"David Gerrold - Chtorr 2 - A Day for Damnation" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gerrold David)

The War Against the Chtorr
Book 2
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A Day for Damnation

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David Gerrold
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For the Mccaffreys, Anne, Gigi, Todd, and Alec, with love


CHTORR (ktor) n. 1. The planet Chtorr, presumed to exist within 30 lightyears of Earth. 2. The star
system in which the planet occurs; a red giant star, identification unsure. 3. The ruling species of the
planet Chtorr; generic. 4. In formal usage, either one or many members of same; a Chtorr, the Chtorr.
(See CHTOR-RAN) 5. The glottal chirruping cry of a Chtorr.

CHTOR-RAN (ktor-en) adj. 1. Of or relating to either the planet or the star system, Chtorr. 2. Native to
Chtorr. n. 1. Any creature native to Chtorr. 2. In common usage, a member of the primary species, the
(presumed) intelligent life-form of Chtorr. (pl. CHTOR-RANS)
-The Random House Dictionary of the English Language,
Century 21 Edition, unabridged
? ONE

THE CHOPPER looked like a boxcar with wings, only larger. It squatted in the middle of the pasture
like a pregnant sow. Its twin rotors stropped the air in great slow whirls. I could see the tall grass
flattening even from here.
I turned away from the window and said to Duke, "Where the hell did that come from?"
Duke didn't even look up from his terminal. He just grinned and said, "Pakistan." He didn't even stop
typing.
"Right," I said. There wasn't any Pakistan any more, hadn't been a Pakistan for over ten years. I turned
back to the window. The huge machine was a demonic presence. It glowered with malevolence. And I'd
thought the worms were nasty to look at. This machine had jet engines large enough to park a car in. Its
stubby wings looked like a wrestler's shoulders.
"You mean it was built for the Pakistan conflict?" I asked.
"Nope. It was built last year," corrected Duke. "But it was designed after Pakistan. Wait one minute-" He
finished what he was doing at the terminal, hit the last key with a flourish, and looked up at me.
"Remember the treaty?"
"Sure. We couldn't build any new weapons."
"Right," he said. He stood up and slid his chair in. He turned around and began picking up pages as they
slid quietly, one after the other, out of the printer. He added, "We couldn't even replace old weapons.
But the treaty didn't say anything about research or development, did it?"
He picked up the last page, evened the stack of papers on a desk top, and joined me at the window.
"Yep. That is one beautiful warship," he said.
"Impressive," I admitted.
"Here-initial these," he said, handing me the pages.
I sat down at a desk and began working my way through them. Duke watched over my shoulder,
occasionally pointing to a place I missed. I said, "Yeah, but-where did it come from? Somebody still had