Chapter 1 (p.9) Capítulo 1 (p.9) Capítulo 1 (p.9) Глава 1 (стр. 9) Bölüm 1 (s.9)

The world tipped and spun, and Shadow was on the plane once more; but the tipping continued. Мир накренился и закружился, и Тень снова оказался в самолете; но чаевые продолжались. In the front of the plane a woman screamed, half-heartedly. В передней части самолета женщина нерешительно закричала.

Lightning burst in blinding flashes around the plane. Молния вспыхнула ослепляющими вспышками вокруг самолета. The captain came on the intercom to tell them that he was going to try and gain some altitude, to get away from the storm. Капитан позвонил по интеркому и сказал, что собирается попытаться набрать высоту, чтобы уйти от шторма.

The plane shook and shuddered, and Shadow wondered, coldly and idly, if he was going to die. Самолет трясло и трясло, и Тень холодно и лениво размышлял, не умрет ли он. It seemed possible, he decided, but unlikely. Это кажется возможным, решил он, но маловероятным. He stared out of the window and watched the lightning illuminate the horizon. Он смотрел в окно и смотрел, как молния освещает горизонт.

Then he dozed once more, and dreamed he was back in prison, and Low Key had whispered to him in the food line that someone had put out a contract on his life, but that Shadow could not find out who or why; and when he woke up they were coming in for a landing. Затем он снова задремал, и ему приснилось, что он снова в тюрьме, и Лоу Ки шепнул ему в очереди за едой, что кто-то заключил контракт на его жизнь, но Тень не мог узнать, кто и почему; и когда он проснулся, они заходили на посадку.

He stumbled off the plane, blinking and waking. Он свалился с самолета, моргая и просыпаясь.

All airports, he had long ago decided, look very much the same. Все аэропорты, как он давно решил, выглядят почти одинаково. It doesn’t actually matter where you are, you are in an airport: tiles and walkways and restrooms, gates and newsstands and fluorescent lights. На самом деле не имеет значения, где вы находитесь, вы находитесь в аэропорту: плитка, дорожки и туалеты, ворота, газетные киоски и флуоресцентные лампы. This airport looked like an airport. Этот аэропорт выглядел как аэропорт. The trouble is, this wasn’t the airport he was going to. Проблема в том, что это был не тот аэропорт, в который он собирался. This was a big airport, with way too many people, and way too many gates.

The people had the glazed, beaten look you only see in airports and prisons. У людей был остекленевший, избитый вид, который можно увидеть только в аэропортах и тюрьмах. If Hell is other people, thought Shadow, then Purgatory is airports. Если Ад — это другие люди, подумал Тень, то Чистилище — это аэропорты.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

The woman looked at him over the clipboard. “Yes?”

“What airport is this?”

She looked at him, puzzled, trying to decide whether or not he was joking, then she said, “St. Louis.”

“I thought this was the plane to Eagle Point.”

“It was. They redirected it here because of the storms. Didn’t they make an announcement?”

“Probably. I fell asleep.”

“You’ll need to talk to that man over there, in the red coat.” — Вам нужно поговорить с тем человеком вон там, в красном плаще.

The man was almost as tall as Shadow: he looked like the father from a seventies sitcom, and he tapped something into a computer and told Shadow to run—run!—to a gate on the far side of the terminal.

Shadow ran through the airport, but the doors were already closed when he got to the gate. He watched the plane pull away from the gate, through the plate glass. Then he explained his problem to the gate attendant (calmly, quietly, politely) and she sent him to a passenger assistance desk, where Shadow explained that he was on his way home after a long absence and his wife had just been killed in a road accident, and that it was vitally important that he went home now. He said nothing about prison.

The woman at the passenger assistance desk (short and brown, with a mole on the side of her nose) consulted with another woman and made a phone call (“Nope, that one’s out. Женщина на стойке помощи пассажирам (низенькая и коричневая, с родинкой на носу) посоветовалась с другой женщиной и позвонила («Нет, этого нет. They’ve just cancelled it”) then she printed out another boarding card. Его только что отменили»), затем она распечатала еще один посадочный талон. “This will get you there,” she told him. «Это приведет тебя туда», — сказала она ему. “We’ll call ahead to the gate and tell them you’re coming.” "Vamos telefonar para o portão e dizer-lhes que estão a chegar." — Мы позвоним к воротам и скажем им, что вы идете.

Shadow felt like a pea being flicked between three cups, or a card being shuffled through a deck. A sombra parecia uma ervilha a ser atirada entre três chávenas, ou uma carta a ser baralhada num baralho. Тень чувствовал себя как горошина, брошенная между тремя чашками, или карта, тасуемая в колоде. Again he ran through the airport, ending up near where he had gotten off in the first place. Voltou a correr pelo aeroporto, acabando perto do local onde tinha saído. Он снова побежал по аэропорту, оказавшись рядом с тем местом, откуда вышел.

A small man at the gate took his boarding pass. “We’ve been waiting for you,” he confided, tearing off the stub of the boarding pass, with Shadow’s seat assignment—17-D—on it. "Estávamos à sua espera", confidenciou, arrancando o canhoto do cartão de embarque, com a atribuição do lugar de Sombra - 17 - sobre ele. — Мы ждали вас, — признался он, отрывая корешок посадочного талона с указанием места Шэдоу — 17-D — на нем. Shadow hurried onto the plane, and they closed the door behind him.

He walked through first class—there were only four first-class seats, three of which were occupied. Он прошел через первый класс — в первом классе было всего четыре места, три из которых были заняты. The bearded man in a pale suit seated next to the unoccupied seat at the very front grinned at Shadow as he got onto the plane, then raised his wrist and tapped his watch as Shadow walked past. O homem barbudo de fato pálido sentado junto ao lugar desocupado da frente sorriu para o Sombra quando entrou no avião, depois levantou o pulso e bateu no relógio quando o Sombra passou. Бородатый мужчина в бледном костюме, сидевший рядом с незанятым местом в самом начале, ухмыльнулся Шедоу, когда тот садился в самолет, затем поднял запястье и постучал по часам, когда Тень прошел мимо.

Yeah, yeah, I’m making you late, thought Shadow. Да, да, я заставляю тебя опаздывать, подумал Тень. Let that be the worst of your worries. Пусть это будет худшей из твоих забот.

The plane seemed pretty full, as he made his way down toward the back. Actually, Shadow quickly discovered, it was completely full, and there was a middle-aged woman sitting in seat 17-D. Shadow showed her his boarding card stub, and she showed him hers: they matched.

“Can you take your seat, please?” asked the flight attendant. — Вы можете занять свое место, пожалуйста? — спросила бортпроводница.

“No,” he said, “I’m afraid I can’t. This lady is sitting in it.”

She clicked her tongue and checked their boarding cards, then she led him back up to the front of the plane, and pointed him to the empty seat in first class. Ela estalou a língua e verificou os cartões de embarque, depois levou-o de volta para a frente do avião e apontou-lhe o lugar vazio na primeira classe. “Looks like it’s your lucky day,” she told him. — Похоже, сегодня твой счастливый день, — сказала она ему.

Shadow sat down. “Can I bring you something to drink?” she asked him. “We’ll just have time before we take off. "Só temos tempo antes de descolarmos. — У нас как раз будет время перед взлетом. And I’m sure you need one after that.” И я уверен, что вам понадобится еще один после этого.

“I’d like a beer, please,” said Shadow. — Мне пива, пожалуйста, — сказал Тень. “Whatever you’ve got.” The flight attendant went away. «Все, что у тебя есть». Стюардесса ушла.