"Liz Martin - Bright Cloud of Music" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin Liz)

Other than the fog, normal chaos asserted itself. In the watery light, techs scrambled from console to
console or huddled in tableaus around various displays. To Zack, the Core always maintained the tension
of imminent explosionтАФa singularity in the timeless instant before a Bang.

"Situation."

Kozinski said with a touch of defensive coolness, "We have lost the Sirius."

Zack refused to heed the Keep Out! Scientists Only sign. Turf was guarded jealously at E.P.I. "Thank
you, Doctor. Are we doing anything about it or shall I transmit that news now?" Kozinski's face reddened
and his mouth opened, only to snap shut.

"That will not be necessary," a low, musical voice said behind Zack. "I think we can wait to gather more
information." A moment later, as if in afterthought of Zack's rank, the speaker added, "Governor."

"Scribe Wu Lin," Zack said, turning. Scribe, a nebulous title, covered a multitude of administrative
functions. Wu Lin affected it rather than Chief Financial Officer but in his case it was apt. He wrote many
reports for the consumption of the mandarin autocracy. Every off-Earth institution had a cultural officer;
only Europa Penal Institution had one who combined C.F.O. and C.O. But, then, E.P.I. played multiple
roles as well, as prison, as a base for the mining of Jupiter and as tracking station for an icon of times
past, the Sirius.

The man who held the real power at E.P.I. inclined his head graciously, his braided black queue sliding
over the shoulder of an embroidered robe. The button on his cap gleamed red, as did the silk backing the
golden thread of his robe. A small man, his Han cheeks had the sheen of greasy caramel, beaded with the
moisture of the room. "Your Serenity honours us," he lied. Hands clasped, his fingernails folded together
like the petals of a carniverous blossom of a particularly necrophagic yellow. Zack did not trust Wu Lin.
Wu Lin did not approve of Zack. They both pretended otherwise as Zack hosted ceremonies and signed
citations and Wu Lin held the financial reins of the prison.

The scientific, diplomatic and fiscal apexes of E.P.I. regarded each other. Kozinski broke first.
"Ah...Scribe Wu. Good it is.... It is good that you have come." A native of the Wolesa Compound of the
provincial capital, Katoomba, Kozinski only lost track of his syntax when he was unhappy.

"The alarm woke me." Wu Lin accorded Kozinski a lesser bow. "It is, as I suspect, the far-flying Sirius?"

Zack nodded. "It is. Dr. Kozinski was about to brief me." He assayed a minor jab. "You're welcome to
listen in." Wu Lin spread his hands, inviting either of the two barbarians before him to speak.

Kozinski trimmed stance slightly to be shoulder to shoulder with Zack. "So. During the Melt,
the...um...Australian Provinces...yes, the Provinces developed Anteneodiluvian technology of dubious
expertise. Pressed by the rising oceans, they did not cross all their technological 't's' nor dot every failsafe
'i' in the race to provide escape for any portion of an increasingly panicked and inundated population."
He grimaced, disapproving. In the first days of Zack's tenure, Kozinski had shown the new governor a
lengthy treatise on the possibilities of a design he called the Alchemy Drive, which apparently used more
common ions than heavy helium or deuterium for reaction mass. Every footnote precise to be sure,
Kozinski's plodding thoroughness hadn't helped Zack follow the theoretical science. Gathering that wasn't
the point, he had rebuffed firmly any contact by Republican sympathisers.