"George R. R. Martin - Loaves and Fishes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

was firm and graceful; she swam through the spokes of the web and the corridors, halls, and parks of
Spiderhome as fluidly as a fish through water, her long arms and thin, muscular legs pushing, touching,
propelling her along. She never wore shoes; her feet were almost as clever as her hands.
Even out in naked space, where veteran spinnerets wore cumbersome suits and moved awkwardly along
tether lines, Tolly Mune chose mobility and form-fitting skinthins. Skinthins gave only minimal protection
against the hard radiation of SтАЩulstar, but Tolly took a perverse pride in the deep blue-black cast of her
skin, and swallowed anti-carcinoma pills by the handful each morning rather than opt for slow, clumsy
safety. Out in the bright hard black between the web strands, she was the master. She wore airjets at
wrist and ankle, and no one was more expert in their use. She zipped freely from fly to fly, checking here,
visiting there, attending all the meetings, supervising the work, welcoming important flies, hiring, firing,
solving any problem that might arise.
Up in her web, Portmaster Tolly Mune, Ma Spider, the Steel Widow, was everything she had ever
wanted to be, equal to every task, and more than satisfied with the cards sheтАЩd drawn.
Then came a night-cycle when she was buzzed from a sound sleep by her Deputy Portmaster. тАЬIt better
be goddamned important,тАЭ she said when she stared at him over her vidscreen.
тАЬYou better access Control,тАЭ he said.
тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬFly coming in,тАЭ he said. тАЬBig fly.тАЭ
Tolly Mune scowled. тАЬYou wouldnтАЩt dare wake me up for nothing. LetтАЩs have it.тАЭ
тАЬA real big fly,тАЭ he stressed. тАЬYou have to see this. ItтАЩs the biggest damn fly IтАЩve ever laid eyes on. Ma,
no fooling, this thing is thirty kays long.тАЭ
тАЬPuling hell,тАЭ she said, in the last uncomplicated moment of her life, before she made the acquaintance of
Haviland Tuf.


She swallowed a handful of bright blue anti-carcinogens, washed them down with a healthy squeeze from
a bulb of beer, and studied the holo apparition that stood before her. тАЬLarge ship youтАЩve got there,тАЭ she
said casually. тАЬWhat the hell is it?тАЭ
тАЬThe Ark is a biowar seedship of the Ecological Engineering Corps,тАЭ replied Haviland Tuf.
тАЬThe EEC?тАЭ she said. тАЬYou donтАЩt say.тАЭ
тАЬMust I repeat myself, Portmaster Mune?тАЭ
тАЬThis is the Ecological Engineering Corps of the old Federal Empire, now?тАЭ she asked. тАЬBased on
Prometheus? Specialists in cloning, biowarтАФthe ones who custom-tailored all kinds of ecological
catastrophe?тАЭ She watched TufтАЩs face as she spoke. He dominated the center of her small, cramped,
disorderly, and too-seldom-visited office in Spiderhome, his holographic projection standing among the
drifting, weightless clutter like some huge white ghost. From time to time a balled up sheet of paper
floated through him.
Tuf was big. Tolly Mune had met flies who liked to magnify themselves in holo, so they came across as
bigger than they were. Maybe that was what this Haviland Tuf was doing. Somehow she thought not,
though; he didnтАЩt seem the sort. Which meant he really did stand some two-and-a-half meters tall, a good
half-meter above the tallest spinneret sheтАЩd ever met. And that one had been as much a freak as Tolly
herself; SтАЩuthlamese were a small peopleтАФa matter of nutrition and genetics.
TufтАЩs face gave absolutely nothing away. He interlocked his long fingers calmly on top of the swollen
bulge of his stomach. тАЬThe very same,тАЭ he replied. тАЬYour historical erudition is to be commended.тАЭ
тАЬWhy, thank you,тАЭ she said amiably. тАЬCorrect me if IтАЩm wrong, though, but being historically erudite and
all, I seem to recall that the Federal Empire collapsed, oh, a thousand years ago. And the EEC vanished
tooтАФdisbanded, recalled to Prometheus or Old Earth, destroyed in combat, gone from human space,
whatever. Of course, the Prometheans still have a lot of the old biotech, itтАЩs said. We donтАЩt get many
Prometheans way out here, so I couldnтАЩt say for sure. But theyтАЩre a bit jealous about sharing any of their
knowledge, IтАЩve heard. So, let me see if IтАЩve got this straight. YouтАЩve got a thousand-year-old EEC