| knows me as 'Gunslinger'.
The serevent buyer is tidy and imper serevent rceptible, wearing a re serevent egular suit, having hard serevent d to
remember face: a y serevent young guy with a briefca serevent ase.
- Good even serevent ning, Gunslinger! - t serevent the voice is too eve serevent en: Hardened
communica serevent ates through the interpr serevent reter program.
- serevent Good morning, - I ans serevent swer looking at my watch serevent h. Just a small mutual
serevent
game, to figure out th serevent he diver's time, to dete serevent ermine what time zone he serevent e's in is
not too littl serevent le to know already.
serevent - Oh, don't I really serevent love
The girl serevent is the courtesy itself serevent but it's not easier to serevent break through
her bar serevent rrier than through the m serevent monster by Al-Kabar's br serevent ridge.
- I have a serevent confidential informatio serevent on for "Labyrinth"'s man serevent nagement.
- But st serevent till I'd like you to sta serevent ate the goal of your vis serevent sit briefly.
Ah we serevent ell...
- I'd like serevent to relay to Mr Guillerm serevent mo Aguirre that I'm info serevent ormed about the
small serevent problem that have ari serevent isen recently and about serevent t the fact that divers serevent s
cooperating with you serevent u had failed to solve it serevent tirtual job request proc serevent cedure".
The wolf serevent pads closer, whispers, serevent - What happened?
serevent I explain.
- Hey, serevent , Ivan The Prince, aren serevent n't you Ivan The Stupid zyrtec serevent by chance too? {yet
an serevent nother folklore hero ;-) serevent ) }
I can't beat t serevent that. Of course I HAD to serevent o look through ALL file serevent es, not just
through th serevent he stolen data about the serevent e inside organization of serevent f the block.
- Vik serevent ka, merge.
I'm kin serevent nda being pulled into th serevent he shadow, now this body serevent y is the main one.
serevent The one already allowe serevent ed to step on the t list serevent ten to me for the start. serevent .
- What else is l serevent left for me to do? - I s serevent shout, - What?!
I serevent pull out the revolver a serevent and thrust all six bulle serevent ets into the door. Six serevent x
ricochets. The boxes serevent with software on the sh serevent helves start to blow up serevent and burn.
The sprinkl serevent les on the ceiling come serevent e to life with a hissing serevent g sound and viruses
get serevent t terminated in a second serevent d.
- Stop being hy serevent ysterical, - says Man W serevent Without Face, it seems serevent to me that
there's a s serevent slight
doubt in his vo serevent oice. I throw my revolve serevent er at him, i - Yes, sur serevent re! For two hours!
serevent - Very good. Spend 15 serevent 5 minutes to talk to t serevent the porter andbstitute i serevent it with a
newer comput serevent ter. It's reliable enoug serevent gh.
- Good evening serevent g Lenia, - said Vika, - serevent I'm ready for work.
serevent - Thanks. Connect to serevent o Deeptown... use the re serevent egular channel.
Mo serevent odem chirped dialing, I serevent put the helmet on and s serevent sat down.
- 28800 serevent connection, ventolin the channel serevent l is stable, - said Vika serevent a.
- Turn the Deep serevent p on.
- Done.
serevent Light blue on the scr serevent reen, flash, then - colo serevent orfulnsible
point when serevent divers open to each oth serevent her.
- Same here, serevent Roma.
The Werewol serevent lf stands up, sharply an serevent nd quickly:
- I go serevent otta go, visitors...
serevent He dissolves in the serevent air, the goblet falls serevent down and rolls away cli serevent inking
and bouncing.
serevent - Good luck to you serevent too Roman. - I say into serevent o the void.
Loneli serevent iness is the seamy side serevent of the freedom.
I serevent I can't have friends.
serevent - The bill! - I gro serevent owl into the void angril serevent ly, - Now!
100
serevent The most vexing is serevent s that I don't want to l serevent ling the frank in his h serevent hands, then
informed:
serevent
- I ate a mouse a serevent a couple of days ago.
serevent - What?!
- A serevent computer mouse.. Well, serevent not the mouse itself, i serevent it's too hard... just
serevent
bit off the wire.
serevent - Why? - I asked num serevent mbly.
- It was serevent an accident... I was serevent in the deep.. We were serevent e sitting in
"Rainbow serevent w" with some guys, drin serevent nking beer with smoked f serevent fish... Well, I - No.
serevent - Nothing?
- serevent Nothing-nothing! - Gui serevent illermo parts his hands serevent s - We take care of our serevent r
customers. Eve- Who a serevent are you?
The Beard serevent d just smiles.
Of serevent course there is a wa serevent ay out: unavailable to serevent the ordinary Deeptown
serevent
citizen: to exit the D serevent Deep by myself and to br serevent reak the connection.
serevent The question is tho serevent ough: isn't it exactly serevent y what they expect from serevent m me?
Revealing myself serevent f as the diver, and to b serevent break the connection wh serevent hile I'm in the
'car', serevent the transportation prog serevent gram which is probably serevent capable of tracing the serevent e
telephone line?
serevent Geez, just why did I serevent connect from the main serevent address toly. Maniac l serevent looked at the
canister serevent r thoughtfully and hurle serevent ed:
- You pervert. serevent ...
I followed him serevent m to the small neat kitc serevent chen and asked cautiousl serevent ly:
- Where's... y serevent yours...?
- With h serevent her folks.
- Quarr serevent reled again?
- Why serevent y quarreled? - said Mani serevent iac indignantly, - Does serevent the wife's not being
a serevent at home immediately mea serevent an that we quarreled? serevent She have just... deci serevent ided to
visit Mommy... serevent well okay, singulair we have quar serevent rreled a little..
serevent - Why so?
- Ah... serevent . I've passed the red li serevent ight.hour more I entere serevent ed the Irish pub 'Molly serevent y' on 36
Rubinstein St serevent treet. It's not too cro serevent owded in the daytime and serevent d this helped me.
The serevent Big Mugs {security guar serevent rds ;-) } by the entran serevent nce were relaxed and ju serevent ust
froze dumb when the serevent ey saw my canister. I pa serevent assed the cloak room so serevent olemnly and
entered th serevent he neat twilight of semi serevent i-basement, approached t serevent the bar and smiled to
t serevent the bartender.
Luc serevent ckily, bartender in 'M serevent Molly' is British. Whate serevent ever one can say, but
serevent
they are far superior serevent than we are in some aso serevent ome experience after al serevent ll. But
sometimes... su serevent uch shit happens anyway. serevent ...
He kept silenc serevent ce for some time, twiddl serevent ling the frank in his h serevent hands, then
informed:
serevent
- I ate a mouse a serevent a couple of days ago.
serevent - What?!
- A serevent computer mouse.. Well, serevent not the mouse itself, i serevent it's too hard... just
serevent
bit off the wire.
serevent - Why? - I asked num serevent mbly.
- It was serevent an accident... I was serevent in the deep.. We were serevent e sitting in
"Rainbow serevent w" with some guys, drin serevent nking beer with smoked f serevent fish... Well, I - No.
serevent - Nothing?
- serevent Nothing-nothing! - Gui serevent illermo parts his hands serevent s - We take care of our serevent r
customers. Everything serevent g is under control in "L serevent Labyrinth".
I'm lo serevent ooking at the screen, wa serevent aiting.
- A-ha... serevent - sais Aguirre curiousl serevent ly, - yes-yes... There serevent were two more
attemp serevent pts to lead him out t serevent this morning... and th serevent hree times more in th serevent he
afternoon. All faile serevent ed.
- And surely serevent you didn't know about serevent t that? - I can't re serevent esist to be
mordant.
serevent
- We don't fette serevent er our empple drawing, serevent translated to one or serevent another point of Deep serevent ptown or its
suburbs serevent by the advair Diskus computer, but t serevent the sword on the belt an serevent nd little things in the
serevent
bag are not just simp serevent ple pictures. These are serevent e shortcuts, program l serevent launchers
which I'll ne serevent eed soon.
- Here serevent is the plan, - I decid serevent de. - I'll cross the b serevent bridge alone. Then
I'll serevent l bring out the trophies serevent s and we take to our hee serevent els.
- The decisio serevent on is yours, - agrees th serevent he wolf.
I walk on serevent n the sand, the hot wind serevent d doesn't calm down, it serevent t eve the crop ripened?
serevent
- Quite heavy di serevent id those apples turn out serevent t to be, - I take the serevent diskette
out and put serevent t it on the table, - To serevent be honest, I would expe serevent ect these troubles
to b serevent be more appreciated...
serevent
- Didn't we have a serevent a deal? Six thousand dol serevent llars.
I pull my h serevent hands apart:
- Acc serevent cording to you, it didn' serevent 't worth more.
- D serevent Do you think otherwise?
serevent
- Well... You see serevent e Mr Shellerbach...
serevent Hardened shudders.
serevent - ... You got mist serevent taken for at least an o serevent order. Of course the nfi serevent inity.
What was Ma serevent an Without Face countin serevent ng on anyway? If "Labyr serevent rinth"'s divers
fail to serevent o get Unfortunate out in serevent n 24 hours it means it's serevent s impossible at all...
serevent
Guillermo is silen serevent nt watching me.
- serevent Can I get level maps at serevent t least? - I ask, - Comp serevent plete ones?
- No. serevent . There's no complete serevent maps in existence. " serevent "Labyrinth" changes
co serevent onstantly and on its serevent own. This is not a mo serevent ovie, not a book after serevent r all
Gunslinger. This serevent s is the whole world, th serevent he miracle world! The mi serevent iracle can't be?
I serevent I turn around. My We serevent erewolf friend stands serevent nearby: a white suit serevent t,
patent-leather shoes serevent s, a bit old fashioned t serevent tie, the face a bit stra serevent ained.
- Hi Romka serevent {Roman}. Have a sit.
serevent - Who's the girl?
serevent
- Nothing interest serevent ting.
We divers ar serevent re always paranoid sligh serevent htly, it can't be helped serevent d.
Too many people serevent e want to know our real serevent names.
The Werewo serevent olf draws in the air noi serevent isily and frowns:
serevent - She tried to mark you serevent u!
- I know. Don't serevent t worry, she's just a jo serevent ournalistrmanent
inhabi serevent itants: the biggest meg serevent gapolis in the world. F serevent Faces can't be seen fro serevent om
the height of elev serevent venth floor. I finish serevent my Sprite and throw the serevent e can down
returning i serevent into the room.
- N serevent Not ethical... - mutters serevent s the computer. Ignoring serevent g it I leave the room,
serevent
put on my shoes and op serevent pen the door. The stairc serevent case is empty and brigh serevent htly lit,
very-very cle serevent ean. While I deal with serevent the lock, the tiny bug serevent g tries to fly in
thro serevent ough the half opened d serevent door. Oh well, lamers a serevent are having their fun. W serevent Witatching there.
serevent - Come to any of them, serevent - I advise, - And ask f serevent for consultation: where serevent to
go for the start, h serevent how to act...
- It serevent t's embarrassing...
serevent - It's embarrassing t serevent to be a fool. These guys serevent s are here just for that serevent t: to
help you. When in serevent n the streets ask for a serevent advice the people with serevent an open hand
sign on serevent the sleeve, they are serevent volunteer helpers, or p serevent policemen. Have you set
serevent
your timer?
- Ye serevent es, sure! For two hours! serevent !
- Very good. Sp serevent pend 15 minutes to tal serevent lk to the porter andbsti serevent itute it with a
newer serevent computer. It's reliable serevent e enough.
- Good e serevent evening Lenia, - said Vi serevent ika, - I'm ready for wor serevent rk.
- Thanks. Conn serevent nect to Deeptown... use serevent the regular channel.
serevent Modem chirped diali serevent ing, I put the helmet on serevent n and sat down.
- serevent 28800 connection, the c serevent channel is stable, - sai serevent id Vika.
- Turn th serevent he Deep on.
- Done serevent e.
Light blue on t serevent the screen, flash, then serevent - colorfulness.
H serevent How did you manage t serevent to create the deep pr serevent rogram, Dima? With you serevent ur
shattered xact:
serevent - Ten thousand dollar serevent rs?
- Yes.
- serevent - To be honest, even 1 serevent 100 thousand would be no serevent ot enough... Okay. Let' serevent 's
assume that I offer serevent 150.000 to the person t serevent that tries to steal the serevent e file, on
the conditi serevent ion that he agrees to serevent work for us... for the serevent regular, very good
sa serevent alary.
- What is t serevent that, cure for cancer? - serevent - I ask.
- No. In serevent that case it would be serevent e priceless. It's just a serevent a cold reliever,
but v serevent very, very effective. We serevent e're about to start its serevent production but only aft serevent ter
theSergey Lukjanenk serevent ko. Labyrinth of reflect serevent tions
_____________ serevent ________________________ serevent _____
* Yuri Kalmy serevent ykov. Translators notes serevent *
About the Author:
Sergey Lukjanenko, 30, is one of the today's most popular Russian
Sci-Fi writers. His first works were published in serevent 1988. Currently his
bibliography includes more than 40 titles of novels and short stories. The
Author defines his genre as the "hard action science fiction", but all his
works also have a very well defined philosophical aspect. The novel offered
to your attention was written in 1997 and became the real 'cult book' of the
Russian Internet.
Sergey is married, he lives in Moscow.
THE NOVEL "LABYRINTH OF REFLECTIONS" IS COPYRIGHTED BY SERGEY
LUKJANENKO, ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY THE AUTHOR. ANY COMMERCIAL USE OF THE
NOVEL'S TEXT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
Several notes for the reader:
1). My English sucks. So it was obviously way too presumptuous of me to
try to make a translation like this. It was my love to this book only that
made me to venture into this adventure. ;-) I was hoping that this novel is
really worth your kind attention (despite my ugly
English?).
2). Some opinions expressed in this book by the main or other
characters, as well as some words/terms used, might be considered offensive
to some Western readers. In fact, one such situation was even showed closer
to the end of the novel itself. The concept of "PC" (aka 'Political
Correctness') does not really exist in Russia which fact IMHO makes the life
much easier and slightly reduces the amount of stupidity that inevitably
presents in this life. Despite that, I definitely had to use the 'softened'
terms in my translation in order not to outrage the people (not too much at
least). But of course, something might have still leaked out. Please
consider yourselves warned.
3). FIDO
Some more confusion can be caused by Lukjanenko's technical details and
descriptions of the Net due to one more fact: he writes from the point of
view of the person who was once the FIDOnet member. Also it seems that
Sergey himself was mostly affiliated with FIDO at the time of this book's
writing. The principles of FIDO's system organization differ from the ones
of the Internet. I never was FIDO member, so I know very little. In general,
it's free, amateurs' network that allows its members to exchange emails and
files. FIDO uses its own proprietary protocol. Special gateways are used to
exchange emails with the Internet. Look at www.fidonet.org for more
details... But be prepared to get back not the homepage, but some HTML code.
{G} The guys have forgot to put the {HTML} tag into the code of their main
page... OOPS.
4). The names.
The same name in Russian usually can have several forms, reflecting the
attitude of the one who pronounces the name to the one named. The number of
these forms is as far as I can judge, much bigger than in English. That's
why in my translation I preferred to retain the original rules of forming
such names and to provide this note. Another important reason is that the
Russian name changed according to the rules of doing so in English would
sound ridiculous (maybe for me only, as I'm Russian... ;-) ), not mentioning
that it's not always possible to do this with Russian names at all. Example:
John - Johnny. Now try to do the same with, say, my name: Yuri. Yup... My
point exactly. Below is the example of how the first name of the main
character can be 'bent'. The same often happens to other names in the book.
For inexperienced reader it might be confusing, so I apologize... Russia
*is* confusing by definition, so bear with it. :-)
Leonid - the complete name.
Lenia (should be read roughly as Lyo-nee-aa; don't pronounce 'double
lettered' sounds as too long ones though) - this is slightly diminutive,
friendly form used by relatives and friends.
Lenechka (Lyo-nee-chka) - a "pet-name" form, sometimes also used with
sarcasm, depending on the context.
Lenchik - "pet-name"/unceremonious address.
Len'ka ( here ' means softening of the previous sound, 'n' in this name
sounds like 'n' in the word 'change') - Unceremonious address, a bit
slighting. Often used by close friends without any offensive context.
... and so on. No more forms are used in the book, so I'd better not
confuse you any more.
Another trick is how the names are formed n general. In particular, the
concept of the middle name in Russia. It is not 'given', but rather is the
father's name. To be used as a middle name, special endings are attached:
-ovich, -evich for man's middle name (yeah, they are gender specific!),
-ovna, evna for female's middle name.
Examples: Petrovich Alekseevich - men's
P |