"Zelazny, Roger - My Lady Of The Diodes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

My Lady of the Diodes
Roger Zelazny
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Stephen Gregg unearthed this story which I forgot I had written.

It had appeared in a fanzine called Granfalloon. Steve wanted to reprint it in his semipro magazine, Eternity. I asked to see a copy first, as I no longer had one in my possession. I okayed the deal after I’d read a Xerox, but alas! Eternity went under (after also helping to resurrect a character of mine named Dilvish), and this story was not reprinted. Why not run it here? I asked myself. Why not? I answered. How often does one wish to seize an opportunity to acknowledge a forgotten offspring?

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Maxine had said, “Turn left at the next corner,” so I did.

“Park the car. Get out and walk. Cross the street at the crosswalk.”

I slammed the door behind me and moved on up the street, a man in a dark blue suit carrying a gray suitcase, a hearing aid in his left ear. I might have been the Fuller Brush man.

I crossed the street.

“Now head back up the other side. You will see a red brick building, numbered six-six-eight.”

“Check,” I said.

“Head up the front walk, but do not mount the stairs. Once you pass the iron fence, there will be a stairway leading downward, to your left. Descend that stairway. At the bottom of the stair there will be a doorway leading into the building, probably padlocked.”

“There is.”

“Set down the case, put on the gloves you are carrying in your coat pocket, take the hammer from your inside pocket, and use it to strike open the lock. Try to do it in one sharp blow.”

It took two.

“Enter the building and close the door behind you. Leave the lock inside; put away the hammer.”

“It’s dark——”

“The building should be deserted. Take twelve paces forward, and you will come to a corridor leading off to your right.”

“Yes.”

“Remove your right glove and take out the roll of dimes you are carrying in your right pocket. In the side corridor you should see a row of telephone booths.”

“I do.”

“Is there sufficient illumination coming from the three small windows opposite the booths to permit you to operate a telephone?”

“Yes.”

“Then enter the first booth, remove the receiver with your gloved hand, insert a coin, and dial the following number…”

I began to dial.