"GOLDEN, CHRISTIE - THE LAST ROUND-UP" - читать интересную книгу автора (Golden Christie)

She stopped and gazed at him with shining eyes. "It's going to be
wonderful!"

"Wonderful," Kirk echoed, and wondered how the hell he was going to get
out of this one.

Chapter Two.

The transport vessel was small. Too small for Kirk's comfort, anyway. It
might have had a crew of eight, a mess hall and even a room for
recreational activities and exercise, but it was not sufficiently large
for him to feel truly away from his charges.

Alone in his cramped quarters, still imagining he could hear laughter
outside his door, Kirk tapped the computer.

The image of a beautiful Native American woman appeared on the screen.
She was approximately Kirk's age. Silver threads wound through her long,
braided hair, echoing the twist of real silver necklaces about her
elegant throat. Her dark brown eyes sparkled as she recognized her old
friend, and her broad face lit up with a smile.

"Hello, Jim. You know, somehow I figured I'd hear from you any day now,"
Admiral Laura Standing Crane said, chuckling.

"How long have you known?" Kirk said dryly.

"A few days." She raised a raven eyebrow. "I was the one who authorized
it."

Kirk leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hazel eyes.

"Laura, Laura," he sighed, "what did I ever do to you?"

"Oh, come now, Jim, Skalli's a good kid. And you know how important it
is to make new Federation members feel welcome at all levels in
Starfleet--from the Academy on up. Who better than the great Captain
James T. Kirk to help her learn how to get along with humans?"

Kirk winced slightly. "I think if I hear ' great Captain James T. Kirk'
one more time, I'm going to get myself surgically altered again and go
hide out on Vulcan."

That made Standing Crane laugh openly. "You may have passed for a
Romulan, but the Vulcans would spot you in a moment. Skalli requested
that she be the one to tell you. I'm only sorry I wasn't there to see
the expression on your face."

She grew more serious. "How did the field trip go? No difficulties, I
hope? It's my neck on the line, you know."