"Jerry Pournelle - Extreme Prejudice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pournelle Jerry)

fabulous. I knew the hydrogen was important to California, where they pipe it through the old natural gas
pipelines and people burn it in floor furnaces and stoves.
тАЬWeтАЩre starting to get salable quantities of metals out of seawater, too,тАЭ Hank said. тАЬThat wouldnтАЩt
be economic if it was the only reason for the system, but we pump a lot of water through here. PowerтАЩs
free except for building the equipment to get it.тАЭ He went on about Dansworth and how it was the wave
of the future until he stopped suddenly and grinned.
тАЬJтАЩm an enthusiast,тАЭ he said.
тАЬIтАЩve noticed.тАЭ I grinned back. тАЬYouтАЩre making me one.тАЭ
тАЬYeah. Now letтАЩs go home and have dinner. JudyтАЩs expecting you to put up with us while youтАЩre
here.тАЭ
тАЬWell, IтАЩll be all right at the YOQ. WouldnтАЩt want to put you to any trouble.тАЭ
тАЬCrap. No trouble. Only problem with Dansworth is we donтАЩt get many visitors. ThereтАЩs three thou
sand people here and we know every one of them, or it seems like it anyway. JudyтАЩd kill me if I didnтАЩt
give her a chance to hear the latest gossip from the States.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, I supposeтАФlook, youтАЩre sure itтАЩs no problem?тАЭ I wasnтАЩt being polite. My father had a big
thing about hospitality. It was about the only thing my father taught me that I hadnтАЩt sacrificed to the job;
but Hank gave me no choice, just as the job gave me no choice. No choice at all.

Judy Shields was a willowy brunette, thin but with muscles. She had an aristocratic look and the
same deep tan everyone seemed to have, but the effect was partly spoiled by freckles on her nose. My
kid sister had freckles like that, and she hated them. I can remember her making unhappy sounds at the
bathroom mirror while the rest of us waited outside for our turn. A rapist finished her on her eighteenth
birthday.
Judy Shields was happy to meet someone from Outside, as they called it. I also got introduced to
Albert Shields, age nine and called тАЬHose-noseтАЭ for no reason I could understand.
тАЬMr. StarrтАЩs a science writer,тАЭ Hank told the kid.
тАЬSure! IтАЩve seen some of your books, Mr. Starr. You going to put Dad in a book?тАЭ
I lifted an eyebrow and looked at Hank. тАЬAccording to Dr. Peterson, your father doesnтАЩt want to be
in a book.тАЭ
тАЬAw,-why not? IтАЩd sure like to be in a book. Jimmy PetersonтАЩs fatherтАЩs in a lot of books, and heтАЩll
never let you forget it, either.тАЭ
тАЬOff to your room, Hose-nose,тАЭ Judy said. тАЬOut, out, out.тАЭ
тАЬSo you can drink, huh?тАЭ The kid winked and went out.
тАЬHeтАЩs got a point, you know,тАЭ I said. тАЬA little publicity never hurt anybodyтАЩs career.тАЭ I looked over
at Hank with complete innocence. It seemed like the right thing to say. He looked back helplessly.
тАЬItтАЩs my fault, Gideon,тАЭ Judy said. тАЬMy family never wanted me to marry Hank. ItтАЩsтАФwell, itтАЩs all
very unpleasant, and IтАЩd rather they didnтАЩt know we were here, thatтАЩs all. I suppose it would do Hank
some good to be written up.тАЭ
тАЬNot as much as that, and by damn I donтАЩt need your mother dropping in for a visit,тАЭ Hank said. He
poured me another drink.
тАЬWell, forget it, then.тАЭ I hoisted 1 the martini. тАЬHereтАЩs to Dansworth. ItтАЩs quite a place.тАЭ
It was, too. Although we were a hundred feet under water, the ShieldsтАЩ apartment wasnтАЩt small or
gloomy. There was a big window looking out just like the admiralтАЩs, and the same unending color swarms
of fish around the coral. Inside, the walls were concrete, and theyтАЩd hung them over with woven mats,
needlework tapestries, pictures, and the like. There was a shelf of books on one wall and a shelf of ship
models on another. It was nothing like homes in the States where the TV dominates the room. You could
tell that the people who lived here liked to talk, and read, and do things together.
тАЬWe like it,тАЭ Judy said. тАЬNow. WhatтАЩs the latest gossip? Is Gregory Tolland going to hang on as
President? Whatever happened to Aeneas MacKenzie?тАЭ
I shrugged, and told her what the press people were saying. тАЬMacKenzieтАЩs gone off to Baja.