"James Alan Gardner - League of Peoples 01 - Expendable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner James Alan)

than ninety-nine percent of the population. He had some trouble eating solids, but the Admiralty
graciously accommodated thatтАФthe cafeteria stocked a large supply of nutritious fluids.

When he talked, his enunciation was unfailingly precise. Since it cost him a great deal of effort, he
preferred not to speak if he could help it.

I had known Yarrun six years, first in the Academy, then on the ship. We had saved each other's lives so
often we no longer kept count. We could talk to each other about anything, and we could be quiet
together without feeling uncomfortable. I was as close to Yarrun as I have ever wanted to be with
anyone.

And yet.

There were still times when the sight of his face made my skin crawl.
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In the Halls (Part 1)


The halls were deserted at that hour. The ship only needed a twenty-person running crew at night, and
the on-duty crew members usually stayed close to their posts. I loved to walk the empty corridors when
the lights had been dimmed and every door was closed. Neither Yarrun nor I spoke. The soft clopping of
our footsteps echoed lightly in the stillness of the sleeping ship.

Our ship was called theJacaranda, named after a family of flowering trees native to Old Earth. The
previous captain had actually owned a jacaranda tree and kept it in his quarters. When it was in bloom,
he would pin a blossom to his lapel every morning. The deep blue of the flower went well with khaki.

When our current captain took command, she said, "Get that damned thing out of my room. It's
shedding." The tree was moved to the cafeteria, where it got in everyone's way and frequently dropped
petals onto plates of food.

A few months later, the tree suddenly died. Someone probably poisoned it. The crew held a party to
celebrate the tree being reduced to proto-nute, and even I attended. It was the first time I tasted Divian
champagne.

Now the only jacarandas on ship were stylized ones stenciled on walls and doors. The colors of these
trees indicated the authorization needed to enter a given area. I was allowed into areas marked with red
jacarandas and black. I was not permitted to enter rooms marked with orange, blue, green, yellow,
purple, pink, or brown.

Red areas were public ones like the cafeteria. Black areas were reserved for Explorers and their
equipment. The Admiralty denied that black had any special significance.