The Final Circle of Paradise by Arkadi Strugatski & Boris Strugatski

Author:Arkadi Strugatski & Boris Strugatski [Strugatski, Arkadi & Strugatski, Boris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sci-Fi
ISBN: 9780879972646
Amazon: 0879972645
Publisher: DAW
Published: 1976-11-16T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter EIGHT

When I woke up, Len was already gone. My shoulder ached so badly that the pain pounded in my head, and I promised myself to take it easy the whole day. Grunting and feeling sick and forlorn, I executed a feeble attempt at setting-up exercises, approximated a wash-up, took the envelope with the money, and set out far Aunt Vaina, moving edge-wise through the doorway. In the hall, I stopped in indecision: it was quiet in the house, and I wasn’t sure that my landlady was up. But at this point the door to her side of the house opened, and Pete, the customs man, came out into the hall. Well, well, thought I. At night he had looked like a drowned drunk. Now in the light of day, he resembled a victim of a hooligan attack. The lower part of his face was dark with blood. Fresh blood glistened on his chin, and he held a handkerchief under his jaw to keep his snow-white braided uniform clean. His face was strained and his eyes tended to cross, but in general, he held himself remarkably calm, as though falling face-down into broken glass was a most ordinary event for him. A slight misadventure, you know, can happen to anybody; please don’t pay it any attention; everything will be all right.

“Good morning,” I mumbled.

“Good morning,” he responded, politely dabbing his chin cautiously and sounding a bit nasal.

“Anything the matter? Can I help?”

“A trifle,” he said. ‘ The chair fell.”

He bowed courteously, and passing by me, unhurriedly left the house. I observed his departure with a thoroughly unpleasant feeling, and when I turned back toward the door, I found Aunt Vaina standing in front of me. She stood in the doorway, gracefully leaning on the jamb, all clean, rosy, and perfumed, and looking at me as though I was Major General Tuur or, at least, Staff Major Polom.

“Good morning, early bird,” she cooed. “I was puzzled — who would be talking at this hour?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to disturb you,” I said, shuddering fashionably and mentally howling at the pain in my shoulder. “Good morning, and may I take the }liberty to hand you —”

“How nice! You can tell a real gentleman right away. Major General Tuur used to say that a true gentleman never makes anyone wait. Never. Nobody…”

I became aware that slowly but very persistently, she was herding me away from her door. The living room was darkened, with the drapes apparently drawn, and some strange sweet smell was wafting out of it into the hall.

“But you did not have to be in such a rush, really…”

She was finally in a convenient position to close the door with a smooth negligent gesture. “However, you can be sure that I will value your promptness appropriately. Vousi is still asleep, and it’s time for me to get Len off to school. So if you will excuse me… By the way, we have the newspapers on the veranda.”

“Thank you,” I said, retreating.

“If you’ll have the patience, I would like to ask you to join me for breakfast and a cup of cream.

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