"Charles Stross - Merchant princes 02 - The Hidden Family" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stross Charles)

"That's a fair assessment." Miriam grimaced as she worked the alien keys on the
saddle-post, trying to get it locked at a comfortable height. "I haven't ridden
a bike in years. Hope I haven't forgotten how."

"When you sit on that thing, you can't possibly be modest."

"Well, no," Miriam admitted. "I plan to only use it out of sight of other
people." She finished on the saddle and began hunting for an attachment place
for the toolkit. 'The Swiss army used to have a regiment of soldiers who rode
these things, as mounted infantry—not cavalry. They could cover two hundred
miles a day on roads, seventy a day in the mountains. I'm no soldier, but I
figure this will get me around faster than my feet."

"You'll still need clothing," Brill pointed out. "And so will /. What I came
across in isn't suitable for stamping around in the forest in winter! And we
couldn't possibly be seen wearing your camping gear if we expect to stay in a
coaching inn."

"Yup. Which is where this machine comes in." Miriam pointed to the other big
box, occupying a large chunk of the floor. "I take it there's no chance that you
already know how to use an overlocker?"

The overlocker took them most of the rest of the day to figure out, and it
nearly drove Paulette to distraction when she came home from the errand she'd
been running to find Miriam oiling a bicycle in the hall and Brill puzzling out
the manual for an industrial sewing machine and a bunch of costume patterns
Miriam had bought. "You're turning my house into an asylum!" she accused Miriam,
after kicking her shoes off.
"Yeah, I am. How's the office hunt going?"

"Badly," snapped Paulette. Her voice changed: "Offices, oy, have we got offices!
You should see our offices, such wonderful offices you have never imagined! By
the way, how long have you been in business? There'll be a deposit if it's less
than two years."

"Uh-huh." Miriam nodded. "How big a deposit?"

"Six months rent," Paulie swallowed. "For two thousand square feet with a
loading bay and a thousand feet of office above it, that comes to about thirty
thousand bucks. Plus municipal tax, sewer, electric and gas. And the broadband
you want."

"Hmm." Miriam nodded to herself, then hit the quick-release bolts. The bike
folded in on itself like an intricate origami sculpture and she locked it down
in its most compact position, then eased the carrying case over it.

"Hey, that's real neat," Paulette said admiringly. "You turning into a fitness
freak in your old age?"

"Don't change the subject." Miriam grunted, then upended the case and zipped it