"Connie Willis - Even The Queen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

"You know? And you didn't tell me? I can't believe this. You never tell me anything."
"I thought Perdita should tell you herself," I said tiredly.
"Are you kidding? She never tells me anything either. That time she had eyebrow implants she didn't
tell me for three weeks, and when she got the laser tattoo she didn't tell me at all. Twidge told me. You
should have called me. Did you tell Grandma Karen?"
"She's in Baghdad," I said.
"I know," Viola said. "I called her."
"Oh, Viola, you didn't!"
"Unlike you, Mom, I believe in telling members of our family about matters that concern them."
"What did she say?" I asked, a kind of numbness settling over me now that the shock had worn off.
"I couldn't get through to her. The phone service over there is terrible. I got somebody who didn't speak
English, and then I got cut off, and when I tried again they said the whole city was down."
Thank you, I breathed silently. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
"Grandma Karen has a right to know, Mother. Think of the effect this could have on Twidge. She
thinks Perdita's wonderful. When Perdita got the eyebrow implants, Twidge glued LED's to hers, and I
almost never got them off. What if Twidge decides to join the Cyclists, too?"
"Twidge is only nine. By the time she's supposed to get her shunt, Perdita will have long since quit." I
hope, I added silently. Perdita had had the tattoo for a year and a half now and showed no signs of tiring
of it. "Besides, Twidge has more sense."
"It's true. Oh, Mother, how could Perdita do this? Didn't you tell her about how awful it was?"
"Yes," I said. "And inconvenient. And unpleasant and unbalancing and painful. None of it made the
slightest impact on her. She told me she thought it would be fun."
Bysshe was pointing to his watch and mouthing, "Time for court."
"Fun!" Viola said. "When she saw what I went through that time? Honestly, Mother, sometimes I think
she's completely brain-dead. Can't you have her declared incompetent and locked up or something?"
"No," I said, trying to zip up my robe with one hand. "Viola, I have to go. I'm late for court. I'm afraid
there's nothing we can do to stop her. She's a rational adult."
"Rational!" Viola said. "Her eyebrows light up, Mother. She has Custer's Last Stand lased on her arm."
I handed the phone to Bysshe. "Tell Viola I'll talk to her tomorrow." I zipped up my robe. "And then
call Baghdad and see how long they expect the phones to be out." I started into the courtroom. "And if
there are any more universal calls, make sure they're local before you answer."
###
Bysshe couldn't get through to Baghdad, which I took as a good sign, and my mother-in-law didn't call.
Mother did, in the afternoon, to ask if lobotomies were legal.
She called again the next day. I was in the middle of my Personal Sovereignty class, explaining the
inherent right of citizens in a free society to make complete jackasses of themselves. They weren't
buying it.
"I think it's your mother," Bysshe whispered to me as he handed me the phone. "She's still using the
universal. But it's local. I checked."
"Hello, Mother," I said.
"It's all arranged," Mother said. "We're having lunch with Perdita at McGregor's. It's on the corner of

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Twelfth Street and Larimer."
"I'm in the middle of class," I said.
"I know. I won't keep you. I just wanted to tell you not to worry. I've taken care of everything."
I didn't like the sound of that. "What have you done?"
"Invited Perdita to lunch with us. I told you. At McGregor's."