"Esther M. Friesner - Chicks 03 - Chicks 'N Chained Males" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

Andromeda and Persueus
by Harry Turtledove
Andromeda was feeling the strain. "Whyme ?" she demanded. She'd figured Zeus wanted something
from her when he invited her up to good old Mount Olympus for the weekend, but she'd thought it would
be something else. She'd been ready to play along, tooтАФhow did you go about saying no to the king of
the gods? You didn't, not unless you were looking for a role in a tragedy. But . . . this?

"Why you?" Zeus eyed her as if he'd had something else in mind, too. But then he looked over at Hera,
his wife, and got back to the business at hand. "Because you're the right manтАФuh, the right personтАФfor
the job."

"Yeah, right," Andromeda said. "Don't you think you'd do better having a man go out and fight the
Gorgons? Isn't that what men are for?тАФfighting, I mean." She knew what else men were for, but she
didn't want to mention that to Zeus, not with Hera listening.

And Herawas listening. She said, "Men are uselessтАФfor fighting the Gorgons, I mean." She sounded as
if she meant a lot of other things, too. She was looking straight at Zeus.

No matter how she sounded, the king of the gods dipped his head in agreement. "My wife's right." By
the sour look on his face, that sentence didn't pass his lips every eternity. "The three Gorgons are
fearsome foes. Whenever a man spies Cindy, Claudia, or Tyra, be it only for an instant, he turns to
stone."

"Partof him turns to stone, anyway," Hera said acidly.

"And, so, you not being a man, you being a woman . . ." Zeus went on.

"Wait a minute. Wait just a linen-picking minute," Andromeda broke in. "You're not a man, either, or not
exactly a man. You're a god. Why don't you go and take care of these Gorgons with the funny names
your own self?"

Zeus coughed, then brightened. "Well, my dear, since you put it that way, maybe I ought toтАФ"

"Not on your immortal life, Bubba," Hera said. "You lay a hand on those hussies and you're mythology."

"You see how it is," Zeus said to Andromeda. "My wife doesn't understand me at all."

Getting in the middle of an argument between god and goddess didn't strike Andromeda as Phi Beta
KappaтАФor any other three letters of the Greek alphabet, either. Telling Zeus to find himself another
boyтАФor girlтАФwouldn't be the brightest thing since Phoebus Apollo, either. With a sigh, she said, "Okay.
You've got me." Zeus' eyes lit up. Hera planted an elbow in his divine ribs. Hastily, Andromeda went on,
"Now what do I have to do?"

"Here you are, my dear." From behind his gold-and-ivory throne, Zeus produced a sword belt. He was
about to buckle it on AndromedaтАФand probably let his fingers do a little extra walking while he was
taking care of thatтАФwhen Hera let out a sudden sharp cough. Sulkily, the king of the gods handed
Andromeda the belt and let her put it on herself.

From behind her throne, Hera pulled out a brightly polished shield. "Here," she said. "You may find this
more useful against Cindy, Claudia, and Tyra than any blade. Phallic symbols, for some reason or other,