"Robert Reed - Marrow" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

Marrow
Robert Reed



MISSION YEAR 0.00:

Washen couldn't count all the captains spread out before her, and putting on her finest captainly smile,
she joined them, trading the usual compliments, telling little stories about her travels, and with a genuine
unease, asking if anyone knew why the Ship's Master would want to bring them here.

"She's testing us," one gray-eyed colleague ventured. "She's testing our obedience. Plus our security
measures, too."

"Perhaps," Washen allowed.

Coded orders had found Washen through secure channels. Without explanation, the Master told her
to abandon her post, discarding her uniform and taking on a suitable disguise. For the last seven days,
she had played the role of dutiful tourist, wandering the vast ship, enjoying its wondrous sights, then after
making triple-sure that she wasn't being monitored, boarding an anonymous tube-car that had brought
her to this odd place.

"My name is Diu," said her companion, offering his hand and a wide smile.

She clasped the hand with both of hers, saying, "We met at the captains' banquet. Was it twenty years
ago?"

"Twenty-five." Like most captains, Diu was tall for a human, with craggy features and an easy charm
meant to instill trust in their human passengers. "It's kind of you to remember me. Thank you."

"You're most welcome."

The eyes brightened. "What do you think of the Master's tastes? Isn't this a bizarre place to meet?"

"Bizarre," Washen echoed. "That's a good word."

The leech once lived here. An obscure species, ascetic by nature, they had built their home inside the
remote confines of one of the ship's enormous fuel tanks. Weaving together thick plastics, they had
dangled this place from the tank's insulated ceiling. Its interior, following a leech logic, was a single room.
Vast in two dimensions but with a glowing gray ceiling close enough to touch, the surroundings made
every human feel claustrophobic. The only furnishings were hard gray pillows. The air was warm and
stale, smelling of odd dusts and persistent pheromones. Colors were strictly forbidden. Even the gaudy
tourists' clothes seemed to turn gray in the relentless light.

"I've been wondering," said Diu. "Whatever happened to the leech?"

"I don't know," Washen confessed. She had met the species when they came on board. But that was
more than a thousand years before, and even a captain's memory was imperfect.
 The leech could have simply reached their destination, disembarking without incident. Or they could
have decided to build an even more isolated home, if that was possible. Or perhaps some disaster had