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

тАЬI used to read some mysteries. Mostly, though, it was science
fiction I liked.тАЭ
тАЬReally? You look more like a mystery reader.тАЭ
тАЬThereтАЩs a look?тАЭ
She laughed. тАЬTell you what. Science fiction? We got a box of
paperbacks in last week. Right over there, under the ladder. Check
it out, and IтАЩll tell Mr. Ziegler youтАЩre here. UhтАФтАЭ
 тАЬMy name is Keller. Bill Keller. My wife was Lorraine.тАЭ
She held out her hand. тАЬIтАЩm Deirdre. Just have a look; IтАЩll be
back in a jiff.тАЭ
I wanted to stop her but didnтАЩt know how. She went through a
bead curtain and up a dim flight of stairs while I pulled a leathery
cardboard box onto a chair seat and prepared for some dutiful
time-killing. Certainly I didnтАЩt expect to find anything I wanted,
though I would probably have to buy something as the price of a
courtesy call, especially if Ziegler was coaxed out of his lair to greet
me. But what I had told Deirdre was true; though I had been an
eager reader in my youth, I hadnтАЩt bought more than an occasional
softcover since 1970. Fiction is a young manтАЩs pastime. I had
ceased to be curious about other peopleтАЩs lives, much less other
worlds.
Still, the box was full of forty-year-old softcover books, Ace
and Ballantine paperbacks mainly, and it was nice to see the covers
again, the Richard Powers abstracts, translucent bubbles on infinite
plains, or Jack Gaughan sketches, angular and insectile. Titles rich
with key words: Time, Space, Worlds, Infinity. Once I had loved
this sort of thing.
And then, amongst these faded jewels, I found something I
did not expectтАФ
And another. And another.


The bead curtain parted and Ziegler entered the room.
He was a bulky man, but he moved with the exaggerated
caution of the frail. A plastic tube emerged from his nose, was
taped to his cheek with a dirty Band-Aid and connected to an
oxygen canister slung from his shoulder. He hadnтАЩt shaved for a
couple of days. He wore what looked like a velveteen frock coat
draped over a T-shirt and a pair of pinstriped pajama bottoms. His
hair, what remained of it, was feathery and white. His skin was the
color of thrift-shop Tupperware.
Despite his appearance, he gave me a wide grin.
тАЬMr. Ziegler,тАЭ I said. тАЬIтАЩm Bill Keller. I donтАЩt know if you
rememberтАФтАЭ
He thrust his pudgy hand forward. тАЬOf course! No need to
explain. Terrible about Lorraine. I think of her often.тАЭ He turned to
Deirdre, who emerged from the curtain behind him. тАЬMr. KellerтАЩs
wifeтАжтАЭ He drew a labored breath. тАЬDied last year.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm sorry,тАЭ Deirdre said.
тАЬShe wasтАж a wonderful woman. Friendly by nature. A joy.