"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 02 - Corundums Woman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

eyes, and even more so when one knew they were her own, and genetically
unadjusted at that. They were lighter than her space-suit. Their light gray
showed only a hint of blue. No such eyes had been seen in the galaxy since the
destruction of the majority and absorption of the rest of such a race on
Homeworld, centuries and centuries ago. The galaxy was bronze, brown, and
browner, and a few who could be called yellow or almost-black. The color of
eyes was brown. The color of hair was black, though now and then a dark brown
turned up. When the vast majority of the peoples of Home-world-once-Earth had
seized the planet and gone into space as Galactics, speaking Erts, they had
done a thorough job of destroying the old ruling minority and overwhelming its
genetic lesser pigmentation. Even Universal Edutapes did not contain the word
Caucasian. Corundum knew that the colors of the hair, eyes, and skin of this
unwrinkled and sparsely haired woman were real and inborn. So did the Accord
that Protected her "backward" planet. So did the slaver who had snatched her
from it and sold her on Resh. Corundum also knew her pride. No one offered to
help as she struggled to unsuit. She was militant about that. (Firedancer's
twitchy lurch was tiny and not even the new crewmember staggered. All knew
that they had just moved free of the other ship-incidentally freeing it.) At
last the sky-blue suit dropped. Its wearer was revealed as short, compactly
lean, and definitely female. Obviously firm of skin and well-toned muscle. In
a tight gray breast-band rather than bra or bandeau, and skimpy briefs of the
same unattractive gray. She stepped out of the suit. Her muscular,
taut-skinned legs showed no sign of jiggle. Her calves were outstanding,
perhaps overdeveloped. That was a tendency of the calves of anyone from a
high-gravity planet. Their 31 thighs ranged from unusually rounded to
massive. The pale ones just revealed were not massive. "You did well, Janja,"
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Corundum said. Both he and the (quite young, both in appearance and reality)
woman ignored the appreciative stares given her by the other crewmembers of
Firedancer. She shrugged, then flipped her fingers in the gesture she had
learned from them: those not of her planet. The gesture meant "so what" or "I
don't care" or "beats me" or "no use talking about that," and other
things. "My first time," she said. "I did nothing but stand around in that
Hing-size suit and be the mysterious Number Two, silent and inactive. The
filter made my voice sound awful, but if that Prithvi has any sense, he knows
I'm a woman." She heaved a sigh, crossing her arms to rub them. "I suppose I'm
glad that nothing else was necessary. Should I mention that you are still
fully suited and faceless, Captain?" It was their agreement that in the
presence of others she called him only captain, or Corundum. Just six
days-standard ago she had come up with a perfectly awful nickname for
him-which Corundum rather liked. It was better than Ruby, or Sapphire, or even
Blue-eyes. And certainly preferable to Dum-dum. He knew he was called that,
though never within his hearing. "Corundum is comfortable," he said from
within his white spacesuit. "That ship has no converter and therefore no
subspace capability. Thus it is a long, long run from Murph. We shall be there
in a few days. Or rather at its fourth satellite, tastelessly named Dot. One
fears that places us a good while still from vacation and celebration-which we