"Peter Watts - Bulk Food" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watts Peter)

entrance into the gift shop. HeтАЩs almost there, and itтАЩs even
opening for him, itтАЩs opening from the other side and he dives
straight through, right into the waiting bosom of the woman
coming from the other direction.
He thinks she looks familiar in the split second before they both
go over. Doug catches a glimpse of someone else as a dozen
vectors of force and inertia converge incompatibly on his ankle.
There's a moment of brief, bright painтАФ
тАЬOwwwww!!!!!тАЭ
--before he hits the floor. The good news is, he lands on a
carpet with a very deep pile. The bad news is, rug burn tears most
of the remaining skin off his palms.
He lies there, taking collect calls from every sensory nerve in
his body. Two people are looking down at him. He forgets all
about the pain when he recognizes who they are.
Saint Anna. And the Devil Himself.

***

Dipnet has arrived.
The perimeter is all around them: a float-line demarcated by
warning buoys, a limited-entry circle a kilometer across. Scientists
are only sometimes permitted here. Tourists are forbidden. But
the gate swings open for Dipnet.
Now she chugs towards the center of the Communion Zone.
The fog has partially liftedтАФthe perimeter gate fades astern, while
a tiny white dot resolves in the distance ahead. DipnetтАЩs escort
remains close on either side. TheyтАЩve said nothing since that one
brief message in the Strait, although the telepaths say the orcas are
brimming with goodwill and harmony.
The floating dock is close enough to see clearly now, anchored
in the center of the Zone, a white disk about twenty meters across.
It seems featureless, beyond a few cleats for tying up. This is the
way the orcas like things. This is their place, and they donтАЩt want
16 Peter Watts

it cluttered with nonessentials. A place to land, a space to stand,
and Race Rocks looming out of the fog in the middle distance.
Beyond that, only orcas and ocean.
тАЬIs there a bathroom?тАЭ someone asks. The captain of the
Dipnet shakes his head, more in resignation than answer. He pulls
back on the throttle while the mate, waiting on the foredeck with a
coil of nylon rope, jumps onto the platform and reels Dipnet in to
dock.
тАЬThis is it, folks,тАЭ the captain announces. тАЬEverybody off.тАЭ
The engine is still idling. тАЬArenтАЩt you going to tie up?тАЭ
Periwinkle asks.
The captain shakes his head. тАЬYouтАЩre the ambassadors. WeтАЩre
just the taxi. They donтАЩt want us in the zone while you commune.тАЭ
Periwinkle smiles patiently. She hears the resentment in the