"Sean Williams - The Perfect Gun" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Sean)

stress-tester, they came out clean. Maybe too clean. An AI or something is my guess."
The Dep nodded, folded his hands across his expansive stomach. "AIs are expensive," he said.
"Time-share," I responded. I'd considered that too. "Twenty minutes a day isn't going to bankrupt
anyone."
"Perhaps. Heard from them since?"
"I haven't been home to take any calls, but my answering service is clear. Maybe they know already.
Word spreads fast about this sort of thing."
"Ain't that the truth." The Dep grunted, swung forward in the seat until his elbows rested on the desk. "It's
already hit the bulletin-boards. We need to have some sort of statement ready for the morning papers or
else it's gonna look like we're holding something back." He spread his hands. "But what can we say?"
I shrugged. "The autopsy might help."
"Yeah. We'll see what his genome tells us, when the forensic report arrives." The Dep leaned even further
forward, eyeballing me over his jowls. "Until then, you'll notify me if anything comes up?"
"Sure, Bob." I crossed my heart and lied through my teeth. The last thing I intended to do was give
information to the cops, and he knew it. I owed it to my profession, if not to myself. That was why I
hadn't told him about the tissue sample I'd taken from the dead man that morning. "You've got my word
on that."
"Good. Thanks." The Dep eyed me for a long moment, then motioned ambiguously towards the ceiling.
"This whole thing stinks, Court. If you're gonna follow it, be careful."
"Don't be wet, Bob." I tried to act nonchalant. "What makes you say that?"
He shook his head slightly and tapped the intercom on his desk. "Sharon?"
"Yes, sir?" The secretary's voice issued from the tinny speaker, a blonde voice if ever there was one.
Behind her, the throaty roar of an evaporative air-conditioner, deafeningly loud, filled the office. "Can I
help you, sir?"
"Show Mr Welles out," said the Dep. "And turn that fucking thing off!"
"But Bobby," came back the whine. "It's hot."
"Maybe she should wear less," I suggested, and left.

From the 47th floor of the Genotek Building, reclining comfortably in a leather chair at the edge of the
viewing platform, you can almost see the curve of the Bubble; camouflaged well by the skyline and the
foothills to the west, but there all the same. Occasionally, auroral lights flash behind the hills as magnetic
foils guide ships to and from C20's 'airport', but otherwise the sky is clear of humanity's handiwork.
Jupiter was riding high, that night. Above the horizon and to my left were the twin stars of Earth and
Luna, blue and white, huddling close for warmth in the cold-spattered star-scape. None of the other
planets were visible to my untrained eye, and C20 has no moon, of course.
Her smell alerted me an instant before the sound of her footsteps crossed the platform. A mixture of lilac
and honey with a touch of musk. Her scent was a lure, and she knew how it hooked me. But I didn't
turn, not even when her hand fell on my shoulder and her hair brushed my ear.
"Hi, Court," she whispered. "Twice in one day. To what do I owe this unexpected pleasure?"
"Let's just say you've got something I want." I turned then, and our noses touched; she was so close I
could have kissed her. "But it ain't what you think, sweetheart."
"Hm." She leaned away with a smile and a rustle of fabric. "That remains to be seen."
I smiled back, enjoying the game at least as much as she did. Marilyn Delibes, one of the city's leading
genetic technicians, was pure Nineties knockout from head to foot, dressed to kill in a
blouse-jacket-skirt-and-heels combo that might on the one hand have been sensible office-wear, but on
the other left no doubts as to the exact number of her X chromosomes. She stood about five-two on the
old scale (the one I prefer), with shoulder-length golden hair and green eyes; her mouth, like the rest of
her, was narrow without being severe, and curled like a question-mark when she smiled. She wore
make-up the way it should be; I watched her apply it once, and I'll be damned if I could spot the
difference afterwards, except that she looked better.