"Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan - The New Space Opera" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dozois Gardner)

of Members present in the flesh, and damn the expense. I surveyed the Chamber with distaste. They all
wanted to make their speeches on the KiAn crisis. But they knew nothing. The freedom of the press
fades and dies at interstellar distances, where everything has to be couriered, and thereтАЩs no such thing as
evading official censorship. TheyтАЩd heard about the genocide, the wicked but romantic An; the ruined
world, the rescue plans. They had no idea exactly what had driven the rebel Ki to such desperation, and
they werenтАЩt going to find outтАФ

All the Diaspora Parliament knew was spin.

And the traditional Ki, the people we were dealing with, were collusive. They didnтАЩt like being killed and
eaten by their aristos, but for outsiders to find out the truth would be a far worse evil: a disgusting, gross
exposure. After all, it was only the poor, the weak-minded, and the disadvantaged who ended up on a
plateтАжAcross from the VisitorsтАЩ Gallery, level with my eyes, hung the great Diaspora Banner. The
populated worlds turned sedately, beautifully scanned and insanely close together; like one of those
ancient distorted projections of the landmasses on the Blue. The тАЬrealтАЭ distance be-tween the Blue
system and Neuendan (our nearest neighbor) was twenty-six thousand light-years. Between the
Neuendan and the Balas/Shet lay fifteen hundred light-years; the location of the inscrutable AleutiansтАЩ
home-world was a mystery. How would you represent that spatial relationship, in any realistic way?

тАЬWhy do they say it all aloud?тАЭ asked Baal idly.
He was beside me, of course. He was glad to have me there, and kept letting me know it: a confiding
pressure against my shoulder, a warm glance from those tawny eyes. He took my complete silence about
the incident in Hopes and Dreams Park for understanding. A DP Social Support Officer never shows
hostility.

тАЬIsnтАЩt your i/t button working?тАЭ

The instantaneous translation in here had a mind of its own.

тАЬIt works well enough. But everything they say is just repeating the docu-ments on this desk. It was the
same in the briefing yesterday, I noticed that.тАЭ

тАЬYou read English?тАЭ

тАЬOh, yes.тАЭ Reading and writing have to be learned, there is no quick neurofix. Casually, with a glint of
that startling irony, he dismissed his skill. тАЬI was taught, at home. But I donтАЩt bother. I have people who
understand all this for me.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs called oratory,тАЭ I said. тАЬAnd rhetoric. Modulated speech is used to stir peoplesтАЩ emotions, to cloud
the facts and influence the voteтАФтАЭ

Baal screwed up his handsome face in disapproval. тАЬThatтАЩs distasteful.тАЭ

тАЬAlso itтАЩs tradition. ItтАЩs just the way we do things.тАЭ

тАЬAh!тАЭ

I sighed, and sent a message to Pel├й on our eye-socket link.

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