"Davis, Jerry - Opposite Ends Meet Here" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

The spaceport at night had always seemed an eerie place to
Kyle. During his years on this planet, he'd watched the town spread
out to the hills and up and down the Vendies River, but the
spaceport never changed. They would re-pave the surface every once
in a while, paint new lines and string brighter landing lights, but
the perimeter fence and the buildings within remained the same.
Everything was metal, everything seemed to hiss and let off steam.
At night, there were rotating red and yellow beacons everywhere,
many rising into the air or coming down out of the starry sky.
The guard at the gate wore a black and gold uniform with a
tiny red fez. His face twitched with the characteristic
brain-chemistry imbalance of a cyber-interface; Kyle saw the cables
running down from the back of his head and into the terminal beside
him. "Can I help you?" he asked Kyle.
"I'm supposed to meet Debbie Hitler here. We're scheduled to
leave."
The face twitched, the eyes blinked. Kyle couldn't see much
detail because of the shadows. "You are...?" he asked Kyle.
"Kyle Dacron."
"The...?"
"New bodyguard."
A machine in the booth made a low buzzing sound. "You are
expected," the guard said, and handed him a freshly printed pass.
"Report to the ship on pad area C-5." He pointed.
The ship turned out to be a small passenger shuttle with
nobody on board. The door was locked. Kyle stood around for a
while, waiting, listening to the hissing and thrumming from the
other ships around him. Tired of standing, he sat down on the
ground with is back against the cold titanium surface of the ship.
Soon he was asleep.
Hours later, an air taxi landed nearby and the pilot got out,
walked over to Kyle and kicked him. "Wake up, pretty-boy. Do your
job!"
"What? Do what?"
"Your job!" He pointed at the taxi.
Kyle got to his feet and walked over to the craft. When he was
close by the door, it opened, and Debbie stepped out. "You showed
up!" she said, sounding surprised. "Oh! Leather! I like it." She
kissed his cheek, and grabbed him by the front of his pants and
pulled him toward the shuttle. Finney stepped out of the taxi and
followed, as did several other people. It appeared they had all
just left a party. There were paper streamers in their hair, and a
few had paper hats and noisemakers. They all stunk of alcohol.
"I want everyone to meet my new bodyguard, Bruce," she
announced.
After the drunken chorus of "Hi Bruce" was over, Kyle leaned
over to Debbie and quietly said, "My name is not Bruce. It's---"
"Your name is Bruce," she told him. "All my bodyguards are
named Bruce."
Kyle frowned, but didn't pursue it. They all crowded into the