"Ian Watson - Cages" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watson Ian)

sales, Benny Wallace and Trev Tate bought the place before the aliens
arrived.

ItтАЩs going to be club night there tonightтАФanything to keep our spirits
up.

A mild sunny evening, this fifth anniversary (in days) of my first
meeting Svelte. I drive with the window down. My long denim skirt, its big
pock-ets embroidered with swirls of daisies, laps pixie boots. White blouse,
sleeveless denim bolero jack-et. A bit Country Dance, but it takes all sorts.
Alongside me, Svelte is in scarlet and black. In the back, Tony Cullen from
Surveillance sports a box on his left handтАФthatтАЩs his digicam disguised as
an imped. His real imped is some sort of complicated groin truss.
Consequently he doesnтАЩt much like sitting, even on a commode chair at
home, he told me. Usually, quote unquote, he sprawls on a sofa like a
feasting Roman. Looks rather like a Roman, Tony does, with those crimped
blond curls and eagle nose. He mustnтАЩt see much gay action these days,
what with his truss. He wears loose baggy fawn pants and an oversize
cream sweater.

ThereтАЩs so much less traffic on the roads these days that the air
almost smells sweet. Easy-peasy to park my disabled-adapted Volvo
turbo-diesel on a street of shops; try finding a parking space in this part of
London before the impeds. Walking half a mile with a knee-cage wonтАЩt be
much fun but weтАЩre being discreet.

Out clamber Tony and I awkwardly. Svelte slides out and is instantly,
gracefully upright. I admire her.

The theory that we might all be atoning for something in our past by
the type of impeds we wear is probably ridiculous. Must my leg be
immobilized because I was captain of the hockey team at Oxford?
Because Svelte was a singer, does she need an imped up near her vocal
chords?

Our pace along the street is determined by my need to swing my
stiffened left leg in an arc. A hoop drifts overhead, ignored by most people.
ItтАЩs easy to tell whoтАЩs heading for the party. Girl in a one-piece Spiderman
bathing costume and short frilly skirt, her friend in black bra and panties,
boots and cowboy hat. Girl wearing hot-shorts and an off-the-shoulder top,
her knee-imped just like mine except itтАЩs bright red. She must have painted
or enameled the cage herself, which shows spirit. Various others.

Svelte told me that Benny and Trev aimed to cen-tralize studios for a
half-dozen tekky groups, the idea being a synergistic commune all rubbing
off each other while doing their own unique things. Wisdom was that you
oughtnтАЩt to live where your studio is because that way youтАЩd become
entrapped and not have a life, but as it turned out in the wake of hoops and
impeds, The Studio pro-vided a sort of sanctuary, an oasis. Some of the
music made there is really demented, Svelte said with approvalтАФsuch as