"Robert Charles Wilson - Divided by Infinity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Robert Charles)

Cup your hands as you might. The water runs through your
fingers.
There was only the most rudimentary service at the
crematorium where ZieglerтАЩs body was burned. A few words from
an Episcopal minister Deirdre had hired for the occasion, an
earnest young man in clerical gear and neatly pressed Levis who
pronounced his consolations and hurried away as if late for another
function. Deirdre said, afterward, тАЬI donтАЩt know if IтАЩve been given a
gift or an obligation. For a man who never left his room, Mr.
Ziegler had a way of weaving people into his life.тАЭ She shook her
head sadly. тАЬIf any of it really matters. I mean, if weтАЩre not
devoured by aliens or God knows what. You canтАЩt turn on the news
these daysтАж Well, I guess he bailed out just in time.тАЭ
Or moved on. Moved someplace where his emphysema was
curable, his failing heart reparable, his aging cells regenerable.
Shunting the train Oscar Ziegler along a more promising if less
plausible trackтАж
тАЬThe evidence,тАЭ I said suddenly.
 тАЬWhat?тАЭ
тАЬThe books I told you about.тАЭ
тАЬOh. Right. Well, IтАЩm sorry, but I didnтАЩt get a good look at
them.тАЭ She frowned. тАЬIs that what youтАЩre thinking? Oh, shit, that
fucking Soziere book of his! ItтАЩs bait, Mr. Keller, donтАЩt you get it?
Not to speak ill of the dead, but he loved to suck people into
whatever cloistered little mental universe he inhabited, misery loves
company, and that book was always the baitтАФтАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ I said, excited despite my best intentions, as if ZieglerтАЩs
cremation had been a message, his personal message to me, that
the universe discarded bodies like used Kleenex but that
consciousness was continuous, seamless, immortalтАж тАЬI mean
about the evidence. You didnтАЩt see itтАФbut someone did.тАЭ
тАЬLeave it alone. You donтАЩt understand about Ziegler. Oscar
Ziegler was a sour, poisonous old man. Maybe older than he
looked. ThatтАЩs what I thought of when I read SoziereтАЩs book: Oscar
Ziegler, someone so ridiculously old that he wakes up every
morning surprised heтАЩs still a human being.тАЭ She stared fiercely at
me. тАЬWhat exactly are you contemplating hereтАФserial suicide?тАЭ
тАЬNothing so drastic.тАЭ
I thanked her and left.


The paradox of proof.
I went to NiemandтАЩs store as soon as I left Deirdre.
I had shown the books to Niemand, the book dealer. He was
the impossible witness, the corroborative testimony. If Niemand
had seen the books, then I was sane; if Niemand had seen the
books they might well turn up among ZieglerтАЩs possessions, and I
could establish their true provenance and put all this dangerous
Soziere mythology behind me.
 But NiemandтАЩs little second-story loft store had closed. The