"Sean Williams - Metak Fatigue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Sean)

Barney hesitated again, and Roads patted her on the shoulder, nudging her
forward. "After you." "Will I regret it?" she asked. "Probably."
She grimaced. "If you insist, then." He smiled in return, and followed her
inside.
The bar was full of half-seen, vaguely demonic shapes that twisted and writhed
in the smoke of a hundred lit cigarettes, thrown into sharp relief by
irregular strobes. .Music blared from towering wall speakers as Roads and
Barney headed in the general direction indicated by the bouncer. An expansive,
horseshoe-shaped counter draped with bodies lay across their path. Short but
solid, Roads used his weight plus the occasional elbow to clear a way through
the crowd. Barney followed close at his heels.
The cubicle awaiting them was the only empty space in the entire venue, one of
ten similar cubicles raised half a metre above floor level. Containing nothing
more than a table and two leather-bound chairs, it was tucked into an
anonymous corner opposite the entrance. A yellow lamp provided its sole
illumination.
Roads shrugged out of his damp overcoat and slid awkwardly into the cramped
enclosure, noting with relief that it was acoustically shielded. Behind them,
the bellow of the crowd diminished to an irritating rather than painful
mumble. Barney settled into the seat across the table from him, looking
bedraggled and slightly stunned. "Drinks?" asked a woman via the booth's
intercom. "Water, thanks." He glanced at Barney. Drinking on duty was
forbidden, but she looked like she needed it. "And a Scotch." "Any preference?
We have "Something from the cellar. Glenfiddich, if possible. No ice. 11
"Certainly. Your drinks will be with you shortly."
He leaned an elbow onto the table and smiled at his assistant's expression,
waiting for her to speak. She
seemed to be having trouble choosing one question out of the thousands she
obviously wanted to ask. "Where's your friend going to sit?" she eventually
managed. "He'll cope." "I guess he'll have to." She looked around. "Are you
going to tell me where we are, or -?"
He hushed her with a finger to his lips. "Wait until he arrives. Then he can
explain."
They scanned the room to pass the time. Kennedy no longer boasted a decadent
social set, but this crowd wouldn't have been part of it even if it had. Roads
recognised a number of people, several matching records in the city's Most
Wanted datapool. It was almost as if all the riff-raff of Kennedy.Polis had
gathered for a quick drink before venturing out into the night to pursue their
regular activities. A disconcerting number were young -
from teenagers to mid-twenties - reflecting the city's growing youth crime
problem. "If only I had my gun," whispered Barney. "Isn't that Danny Chong,
the bounty-bunter?"
Roads nodded. "It is, but forget it. This is neutral territory. No-one has
jurisdiction in here." "Except 'the Head'?" "Right. And I shouldn't have to
add that we're outnumbered as well.' "Point taken. As long as the restriction
works both ways, I'll keep quiet." "It does." He was glad she understood.
Barney wasn't stupid, but she was still young. At his age, he tended to forget
about justice and aim for workable compromises instead.
He was about to point out another celebrity of the underworld when a third
voice from within the cubicle cleared its throat and spoke: