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

burst forth and try to colonize our worlds again.тАЭ
тАЬWe have no such plans,тАЭ Tolly Mune said.
тАЩтАЬYou donтАЩt, spinneret,тАЭ Ratch Norren said. тАЬBut look me in the optics here and tell me your
expansionists donтАЩt have wet dreams about breeding all over Vandeen.тАЭ
тАЬAnd Skrymir.тАЭ
тАЬRoggandor wants no part of your cast-off human detritus.тАЭ
тАЬYou will never take the Azure Triune.тАЭ
тАЬWho the hell would want the puling Azure Triune?тАЭ snapped Tolly Mune. Blackjack purred approval.
тАЬThis glimpse into the inner working of high interstellar diplomacy has been most elucidating,тАЭ Haviland
Tuf announced. тАЬNonetheless, I sense that more pressing business awaits. If the envoys would be so
cooperative as to board my vehicle, we might proceed onward to our conference.тАЭ
Still muttering among themselves, the allied ambassadors did as Tuf bid them. Fully loaded, the vehicle
set out across the landing deck, weaving a path between the myriad abandoned starships. An airlock,
round and dark as the mouth of a tunnel or the jaws of some insatiable beast, opened at their approach
and swallowed them. They entered and stopped; the lock closed behind them, engulfing the party in
darkness. Tuf ignored the whispered complaints. Around them came a screeching metallic noise; the floor
began to descend. When they had dropped at least two decks, another door opened in front of them.
Tuf turned on his headlamps and they drove out into a pitch-black corridor.
They drove through a maze of dark, chilly corridors, past countless closed doors, following a dim indigo
trace that flitted before them, a ghost embedded in the dusty floor. The only light was the beam from the
trainтАЩs headlamps, and the faint glow of the instrument panel in front of Tuf. At first the envoys bantered
among themselves, but the black depths of the Ark were oppressive and claustrophobic, and one by one
the members of the delegation fell silent. Blackjack began to knead Tolly MuneтАЩs knees rhythmically with
his claws.
After a long time rolling through dust, darkness, and silence, the train approached a towering pair of
double doors that hissed open ominously at their approach, and closed with a loud clang of finality behind
them. Within, the air was moist and hot. Haviland Tuf stopped, and turned off the headlamps. Total
darkness enveloped them.
тАЬWhere are we?тАЭ Tolly Mune demanded. Her voice rang off some distant ceiling, although the echo
seemed strangely muffled. Though black as a pit, the room was obviously cavernous. Blackjack hissed
uneasily, sniffed the air, and made a tiny, uncertain mewing sound.
She heard footsteps, and a small light flicked on two meters away. Tuf was bent over an instrument
console, watching a monitor panel. He pressed one key in a luminescent keyboard, and turned. A
padded wingback floater chair came whispering out of the warm darkness. Tuf climbed into it like a king
ascending a throne, and touched a control on the arm. The chair lit up with a feint violet
phosphorescence. тАЬKindly follow,тАЭ Tuf announced. The floater swiveled in the air and began to drift off.
тАЬPuling hell,тАЭ Tolly Mune muttered. She climbed out of her seat hastily, cradling Blackjack, and
scrambled after TufтАЩs retreating throne. The allied ambassadors followed en masse, whining and
complaining every step of the way. She could hear the cyborgтАЩs massive footsteps behind her. TufтАЩs
floater was the only spot of light in an enveloping sea of darkness. As she rushed after him, she stepped
on something.
The sudden feline yowl made her recoil, bumping into the cyborgтАЩs armored chest. Confused, Tolly
Mune knelt and reached out a tentative hand, holding Blackjack awkwardly in the crook of her arm; her
fingers brushed soft fur. The cat rubbed up against her furiously, purring loudly. She could barely make
out its shapeтАФa small shorthair, hardly more than a kitten. It rolled over so she could scratch its belly.
The Jazbot almost stumbled over her as she knelt there. And then suddenly Blackjack had leaped free
and was sniffing around the new cat. It returned the favor briefly, then whirled, and in a blink it had
vanished into the darkness. Blackjack hesitated, then howled and bounded after it. тАЬGoddamn it,тАЭ Tolly
Mune shouted. тАЬGoddamn it, Jack, get your puling ass back here!тАЭ Her voice echoed, but her cat did not
return. The rest of the party was growing more distant. Tolly Mune swore and hurried to catch up.