"Andre Norton - Dark Piper" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

labels on ration cans taken from a case recently opened and made choices to set out on the table that
must once have served the whole garrison for mess.
LugardтАЩs cooking arrangements were simple. He had attached two portable cooking units. And there
was another case of mess kits clipped together, which Thad now unpacked with no small clatter.
Against the far wall were the huge units that were dial food, but LugardтАЩs plates were enough for our
purposes. Gytha handed the containers Annet selected to Ifors, who fitted them into the heating clips. It
was all very brisk and efficient.
тАЬIt would seem we are not going hungry,тАЭ I commented.
Annet wore an excited expression as she turned to me.
тАЬVere, real caff! Not just parx-seed substitute! And a lot of off-world things. Why, here are camman
fowl slices and creamed fass leavesтАФthings we havenтАЩt seen for years!тАЭ
тАЬLugard must have been using officersтАЩ mess supplies.тАЭ I crossed to read the labels on some of the
cans. We ate well enough on BeltaneтАФperhaps our common fare would have seemed luxury on some
worlds, since the bio labs produced new strains adapted to growing here in great varietyтАФbut for a long
time there had been no imports, and we had heard, if we had never had a chance to taste for ourselves,
nostalgic mention now and then of some particular viand our elders remembered.
Prudence finally controlled AnnetтАЩs selection, and she picked for our eating not the more exotic things
she had found, but those that promised few if any upsetting reactions from stomachs unaccustomed to the
unknown. We ate cautiously at first and then with our usual good appetites to be satisfied. When we had
done, Annet lined up a small company of containers and looked at me wistfully.
тАЬDo you suppose he would trade?тАЭ she asked. тАЬIf I could have some of these for Twelfth Day
feastingтАФтАЭ тАЬNo harm in asking. He ought to like some fresh dunk bread, or your partin-berry preserves,
or even a freeze dinner out of the deep store. Canned rations, even if they are from off-world, must get
tiresome after a while. тАЬNowтАЭтАФI spoke to the restтАФтАЬsuppose we set this all to rights again.тАЭ Camp
discipline held, though I knew they were impatient to go exploring. I had noted that the grav door was
shut, and for that I was thankful. They would obey rules, I knewтАФno opening shut doors.
I was deswitching the heating units when something made me count heads and find two missing, Thad
and Ifors. I repeated their names. Annet turned to count, but Dinan had an answer for us.
тАЬThey went outтАФafter they packed the mess kits, Vere.тАЭ The com room? It would be just like Thad
to experiment there, though I thought that the activation of the screens would be something even Thad
could not do. But I started down the hall in swift strides, aware that Thad was becoming more the
rebelтАФand I did not want the face-down to come between us here and now. тАЬтАФGriss Lugard!тАЭ
The volume was up, loud enough so that those words bellowed down the hall, echoing a little. I came
into the room just as ThadтАЩs hand shot out to the button he had pushed a moment earlier. But, though he
was apparently exerting pressure on it, the old fittings were now jammed, and the sound continued to
roar.
тАЬThat is the situation, Gentle Homos.тАЭ It was LugardтАЩs voice now with a rasping, grating tone
increased by the broadcast. тАЬYou cannot trust such treatiesтАФтАЭ тАЬPerhaps you cannot, Sector-Captain.тАЭ
That was Scyld Drax. тАЬThe military mind is apt to foresee difficultiesтАФтАЭ тАЬThe military mind!тАЭ LugardтАЩs
interruption came clearly. тАЬI thought I made it simpleтАФthe situation is as plain as the sun over you, man!
You say you want peace, that you think the war is over. Maybe the war is, the kind we have been
fighting, but you donтАЩt have peace nowтАФyou have a vacuum out of which law, and what little protection
any world can depend upon, has been drained. And into this is going to spread, just like one of your pet
viruses, anarchy. A planet not prepared to defend itself is going to be a target for raiders. There were
fleets wrecked out there, worlds destroyed. The survivors of those battles are men who have been living
by creating death around them for almost half a generation, planet time. It has become their familiar way
of lifeтАФkill or be killed, take or perish. They have no home bases to return to; their ships are now their
homes. And they no longer have any central controls, no fears of the consequences if they take what they
want from the weaker, from those who cannot or will not make the effort to stand them off. You let this
ship landтАФonly one ship, you say, poor lost people; give them living room as we have a sparsely settled