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

тАЬTheyтАЩre certainly odd. Valuable? Not to me. Tell you the
truth, I kind of wish you hadnтАЩt brought them in.тАЭ
тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬTheyтАЩre creepy. TheyтАЩre too good. Kind of X-Files.тАЭ He gave
me a sour grin. тАЬMake up your own science fiction story.тАЭ
тАЬOr live in it,тАЭ I said. We live in the science fiction of our
youth.
He pushed the books across his cluttered desk. тАЬTake тАШem
away, Mr. Keller. And if you find out where they came fromтАФтАЭ
тАЬYes?тАЭ
тАЬI really donтАЩt want to know.тАЭ


Items I noticed in the newspaper that evening:


GENE THERAPY RENDERS HEART BYPASS
OBSOLETE
BANK OF ZURICH FIRST WITH QUANTUM
ENCRYPTION
SETI RESEARCHERS SPOT тАЬPOSSIBLEтАЭ ET RADIO
SOURCE
 I didnтАЩt want to go back to Ziegler, not immediately. It felt
like admitting defeatтАФlike looking up the answer to a magazine
puzzle I couldnтАЩt solve.
But there was no obvious next step to take, so I put the whole
thing out of my mind, or tried to; watched television, did laundry,
shined my shoes.
None of this pathetic sleight of hand provided the slightest
distraction.
I was not (just as I had told Deirdre) a mystery lover, and I
didnтАЩt love this mystery, but it was a turbulence in the flow of the
passing days, therefore interesting. When I had savored the
strangeness of it to a satisfying degree, I took myself in hand and
carried the books back to Finders, meaning to demand an
explanation.
Oscar Ziegler was expecting me.
The late-May weather was already too humid, a bright sun
bearing down from the ozone-depleted sky. Walking wasnтАЩt such a
pleasure under the circumstances. I arrived at Finders plucking my
shirt away from my body. Graceless. The woman Deirdre looked
up from her niche at the rear of the store. тАЬMr. Keller, right?тАЭ She
didnтАЩt seem especially pleased to see me.
I meant to ask if Ziegler was available, but she waved me off:
тАЬHe said if you showed up you were to go on upstairs. ThatтАЩs, uh,
really unusual.тАЭ
тАЬShouldnтАЩt you let him know IтАЩm here?тАЭ
тАЬReally, heтАЩs expecting you.тАЭ She waved at the bead curtain,
almost a challenge: Go on, if you must.
The curtain made a sound like chattering teeth behind me.