"Sean Williams - A Map of the Mines of Barnath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Sean)

A Map of the Mines of Barnath
Sean Williams


The Manager of the mines was a small, grey man named Carnarvon, wiry with muscle and as tough as
old boots. A slight accent betrayed his off-world origins; one of the older colonies, I thought, or perhaps
even Earth. He was sympathetic in a matter-of-fact way, as though my position was far from unique.

"What was your brotherтАЩs name?" he asked.

"Martin Cavell. Do you remember him?"

Carnarvon shook his head, tapping into a terminal. "No, but his records should . . . yes. ThisтАЩll tell us
something."

I tried to wait while he read the file, but impatience soon got the better of me. "What happened?"

"It seems he took a three-day pass to the upper levels, then chose to continue deeper when the pass
expired." Carnarvon skimmed through the file to the end. "Your brother died on the fifth level."

"How?"

"The exact details are unknown. There was no body, no witnesses, and no inquiry. Assumption of death
is automatic under these circumstances."

"A pretty large assumption, I wouldтАЩve thought."

"Nevertheless."

He seemed quite content to leave it there, but ten thousand kilometres of travel prompted me to dig
deeper.

"Would it be possible to see the place where he died?"

"Possible, yes, but . . ." He looked at me oddly. "You donтАЩt know the mines, do you?"

"No. This is my first time here."

"NobodyтАЩs said anything?"

"I only flew in this afternoon." It was my turn to look puzzled. "Is there something I should know?"

Carnarvon shook his head slowly. "You wouldnтАЩt believe me if I told you."

"So show me. Or have me shown. You donтАЩt have to take me personally тАФ"

"No. IтАЩll take you. ItтАЩs been a while since I went all the way." He looked around the office, eyes itemising
the contents one by one until they finally came back to me. "If you want a Grand Tour, IтАЩll give you a
Grand Tour."
"Thank you." His capitulation was both unexpected and total; he made me feel slightly guilty for