"Elizabeth Moon - Serrano 6 - Change of Command" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

It was a shrine, then. Margiu felt obscurely comforted, and lowered her head to pray for the dead
and the survivors alike. Her family were Synorhines; she had learned the right forms for
valediction and commemoration from early childhood.

"Do you need help?" someone asked. Margiu looked up to find herself face to face with a man in a
float-chair.

"No, sirтАФI was honoring the dead," she said.

His brows rose, crinkling the skin around the scars on his bald scalp. "You knew about this
place?"

"No, sir . . . but it's obvious."

"Hmm. May I have the honor of your name?"

"Ensign Pardalt," she said. "From Xavier."

"Ah. Xavier." He looked her over carefully. "And you were at the Academy whenтАФ"

"No, sir. I was home . . . on Xavier, I mean." She knew already that to Fleet personnel, Fleet was
home, and the planet of origin was just thatтАФthe planet of origin.

"And you survived the BenignityтАФyour family as well?"



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"Most of them."

"You're welcome here anytime, Ensign. You've earned it."

But she hadn't earned anything. Not yet. The way she saw it, everything she had, Masiu had earned.
Still, she was not going to contradict someone like this, a combat veteran.

"Thank you," she said instead. And then, carefully, hoping she'd read the signals right, "May I
offer you a drink?"

She saw a reaction, but she wasn't sure what. "As it is your first time in my establishment, I
hope you will honor me by accepting one."

She dipped her head. "I would be honored." Then, as he waited, she realized he wanted her to name
it. She wasn't used to that, but she glanced at the menu display and chose a dark ale spiced with
ginger.

When the mug arrived, heavily frosted, it came with a bowl of raw vegetable sticks on shaved ice.