"George R. R. Martin -- Second Helpings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

тАЬHe called it TufтАЩs Flowering,тАЭ Tolly Mune said with a certain cynical twist to the corner of her mouth.
тАЬThe newsfeeds took up the term. TufтАЩs Flowering, a new golden age for SтАЩuthlam. Soon we had edible
fungus growing along the walls of our sewer systems. We started huge mushroom farms in every
undercity. Carpets of neptuneтАЩs shawl crept across the surface of our seas, and underneath, your fish
multiplied at an astounding rate. We planted your omni-grain instead of neograss and nanowheat, and the
first crop gave us almost triple the caloric yield. You did one nova-class job of eco-engineering for us,
Tuf.тАЭ
тАЬThe compliment is noted with due appreciation,тАЭ said Tuf.
тАЬFortunately for me, the Flowering was already in full bud when Tuf and Mune hit the nets, long before I
went to trial. Creg was extolling your brilliance to the newsfeeds daily and telling billions that our food
crisis was done, finished, over.тАЭ The Portmaster shrugged. тАЬSo he made you a hero, for his own reasons.
CouldnтАЩt help it, if he wanted to replace Josen. And that helped make me a heroine. It all ties together in
one big neat puling knotтАФprettiest goddamned thing youтАЩd ever want to see. IтАЩll spare you the details.
The end of it was, Tolly Mune acquitted, restored to office in triumph. Josen Rael in disgrace, denounced
by all the opinionaters, forced to resign. Half the High Council resigned with him. Cregor Blaxon became
the new technocratic leader and won the elections that followed. CregтАЩs now First Councillor. Josen,
poor soul, died two years ago. And you and I have become the stuff of legends, Tuf, the most celebrated
lovers since, oh, puling hell, since all those famous romantic couples from ancient timesтАФyou know,
Romeo and Juliet, Samson and Delilah, Sodom and Gomorrah, Marx and Lenin.тАЭ
Perched on TufтАЩs shoulder, Dax began to emit a low, frightened growl. Tiny claws dug through the fabric
of TufтАЩs jumpsuit into his flesh. Haviland Tuf blinked, then reached over and stroked the kitten soothingly.
тАЬPortmaster Mune, your smile is broad and your news seems to indicate nothing but the trite yet
nonetheless eternally popular happy ending, but Dax has grown alarmed, as if you seethe with turmoil
beneath this placid surface. Perhaps, you are omitting some crucial part of the tale.тАЭ
тАЬJust the footnote, Tuf,тАЭ the Portmaster said.
тАЬIndeed. What might that be?тАЭ
тАЬTwenty-seven years, Tuf. Does that trip any claxons in your head?тАЭ
тАЬIndeed. Before I embarked upon my program of ecological engineering, your projections indicated
SтАЩuth-lam to be twenty-seven standard years from mass famine, given the alarming population growth
and the declining food resources.тАЭ
тАЬThat was five years ago,тАЭ said Tolly Mune.
тАЬIndeed.тАЭ
тАЬTwenty-seven minus five.тАЭ
тАЬTwenty-two,тАЭ said Tuf. тАЬI assume there is a point in this exercise in elementary arithmetic.тАЭ
тАЬTwenty-two years left,тАЭ Portmaster Tolly Mune said. тАЬAh, but that was before the Ark, before the
genius ecologist Tuf and the daring spinneret Mune fixed it all, before the miracle of the loaves and fishes,
before courageous young Cregor Blaxon ushered in TufтАЩs Flowering.тАЭ
Haviland Tuf turned his head to look at the cat on his shoulder. тАЬI detect a certain note of sarcasm in her
voice,тАЭ he said to Dax.
Tolly Mune sighed, reached into a pocket, and extracted a case of crystalline data-chips. тАЬHere you go,
lover,тАЭ she said. She tossed them through the air.
Tuf reached up, caught the spinning case in a large white hand, said nothing.
тАЬEverything you need is there. Straight from the council databanks. The hard-classified files, of course.
All the reports, all the projections, all the analyses, and itтАЩs for your eyes only. You understand? ThatтАЩs
why I was so puling mysterious and thatтАЩs why weтАЩre heading back to the Ark. Creg and the High
Council figured our romance made a terrific cover. Let the billions of newsfeed viewers think weтАЩre
sexing up a storm. As long as their heads are full of visions of the pirate and Portmaster blazing new
sexual frontiers, they wonтАЩt stop to ponder what weтАЩre really up to, and everything can be done quietly.
We want loaves and fishes, Tuf, but this time on a covered platter, you understand? Those are my
instructions.тАЭ