"Connie Willis - The Sidon in the Mirror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

It was much cooler inside. There was a plastic heat-trigger fan set in the ceiling and surrounded by
rose-colored chemilooms. We were in an anteroom with a rack for the high shoes and the lanterns. They
dangled by their straps.
Jewell sat down on a chair and began unbuckling her bulky shoes. тАЬDinтАЩt ivver go out without shoes and
a lantern,тАЭ she said. She gestured toward the rack. тАЬThe little ones with the twillpaper hiddbands are for
town. They only list about an hour. If youтАЩre going out to the taps or the spiraldown, take one iv the big
ones with you.тАЭ

She looked different in the rosy light. Her scar hardly showed at all. Her voice was different too, deeper.
She sounded older than she had at the down. I looked up and around at the air.

тАЬWe blow nitrogen and oxygen in from a tap behind the house,тАЭ she said. тАЬThe tappers dinтАЩt like having
squeaky little helium voices when theyтАЩre with the girls. You canтАЩt git rid of the helium, or the hydrogen
either. They leak in ivverywhere. The bist you can do is dilute it. You shid be glad you werenтАЩt here at the
beginning, before they tapped an atmosphere. You had to wear vacuum suits thin.тАЭ She pried off her
shoe. The bottom of her foot was a mass of blisters. She started to stand up and then sat down again.

тАЬYill for Carnie,тАЭ she said. тАЬTill her to bring some bandages.тАЭ

I hung my outside shoes on the rack and opened the inner door. It fit tightly, though it opened with just a
touch. It was made of the same insulation as the outer door. It opened onto a fancy room, all curtains and
fur rugs and hanging looms that cast little pools of colored light, green and rose and gold. The pianoboard
stood over against one wall on a carved plastic table. I could not see anyone in the room, and I could not
hear voices for the sound of the blowers. I started across a blood-red fur rug to another door, hung with
curtains.

тАЬJewell?тАЭ a womanтАЩs voice said. The blowers kicked off, and she said, тАЬJewell?тАЭ again, and I saw that I
had nearly walked past her. She was sitting in a white velvet chair in a little bay that would have been a
window if this were not Paylay. She was wearing a white satinpaper dress with a long skirt. Her hair was
piled on top of her head, and there was a string of pearls around her long neck. She was sitting so
quietly, with her hands in her lap and her head turned slightly away from me, that I had not even seen her.
тАЬAre you Carnie?тАЭ I said.

тАЬNo,тАЭ she said, and she didnтАЩt look up at me. тАЬWhat is it?тАЭ

тАЬJewell got her feet burned,тАЭ I said. тАЬShe needs bandages. IтАЩm the new pianoboard player.тАЭ

тАЬI know,тАЭ the girl said. She lifted her head a little in the direction of the stairs and called, тАЬCarnie. Get the
remedy case.тАЭ

A girl came running down the stairs in an orange-red robe and no shoes. тАЬIs it Jewell?тАЭ she said to the girl
in the white dress, and when she nodded, Carnie ran past us into the other room. I could hear the hollow
sound of an insulated door opening. The girl had made no move to come and see Jewell. She sat
perfectly still in the white chair, her hands lying quietly in her lap.

тАЬJewellтАЩs feet are pretty bad,тАЭ I said. тАЬCanтАЩt you at least come see them?тАЭ

тАЬNo,тАЭ she said, and looked up at me. тАЬMy name is тАШ Pearl,тАЭ she said. тАЬI had a friend once who played
the pianoboard.тАЭ