"Vernor Vinge - The Cookie Monster" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

me to tell Graham, okay?"

Twenty minutes later, the three of them were outdoors again, walking up the long grade toward
Building 0925.

Graham the Red might be a smart guy, but he turned out to be a fool, too. He was sure that the
calendar mystery was just a scam cooked up by Dixie Mae and Victor. Ellen wasnтАЩt that good at
talking to himтАУand the two customer support winkies were beneath his contempt. Fortunately, most
of the other graders had been willing to listen. One of them also poked an unpleasant hole in all
their assumptions: "So if itтАЩs that serious, wouldnтАЩt Gerry have these two under surveillance? You
know, the Conspiracy Gestapo could arrive any second." ThereтАЩd been a moment of apprehensive
silence as everyone waited the arrival of bad guys with clubs.

In the end, everyone including Graham had agreed to keep their mouths shut till after work.
Several of them had friends they made cryptic phone calls to, just in case. Dixie Mae could tell
that most of them tilted toward EllenтАЩs point of view, but however smart they were, they really
didnтАЩt want to cross Graham.

Ellen, on the other hand, was persona non grata for trying to mess up GrahamтАЩs schedule. She
finally lost her temper with the redheaded jerk.

So now Ellen, Victor, and Dixie Mae were on the yellow brick roadтАУin this case, the asphalt econo-
cart walkwayтАУleading to Building 0925.

The LotsaTech campus was new and underpopulated, but there were other people around. Just outside


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of 0999, they ran into a trio of big guys wearing gray blazers like the cops at the main entrance.
Victor grabbed Dixie MaeтАЩs arm. "Just act natural," he whispered.

They ambled past, Victor giving a gracious nod. The three hardly seemed to notice.

Victor released Dixie MaeтАЩs arm. "See? You just have to be cool."

Ellen had been walking ahead. She dropped back so they were three abreast. "Either weтАЩre being
toyed with," she said, "or they havenтАЩt caught on to us."

Dixie Mae touched the email in her pocket. "Well, somebody is toying with us."

"You know, thatтАЩs the biggest clue we have. I still think it could be somebody trying toтАУ"

Ellen fell silent as a couple of management types came walking the other way. These paid them even
less attention than the company cops had.

"тАУit could be somebody trying to help us."

"I guess," said Dixie Mae. "More likely itтАЩs some sadist using stuff they learned while I was