"Steve Perry - The Man Who Never Missed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

"I think we put a limit on and ration them suckers out."

Khadaji shook his head. "No. Business as usual and when we run out, offer
high-range at the same price."

"Jeet, Chief, we lose half a stad every tab!"

"We can afford it, can't we? We want to keep the customers happy."
Butch shook his head. "I don' see how you make an' profit, you keep tryin' to
give it away."

"We get by, Butch, we get by."

The pubtender left, looking even more grave than before, and Khadaji began to
work his way around the octagon, smiling at the customers, listening and
watching as he moved.

"тАФholes Uplevels wouldn't know a Scum if it peed onтАФ"
"тАФsaid she's more fucking sensitive than I amтАФ"
"тАФJammy's still knotted in the stretch wardтАФ"
"тАФkid's nine T.S. but sharp, lemme tell youтАФ"
"тАФcouldn't pull it out of her if you wanted toтАФ"
"тАФthe Old Man himself said it, so I hearтАФ"
The flow of conversation was full of the things which have always been
important to soldiers: love, hate, sex, money, family, Uplevels' stupidity,
the campaign. Khadaji knew the talk. He'd only been nineteen when conscripted
for his seven and he'd done six years with men and women like these. Most of
them were young, but the military had a way of making you grow up quickly. He
was thirty-nine T.S. now, he could have fathered most of the soldiers in the
octagon. He felt a lot older than that sometimes, an old man among children.

"тАФyour ass! Get up, elbow-sucker!" Khadaji froze for an instant, then turned.
Two troopers were standing next to a table six meters away, squared off in
military oppugnate stances, each waiting for the other to make the first
stupid moveтАФwhich both had already done by standing to fight in the Jade
Flower. Khadaji wondered who was on this shiftтАФah. As he watched, Dirisha
moved smoothly through the crowded pub toward the two soldiers. Dirisha was a
big woman, close to Khadaji's own 183 cm and eighty-two kilos, but she didn't
look it because she was so well balanced. She had short, dark hair, a winning
smile when she was happyтАФlike nowтАФand expert rankings in three class one
martial arts. She was about twenty-eight T.S. and in a one-on-one, could
probably take either Bork or Sleel, the other two bouncers.

Dirisha reached the two men and slid between them, her back to the larger one.
Khadaji strolled closer.

"Fighting's not too bright," she said. "I mean, make a list: fucking,
soak-toke, good wine or cold simshi and where does getting your face smashed
fit in?"