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

goddamned government. WeтАЩre allowed to steal the things we want as long as we put a shiny legal gloss
over it.тАЭ
тАЬSeldom in my voyaging have I encountered any political functionary as frank as yourself, it must be
admitted. The experience is refreshing. Still, as invigorated as I am, what assurance do I have that you
will not continue your efforts to seize the Ark once aboard?тАЭ
тАЬWho, me?тАЭ said Tolly Mune. тАЬNow how could I do a thing like that? DonтАЩt worry, IтАЩll come alone.тАЭ She
smiled. тАЬWell, almost alone. YouтАЩd have no objections if I brought a cat, would you?тАЭ
тАЬCertainly not,тАЭ said Tuf. тАЬI am pleased to learn that the felines I left in your custody have thrived in my
absence. I shall eagerly anticipate your arrival, Portmaster Mune.тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs First Councillor Mune to you, Tuf,тАЭ she said, gruffly, before she wiped the screen.


No one had ever alleged that Haviland Tuf was overly rash; he took up a position twelve kilometers
beyond the end of one of the great docking spurs of the orbital community known as the Port of
SтАЩuthlam, and he kept his shields up continuously as he waited. Tolly Mune rode out to meet him in the
small starship Tuf had given her five years before, on the occasion of his previous visit to SтАЩuthlam.
Tuf opened the shields to let her through, and cracked the great dome on the landing deck so she might
set down. ArkтАЩs instrumentation indicated her ship was full of lifeforms, only one of which was human;
the rest displayed feline parameters. Tuf set out to meet her, driving a three-wheeled cart with balloon
tires, and wearing a deep-green mock-velvet suit belted about his ample middle. On his head was a
battered green duckbilled cap decorated with the golden theta of the Ecological Engineering Corps. Dax
rode with him, an indolent sprawl of black fur draped across TufтАЩs broad knees.
When the airlock opened, Tuf drove with all deliberate speed through the scrapyard of battered
spacecraft that he had somehow accumulated over the years, directly to where Tolly Mune, former
Portmaster of SтАЩuthlam, was thumping down the ramp of her ship.
A cat walked at her side.
Dax was on his feet in an instant, his dark fur bristling as if his huge, furry tail had just been plugged into
an electric socket. His customary lethargy was suddenly gone; he leapt from TufтАЩs lap to the hood of the
cart, drew back his ears, and hissed.
тАЬWhy, Dax,тАЭ Tolly Mune said, тАЬis that any way to greet a goddamned relative?тАЭ She grinned, and knelt
to pet the huge animal by her side.
тАЬI had expected either Ingratitude or Doubt,тАЭ said Haviland Tuf.
тАЬOh, theyтАЩre fine,тАЭ she said. тАЬAnd so are all their goddamned offspring. Several generationsтАЩ worth. I
should have figured it when you gave me a pair. A fertile male and female. IтАЩve got...тАЭ she frowned, and
counted quickly on her fingers, once through and then again. тАЬ...letтАЩs see, sixteen, I think. Yes. And two
pregnant.тАЭ She jerked a thumb at the starship behind her. тАЬMy ship has turned into one big cat-house.
Most of them donтАЩt care any more for gravity than I do. Born and raised in zero gee. IтАЩll never
understand how they can be so graceful one moment and so hilariously clumsy the next.тАЭ
тАЬThe feline heritage is rife with contradiction,тАЭ said Tuf.
тАЬThis is Blackjack.тАЭ She picked him up in her arms and rose to her feet. тАЬDamn, heтАЩs heavy. You never
realize that in zero gee.тАЭ
Dax stared at the other feline, and hissed.
Blackjack, cradled against the chest of Tolly MuneтАЩs old, smelly skinthins, looked down at the huge
black tom with disinterested haughtiness.
Haviland Tuf stood two-and-a-half meters tall, with bulk to match, and Dax was just as large, compared
to other cats, as Tuf was, compared to other men.
Blackjack was larger.
His hair was long and silky, smoky gray on top, with a lighter silver undercoat. His eyes were silver-gray
as well, vast deep pools, serene and somehow eerie. He was the most incredibly beautiful animal ever to
dwell in the expanding universe, and he knew it. His manner was that of a princeling born to the royal