"Jack McKinney - Robotech 06 - Doomsday" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKinney Jack)

of America) one would encounter the holed hulks of Zentraedi warships, rising up like monolithic
towers from the irradiated and ravaged wastelands...At the base of one such apocalyptic reminder
sits the crosslegged skeleton of a Zentraedi shock trooper, almost in a pose of tranquil
meditation, still clad in his armor and bandoliers, a Minmei doll insignificant in his huge
metalshod hand.
Dr. Lazlo Zand, On Earth As It Is In Hell: Recollections of the Robotech War

"Therefore, it is our conclusion, based upon the available information, that human and Zentraedi
are descended from very nearly the same ancestors!"
Exedore leaned back in the chamber's straight-backed chair to cast a look around the
circular table as the weight of his pronouncement sank in. Continued exposure to Earth's sun these


file:///F|/rah/Jack%20McKinney/McKinney,%20Jack%20-%20Robotech%2006%20-%20Doomsday.txt (4 of 86) [5/21/03 2:35:08 AM]
 file:///F|/rah/Jack%20McKinney/McKinney,%20Jack%20-%20Robotech%2006%20-%20Doomsday.txt

past two years had brought out strong mauve tones in his skin and turned his hair an ochre red.
To his immediate right was the somewhat dour-looking Professor Zand, a shadowy figure who
had emerged from Lang's Robotech elite; to Zand's right were two Zentraedi, micronized like
Exedore and sporting the same blue and white Robotech Defense Forces uniforms. Clockwise around
the table to Exedore's left were Claudia Grant, the SDF-2s First Officer-a handsome and
intelligent representative of Earth's black race-Commanders Lisa Hayes and Rick Hunter (Made for
each other, Exedore often said to himself), and Admiral Gloval, serious as ever.
The rich golden warmth of Earth's sun poured into the fortress through two banks of
skylights set opposite each other in the conference room's cathedral ceiling.
Exedore had been working side by side with Dr. Emil Lang and several other Earth
scientists, deciphering some of the numerous documents Zor had thought to place aboard the SDF-1
over a decade ago. But his announcement of Terran and Zentraedi similarity came as the result of
an extensive series of medical tests and evaluations. The distinction Human or Zentraedi no longer
applied; indeed, it was beginning to look as though there existed-lost somewhere in time-an
ancestor race common to both.
Exedore had noticed that the Terrans accepted this with less enthusiasm than might
otherwise be expected. Perhaps, he speculated, it was due to the fact that they continued to
reproduce in the natural way, whereas the Zentraedi had long ago abandoned that unsure method for
the certainty of genetic manipulation. In Earthspeak the word was "clone"; the Zentraedi
equivalent approximated the English term "being."
New discoveries awaited them in the documents, especially in the latest batch of trans-
vids uncovered. Exedore had yet to view these, but there were indications that they would provide
answers to questions concerning the historical origins of the Zentraedi race, answers that might
shed light on the origins of the Terrans as well. All evidence pointed to an extraterrestrial
origin, an issue hotly debated by Earth scientists, most of whom believed that the Human race
evolved from a tree-dwelling primate species that had roamed the planet millions of years ago.
But if all these protohistorical answers were coming fast, the whereabouts of the
Protoculture matrix Zor had built into the ship remained a mystery. Hardly a place had been left
uninvestigated by Exedore, Breetai, Lang, and the others; and Zand had even suggested that the
Protoculture was in hiding!
Responses to Exedore's announcement proved varied: The misshapen, gnomish Zentraedi heard
Claudia's sharp intake of breath and Lisa Hayes's "Ah-hah," voiced in a fashion that suggested she
had expected no less. Commander Hunter, on the other hand, sat with eyes wide in a kind of fear-
the personification of a certain xenophobic mentality that permeated Terran Cultures.