"Ron Goulart - Nemo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goulart Ron)

"Leave it off," he told the car. "I'm informed as I want to be for today."
His dash pixphone made a peeping sound.
When Ted answered his pretty, coltish wife showed on the screen. "Is
everything okay, Haley?"
"Yes, more or less. I had a call from Captain Beck and—"
"Captain Beck?"
"You know, Bill Beck."
"Listen, I went out and measured the pseudo-grass again last night. It
doesn't exceed the official Brimstone Way of Life Authority height. In fact
. . . why's he a captain now?"
"Seems they've changed the Way of Life Authority Team into the Way of
Life Patrol. Mainly, I guess, so Bill and his people can wear these
skin-tight one-piece sky-blue uniforms with a white stripe all down here."
Ted asked, "Has he got some new complaint?"
"Bill says our cruiserport is leaning."
"It's not leaning. Listen—"
"Argue with him. He reports several complaints about its unsightly
list."
"Nobody'd complain about a list—"
"It's okay, Ted, I already called an outfit in Old Danbury. They specialize
in straightening up leaning ports."
"But if it's not actually leaning, there's no reason to spend—"
"That isn't really why I called you anyway," Haley said. "I'm also sorry I
wasn't in the mood to talk to you when I came home. I'm sorry, really,
you're having these bad dreams still. I wish I knew what to do to help
you."
"It's something I have to work out," he said. "Don't worry. How did
things go at the kid hospital last night? How's little Terry Malley doing?"
"Who?"
"Little Terry. You told me he was having bad dreams, too."
"Oh, little Terry." Haley tangled one finger in her long dark hair. "He
slept like a log."
After a few silent seconds Ted said, "We ought to talk more than we do,
Haley."
"Sometimes . . ."
"Sometimes what?"
"I wish I hadn't taken that five-year birth-control capsule the day before
we got married. We've still got a year and a half to run on the damn
thing." She turned her head. "Mr. Swedenberg seems to be back on . . .
Ted! That's not Swedenberg. Hold on a sec."
"What?" Ted asked the now empty screen. He could hear his wife asking
anxious questions over the public-address mike.
When Haley reappeared she said, "It was a black man, Ted, all muffled
up in black clothes."
"Must be the guy Swedenberg scared off. Did you get a good look at
him?"
"No. All I can say for sure is he was black and muffled," she said,
glancing over her shoulder. "And he was carrying some kind of portable
monitoring device. When I asked him what he was doing he ran off."
"If he turns up again, call the cops. Don't go out and try to befriend him