"George Alec Effinger - All the Last Wars at Once" - читать интересную книгу автора (Effinger George Alec)

"Does this necessarily meanтАФ"
"тАФiated Press here, Mr. WashingтАФ"
"Yes? You, with the hat."
"Yes, sir. Vincent Reynolds, UPI. Mr. Washington, are we to understand that this
agreement has some validity? You are aware that we haven't seen any sort of
credentialsтАФ"
Washington grinned. "Thank you. I'm glad you brought that up. Credentials? Just
you wait a few minutes, and listen outside. Ain't no stoppin' when them rifles start
poppin'!"
"Mr. Washington?"
"Yes?"
"Is this to be an all-out, permanent division of peoples?"
"All-out, yes. Permanent, no. Bob and I have decided on a sort of statute of
limitations. You go out and get what you can for thirty days. At the end of the
month, we'll see what and who's left."
"You can guarantee that there will be no continuation of hostilities at the end of
the thirty days?"
"Why, sure! We're all growed up, now, ain't we? Sure, why, you can trust us!"
"Then this is a war of racial eradication?"
"Not at all," said Bob La Cygne, who had remained silent, behind Washington's
broad seersucker back. "Not at all what I would call a war of eradication. 'Eradicate'
is an ugly term. 'Expunge' is the word we arrived at, isn't it, Mary Beth?"
"I do believe it is, Bob."
Washington studied his notebook for a few seconds, ignoring the shouting
newsmen around him. No attempt was made by the uniformed guards to stop the
pushing and shoving, which had grown somewhat aggravated. Then he smiled
brightly, turning to La Cygne. They clasped hands and waved to the flashing bulbs
of the photographers.
"No more questions, boys. You'll figure it all out soon enough; that's enough for
now." The two men turned and went back into the waiting elevator.
(Tock tockatock tocka tock tock) "And now, the Six O'clock Report (tocka tock
tocka tocka), with (tocka-tock) Gil Monahan."
(Tocka tocka tock tock tocka)
"Good evening. The only story in the news tonight is the recently declared official
hostilities between members of all non-Caucasian races and the white people of the
world. Within minutes of the original announcement, open warfare broke out in
nearly every multiracially populated area in the U.S. and abroad. At this moment the
entire globe is in turmoil; the scene everywhere flickers between bloody combat in
the streets and peaceful lulls marked by looting and destruction of private property.
"What has happened, in effect, is a thirty-day suspension of all rational codes of
conduct. The army and National Guard are themselves paralyzed due to their own
internal conflicts. A state of martial law has been declared by almost all governments,
but, to our knowledge, nowhere has it been effectively enforced.
"There seems to be absolutely no cooperation between members of the opposite
sides, on any level. Even those who most sympathized with the problems of the
other are engaged in, using Mary McLeod Bethune Washington's terms, 'getting their
own.' Interracial organizations, social groups, and even marriages are splintering
against the color barrier.
"We have some reports now from neighboring states that may be of importance
to our viewers, concerning the conditions in these areas at the present time. A state