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

Another reason went unstated. For the soon-to-be-appointed head of the soon-to-be-announced


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 - Chapter 3

Presidential Commission on Galactic Studies, today was probably his last chance to get an unfiltered
assessment of the public's mood.
As far as the eye or network helicopters thp-thp-thp-ing overhead could see, the Mall was packed. There
would be other ceremonies like today's, of course, celebrations all around the worldтАФTiananmen Square
tomorrow, Red Square the next day, Jardin de Tuileries the day after thatтАФbut today was different.
Today was the first. Kyle and Darlene wanted to be in it, not just watching it. Judging from the crowd,
much of the Eastern Seaboard had felt the same way.
He offered an elbow. "Shall we mingle?"
Giving only a snort in response, whether to the anachronistic gesture or the impracticality of walking
side by side through the crowd, he couldn't tell, she plunged ahead. He hastened after. Only by heading
away from the National Gallery of Art, in front of which the Fellowship Station was to be placed, were
they able to make slow progress.
" . . . Growing up as a . . . " " . . . Incalculable opportunity . . . " " . . . Soulless monsters . . . " " . . . Food
around here?" "Devils . . . " " . . . To the stars?" Bits of conversation rose and fell randomly from the
milling, murmuring crowd.
Devils and monsters? "Wait a sec." Kyle pivoted slowly, listening in vain for more of one conversation.
"Did you hear someone mention monsters?" She shook her head.
He dug the computer out of his pocket. A few finger taps retrieved the sampling of today's headlines that
had been radio-downlinked from the White House's intranet. He grunted as the tabloid headlines rolled
into view. He'd come here to learn, and he had: however inventive these nutty headlines were, there
really were people who believed them. A double tap on the AmericaNet entry made him blink in
surprise: 547 postings just yesterday to the Modern Revelations news group. A quick scribble with the
stylus across the touch screen, "f'thk OR alien OR galactic" matched only 403 of these entries; "monster
OR creature OR devil OR demon OR satan" yielded 516 entries. Wondering if he'd missed any
synonyms, Kyle wrote himself a softcopy note to check out this news group.
A roar arose from across the Mall. The crowd pivoted toward the National Gallery, aligning itself to the
north like so many iron filings. People all around them retrieved their radios, portable TVs, and pocket
comps. As one, they turned the volume settings to max.
Once more, the aliens had arrived.
The Hovercraft coasted gracefully to a halt at the presidential reviewing stand. A ramp slid from the
deck area. A F'thk (Kyle couldn't decide from the small screen if it was one that he'd met) guided the
cylindrical Fellowship Station down the slope. No longer partially obscured by the side of the
Hovercraft, the cylinder could now be seen to have a flared base, a skirt for containing its own air
cushion, perhaps. To yet one more cheer, the cylinder settled to rest on the grassy surface of the Mall.
As the President completed his words of welcome and introduction, Darlene poked Kyle with a sharp
finger. "Coming to Washington first. Odd, don't you think?"
His home VCR was taping everything anyway. "So? They'll see other capitals, meet other heads of state
at other ceremonies, starting with Chairman Chang tomorrow in Beijing."
"They've picked favorites, or seemed to, by coming to Washington, first. Why not New York and the
UN?"
"Maybe they didn't know about it."


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