"Kate Wilhelm - The Fountain of Neptune" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

on distinct edges, defined shapes where there had been suggestions of
shapes.

She blinked. Before her was an expanse as black and smooth as
polished ebony. Then there was a ripple, another, and with astonishing
swiftness a golden aura spread over the surface, to be shattered by a
roiling eruption, a crashing turbulence that cast golden waters into the air
like glittering beads of gold, showers of gold, geysers of gold, fountains of
gold. Arising in the waves were horses, snorting, neighing, tossing their
heads, scattering more gold. Their riders were maidens bent low over
streaming manes, and in their midst stood a powerful man who
commanded the waves to cease, and there was calm.

She didnтАЩt know when she had risen, if she had cried out, but the
stranger was at her side, his hand steadying her, and the Fountain of
Neptune was a fountain.

тАЬAre you all right?тАЭ he asked.
 She moistened her lips, nodded. тАЬA dizzy spell,тАЭ she said weakly. тАЬItтАЩs
over.тАЭ

тАЬPerhaps a coffee?тАЭ he said. тАЬYouтАЩre very pale. YouтАЩre trembling.тАЭ

She groped for the bench and sat down. тАЬI just need a moment,тАЭ she
said. Her heart was thumping wildly, her breathing ragged.

He sat on the same bench, and they both gazed at the fountain.

тАЬThey call this the Eternal City,тАЭ he said in a reflective manner.
тАЬPeople link the phrase to the Catholic Church, of course, but it was an
eternal city long before the church was founded. Eternity stretches both
ways, to forever. Some say the old gods are still alive in the real eternal city.
Perhaps they do yet live. Perhaps, like the city, they are eternal.тАЭ

He was talking to calm her, she thought. Maybe he had been afraid
she would faint, fall down, and now he was waiting to make certain she was
all right. She glanced at him. тАЬYouтАЩre not Italian, are you?тАЭ she said, not for
information, but in order to let him know he could leave now, she had
recovered. Just a momentary dizzy spell.

тАЬNo. IтАЩm a Roman. Antonio Mercurio. Are you certain you donтАЩt want a
coffee?тАЭ

тАЬThank you, but no. IтАЩll be on my way in a minute or two.тАЭ

тАЬYou saw them, didnтАЩt you?тАЭ he said in that same reflective tone he
had been using.

She stood up quickly, adjusted her shoulder bag, and started to walk
away fast, without speaking.