"Barry Longyear - Circusworld 2 - Elephant song" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

The Admiralty Office of the Tenth Quadrant Federation announced today that the circus starship,
City of Bamboo, enroute to the planet H'dgva in the Tenth Quadrant, failed to report in accordance
with its flight plan four days ago. Ninth and Tenth Quadtant-deep space radio searches detected
neither distress calls nor automatic emergency beacon signals. Standard trade route sweeps have
been begun.

The ship, housing the entire company of O'Hara's Greater Shows, the first of the interstellar
circuses, is presumed to have been lost with all hands.

BILLBOARD, May 29th, 2148, p.l.

ONE

In the darkness, above the atmosphere of the strange planet, ten smaller crafts detached
themselves from a great ship, fired their entry burns, and fell toward the planet's surface. When
the shuttles were little more than points of reflected light, the great ship seemed to wobble,



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then roll. For a moment the ship's movement seemed to stabilize, then its powerful engines gave a
brief, blinding flash, the ship nosed over, and dived toward the planet.

A huge man with a bandaged head moaned and opened his eyes as he felt the reality around him
shaking, then slamming to a devastating halt. He closed his eyes as pains that could melt steel
shot through his head.

Noises. The smell of acid. The smell of smoke.

He drove awareness from his mind. There was so much to drive away. A dying ship, a dying show, a
dying daughterтАФ

"Get these two patched up, fast! I need them back on the radios."

"Are we down?"

"Are we down, Mange? Hell yes we're down! Just put a dent in a goddamned mountain!"

... so much to keep away: a dying show, a dying daughter, dying itself, the bullsтАФ

He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the blur of rushing, screaming bodies. Someone had said
something about the bullsтАФ

"Jesus, we're spread all over the place!"

"Fire control, down to the main carrousel! Pony? Pony Red, where are you?"

Unintelligible crackles, words.