Plague fair [Рафаэль Тигрис] (fb2) читать постранично, страница - 2

turned out to not have a very model-like appearance, but after all, women are not born to strut around on catwalks with long legs and a subtle body. Women are born to attract the attention of men, who will appreciate them and want to have offspring from them. That is how Mother Nature intended it, and that is the process, that is now taking place between Yesenia and Solomon.

By the end of the river walk, the London weather had broken up-the clouds over the Thames had cleared and the sun was shining.

Yesenia face lit up even more.

– We must ride that wheel in this weather,– she said, pointing to the "London Eye".– I hope you're not afraid of heights.

–With you, Yesenia, I'm not afraid of anything.

They crossed to the left bank of the Thames and soon found themselves in a glass cabin at a height of 140 meters. The view from there was amazing.

Yesenia untied the purple kerchief and let loose the luxuriant tresses of her ashy hair, whose fragrance enchanted Solomon and made him take his eyes away from the panorama of the city.

– You're beautiful! – said Solomon softly.

   Their faces drew together. It seemed that they would kiss each other a moment later.

 Yesenia was the first to come to senses. She pulled away slowly, looking around with a smile at the other passengers in the cabin.

Over the Thames, the night lights were lit.

–It's time for me to go home, Solomon, and you go to the hotel and get ready for tomorrow's performance.

Solomon completely forgot that he had a performance tomorrow. So, he returned to the hotel, went down to the business center and plunged into work.

"Good evening, Solomon."

An unfamiliar caller requested contact on the screen.

"Who are you and what do you need?"

"My name is Yersinia."

"Yersinia is the name of the plague microbe."

"And I am the plague microbe. Now your report is about me.”

"How do you know what I'm doing right now?"

Solomon looked around. There was no one in the business center.

“You are looking for me in vain. You will not find me. I'm a little.”

How does she manage to find out about everything that happens to him?

"Can you turn on the camera and show yourself?"

"Do you want this so much?"

"Yes, I want to see you."

"Well, look Solomon, you asked for this yourself. It’s not my fault."

   Solomon hesitated. Why should he be afraid? After all, the plague isn't transmitted over the Internet.

"I didn't change my mind. Turn it on.”

Yersinia's video window lit up, and Solomon made out a female figure sitting with her back to him. Suddenly, rats appeared and began to climb on the back of the sitting woman.

–Turn to face me, Yersinia! Turn around!

The figure turned sharply, so that the rats flew off shoulders. Solomon gasped in horror. The terrible Mask of Death was looking at him! In the next moment, there was terrible hysterical laughter.

Solomon put an end to this nightmare with one click. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The sound of the phone suddenly ringing threw him up in his chair.

– Hello! Solomon! -he heard the voice of Yesenia.

–Yesenia is you?

–It’s me. So I decided to call you.

–You did the right thing. Please turn on the camera. I really need to talk to you live now.

Yesenia turned on the camera.

–Look, this is my bedroom.

She herself was in a pink nightgown with lace sleeves. After the nightmare, Solomon took pleasure in looking at the object of his sympathy.

–You don't really stare at my sleepy face.

–Come on! Is it possible to see it on a tiny screen? I just want to see you.

– Well! That enough. I'm going to sleep. Goodnight Solomon.

– Goodnight Yesenia.

When Solomon opened his eyes, it was already light enough.

Solomon opened the toilet lid to empty his bladder and saw something that made him slam the lid back on with a cry. A huge rat bounced around inside.

Solomon hurriedly pressed the flush button and, after waiting a little, carefully opened the lid again. The rat was still there. Solomon rushed out of the room and ran into the hall, shouting loudly:

–There's a rat in my bathroom!

If a bomb had exploded in the hall, it would have had less effect than what Solomon said. Half-naked, barefoot, with tousled hair and bulging eyes, he looked like a madman.

The first person to run up to him was the head of the hotel's security service, the same Mr. Spencer. He quickly took Solomon by the arm and led him aside.

–Mr. Grande, please calm down and explain what it all means?

–I want to ask you, what does it mean when I wake up and see a rat in the toilet bowl?

–Sir, you understand that with your obscene appearance and the word "rat", you are spreading panic in our hotel and scaring off visitors.

–I understand everything very well, but, what can I do, if I have a rat in the toilet? Do not doubt that if there were an elephant, I would gladly say the word “elephant”.

–Mr. Grande, understand. Our hotel's 100-year reputation is at stake. Rats can't just show up here. This is a carefully planned provocation, and therefore, I ask you to describe in detail everything that happened to you.

Solomon told everything that had happened to him, not forgetting to mention Yesenia, her friend Carlos, the messages sent by Yersinia, and even more so, yesterday's terrible communication on the computer.

Spencer listened to him attentively, took some notes, and said:

–Sir, you will now go to the conference and behave as you did yesterday. I mean to take part in scientific meetings and also to continue the carefree pastime with Yesenia. I asked for one thing, so that no one would know about our conversation. No one should suspect that you shared your doubts with me with your friend Yesenia. It is possible that she is involved in this case. Yesenia is the only one in this city who has complete information about you. Is it true?

–Yes, it is!

–Do you already have my card? Now you write down your phone number.

Solomon came to the conference. At last came the solemn moment, which he had been waiting for all his life. At a highly professional forum in the imperial capital, his name and the name of the country were announced.

He ascended the pulpit.

–Dear chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak at this prestigious forum.

The fact that our society has forgotten about the plague is the great merit of doctors of several generations, including ours. However, such well-being can lull our vigilance and cause the plague to reappear with even greater force. After all, it is enough to steal or buy a developed antibiotic-resistant strain of the plague bacillus, inject it into a chicken embryo, dry it, place it in an aerosol can, and inject it into the ventilation system of any institution, or just a residential building. You know, colleagues, how contagious the plague infection is. Of course, modern medicine will be able to weaken and localize the focus, and if earlier the death rate from the plague was up to 90%, now it is much lower at up to 10%. However, I think that none of those sitting in this hall doubts that fear and panic will seize our society if plague patients appear among us.

There was complete silence in the hall. Everyone listened with interest to the speech. Yesenia was also present in the hall and listened attentively to him.

Suddenly, Solomon saw how Carlos sat down next to Yesenia and began to say something quickly to her. Yesenia's face tightened and became concentrated.

Solomon continued his speech by presenting to the public interesting data from previously unpublished methods and experiments.

Suddenly, Solomon saw that Yesenia's place was empty. Carlos disappeared with her.

"Where did they go in such a hurry? – thought Solomon, – and the phone is turned off!”

At this time, the chairman called a break, and those present in the hall began to go out.

Solomon ran up to the third floor towards the cafe; it was empty there.

A message has been received on the mobile phone. Solomon immediately opened it; it was from Yersinia.

"Don't look for her."

The number again was undetectable.

“Come back to the conference!”

“Someone is watching my every move. And this someone is very close."

Solomon began to look around carefully. Nothing suspicious.

"This someone controls my every step."

Solomon looked down. The break ended and the conference participants entered the hall.

Instead of going downstairs, Solomon quickly walked towards the cafe.

–Where is your emergency exit? – he asked the waiter.

– Over there, through the kitchen.

Solomon passed the kitchen and went down to the first floor in the service elevator. Another door, and now he was in