"H. Beam Piper - Lone Star Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piper H Beam)

There was very little in any of the microfilm-books about the politics of New Texas and such as it was, it
was very scornful. There were such expressions as 'anarchy tempered by assassination,' and 'grotesque
parody of democracy.'

There would, I assumed, be more exact information in the material which had been shoved into my hand
just before boarding the cutter from Luna, in a package labeled TOP SECRET: TO BE OPENED
ONLY IN SPACE, AFTER THE FIRST HYPERJUMP. There was also a big trunk that had been
placed in my suite, sealed and bearing the same instructions.
I got Hoddy out of the suite as soon as the ship had passed out of the normal space-time continuum,
locked the door of my cabin and opened the parcel.

It contained only two loose-leaf notebooks, both labeled with the Solar League and Department seals,
both adorned with the customary bloodthirsty threats against the unauthorized and the indiscreet. They
were numbered ONE and TWO.

ONE contained four pages. On the first, I read:

FINAL MESSAGE
OF THE FIRST SOLAR LEAGUE AMBASSADOR
TO
NEW TEXAS
ANDREW JACKSON HICKOCK

I agree with none of the so-called information about this planet on file with the State Department
on Luna. The people of New Texas are certainly not uncouth barbarians. Their manners and
customs, while lively and unconventional, are most charming. Their dress is graceful and
practical, not grotesque; their soft speech is pleasing to the ear. Their flag is the original flag of
the Republic of Texas; it is definitely not a barbaric travesty of our own emblem. And the
underlying premises of their political system should, as far as possible, be incorporated into the
organization of the Solar League. Here politics is an exciting and exacting game, in which only
the true representative of all the people can survive.

DEPARTMENT ADDENDUM

After five years on New Texas, Andrew Jackson Hickock resigned, married a daughter of a local
rancher and became a naturalized citizen of that planet. He is still active in politics there, often in
opposition to Solar League policies.

That didn't sound like too bad an advertisement for the planet. I was even feeling cheerful when I turned
to the next page, and:

FINAL MESSAGE
OF THE SECOND SOLAR LEAGUE
AMBASSADOR TO
NEW TEXAS
CYRIL GODWINSON

Yes and no; perhaps and perhaps not; pardon me; I agree with everything you say. Yes and no;
perhaps and perhaps not; pardon me; I agree....