"Edward M. Lerner - Moonstruck" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lerner Edward M)

Back | Next
Contents




file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry/Bureaubla...r%20-%20Moonstruck%20(Baen)%20(v5)/0743498852___3.htm (1 of 4)28-12-2006 10:35:04
 - Chapter 3




CHAPTER 3
H'ffl Is Father of My Baby
тАФNational Investigator
UFO Sightings Precede F'thk "Arrival"
тАФStar Inquirer
Satyr-like F'thk Are Devil's Spawn
тАФyesterday's most popular dialogue on the
Modern Revelations News Group, AmericaNet
F'thk Evaluate Earth for Commonwealth Membership
тАФWashington Post




Between two parallel lines of the Marine honor guard, a ramp descended from the Galactics' ship. What
looked like a Hovercraft floated down the incline, any noise that it may have been making drowned out
by the crowd. Four F'thk and a large cylindrical object filled the house-sized vehicle's open rear deck.
The one-way glass of the front compartment gave no clues as to the species of the driver. From the
shortness of the cab, it seemed unlikely that the driver was another F'thk. Then again, maybe there was
no driver.
At a stately ten miles per hour, the craft slid across the runway toward the George Washington Parkway.
Four Secret Service cars pulled out in front of it; limos and more Secret Service fell in behind to
complete the motorcade.
At that speed, it'd be a while before the aliens arrived here at the Mall. Kyle moved the inset TV window
to the back of the palmtop computer's display before turning to his companion.
Darlene Lyons was quietly attractive, with twinkling brown eyes, a daintily upturned nose, and full lips
slightly parted in a smile. In faded jeans and an even more faded Metallica T-shirt, her black hair
flowing to the small of her back, she looked not at all like the business-suited and bunned diplomat with
whom he'd shared a limo to the airport on Landing Day. Then again, it wasn't as if he routinely wore
cutoffs, a sleeveless sweatshirt, and an Orioles cap to the OEOB. Alas.
"I'm glad you joined me."
"I'm glad you asked. You were right, too. I'll learn a lot more watching people during the ceremony than
seeing it live myself." She raked both hands, fingers splayed, through her lustrous hair. "Though I
wouldn't have minded selling my ticket for the grandstands."
Laughing, Kyle tapped a query into the comp. As they watched, the bid on eBay for a bleacher seat
popped up another three hundred dollars, to over fifteen grand. "I don't think the Secret Service would've
gone for either of us scalping a seat on the presidential reviewing stand. Beside, this way I'll have
something to tell my folks the next time they try to impress me with having been at Woodstock."