"Gwyneth Jones - Saving Tiamaat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jones Gwyneth)

our party stayed behind. The An leaders and the Ki delegates went on alone, with a
police escort, for a private visit to тАЬHopes and Dreams ParkтАЭтАФa facsimile of one of
the Sacred Groves (as near as the term trans-lates) central to KiAn spirituality.

Pel├й and I went with them.

The enclave of woodland was artfully designed. The тАЬtreesтАЭ were like
self-supporting kelp, leathery succulentsтАФlignin is native only to the Blue
PlanetтАФbut they were tall, and planted close enough to block all sight of the packed
towers. Their sheets of foliage made a honeyed shade, we seemed alone in a gently
managed wilderness. The Ki and the An kept their distance from each other now that
the cams werenтАЩt in sight. The police moved out-ward to maintain a cordon around
the group, and I began to feel uneasy. I should have been paying attention instead of
savoring my breakfast, I had not grasped that тАЬHopes and Dreams ParkтАЭ would be
like this. I kept hear-ing voices, seeing flitting shadows; although the park area was
supposed to have been cleared. IтАЩd mentioned the weak shielding; I hoped it had
been fixedтАФ

тАЬAre religious ceremonies held here?тАЭ I asked Tiamaat.

She drew back her head, the gesture for тАЬno.тАЭ тАЬMost KiAn have not followed
religion for a long time. ItтАЩs just a place sacred to ourselves, to nature.тАЭ

тАЬBut itтАЩs fine for the Shelter Police, and Pel├й and me, to be with you?тАЭ
 тАЬYou are advocates.тАЭ

We entered a clearing dotted with thickets. At our feet smaller plants had the
character of woodland turf, starred with bronze and purple flow-ers. Above us the
primary sun dipped toward its false horizon, lighting the bloodred veins in the
foliage. The blue daystar had set. Baal and Tiamaat were walking together: I heard
him whisper, in the An language, тАЬnow itтАЩs our time.тАЭ

тАЬAnd these are the lucky ones,тАЭ muttered one of the Ki delegates to me, her
тАЬEnglishтАЭ mediated by a throat-mike processor that gave her a teddy-bear growl.
тАЬAnyone who reached Speranza had contacts, money. Many millions of our people
are trying to survive on a flayed, poisoned bombsiteтАФтАЭ

And whose fault is that?

I nodded, vaguely. It was not my place to take sidesтАФ

Something flew by me, big and solid. Astonished, I realized it had been Baal.
He had moved so fast, it was so totally unexpected. He had plunged right through
the cordon of armed police, through the shield. He was gone, vanished. I leaped in
pursuit at once, yelling: тАЬHold your fire!тАЭ I was flung back, thrown down into zinging
stars and blackness. The shield had been strengthened, but not enough.

Shelter Police, bending over me, cried: what happened, maтАЩam, are you hit?

My conviction that we had company in here fused into certaintyтАФ