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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
OUTCAST 29
- All right, I'll give you the opportunity to talk to the two detainees. Only without a camera. They look bad. Don't look at me like that. There is a war, and they are prisoners of war. My counterintelligence worked with them. No one will accuse me of anything, I did not break the law, but there is no need to show it.Major Kloss was sitting on a cot in his tent, wearing a T-shirt, rubbing his thick chest hair with his hand. His boots beside him, topped with wet socks, rested his bare feet. On a stool next to the cot was a glass of tea and a tray of sweets.- I should not let the press go to the prisoners, but I respect Fadir and trust you. These guys - captured militants can no longer be helped. But I would like you to have the intelligence and professionalism to bring their stories to others. To those just like them. There are billions of them in the galaxies. They were not brought here by faith. She brought a dream of justice and that they have the right to happiness. It was only l
OUTCAST 30
This library seemed dark last time, but now there was normal light from the lamps in the ceiling. It was clear that this was a rather spacious hall, connected by an arch to the next one, and then to another one - it was not known where these rows of shelves with books, folders and individual sheets in files stretched.A middle-aged woman librarian, with blond hair tied in a bun, in a strict skirt just below the knees and in a blue blouse, climbed down the ladder, carefully stepping on the floor with her feet in shoes with low heels. She smiled at me, I smiled too.“I wanted to take you something for tea, like cookies and jam, but somehow it turned out that I came without everything,” I said guiltily.“If you wanted, you brought it,” she said. And on a small low table appeared a jar of some dark jam and a plate of cookies. She reached behind a nearby rack and pulled out a boiling electric kettle.She poured boiling water into transparent faceted glasses in copper coasters, where the bl
OUTCAST 31
She used to walk her big black dog here every night. The dog was already running and calmly sat at her feet. She - again in a long black coat with silver patterns, in black boots with metal stilettos, in soft leather gloves - looked into the distance of the dark city, to where the outlines were lost and trees were only guessed, and behind them were the walls of houses. We stood together, she looked at me with interest, but was silent. They were silent together, because they liked not to break this silence, they liked just looking at this darkness, feeling each other and the dog next to each other.It seemed that we communicate with her not even exchanging thoughts, but communicating mood to each other. She was calm, well, and at the same time she remembered and dreamed. I suddenly had an understanding that she knows everyone in this city in general, remembers everything about everyone. And she loves them, and loves to fantasize about their future. Now it was clear that she knew everyt
OUTCAST 32
Three dozen women sat in two rows on chairs on the stage, playing some local stringed instruments like harps. Something soft and vibrant. The acoustics in the hall were not bad, the sound hung well under the spherical vaults, where hot sunbeams played among the blue windows. Beautiful maidens with amphoras of wine, bunches of grapes, and fruit trays were painted on the walls. And also snow-white birds, fluffy lions, huge kind elephants.The "virgins" on the stage were dressed somehow - some in torn rags, some in jeans, a T-shirt, sneakers, some in a local long dark dress. The performers were of all ages - young, adults and old. Everyone diligently pulled the strings and rejoiced at the sound of some kind of light melody.In the hall, children were sitting on tattered red seats, frightened, obviously hungry. The boys looked around anxiously, looking incredulously at the film crew. The girls jumped up from their seats and rushed to the journalists in a noisy crowd. They asked for sweets
OUTCAST 33
One shell hit the water and gave only a tall gray tight fountain, and the second turned the edge of the swamp and solid earth, raising a cloud of mud and slurry, groaning deafly in the ears and falling asleep with small branches, foliage, sticky pieces of soil. Breaking branches, a hopelessly dirty schmuck fell out of the bushes onto Ratmir. The face, streamlined with brown strokes, was recognizable as a lieutenant - the platoon commander, in whose stronghold it all happened. There was always almost nothing to see here because of dense shrubs and a solid wall of treetops above, which did not let in sunlight. But now, in the clouds of dirt raised by the explosions and fine suspension of water, plucked leaves and small branches, it was now completely impossible even to determine where anyone was. Instead of all landmarks, the only noticeable points were bright short erratic flashes of breaks. The sound was also not clear - it was impossible to determine the range and strength of the cla
OUTCAST 34
A cold autumn wind was blowing on Cathedral Square, the October sun did not warm the whole space, but roasted it pointwise, economically - aiming with a beam who you like, and giving a hot, tender kiss. The leader of the political opposition, Hammer, tall, relatively young, broad-shouldered and broad-browed, stood with me, hiding behind a bus, one of those with which we fenced off the square from the avenue. In general, we have frayed everything that is needed. He brings his supporters (three thousand were already here), all the time of the confrontation around the Cathedral, his people follow my orders regarding the defense. He takes all the political consequences and, if any, the benefits for himself. I don’t need anything further than the Council, he will speak to the press and then apply for the presidency.His people - young people, half under 20 years old, stood in a loose line along the line of buses and trucks, from which we made the first barrier against possible assault atte
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Epilogue
We were again alone on the same sidewalk of a narrow street in a seaside town. Indistinct music was heard from the cafes along the coast, and there was a wall of cypresses and tall yellow grass all around. We ended up at that point and second at which we parted many, many lives ago, in that August, when the local sea is the hottest, and the nights are warm, like fresh milk, and the smell of flowers is dense, like a wall.It was us, but not us. She had visibly matured, it was no longer the same young girl with electric sparks in her black eyes. Wrinkles, bitterness and memories of many years and destinies were written on her face. I, too, felt like an old doll taken out of the closet, faded and dusty.- I love you, I've been looking for you all these years, I could not calm down, I've been looking for you century after century - in all galaxies. I can't live without you, I traded everything for this moment to bring you back. I can't be happy without you, let me come back to you.I spok
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85
“The diamond coffin that Seth lured Osiris into was cheaper than this box,” Daniel Fogg touched the luminous blue case of the medical capsule and freezer in one bottle with his finger.- Do you feel sorry for the money? Powell asked, solemn as before a prayer, in a strict black suit, with a neatly trimmed gray beard, standing at the control panel of this wonderful machine, a unique apparatus, his brainchild.- Too big risks. It has never been tested on humans, and immediately on such a patient. And the donor is doubtful.- She was checked from all sides, she fits exactly.- I'm not talking about medical indications. Psychologically, you may not be ready. The fact that she went through an initiation through Death does not mean that she will go through Love as well. Without verification, it is dangerous to immediately put into action.- Wagner passed, and they are from the same test.- OK let's see. Such stakes, and it all depends on one girl.- She loves him. Here, she’s already coming
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84
Turntables, ripping up the blue summer sky with smoky jets of NURSs, plowed a section of the track in an open area near the edge. Having gained a little height, they went to the circle, so that in a minute they would return and hit again. Ratmir with officers and guards in three jeeps noticed two black circles approaching from behind the clouds in time, turned off the asphalt into the forest, hiding under the crowns of trees. This saved them from the first blow. But the pilots of the Antean pair of fire support helicopters had already seen these three machines and bit the bit, imbued with hunting excitement. Their rumble over the forest began to grow again, now they will beat at random, covering the green sea under them, they will feel below with thermal imagers and metal detectors, look out with their eyes, reflections of the painted sides of the car or, maybe, dust from under the wheels. Abandoning the cars, the Ramirs scattered and a loose flock of saigas ran deep into the thicket,
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83
He sat smiling in his chair, looking around the cleanly tidied white with a matte tint interior of his ship, silvery walls, plasma with elegant Polina (he came up with a new outfit for her, having downloaded it from a fashion site). She said with her pleasant timbre that the flight was proceeding normally, five more days to the destination. For two weeks of the flight, I was in high spirits. It turned out that in such a state it was even more difficult to endure the flight and forced inaction in a confined space without communication with the outside world than if you were flying in melancholy and sadness.Sanya played chess as best he could, but this, of course, could not distract from worries about a future trip through time and, possibly, a meeting with Chernaya. Changing musical tracks, I turned in my hands a carved medieval golden key on a leather cord, looked at cast patterns on it and intricate hieroglyphs. I remembered day after day, evening after evening, moment after moment,
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82
Volos and Lilith rarely slept together that month. Although we finally managed to rent a normal, or rather, luxurious apartment in the City of Manowaha, everyone had too much work, traveling, and very rarely crossed paths for an hour or two. Today they decided to give themselves a holiday, postponing this Saturday evening all business until Monday morning, warning everyone they can not to be pulled even in the event of the Third Coming.They dined on a balcony overlooking the huge diamond of Manowach sparkling with fire, the black night sky, the leaden ocean behind the purple colors of the embankments, the moths of airplanes in the sky and ships in the ocean, enjoying the comfort of a home furnished in the latest fashion. Lilith was in seventh heaven from everything that happened to her during this month. After a poor childhood and student life, after space flights on cheap transport vehicles, after tents in Choban, medical wards in Alam and the stone jungle of Oralon... She found her
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81
Maat was flying in a glass-case-like mini-metro that connected the Bahdi spaceport to the Belau lake and oasis, located in an uncontaminated area. A hundred kilometers, sparkling like a bunch of candies in gold pieces, the train rushed by in 40 minutes, allowing soldiers, officers and civilian personnel of the base of intergalactic peacekeepers to leave the garrison in the evening or on weekends and relax near the water in the shade of palm trees, without protective equipment. Three new hotel buildings, restaurants, sports and massage parlors - everything was built to the glory, as in the best resorts in the universe.In the month and a half that the military settled here, the Bahdi Cosmodrome turned into a considerable city. About 100,000 inhabitants of Parta came here after finding work or humanitarian aid. For them, several neighborhoods of temporary housing were also rapidly erected. And these were not dull rows of tents and wagons to the horizon. Everything that Wallos and his fe
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80
- Where are you stuck? - severely met my appearance from behind a closet in the old Wolverine hotel, she got bored, sitting on a shabby sofa, watching TV news about the death of the Bounty.- Dropped by Wagner, he had an exam.- Passed? Masa asked quietly, becoming more serious.- Passed. Satisfied?- Of course. I believed in him. The Love Exam is difficult, for example, you are not ready for it. Bounty, over there, was not ready either. This chocolate loved only himself. From people he needed only their boundless love for him and admiration. He does not care that for this, he had to turn people into cattle. Don't laugh - I love people. For real. I do what they will hate me for, what they will kick me out and curse me for, everything that people need to be people and grow.What makes you think they need it? There is an easy way to find out. What people are willing to pay for is what they really need. Everything that is not in demand is just a wishlist. Your games of freedom are not in
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79
Gilats looked at Thomson, and saw Wagner hanging in a noose in the bathroom, his tongue hanging out, his face blue and his eyes bulging. He recalled how they sent him a video, how they removed the guy from the rope, put him on the bed in the hotel, saying that there were no signs of violence. Sources gave him the info, how it really happened. And Gilats, looking at the powerful hands of the general, imagined how this strong man in an expensive suit dragged the frail body of the boy along the floor, as he held it, while his fighters put on a rope.Now, looking into the square face of the CEO of Galaxy Sec, the co-chairman of the State Construction Commission with an effort made an indifferent and even benevolent look:- At least you know what kind of hematogen Powell is preparing there instead of Bounty?- He calls his project "Twix". I only know software. He wants to combine fiery software shells with what is left of the New Testament and cover from above with a united circuit with co
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78
A month after the nuclear war on the Great Continent, the situation began to more or less clear up. In Bormunt, a small town on the left bank of the Ramira, which became the capital of the self-proclaimed Anarchist Republic, covering all the uninfected territories of eastern Lavender, from the Gray Mountains in the west to the Swamps in the east, from the river in the north to the sands in the south, in total - a square of 500x500 km. , the Council of Commanders gathered to discuss the situation and plans.The Republic was governed by direct Internet democracy - all residents (indigenous and refugees), about a million people, had their own profile in the Republican Network and the right to vote on any issue of governing the country, without representatives. The code of laws was adopted by such a general vote for five years, without the possibility of change during this period. The Network Moderator, civilian ministers and territorial leaders were elected for a year without the possibi
