"Stephen Goldin - Scavenger Hunt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

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Scavenger Hunt by Stephen
Goldin
CHAPTER ONE
Such was the strength of her reputation that Tyla deVrie's presence was
felt in Hunt Hall hours before she set foot inside the building. The mere
suggestion that she would be in attendance was enough to change the
mood of the affair therein; for some, it meant a tendency to avoid all
mention of her, while for others it caused an attempt to steer
conversations back from whatever course they had followed to the subject
of Mistress deVrie. Women preened selfconsciously, knowing that no
matter how resplendent they looked, she would look better. Men fidgeted
(likewise), wondering whether they looked flashy enough to attract her
attention.

When the robot at the door finally announced her arrival, nobody
stopped what they were doing to stare at her; that would have been
insufferably gauche for such a group as this self-acknowledged elite. Heads
turned discreetly in the direction of the door, gazed with bovine
placidness for a moment, then returned nonchalantly to previous business.
But that was not to say that her entrance had had no effect—juices of
excitement were bubbling inside those same individuals.

What they had seen was Mistress deVrie standing in the doorway to the
balcony that overlooked the hall. Her face had the same expression of
pleasant boredom as everyone else's, but she wore it better than most. And
the outfit in which she was clad was obviously destined to be the next
fashion in the fad-crazed Society.

Thin phosphorescent streaks swirled electrically across her face much
as red and green electrons around a nucleus. Her hair was swept upward
and plaited, with the thick braids of green and red interwoven skillfully to
create a candy cane appearance. This effect added twenty centimeters to
her height. Starting from her shoulders, two wide strips of plastiglo
material, one red and one green, arched down the front of her body,
covering her breasts and making an X right at the crotch, then twining
around the smooth contours of her legs and finally wrapping themselves
around her feet. From there, the bands wound back up her legs, crossed
once again at the buttocks, and continued up to her shoulders to start the
process over again. Around her left ankle hung a narrow silken band, from
which dangled the one piece of jewelry she had deigned to wear—a piece of
heartstone the size of a cherry. The gem, obtained from the heart of a
silicon creature from the planet Ootyoce, was exceedingly expensive;