"Steven Gould - Blind Waves" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gould Stephen Jay)

тАЬHow old were you?тАЭ She looked wistful.
тАЬFourteen.тАЭ
тАЬWow. And she let you go?тАЭ
тАЬLet me go? It wasnтАЩt that simple.тАЭ Patricia shook her head. тАЬShe was very busy.
She was a full partner in a firm and in her first race for Congress. She didnтАЩt want a
messy and public custody fight.тАЭ
тАЬI wish I could get my mother out of my hair.тАЭ
тАЬWould you have your parents divorce?тАЭ
тАЬNo, theyтАЩre happy. Did your dad remarry?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ He just slept around a lot. тАЬUh, he dated. He could recite Shakespearean
verse for hours. It was his shtick. He was very popular.тАЭ Patricia could recall a host
of тАЬauntsтАЭ who came and went like candles.
The VHF crackled. тАЬHey, Beenan?тАЭ
Patricia picked up the mike. тАЬI hear you, Mateo.тАЭ Mateo was the tool pusher on
the Amoco boat.
тАЬWeтАЩll be on station in ten minutes.тАЭ
тАЬRightтАФweтАЩll power up.тАЭ
Patricia went forward, bare feet quickstepping over sun-heated white textured
fiberglass, following the deck above the middle hull of the Lorraine. The middle hull
was slightly less than thirty-five feet long, a big titanium pipe four feet in diameter,
with stubby wings in the middle, a big ducted fan with vertical and horizontal
stabilizers at the rear, and a transparent acrylic nose. It was a stupid design for a
sailboat hull, but a darn good submarine.
тАЬYou ready for this, Toni?тАЭ Patricia called back.
Toni shrugged. тАЬNo prob, boss.тАЭ
тАЬOkay. Just remember sheтАЩs a lot more lively without the sub attached,тАЭ Patricia
said. тАЬAnd if that INS Fastship drops back by, just show them your papers and
cooperate. Mateo will back you up.тАЭ
There was an Immigration and Naturalization Service patrol boat, a 110-foot
ex-Coast Guard Fastship, about six miles northwest of them. The INS Fastship had
already queried MateoтАЩs people by VHF, but they were used to Amoco Mechanic
working this area, and Amoco still had a lot of clout, even if its largest refinery was
underwater.
It was the INS that made Patricia leave her regular crew back home. They were
floatersтАФdisplaced aliensтАФand the INS had a mandate to keep them out of the U.S.
Exclusive Economic Zone. They were fair game anywhere within two hundred miles
of the coast. Toni, as a mere wetfoot, was legal here.
тАЬYou told me a hundred times already,тАЭ Toni said, but smiled. тАЬBesides, why
would they mess with Assemblywoman Beenan?тАЭ
Patricia felt her face twist like sheтАЩd bitten into something intensely sour. тАЬFirst,
IтАЩm just an alternate on the assembly, and second, why should the INS care? New
Galveston is only vaguely associated with the U.S. What the INS should care about
is that we have the legal right to be here.тАЭ
Toni looked skeptical. тАЬYeah, they should.тАЭ
тАЬThe youth today.тАЭ Patricia shook her head and lifted the fiberglass hatch on the
personnel tube. тАЬChrist, I remember when my dad used to say that to me!тАЭ
тАЬWhen do I meet your dad?тАЭ Toni asked.
Patricia froze in the mouth of the personnel tube, silent for a moment. Then she
said, тАЬYou donтАЩt, Toni. Full fathom five my father lies; of his bones are coral
made. He went down four years ago, in the Cobia, our second submarine.тАЭ