"Anthony, Piers - Adept - 01 - Split Infinity" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

CHAPTER 1

Slide

He walked with the assurance of stature, and most oth-
ers deferred to him subtly. When he moved in a given
direction, the way before him conveniently opened, by
seeming coincidence; when he made eye contact, the
other head nodded in a token bow. He was a serf, like
all of them, naked and with no physical badge of status;

indeed, it would have been the depth of bad taste to
accord him any overt recognition. Yet he was a giant,
here. His name was Stile.

Stile stood one point five meters tall and weighed
fifty kilograms. In prior parlance he would have stood
four feet, eleven inches tall and weighed a scant hun-
dredweight or eight stone; or stood a scant fifteen hands
and weighed a hundred and ten pounds. His male asso-
ciates towered above him by up to half a meter and
outweighed him by twenty-five kilos.

He was fit, but not extraordinarily muscled. Person-
able without being handsome. He did not hail his
friends heartily, for there were few he called friend, and
he was diffident about approaches. Yet there was enor-
mous drive in him that manifested in lieu of personal
warmth.

He walked about the Grid-hall of the Game-annex,
his favorite place; beyond this region he reverted to the
nonentity that others perceived. He sought competition
of his own level, but at this hour there was none. Pairs
of people stood in the cubicles that formed the con-
voluted perimeter of the hall, and a throng milled in the
center, making contacts. A cool, gentle, mildly flower-
scented draft wafted down from the vents in the ceiling,
and the image of the sun cast its light on the floor,
making its own game of shadows.

Stile paused at the fringe of the crowd, disliking this
forced mixing. It was better when someone challenged
him.

A young woman rose from one of the seats. She was
nude, of course, but worthy of a second glance because
of the perfection of her body. Stile averted his gaze,
affecting not to be aware of her; he was especially shy
with girls.