"Bc23" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niven Larry & Pournelle)

"Jess, you betrayed him twice in his own home! When Trish yelled for Dad's head, you were sitting next to Trish, not Dad. You won't be back until somebody's funeral!"
Her cheeks flamed. She wouldn't look at him
"So you can't go home again. The question is, can we get him to talk to you? Over a comm card, or in the meeting hall? And that's a maybe. He was suffering after Toshiro--after he killed Toshiro."
"We all were."
"Was Aaron? I didn't see it."
"How could you say that?" Her cheeks reddened. She had to remember that this flight, this conversation, was her idea. "Toshiro was one of Aaron's closest friends."
He said carefully, "Sometimes I think that Aaron doesn't have any friends."
"How could you say that? You've always been his friend."
"Have I?" he asked, softly. "Look at what happened. Dad is stalemated--The First don't give us orders anymore. We can have anything we want as long as we carry those damn blankets everywhere. All because Dad shot Toshiro."
"You have a point?"
"I've spent too many nights thinking about this," Justin said. He hadn't told anyone this, not even Katya, and it suddenly felt like he'd been carrying a live grenade in his chest. "There wasn't any way Aaron could lose! The plan was to take Robor to the mainland. If nobody comes after us, we win. But suppose someone comes. Suppose Dad and Carlos die at sea because Aaron's left orders not to do any rescue work, or suppose Carlos drops dead because Toshiro fires a lightning bolt through him. It's hardball then, with Aaron in charge of a war. If Dad or Carlos kill someone, Aaron gets the moral high ground. Even if Dad forces Robor back to Camelot, Aaron gets what he wants. It's a cause, then, and the First would have to start talking again, and Aaron is one fine debater."
"How could you say that? How can you think it?" she whispered again, astounded.
"All right. Answer me a question: Would you have a bottle baby? Would you take your egg and someone else's sperm, and raise it in one of the incubators?"
"Of course . . ."
"Then why haven't you?"
"I have had eggs removed," she said, suddenly bitter. "In the case of my death, my percentage of the wealth will go to raising my child. I have listed possible donors--"
She looked away from him suddenly, and her cheeks flushed again. Suddenly, wildly, Justin wondered if his was one of the names on the list. "But as long as I'm alive, that's something I would like to try on my own. Someday. Not now."
"Not now," he echoed.
"No." She combed her hair with her fingers. "Justin, what this is all about is the chance to declare a truce. What do you say?"
He thought about it. There were so many things that he wanted to talk about. But all of them faded into insignificance when compared with what really mattered--his relationship with Jessica. Here, with the two of them, it seemed more important still.
"Truce," he said. And held out his hand. Hers was firm, and dry, and warm.