"Robert F. Young - Chicken Itza" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

single crack in the synthi-brick faceee, a single sag in one of the balconies or a single pane missing from
one of the windows, he would have seen it.
The tour began. Firby's eyes grew gradually larger. Broad avenues lined immaculate storefronts, and
fettered with crystalline walkways, appeared. None of the walkways has closed for repairs, none of the
storefronts needed refurbishing and not once did the wheels of the runabout encounter a chuckhole.
There were civilized Siw everywhereтАФriding in other runabouts, walking the walkways, coming out
of the shopping centers laden with packages. But what made Firby sit up and take notice had nothing to
do with their numbers, nor their apparent prosperityтАФnor even with the white feathers they wore in their
hats. What struck him were their happy faces and carefree gaits.
The city dwellers he was familiar with had haunted faces and walked as though someone were
chasing them.
"This," said Mayor Kobecker presently, тАЬis the Administration Building!тАЭ
Firby saw that Albert had parked the runabout in the morning shadow of a large dignified edifice. He
accompanied the mayor inside, where he was conducted through room after room lined with busy
computers, every one of which looked as though it had been delivered fresh from the factory that very
morning. All of the programmers were Siw and all of them seemed happy in their civilized habiliments and
environment.
The mayorтАЩs office was in the center of the building. Four color-3-V screens inset in the walls
functioned as windows. In the center of the room stood the mayor's desk. On it was a vase filled with
white flowers. Firby, a nature lover at heart, went over and smelled them, only to discover that they were
chicken feathers.
Straightening, he gave the mayor another long look. The mayor shifted his weight from his left foot to
his right, fiddled with his tie but offered no explanation.
Next, while the mayor was outlining how City Hall administered to the city, Firby inspected the
color-3V screens. At first he thought they were malfunctioning. This was because he was accustomed to
color-3V sheens that depicted people with blue faces and green teeth. The people in these screens, albeit
they had mahogany-hued faces and even though they were to far away for him to see their teeth, looked
real.
For some reason, this annoyed him.
In swift succession, he inspected the Powerplant, the Sewage Disposal Plant, the Visiphone Building,
the Department of Sanitation Shed and the Water Works. In not a single instance did he find a machine
or a piece of equipment that needed repair.
Somehow he had the feeling that a vital ingredient was missing in each of the places he'd inspected,
but it wasn't until Mayor Kobecker was wining and dining him in Siw City's moss elite eatery that he
realized what it was. Momentarily, he was stunned. The, recovering himself, he said, "Why is it, Mayor,
than I haven't seen a single mechanic, repairman or maintenance man since I've been here?"
"IтАЩmтАФIтАЩm afraid we have no need for them anymore," Mayor Kobecker mid.
тАЬPreposterous! For your city to be in the condition it's in, they must be working twenty-four hours a
day. Where are they?тАЭ
"Some of them have gone into other trades. A few of them have taken up raising chickens. AтАФ"
"Raising chickens!"
тАЬYes sir. When our machines stopped breaking down and our appliances stopped malfunctioning and
our streets and buildings no longer needed repairing, they had to do something, soтАФ"
'All machines break down! All appliances malfunction!" All streets and buildings need repairs!"
тАЬOurs don't."
Firby looked at him. If he hadn't known better, he could have sworn that the mayor meant what he
was saying.
He thought for a while. Whatever the reason behind it, there was questioning the technological
perfection he had seen thus far. But for all he knew, it might be a carefully contrived mask hiding the
fa├зade of a city-sized Penn Central railroad station. Streets, buildings, runabouts, color-3V sets,