"Scott G. Gier - Genellan 02 - In the Shadow of the Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gier Scott G)

The southerner's voice thundered from the address system.

"Prime Minister Et Kalass!" Tar Fell rumbled. The hulking warrior, thrice
the mass of a large human, pushed from his grav-lounge and rose to all
fours. "This is a charade."

The Thullolian spoke the ancient tongue well. Kateos crisply translated
the southerner's grinding inflections into the lyrical jodal dialect favored by
Et Kalass. She glanced at her annunciator; a shifting pattern of lights caught
her attention. She selected a particularly active address and, to her
consternation, detected a snippet of scrambled subconversation between a
Thullolian deputy and General Krolk of the Ransa LeagueтАФmost rude
under the circumstances. She directed facial cameras, initiated lip movement
analysis, and piped the output into her decryption programs, unrealistically
hoping for a cipher break. She also tripped the protocol alarm and channeled
a transgression summary to Et Kalass. The prime minister chose not to
register a protest.

"A charade, Chancellor?" Et Kalass replied, settling onto his lounge, the
soul of injured rectitude. "Pray favor us."

"Noble Ollant is gracious with words," Tar Fell pronounced, "but in
practice His Majesty maintains unyielding advantage. Is Genellan, that
miserable asteroid, to become the king's private hive, swarming with
malignant alien technology?"

Kateos turned sharply at Tar Fell's undisguised contempt. The general's
deep-shadowed eyes darted briefly upward and registered her presence,
radiating unmitigated malice. The translator exhaled forcefully and returned
to her instruments. Her physiology reacted predictably. The ventilation
system in her cubicle hummed.

"That vermin-infested ball of ice," Tar Fell continued, "is like a sword
poised over our heads. What doesтАФ"

"Chancellor Tar Fell," Et Kalass bellowed, rising to his hinds. "Mistake not
the fragile nature of our alliance, both between northern and southern
hemispheres and between kone and human. More importantly, mistake not
King Ollant's resolveтАФ"

"Ollant's resolve," Tar Fell screamed, neck tendons bulging, "but mirrors
the determination of the independent nations toтАФ"

"Order!" Talsali boomed in the brusque tongue made universal in the
north during the Rule of Generals. "Gravity, there will be order! This is not
a losagoda ring."

Interdelegation communications blossomed to an electronic crescendo.
Kateos scanned for patterns of unwonted collusion. The usual suspects were
busy, but so were many othersтАФtoo many.