"Bc14" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry & Pournelle)

"Rules are important," Zack said automatically.
"Sure they are, for--" Aaron cut himself off. "Yes, sir, under many circumstances rules can be very important."
"But not for you?" Cadmann asked carefully.
"Not always for us, no sir. Colonel, we are of age in any civilization you had on Earth. Full voting citizens entitled to full rights, including the right to live under laws we have consented to. Aren't we?"
Everyone in the room knew what Aaron hadn't said: "laws made by people in full possession of their faculties, not by those with ice on their minds."
"You have made your point," Zack said. "But the fact remains that you consented to the rules before you went to the island. Didn't you?"
"Well, yes. We had no choice."
"Consented under duress?" Carlos asked carefully.
"If you prefer."
"All right, Aaron. Tell us what happened."
"Yes, sir. We were awakened by a panic message from the watch officer, Edgar Sikes. That is all recorded. He told us there was trouble at the minehead. He was highly disturbed and shouting.
"Jason, Jessica, and I took the skeeter after telling Toshiro Tanaka where we were going and instructing him to set up a complete defensive perimeter at the camp for the protection of the children."
"Yes. That was well done," Cadmann said.
"Thank you, sir. We then proceeded to the minehead. Again this is all recorded. When we arrived we saw no large animals and nothing that could have attacked the campsite. Linda Weyland and Joe Sikes were unrecognizable, identifiable only by jewelry. The dogs were mere skeletons.
"We were hesitant to approach the site but we had no choice since there were no signs of the baby. We then found the child alive and unhurt. Jessica took the baby and locked herself in the skeeter. When she was secured there I photographed the site and recovered the human but not the animal skeletons. At your suggestion I was as brief as possible. We returned to the children's camp. We then assisted in getting everyone aboard the dirigible and returned to the island."
"Anything you would have done differently?" Cadmann asked.
"No, sir. By the time we got to the minehead, it was far too late for--for medical remedies. They were not merely dead but--" He put his fingers to his temples and shook his head. "Absolutely nothing we could have done would have been of the slightest use."
"And there was no sign of what killed them? No clue, nothing?" Dr. Hortha asked.
"None I saw. As we got closer there was--"
"Yes?" Zack prompted.
Aaron's eyes drooped, he wasn't seeing Zack. "Motion. Yellow dust in a wind. Sir, I'm not sure I saw anything, and I can't find it in the satellite recordings. If it was there, it blew away before we could get close. But after we found the baby and before we left, I looked again. The dust was just the usual dust that always blows across the pass. It's a dusty place, more so because we diverted the stream away from the pass. I'm sure you all know that."
Cadmann looked up from his papers. "Thank you, Aaron, we both know that whatever the formal chain of command, you're the real leader of the Second."
"If so it's unofficial, sir," Aaron said. There was little expression in the face, or to the voice . . . but somewhere, back in the cave where Aaron Tragon lived, something had shifted and coiled. He was warier now.
"We also know of a group that we call the Merry Pranksters. Now, you're either their leader, or you know exactly who is, and who's part of that group."
Aaron shrugged. Now his face had no expression at all.
"And we all know that during trips to the mainland, you have private gatherings. Some of these involve the younger children and are part of the graduation ceremonies. Some do not. We haven't interfered, because it is important that you assume as many of the responsibilities of this colony as possible. Some of us understand that you really are citizens, you know."
"Yes, sir. And?"
"What I want to know is . . . were you performing such a ceremony the night that my daughter was killed?"
"Yes, sir, we were."
"Were you further away from the encampment than you had been directed to travel?"
At the corner of Aaron's mouth, a muscle spasmed. "Yes, sir, we were."
"Were you out of radio communication?"
"To all but an emergency alert, yes, sir."
"And it is conceivable that Linda might have been too confused, or in too much pain, to remember proper procedure for an emergency message."
Aaron thought for a moment. "Yes, sir, it is possible. I might even think it likely."
Cadmann nodded. He could respect this boy. He was a good one.
"And you can agree that it was your duty to remain within range of the base camp, which you did not. And to remain in contact, which you also chose not to do."
"Yes, sir."
Zack interrupted. "I have another question."
Aaron regarded him almost as if he were an intruder. "Yes? Sir?"
"During this period of time when you were out of communication, were you intoxicated?"
Aaron's eyes narrowed. "Yes, sir, we were."
"And the intoxicants were not on our list of . . . " Zack struggled for a word.
"Sir. They were not on the list of recommended inebriants. But if it had been beer, or marijuana, the results would have been the same. We made a mistake. But the choice of psychoactives has nothing to do with that."
"I disagree," Zack said. "From the very beginning, from the discovery of that eel, to the discovery of the explosions on the mainland, to the way we were pressured into this operation, to your behavior on the mainland, this entire affair has been handled in an irresponsible, childish, criminally stupid fashion."
Aaron turned back to Cadmann. "Sir. Our actions on the mainland were disastrous as it turned out. We certainly broke rules. But normal safety precautions were taken, with the exception of radio links, and proximity. I submit to you that whatever killed Linda and Joe might well have killed anything else nearby. And in any event we weren't supposed to be up there that night or that morning. Yes, we used teacher plants and then connected with each other--"
Zack was unimpressed. "You mean you got high and had a sex orgy."
Aaron didn't rise to the bait. "We put the littler ones to bed first. We chose Toshiro Tanaka to stay straight and be in charge. And while we're talking for the record here, I want that record to show that the kids were our responsibility, and we met that. Not one of them was killed or hurt. They were our responsibility. Not the people up at the mine, who would have been there even if the rest of us hadn't gone to the mainland at all."
"Aaron--" Julia said.
"Yes, Dr. Hortha, I should calm down," Aaron said. "And I will. But I wanted this on the record. We met our responsibilities.