"Stephen Kenson - Technobabel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kenson Stephen)

"Corey" Doi practically oozed charisma from his every pore, looking completely
at ease in his fine-tailored suit, casually exchanging a joke with his
companion and smiling enough to light up the room. Osborne knew from
experience that Doi's charming and cheerful demeanor concealed a cut-throat
negotiator rumored to have ties with the yakuza clans, who were the real
backers of Mitsuhama Computer Technologies.
Doi's companion, Jonathan Msaki, also served as head of one of MCT's major
subsidiaries. That kept him more closely in touch with the activities of the
megacorporate giant than Doi was, but Msaki was often more concerned with his
other affairs than the business of the court. Osborne noticed he tended to
follow Doi's lead on most issues and let the more charismatic MCT mouthpiece
do the talking. Msaki was better at gathering information, and Osborne knew
that very little escaped his notice. That was why she moved so quickly to
secure Mitsuhama's support. Doi and Msaki made a formidable team, and
Mitsuhama had suffered more from Renraku's rise in fortune than any other
member of the court. Osborne suspected that she could put that to good use.
Mariene Carstairs, the other Saeder-Krupp representative, looked distinctly
unhappy about being on board the orbital. Osborne knew that Carstairs liked
neither space travel nor the orbital's zero-g environment, and she distinctly
enjoyed any occasion for Carstairs' discomfort. Mariene Carstairs
had made her share of enemies in her years on the court, and Osborne counted
herself among them. She knew Ono from Ares didn't get along with Carstairs
either, but it was the spectacular breakup between Mariene Carstairs and the
late Renraku justice Sam Violet that Osborne was counting on.
The two had had a tempestuous affair that went down in flames when Carstairs
vindictively arranged for Violet's wife to find out about it. Osborne
suspected that Carstairs had also had something to do with the commuter plane
crash that ended Violet's life just as he returned to Earth after failing his
bid for re-election more than two years ago. Mariene Carstairs was a cold
slitch, and everyone knew she had shed no tears for Violet. Osborne hoped
Carstairs' hatred of the late Renraku justice would be enough to keep her from
fragging with Fuchi's case out of malice. The Saeder-Krupp justice was a
believer in the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," and Osborne
planned to make it work in her favor.
Along with Carstairs came Domingo Chavez, who had also just made the
shuttle-flight up to the orbital. Chavez, like Carstairs, made no secret of
his dislike for visiting the orbital, but the dislike was well-founded. Chavez
was a mage, a man with a talent for shaping the magical energies of the
Awakened world. It was a power that had changed the face of the Earth since
the Awakening in 2011, and the megacorporations knew magic as a powerful tool
to be used and respected, which had put magicians like Chavez in positions of
power among them.
Unfortunately, all of the evidence suggested that the power of magic was
strongly tied to the living Earth, and so did not work as expected outside of
the atmosphere. In space, magicians who attempted to call upon their powers
went mad or even died. Some simply vanished, never to be seen again. All of
the corporations and many others were investigating the problem, but it seemed
for now that the use of magic simply wasn't an option in space. Magicians were
safe so long as they did not attempt to use their powers. That was why so few
magicians were chosen to serve on the court, and why Chavez was so loathe to