"James Patrick Kelly - St. Theresa of the Aliens" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

It was summer before State finally let me approach the aliens with the idea of
the debate. Maybe all the fourth of July demonstrations organized by the
Purgers had convinced them that something needed to be done. Twisted Logic
referred me to his superiors in Sverdlovsk; it took me several tries before I
could convince an unenthusiastic alien named Final Authority. I had the
impression that he did not much care about American public opinion. "If your
people truly want it, we will leave your country. We do not need to be
understood; it is you who need to understand."
According to my agreement with State, the debate was to be taped and
the tapes submitted for editting by government censors. I soothed my
conscience by vowing that if they butchered the debate AlienLine would not run
it. To ensure security all human participants were to board a transport at
Andrews Air Force Base and fly to a secret rendevous with the aliens. There
would be a live audience of fifteen, five guests of AlienLine, five Purgers
and five alien sympathizers -- scientists all as it turned out. They would be
subjected to personal searches and liable to fine and imprisonment for
disorderly conduct. It was not perfect but it was the best I could do.
I had not seen Terry since the miscarriage and had managed to avoid
most of her telelink calls to Nicole. Nevertheless I had followed her career
as Sister Theresa, a superior of the Brides of Christ and one of the more
rational advocates of the Purge. She had introduced the idea of non-violent
prayer marches to disrupt public appearances by the aliens. It seemed that
every other week AlienLine was forced to run footage of some sweet little
grandmother saying Hail Marys while being dragged away by stony-faced
policemen. Terry had all the qualities that telelink loves in its newsmakers.
She was attractive, she sounded sincere and she spoke in a kind of sloganese
that was easy to understand. She was a master of the fifteen-second quote yet
I was sure that if forced to speak at length she would stumble. For that --
and other reasons -- I wanted her to take the Purge side in my debate. Terry
did not seem surprised when I asked her but then I supposed that State had
leaked the idea.
"What format?" She was taking notes.
"Opening statement, five minutes. Twenty minutes of question,
response, rebuttal, each side alternating. A three minute closing."
She sighed. "Not much time."
"If the ratings are good enough you can go at it again."
"You're a cynical man, Sam Crimmins. I pray for you sometimes."
Once such an admission would have thrown me into a rage. Now I found
the futility of her prayers for my soul touching. It struck me at that moment
that many of her prayers probably went unanswered. It was an austere life
that she had made for herself; I wondered if she were disappointed with it.
She looked weary. I could see that her telelink image was largely a product of
makeup and acting.
"Moderator?" she said.
"Me."
She shook her head.
"All I do is keep the time," I said. "It's your show."
"I have to talk it over with the Council. They'll say yes." She pushed
the notes to one side. "Why are you doing this, Sam?"
"Have you ever met an alien?"