"James Patrick Kelly - Dividing the Sustain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

colonistsтАФ especially odd because these two groups did not usually have much to
do with one another. The colonists regarded the crew as outrageously idiosyn-cratic;
almost all of them had been recast with custom bio or mechmods. Crew could be
quarrelsome and vulgar. They held grudges. Sometimes they solved problems by
screaming at one another.

The crew thought the colonists were boring.

The colonists who attended BeenтАЩs party were Tedia Grossman, Grel
Laconia, and Ydt, whom Been knew from the Artful Exaggerators Meetup. They
were some of the worst liars he had ever met, but for Consensualists, they were fair
company. Gala Lysenko, Beth Fauziah, and Foxcroft Allez came from the Future
Farmers Meetup. They had spent the last few months subjectively trying to get Been
to reveal what wonder food was stowed in the CargoCore. Been had hinted and
dodged for months, since his credentials as a genetic agronomist were nothing but
well-crafted lies. He didnтАЩt even like vegetables. Dizzy and Henk Krall, who were
subsidizing the run to Little Chin, had invited themselves, no doubt to protect their
interests. And of course, Nelly, Zola, and Sandor were there, hoping that the party
might somehow help them move their superfluous podmate out. From the
crewтАФaside from Harlen Quellan, baby Quellan, and of course, his
motherтАФinvitations went to Matty, Ment, and Vron Zink, who were the factors in
charge of dividing the sustain so that the Nine Ball could slip through the folded
dimensions. Everyone was eager to hear the ZinksтАЩ latest estimate of when the
slipship would arrive at Little Chin. Zelmet Emsley was invited, as well as Kinsella
Frecktone, who managed the Nine BallтАЩs AgCore and was presumably a
professional colleague of BeenтАЩs, although they had hardly spoken since leaving
NonnyтАЩs Home. Nobody could quite figure out why Kastor maven Lodse, the
assistant cargo steward, was on the guest list.

****

Been rode the lift to the frontmost level of the Nine Ball with Nelly and Sandor; Zola
had volunteered to bring the birthday cake from the cafeteria.

Been was feeling a little flushed; Zelmet EmsleyтАЩs sprites had been having their
way with his genome for not quite a day now. He worried that his skin was getting
tighter; he could almost feel his fingerprints.

The lift hatch slid away and he was gazing into the dazzle of the
ControlCoreтАЩs lightboards.

тАЬHmm.тАЭ Zelmet Emsley sounded as if he were a swarm of bees. тАЬHereтАЩs the
man of the hour.тАЭ
 Been blinked, distracted by the way the lightboards were singing their status
reports.

тАЬWeтАЩre here, Been,тАЭ hissed Nelly. тАЬStep off.тАЭ When she nudged Been in the
small of the back, her knuckle pricked him like a knife and he felt a surge of terror.
How long had he been paralyzed by the sights and sounds of ControlCore? Sandor
had a hand clamped over the shivering lift hatch to keep it from closing. Been