"Paul J. McAuley - Winning Peace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcauley Paul J)

Rider Jackson said, тАЬI guess you think you should have been sent home.тАЭ

тАЬThatтАЩs what we did with our prisoners of war.тАЭ

тАЬBecause your side lost the war.тАЭ

тАЬWeтАЩd have sent them back even if weтАЩd won. The Alliance doesnтАЩt treat
people like property.тАЭ

Carver was beginning to like Rider Jackson. He seemed like the kind of man
who preferred straight talk to evasion and exaggeration, who would stick to the truth
even if it was uncomfortable or inconvenient. Which was prob-ably why heтАЩd been
sent to this backwater, Carver thought; forthright officers have a tendency to damage
their careers by talking back to their superiors.

Mr. Kanza said, тАЬIf my data miner hadnтАЩt uncovered his service record and
traced him, heтАЩd still be working in the pharm factories.тАЭ

Rider Jackson ignored this, saying to Carver, тАЬYou have a brother. He served
in the Alliance Navy too.тАЭ

тАЬThatтАЩs none of your business,тАЭ Carver said.

тАЬOh, but I think youтАЩll find itтАЩs very much my business,тАЭ Mr. Kanza said.

Mr. E. Z. Kanza was a burly man with a shaved head and a short beard
trimmed to a sharp point. He liked to think that he was a fair-minded, easy-going
fellow, but exhibited most of the usual vices of people given too much power over
others: he was arrogant and quick-tempered, and his smile masked a cruel and
capricious sense of humor. On the whole, he didnтАЩt treat his pilots and engineers too
badlyтАФthey had their own quarters, access to good medi-cal treatment, and were
even given small allowances they could spend as they chosenтАФbut they were still
indentured workers, with Judas bridges implanted in their spinal cords and no civil
rights whatsoever, and Mr. Kanza was always ready to use his shock stick on
anyone who didnтАЩt jump to obey him.

Smiling his untrustworthy smile, Mr. Kanza said to Carver, тАЬJarred is two
years younger than you, yes? He served on a frigate during the war, yes? Well, I
happen to have some news about him.тАЭ

Carver didnтАЩt say anything. He knew what had happened to Jarred, was
wondering if this was one of Mr. KanzaтАЩs nasty little jokes.

Mr. Kanza appealed to Rider Jackson. тАЬDo you know how long they last in
those pharm factories before they cop an overdose or their immune systems
collapse? No more than a year or two, three at the most. I saved this one from
certain death, and has he ever thanked me? And do you want to bet heтАЩll thank me
when he learns about his brother?тАЭ