"James Patrick Kelly - Dividing the Sustain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

never a secret obsession. It was so unlike him; he was at once delighted and
alarmed.

Zola kicked Been under the table. He glanced over at her and she twitched her
head toward Ilona. Sandor had his nose in a plate of eggs but Nelly had pushed back
from the table, too nervous to eat. Been could tell that the women in his pod were
going to start speaking for him if he didn’t speak for himself.

“For my birthday,” he said, “I decided to give myself a present. I’m going to
be gay. Zelmet Emsley has already programmed the sprites; I’m getting them later
today.”

“And what made you decide this, Been?” said Ilona.

“I’ve never been gay.” He shrugged. “I’ve never really been anyone but
myself. Rather boring, wouldn’t you say? And I suppose I’m worried about going
stale.”

“At your age?” Sandor grunted in disbelief.

“We all go stale eventually,” said Ilona. “Immortality is for turtles.”

“Ilona is an authority on creative discomfort,” Zola broke in. They had all
agreed that this was their best and maybe only chance to move Been out of the pod
now that they were sure he was going to become gay. Zola wasn’t going to let Been
ruin it. “You should see what she has done with her cabin. It’s like a maze.”

Nelly nodded vigorously. “Zola told me that just finding the couch made her
feel smarter.” Her enthusiasm had an edge of desperation. “No one could ever go
stale there.”

“I’d very much like to see it,” said Been.

Ilona nodded and then poured syrup over her pancakes, her fish, and her
grapefruit. Zola and Nelly began to eat as well, as if something had just been settled,
although Been wasn’t sure what.

Zola said, “I really appreciate this, Ilona.”

“Appreciate what?” Ilona teased a sliver from the fillet with her chop-sticks.
“Don’t assume, Zola. What do you imagine I’m doing?”

“You’re talking to us,” said Been.

“You’re here. It would be impolite to do otherwise.” Her smile was chilly.

With a wrench, Been realized that he was wasting his time trying to charm her.
Ilona Quellan would never willingly disrupt her life by letting him move into the spare
hutch in her cabin.