"Daniel Keys Moran - A Tale of the Continuing Time 01 - Emerald Eyes" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moran Daniel Keys)

members of the French and Chinese military, she assumed control of the orbital laser weaponry, formed the
United Nations Peace Keeping Force, and declared the United Nations to be, under her "Charter of Principles,"
the sole legal government of Earth. China and France were the first two sovereign governments to agree to
this; both were in grave geopolitical troubles at the time, caught between the vise of Japanese, Soviet, and
American interests. Brazil followed, and before the end of the year 2014, two thirds of the planet
acknowledged the United Nations as the Earth's legitimate government.
Three notable holdouts were, of course, the United States and the Soviet Union and Japan. Sarah
Almundsen used tactical thermonuclear weapons and orbital lasers and sliced the USSR into ribbons. The
Soviets, whose citizens were in open revolt after the second week of war with the United Nations, surrendered
after Moscow was vaporized, Japan never surrendered; although members of the new government committed
suicide after performing their duty, the United Nations did explode more than a dozen thermonuclear
warheads over Japanese territory until the Japanese were no longer capable of resistance.
North America, specifically the United States, was a more delicate matter; the United Nations offices were
located there. Further, whole battalions of the U.S. Armed Forces deserted to the United Nations in the earliest
days of the Unification War. Sarah Almundsen was an American, an honorable woman who was known to
keep her word; sentiment to deal with her ran strong in many parts of the U.S.
The Sons of Liberty, a group of soldiers led by the President of the United States, composed of large
portions of the Armed Forces, with nearly all of the Marine Corps, prevented that. The Unification War
reached America in 2016 and stretched into 2017, and then into 2018. Throughout the first half of 2018, the
Sons of Liberty fought a rearguard action as the better-equipped, better-fed, better-supported United Nations
Peace Keeping Forces swept them north and east, across the Plains states and onto the Eastern seaboard.
The Unification War, after causing more casualties than any other war in American history, officially ended in
the summer of 2018 with the Treaty of New York, which detailed the particulars of the surrender of the
mightiest nation the Earth had ever known, the United States of America.


The door slid aside at exactly ten a.m.
"What the fuck are you doing in my office?"
Suzanne Montignet was, Darryl Amnier thought in immediate surprise, an astonishing beauty. The holos
in her files did her not the faintest trace of justice. Her blond hair was tucked up under a net that reminded
him, strangely, of the hair net the Sisters had worn at St. Margaret Mary's, the Catholic school he'd been
taught at as a child. She stared at him, waiting for an answer. He wondered at her anger; forty-five minutes
ago it had undoubtedly been real. Now it was simply a mask stamped across features that were, perhaps,
slightly too delicate. It seemed to Amnier that she was undernourished as well; she must have lost five
kilograms since the most recent holographs of her had been taken.
Darryl Amnier rose belatedly from behind Montignet's desk, removed his hat, and sketched a bow. "I am
Monsieur Amnier, here for my appointment." It was his best French.
Suzanne Montignet looked him
over as though he were something unpleasant she'd found in her salad, and shook her head in a tired
motion. She dropped the pile of folders she'd entered with on her desktop. "Lights," she said in English.
The fluorescent lamps came up bright, and Darryl Amnier realized that the odd gray of her eyes, which
he'd assumed an error in her holo reproductions, was their true color. "I know who you are. Do you
usually pop into people's offices two damned hours ahead of time?"
Amnier found himself caught in the challenge of her gaze. Without thought he found his posture
straightening. With perfect honesty he replied, "Mademoiselle, only when I wish for the person with whom I
am meeting to be ill at ease." He shook his head. "In this instance, I regret the use of the techniqueтАФand
have for the last half hour."
Suzanne Montignet looked him over briefly, and smiled rather wearily. She held out her hand. "I have,"
she said softly, "been looking forward to meeting you, Mister Amnier." He took her hand, and was not
surprised at the strength in her grip. "As has Colonel Kalharri."