"Mike Moscoe - Society of Humanity 03 - They Also Serve" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moscoe Mike)

When he was within three steps of her, Mary started down slowly. "Folks look nice
enough. I've had the troops sling arms. No need to look more intimidating than we have
to."

To their right, a small kid, hardly more than a toddler, broke through the crowd and
headed straight for the shuttle, a mother in hot pursuit. The kid didn't look tall enough to
reach the still-cooling craft, but then again, tiny legs like hers should not have been so
fast. With a laugh, Kat swooped down and grabbed her. The child wrapped herself in
giggles, oblivious to having made the first contact in three hundred years between Santa
Maria and the rest of humanity. The middie tossed the little one up lightly once, then
handed her off to her mother.
Mother applied a swift swat to a diapered rump that caused more indignation than
pain. When the child responded with a heartbroken sob, the mother promptly gave the
little one a breast to suck. The child relaxed into feeding, and mother and child
disappeared into the crowd.

Ray grinned. He could just picture his future daughter or son bolting for the shinny
new thing, and Rita facing down armed troops to get her little one back. Still grinning, he
reached the bottom step.

Facing him was a short, round, balding man accompanied by a shorter, not-o-round
woman with flaming red hair only slightly streaked with silver. He wore a homespun shirt
and pants. She sported a multicolored, high-waisted dress that held her breasts firmly in
place. The two weren't all that different from those around them; still, their stance and
place gave Ray a strong sense that they spoke for the rest. Clearing his throat, he
swallowed the last of the baby-inspired grin and gave the speech he'd been working on.

"Hello. I am Raymond Longknife, Minister of Science and Exploration"тАФhe modified
his title to fit its present realityтАФ "for the sovereign planet of Wardhaven, member of the
Society of Humanity. As such, I greet you in their name and in peace."

Across from him, the man put his hands on his hips. "And isn't it about time you found
us?" Behind him, people nodded agreement, laughed, and continued gawking at the
lander.
Ray had heard worse imitations of an old Earth Celtic brogue, but not many. Before he
could answer, a tall, thick tree of a man stepped out from the crowd.

"And who's paying for me crop?" With one hand he swept a wave toward the lander's
tracks and all the people tramping about. With the other, he formed a fist.

Beside Ray, Mary's fists closed. Kat edged closer, ready to launch her tiny self at a man
twice her height and five or six times her bulk. The crowd was dead quiet.
"And what would be fair pay?" Ray asked.
 "Oh, a pound of copper would be fine payment, fine payment indeed," the big man
laughed. Ray decided he did not like that laugh. He was rapidly developing a dislike for
the man. Half a kilo of copper was nothing to Ray; still, the man's demand was clearly
intended to be outrageous.

"Go 'long with ya, man." The woman in the leadership pair slapped lightly at the big