"Stephen Goldin - The Last Ghost & Other Stories" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

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Later, Dorothy stood up again. "I've got to go," she said.
"Must you?"
She nodded. "But I'll be back any time you need me. Just call for me. I'll know." And she was gone.
Ryan lay there on his back, staring up at the sky. It was much dimmer than it had been before, and it
didn't hurt his eyes so much. It must be late afternoon. In a few minutes, he would get up and continue his
inspection, but right now he was too satiated to move. Even blinking his eye seemed a gargantuan effort...
"Having fun?" asked a familiar voice.
Ryan turned his head sharply to see Bael standing a few meters away, grinning at him. A flush of guilt,
shame, and indignant anger brought him scrambling to his feet. "What are you doing spying on me?"
"I'm not," Bael said, and his grin widened. "I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in. And
besides, I could ask you the same question, except that I know the answer."
Ryan wasn't sure which infuriated him more — Bael's glibness or his own inadequacy in coping with this
deserter. Before he could think of anything to say, Bael continued, "I suppose it was sex."
Ryan's expression betrayed him. "I thought it would be," Bael nodded wisely. "That seems to be what
most of us lonesome, he-man explorer types need the most. It's the one thing the ship's computer can't
give us. The city knows, Jeff. No matter how hard you try to hide something in your mind, the city 7
knows."
"You do believe it's alive." It was not a question.
"I don't know. That depends on what you call alive. If you mean living and breathing alive, I doubt it. If
you mean conscious and aware of what's going on, yes, definitely."
"But how ... "
"Must you keep asking these infernal questions?" Just for a moment, Bael's outer mask cracked and
allowed Ryan the briefest glimpse of insecurity7 beneath the surface. Then the smoothness returned, and
Bael was his casual, nonchalant self again. "Just accept this for what it is, Jeff. This city can give you your
dreams. It wants to help you. I don't know how it does it; I don't care. Its builders made it this way,
that's enough for me."
"And where are they now? The builders. What's happened to them?"
He was trying to see whether he could break Bael's composure again, but this time he failed. "I don't
know. They probably went on to bigger and better things. In a way it's a shame, because I'd really like to
thank them."
"Thank them for what?" Ryan asked cynically. "For turning you into a vegetable? You just sit around and
let the city do everything for you, right? Forget about being a man and start becoming a moocher ..."
"Are you any more of a man, Jeff?" Bael replied, and whatever strain he was under was coming closer to
the surface. "Just who is the puppet around here? Who is it that jumps whenever Java-10 pulls the string?
Who can't bear to be away from his com unit for more than a couple of seconds? Which of us is in this
city because he's under orders, and which of us walks around as he chooses?"
"You used to be a good officer, Bael," Ryan said quietly. For a moment, at least, their roles were
reversed — Bael was on edge, Ryan was the disconcerting one.
"Sure, I used to be/' Bael spat out. "I took orders and risked my life for dear old Earth. And what did it
get me? A handful of medals, a small bonus in my pay envelope every Christmas, a rapidly accumulating
pension fund. It all becomes meaningless after a while, Jeff. But not here. The city wants me, needs me. It
was built to serve people, to give them what they require. It only wants to help. Is that so terrible?"
"Yes, it is — if it can do what it's done to you."
Bael was struggling to recover his self-control. "Don't fight it, Jeff. This is just a friendly warning. The city
can protect itself against you, easily enough. It can give you your dreams, sure; but nightmares are
dreams, too. Don't think you can fight all your nightmares at once." Bael turned and walked off.
Ryan stood and watched him go. Even after the deserter had disappeared behind one of the buildings,
Ryan stood, immobile. Was Bael just threatening, or could the city dredge up nightmares as well as