"Jacqueline Lichtenberg - Dushau Trilogy 01 - Dushau" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lichtenberg Jacqueline)

"It is incumbent upon The Incarnate to discern the Policy behind the Laws of Nature so They
can anticipate results of action/motivation during a Cyclical Hiatus when there is no evidence to
reveal even the existence of such Policy."

FIFTH OBSERVATION OF SHOSHUNRI

"Disregarding the Fourth Observation is a capital offense."
From : Purpose and Method

By: Shoshunri, Observing Priest of Aliom

ONE
Heraldry Rampant

THE KAMMINTH OLIAT HAS RETURNED, AND IS SCHEDULED TO RECEIVE
COLONIZABLE PLANET DISCOVERY HONORS. IN THE NAME OF EMPEROR
RANTAN, ALL SURVEY BASE PERSONNEL ARE COMMANDED TO ATTEND THE
AFTERNOON AUDIENCE.

The words crawled onto Krinata Zavaronne's desk screen and refused to be banished: an imperial
command.

She swore. As a programming ecologist she was "Survey Base Personnel." The new Emperor would not
allow her to put duty above protocol, even though with the food riots and threats of whole species
seceding from the Allegiancy Empire, her work was more critical than ever. The Emperor obviously
hoped pomp and ceremony would whip up a sentimental loyalty to carry them over the crises. But
Krinata knew this was the worst possible time for her department to delay putting new planets on the
open market. When the throne was vacant, I got things done faster.

In the privacy of her office, she squirmed into the formal red taffeta tunic. It fit tightly down the arms while
blousing above her knees and made her feel silly.

It's a mistake, that's all. She was Kamminth's debriefing officer; she should have been asked before this
useless ceremony was scheduled.

She'd have said, "No. Absolutely not!" And that would have been the end of it. Exposing the seven
members of an Oliat to a public ceremony before they'd been debriefed and dissolved the peculiar
psychic bond among them was nothing short of public torture.

She'd failed one of her Oliat teams by assuming everything would return to normal now that they had an
Emperor again, so it was up to her to do something about it. As she draped the black sash around her
waist, then up over her shoulder and fastened it to show the three linked circles of her family crest, she
bent over her screen and punched up Finemar, the infirmary's Sentient computer. The Emperor's
command remained overlaid on the screen.

Finemar projected himself onto her screen as a Lehiroh maleтАФthe Emperor's speciesтАФvisually
indistinguishable from human. He greeted her pleasantly, adding, "I'd have expected you to be on your
way to the Audience, Krinata."