"George R. R. Martin - Manna From Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

тАЬAlways my best intentions are met with suspicion.тАЭ
тАЬBlackjack and me, weтАЩre your puling shadows, Tuf. IтАЩm not leaving this ship until things are settled, and
IтАЩm going to look hard at everything you do.тАЭ
тАЬIndeed,тАЭ said Tuf.
тАЬJust keep a few damned things in mind,тАЭ Tolly Mune said. тАЬIтАЩm First Councillor now. Not Josen Rael.
Not Cregor Blaxon. Me. Back when I was Portmaster, they liked to call me the Steel Widow. You
might pass an hour or two pondering how and why I got that puling name.тАЭ
тАЬI shall indeed,тАЭ said Tuf, rising. тАЬIs there anything else you would like me to recall, madam?тАЭ
тАЬJust one thing,тАЭ she said. тАЬA scene from that Tuf and Mune vidshow.тАЭ
тАЬI have striven diligently to put that unfortunate fiction out of my memory,тАЭ Tuf said. тАЬWhich particular of
it would you force me to recall?тАЭ
тАЬThe scene where the cat rips the security man to shreds,тАЭ Tolly Mune said, with a small, sweet smile.
Blackjack rubbed up against her knee, turned his smoky gaze up at Tuf, and rumbled deep in his massive
body.


It took almost ten days to arrange the armistice, and another three for the allied ambassadors to make
their way to SтАЩuthlam. Tolly Mune spent the time haunting the Ark, two steps and a hasty thought behind
Tuf, questioning everything he did, peering over his shoulder when he labored at his console, riding by his
side when he made the rounds of his cloning vats, helping him feed his cats (and keep a hostile Dax away
from Blackjack). He attempted nothing overtly suspicious.
Dozens of calls came through for her daily. She set up an office in the communications room, so she
would never be far from Tuf, and handled the problems that could not wait.
Hundreds of calls came through daily for Haviland Tuf. He instructed his computer to refuse all of them.
When the day came, the envoys emerged from their long, luxurious diplomatic shuttle and stood gazing
about at the ArkтАЩs cavernous landing deck and fleet of derelict starships. They were a colorful and
diverse lot. The woman from Jazbo had waistlong blue-black hair that shone with scented iridescent oils;
her cheeks were covered with the intricate scars of rank. Skrymir sent a stocky man with a square red
face and hair the color of mountain ice. His eyes were a crystalline blue that matched the color of his
scaled metal shirt. The envoy from the Azure Triune moved within a haze of holographic projections, a
dim, fractured, shifting shape that spoke in an echoey whisper. RoggandorтАЩs cyborg ambassador was as
broad as he was tall, made in equal parts of stainless duralloy, dark plasteel, and mottled red-black flesh.
A slight, delicate-looking woman in transparent pastel silks represented HenryтАЩs World; she had a boyish
adolescent body and ageless scarlet eyes. The allied party was led by a large, plump, opulently dressed
man from Vandeen. His skin, wrinkled by age, was the color of copper; his long hair fell past his
shoulders in thin, delicate braids.
Haviland Tuf, driving a segmented vehicle that glided across the deck like a snake on wheels, stopped
directly in front of the ambassadors. The Vandeeni stepped forward beaming, reached up and pinched
his own full cheek very vigorously, and bowed. тАЬI would offer my hand, but I recall your opinion of that
custom,тАЭ he said. тАЬDo you remember me, fly?тАЭ
Haviland Tuf blinked. тАЬI have some vague recollection of encountering you upon the train to the surface
of SтАЩuthlam some ten years ago,тАЭ he said.
тАЬRatch Norren,тАЭ the man said. тАЬIтАЩm not what you call a regular diplomat, but the Board of Coordinators
figured theyтАЩd send somebody whoтАЩd met you, and knew the Suthies, too.тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs an offensive term, Norren,тАЭ Tolly Mune said bluntly.
тАЬYouтАЩre an offensive bunch,тАЭ Ratch Norren replied.
тАЬAnd dangerous,тАЭ whispered the envoy from the Azure Triune, from the center of his holographic fog.
тАЬYouтАЩre the puling aggressors,тАЭ Tolly Mune started.
тАЬDefensive aggression,тАЭ boomed the cyborg from Roggandor.
тАЬWe recall the last war,тАЭ said the Jazbot. тАЬThis time we decline to wait until your damnable evolutionists