"Janet Kagan - Mirabile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

stabilize a herd of GuernseysтАФwhich left me and Mike to throw a containment tent
around the Ribeiro place while we did the gene-reads on the roaches and the
daffodils that spawned тАЩem. DragonтАЩs Teeth, sure enough, and worse than useless. I
grabbed my gear and went in to clean them out, daffodils and all.
By the time I crawled back out of the containment tent, exhausted, cranky, and
thoroughly bitten, there wasnтАЩt a daffodil left in town. Damn fools. If IтАЩd told тАЩem
the roaches were Earth-authentic theyтАЩd have cheered тАЩem, no matter how obnoxious
they were.
I didnтАЩt even have the good grace to say hi to Mike when I slammed into the lab.
The first thing out of my mouth was, тАЬThe red daffodilsтАФin front of SagdeevтАЩs.тАЭ
тАЬI got тАЩem,тАЭ he said. тАЬNick of time, but I got тАЩem. TheyтАЩre in the greenhouseтАФтАЭ
WeтАЩd done a gene-read on that particular patch of daffodils the first year theyтАЩd
flowered red: they promised to produce a good strain of praying mantises, probably
Earth-authentic. We both knew how badly Mirabile needed insectivores. The other
possibility was something harmless but pretty that shipsтАЩ records called тАЬfireflies.тАЭ
Either would have been welcome, and those idiots had been ready to consign both
to a fire.
тАЬI used the same soil, Annie, so donтАЩt give me that look.тАЭ
тАЬTownтАЩs full of fools,тАЭ I growled, to let him know that look wasnтАЩt aimed at him.
тАЬSame soil, fine, but can we match the rest of the environmental conditions those
praying mantises need in the goddamn greenhouse?тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs the best weтАЩve got,тАЭ he said. He shrugged and his right hand came up
bandaged. I glared at it.
He dropped the bandaged hand behind the lab bench. тАЬThey were gonna burn
тАЩem. I couldnтАЩtтАФтАЭ He looked away, looked back. тАЬAnnie, itтАЩs nothing to worry
aboutтАФтАЭ
IтАЩd have done the same myself, true, but that was no reason to let him get into the
habit of taking fool risks.
I started across to check out his hand and give him pure hell from close up.
Halfway there the com blatted for attention. Yellow light on the console, meaning it
was no emergency, but I snatched it up to deal with the interruption before I dealt
with Mike. I snapped a тАЬYeah?тАЭ at the screen.
тАЬMama Jason?тАЭ
Nobody calls me that but EllyтАЩs kids. I glowered at the face on screen: my age,
third-generation Mirabilan, and not so privileged. тАЬAnnie Jason Masmajean,тАЭ I
corrected, тАЬWho wants to know?тАЭ
тАЬLeonov Bellmaker Denness at this end,тАЭ he said. тАЬI apologize for my improper
use of your nickname.тАЭ ShipтАЩs mannersтАФhe ignored my rudeness completely.
The name struck me as vaguely familiar but I was in no mood to search my
memory; IтАЩd lost my shipтАЩs manners about three hours into the cockroach clean-out.
тАЬState your business,тАЭ I said.
To his credit, he did: тАЬTwo of EllyтАЩs lodgers claim thereтАЩs a monster in Loch
Moose. By their description, itтАЩs a humdinger.тАЭ
I was all ears now. Elly runs the lodge at Loch Moose for funтАФher professionтАЩs
raising kids. (Elly Raiser Roget, like her father before her. Our population is still so
small we canтАЩt afford to lose genes just because somebodyтАЩs not suited, one way or
another, for parenting.) A chimera anywhere near Loch Moose was a potential
disaster. Thing of it was, Denness didnтАЩt sound right for that. тАЬThen why arenтАЩt they
making this call?тАЭ
He gave a deep-throated chuckle. тАЬTheyтАЩre in the dining room gorging themselves