"Connie Willis - Death on the Nile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

Zoe comes back, elated. тАЬThey thought I was a professional guide,тАЭ she says, sitting down and fastening
her seat belt. тАЬThey asked if they could join our tour.тАЭ She opens the guidebook. тАЬ The afterworld was
full of monsters and demigods in the form of crocodiles and baboons and snakes. These monsters could
destroy the deceased before he reached the Hall of Judgment.тАШ тАЭ

Neil touches my hand. тАЬDo you have any aspirin?тАЭ he asks. тАЬLissaтАЩs head hurts.тАЭ

I fish in my bag for it, and Neil gets up and goes back to get her a glass of water.

тАЬNeilтАЩs so thoughtful,тАЭ Lissa says, watching me, her eyes bright. тАЬ To protect against these monsters and
demigods, the deceased was given The Book of the Dead,тАШ тАЭ Zoe reads. тАЬ тАЩMore properly translated as
The Book of What Is in the Afterworld, The Book of the Dead was a collection of directions for the
journey and magic spells to protect the deceased.тАШ тАЭ

I think about how I am going to get through the rest of the trip without magic spells to protect me. Six
days in Egypt and then three in Israel, and there is still the trip home on a plane like this and nothing to
do for fifteen hours but watch Lissa and Neil and listen to Zoe.

I consider cheerier possibilities. тАЬWhat if weтАЩre not going to Cairo?тАЭ I say. тАЬWhat if weтАЩre dead?тАЭ

Zoe looks up from her guidebook, irritated. тАЬThereтАЩve been a lot of terrorist bombings lately, and this is
the Middle East,тАЭ I go on. тАЬWhat if that last air pocket was really a bomb? What if it blew us apart, and
right now weтАЩre drifting down over the Aegean Sea in little pieces?тАЭ

тАЬMediterranean,тАЭ Zoe says. тАЬWeтАЩve already flown over Crete.тАЭ тАЬHow do you know that?тАЭ I ask. тАЬLook
out the window.тАЭ I point out LissaтАЩs window at the white flatness beyond. тАЬYou canтАЩt see the water. We
could be anywhere. Or nowhere.тАЭ



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 Death on the Nile

Neil comes back with the water. He hands it and my aspirin to Lissa.

тАЬThey check the planes for bombs, donтАЩt they?тАЭ Lissa asks him. тАЬDonтАЩt they use metal detectors and
things?тАЭ

тАЬI saw this movie once,тАЭ I say, тАЬwhere the people were all dead, only they didnтАЩt know it. They were on
a ship, and they thought they were going to America. There was so much fog they couldnтАЩt see the
water.тАЬ

Lissa looks anxiously out the window.

тАЬIt looked just like a real ship, but little by little they began to notice little things that werenтАЩt quite right.
There were hardly any people on board, and no crew at all.тАЭ

тАЬStewardess!тАЭ LissaтАЩs husband calls, leaning over Zoe into the aisle. тАЬI need another ouzo.тАЭ

His shouting wakes ZoeтАЩs husband up. He blinks at Zoe, confused that she is not reading from her