"Alastair Reynolds - Minla's Flowers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Alastair)

a billowing white shirt, and brocaded brown leather waistcoat, accented with scarlet
trim. HeтАЩd tied back his hair and made a point of trimming his beard. тАЬWhere do you
think? Outside. And I want some flowers. Flowers are good. Spin me some indigo
hyacinths, the kind they used to grow on Springhaven, before the Mentality Wars.
They always go down well.тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩre insane. TheyтАЩll shoot you.тАЭ
 тАЬNot if I smile and come bearing exotic alien flowers. Remember, I did just
save one of their planes.тАЭ

тАЬYouтАЩre not even wearing armor.тАЭ

тАЬArmor would really scare them. Trust me, ship: this is the quickest way for
them to understand IтАЩm not a threat.тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs been a pleasure having you aboard,тАЭ Tyrant said acidly. тАЬIтАЩll be sure to
pass on your regards to my next owner.тАЭ

тАЬJust make the flowers and stop complaining.тАЭ

Five minutes later Merlin steeled himself as the lock sequenced and the ramp
lowered to kiss the ground. The cold hit him like a loverтАЩs slap. He heard an order
from the soldiersтАЩ leader, and the massed ranks adjusted their aim. TheyтАЩd been
pointing at the ship before. Now it was only Merlin they were interested in.

He raised his right hand palm open, the newly spun flowers in his left.

тАЬHello. My nameтАЩs Merlin.тАЭ He thumped his chest for emphasis and said the
name again, slower this time. тАЬMer-lin. I donтАЩt think thereтАЩs much chance of you
being able to understand me, but just in case... IтАЩm not here to cause trouble.тАЭ He
forced a smile, which probably looked more feral than reassur-ing. тАЬNow. WhoтАЩs in
charge?тАЭ

The leader shouted another order. He heard a rattle of a hundred safety
catches being released. Suddenly, the shipтАЩs idea of sending out a proctor first
sounded splendidly sensible. Merlin felt a cold line of sweat trickle down his back.
After all that he had survived so far, both during his time with the Cohort and since
he had become an adventuring free agent, it would be something of a letdown to die
by being shot with a chemically propelled projectile. That was only one step above
being mauled and eaten by a wild animal.

Merlin walked down the ramp, one cautious step at a time. тАЬNo weap-ons,тАЭ he
said. тАЬJust flowers. If I wanted to hurt you, I could have hit you from space with
charm-torps.тАЭ

When he reached the apron, the leader gave another order and a trio of
soldiers broke formation to cover Merlin from three angles, with the barrels of their
weapons almost touching him. The leaderтАФa cruel-looking young man with a scar
down the right side of his faceтАФshouted something in MerlinтАЩs direction, a word
that sounded vaguely like тАЬdistal,тАЭ but which was in no language Merlin recognized.