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

DтАЩyou want to reassign? came his swift response. He was worrying about me, he wanted to protect me
from the trauma of being with Baal, which was a needle under my skin. I liked Pel├й very much, but I
preferred to treat the Diaspora Parliament as a no-ties singles bar.

No, I answered. Just for an hour, after this.

****

Getting close to Tiamaat was easy. After the session the four of us went down to the Foyer, where Baal
was quickly surrounded by a crowd of high powered admirers. They swept him off somewhere, with
Pel├й in attendance. Tiamaat and I were left bobbing in the wake, ignored; a little lost. тАЬShall we have
coffee, Debra?тАЭ she suggested, with dignity. тАЬI love coffee. But not the kind that comes on those
trolleys!тАЭ

I took her to тАЬmyтАЭ kiosk, and we found a table. I was impressed by the way she handled the slights of
her position. There goes Baal, surrounded by the mighty, while his partner is reduced to having coffee
with a minderтАж It was a galling role to have to play in public. I had intended to lead up to the topic on
my mind: but she forestalled me. тАЬYou must be horrified by what happened yesterday.тАЭ

No hostility. тАЬA little horrified, I admit.тАЭ I affected to hesitate. тАЬThe Balas/Shet say that what Baal did
was a ritual, confirming his position as leader; and the Ki expected it. They may even have arranged for
the victim to be available. And it wonтАЩt happen again. Are they right?тАЭ

She sipped her cappuccino. тАЬBaal doesnтАЩt believe he did anything wrong,тАЭ she answered carefully, giving
nothing away.

I remembered her cry of despair. тАЬBut what do you thinkтАФ?тАЭ

тАЬI can speak frankly?тАЭ

тАЬYou can say anything. We may seem to be in public, but nothing you say to me, or that I say to you, can
be heard by anyone else.тАЭ

тАЬSperanza is a very clever place!тАЭ

тАЬYes, it isтАжAnd as you know, though the system itself will have a record, as your Social Support Officer
I may not reveal anything you ask me to keep to myself.тАЭ

She gave me eye contact then, very deliberately. I realized IтАЩd never seen her look anyone in the eye.
The color of her irises was a subtle, lilac-starred gray.

тАЬBefore I left home, when I was a child, I ate meat. I hadnтАЩt killed it, but I knew where it came from. But
I have never killed, Debra. And now I donтАЩt believe I ever will.тАЭ She looked out at the passing crowd,
the surroundings that must be so punishingly strange to her. тАЬMy mother said we should close ourselves
off to the past, and open ourselves to the future. So she sent me away, when I was six years old, to live
on another worldтАФтАЭ

тАЬThat sounds very young to me.тАЭ