like that."
Alice grinned. "I don't need clothes. I like my hair as it is. As for
percepts, I don't have either time or inclination for vicarious living. Most
urbanites, of course, don't have much choice; it's either vicarious
experience or none."
Bo looked at her blankly. "I don't altogether understand you. Are you
sure you know what you're talking about?"
"Of course. Passive, fearful, comfort-loving people tend to live in cities.
They have no taste for real existence; they make do with secondhand
second-best experience. When they realize this, as most do consciously or
subconsciously, sometimes they become hectic and frantic."
"Bah," growled Bo. "I live in Hant; I'd live nowhere else. Second-best
isn't good enough for me. I go after the best; I always get the best."
"The best what?"
Bo looked sharply at the girl. Was she mocking him? But no, above the
sandwich her eyes were guileless.
"The best of whatever I want," said Bo.
"What you think you want is a shadow of what you really do want.