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OUTCAST 21
Ratmir loved the steppe. Marat easily persuaded him to go with him to the countryside - to burn meat, sit and admire the steppe landscape with his friends. To the east of the Black Steppe were deserted regions - there, along a dirt road, they raced in an off-road vehicle four of them. They shook on potholes, laughed and cursed when they shook so that they almost hit the ceiling. Pots and flasks rang in the trunk, heavy music screamed and rattled, and the sun roasted from a clear blue sky in a red-hot yellow ball.The steppe is without orientation, without hills or copses, without villages or rivers. You can stop anywhere, so we just stopped when we got tired of driving. Fuel for a fire in such places must be taken with you. There were several heavy bags of coals in the case. The military is bored with making such a fire, but there's nothing to be done. But it's easy and fast. With them in the company was Adil from the department of tactics and Salman, a former intelligence officer, no
OUTCAST 22
The model started right on schedule, and I tuned all my tracking devices to it. All again brought to the big screen. It will fly to the anomaly point for seven days. Without taking your eyes off her, you can, however, do other things for the time being.I turned on the chat with the filmmakers and asked them when the next flight from their 2nd Perseus to the 45th station was. They found out that after three days. I told them that our flying bullshit is a mockery of the Galaxy itself and is involved in a very dangerous mess. The participants are really risking their lives, therefore, during these three days they need to shoot all the outdoor shooting and molt with this very board to hell with the planet. On the 45th, order tickets and the nearest starship, even with transfers, but break into the Vastu X of Antara. He told about the camps of widows and Madina, about Kloss and in general about the situation in the Choban valley. At first, filmmakers were discouraged, but realizing what i
OUTCAST 23
The bosses thumped in the presidium room, behind the scenes of the assembly hall, separated behind a wall from all outsiders. The exasperated bosses wanted to be served not by barmaids, but by pretty girls from the reception. Chernaya and her friends put cognac and snacks on the table for them, and now they were waiting in the hallway, all of a sudden they needed something else, and eavesdropped, winking.Gamer Hull Amox justified himself to the main:- Bert, well, what claims to us? Well, sales are growing, engagement is growing. Give the go-ahead to a hybrid of showbiz with Wirth-sex, let's cut the dough even cooler.Bert Ulem took a sip of cognac and dragged on a cigarette.- Hull, understand, this is a different question. The money is already all ours. If you did not take this money from the client for the toy, Galaxy will still receive it on any other service. Now all our cash flows are just spinning from one department to another. What we need from you is not money, but days. We
OUTCAST 24
Ratmir was at home for the first time in four years. At home - this is with my parents, in Tavtos - a small town 300 kilometers north of Chernostepe. The apartment in an ordinary nine-story building was different from the others. Ratmir's father, Miroslav, made furniture for himself - cabinets, a table, armchairs and stools. Now Ratmir and Miroslav were sitting on these carved strong stools at a powerful table, and Ratana's mother was throwing lunch on this table. Hot fatty soup with meat, rice with meat and vegetables, greens. The steppe Horde did not have not only passports, but also the so-called full names, they were given names at birth, in the horse manner, combining the names of their parents: Ratana + Miroslav = Ratmir.Ratmir was happy and smiling, and was surprised that his father was not very cheerful. For 4 years he has aged noticeably. The face became narrow, dry and hard, the eyes became larger and deeper, the bald spot was wider and darker. He sat with his elbows on the
OUTCAST 25
The void this time was unusual. I sat in an armchair, in silence and darkness, went through the delight of freedom, as usual, crawled through fear, and waited for anger to rise from my own dark depths, through all the nerve channels. But now everything was different. Behind the fear, I felt a look “from there”, like a scanner, it was directed at me and studied. I felt that I was in some kind of energy bag - in his attention. It was as if I was being weighed, compared with something, put into a database search.Yes, it was a look, like a border guard's - carefully at me, in the face, then at the passport, then again intently at me, again at some document ... It was difficult for me to understand how this something in the void relates to me. There was no aggression or fear on the other side, but there was no indifference either. Non-excessive, mild curiosity, an attempt to remember something about me or understand what I am ...Then it disappeared, and the anger did not come, and the of
OUTCAST 26
I was struck by this intelligible picture of unpredictable chaos, ready to quickly, responding to my action, create events, people - friends or enemies, offer through them information, signs, answers to questions and ideas. Until I touched anyone, did not stop, chaos silently flowed like a muddy river along the transition, like time, forward, and forward. Here, time is the same stream of possibilities, passing by us, passing seconds in front of our noses, in each of which something can happen, until these moments, not being realized, go beyond the horizon, where they become unfulfilled dreams or shocks that have passed us by .The automatic doors of the car were already closing ahead, but I quickened my pace and jumped up, gently pushing those who were standing in the aisle, thankfully I heard pressure from behind - someone else managed to squeeze in before the doors closed. The crowd in this part of the metro-conveyor, packed into wagons, as if through tanks, and rushed through the b
OUTCAST 27
At the box office they gave me a ticket - a white cardboard long flap with gold embossing - letters, symbols. The words on the ticket were not clear, but I felt that my name was among them. With this cardboard in hand, he entered the doors indicated at the box office. Behind the doors opened a corridor - about ten meters, without windows, lit by the soft gray light of long lamps built into the ceiling and walls. I walked along the gray carpet that muffled the sound of footsteps to the reception. This is the frontline, what you need. The girls, all three, were as beautiful as a poster for a better life. Redhead, blonde and... I froze when I saw her. Black, with sad deep eyes, a smile - as if cheerful, but still bitter. It was she - the one with whom I wanted to live together, once in my youth I built plans and dreams. Who refused me and, in fact,I couldn’t think where I was, where she came from, what was happening and what could be done, I, confused and timid, approached their table,
OUTCAST 28
“There is a fire there,” with this recollection and something else very cynical, rude, vulgar and very funny, following from the inscription that the men showed in the yard, I opened my eyes, resting immediately on Wolverine’s eyes. It was morning outside the window, it was light in the room and the sun's rays lay in juicy bright spots on the carpet, on the wall, on the table.The witch was still in the same terry white robe, but without makeup, without hair, slept. She looked at me curiously, touching my cheeks and hair. She smiled and remained silent, shaking her head, whispering something.I was surprised how well I felt, powerful streams of energy seemed to go through the veins, through the muscles, they were tightly inflated with force, I almost flew up to the ceiling.In the kitchen, sitting again in the company of a dog and a cat, I watched Wolverine nimble between the stove and the refrigerator, making food, and listened to her cosmogonic performances.- Look. Imagine that eve