"Ringo, John - Council Wars 1 - There Will Be Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ringo John)

all?"
The butler program sensed that this was one of the times it was supposed to
engage in "small talk" and pulled up the appropriate sub-routine.
"King of Anarchia," the program said in surprise. "Forsooth, there hasn't been a
king in Anarchia in over a hundred years! Not since Charles the Great conquered
it all in but ten years. And then ruled it, in peace, for another ten before
disappearing once again!"
"No, there hasn't," Talbot said, turning away from the armor and shaking his
head again. "And I can do without the recap; I mean, I was alive then,
remember?"
"Yes, milord. Sorry."
Edmund stopped and stroked his beard for a moment in thought. "I need to call
Fukyama and tell him to make sure to get the payment up-front." He paused again,
pulling at his beard. "King of Anarchia, hey?" He worked his face and pulled at
his beard again then looked around as if surprised by his surroundings.
"I'm going to the pub for dinner," he said abruptly.
"Yes, my lord," the butler program replied.
"And Charles?"
"Yes, my lord?"
" 'Vouchsafe' I can handle but 'forsooth' is overdoing it."
"Yes, my lord."
"Don't wait up. I feel a carouse coming on."
"Yes, my lord," the program said. "One item I should bring to your attention is
that Miss Rachel has sent word that she will not be able visit next week. Her
friend Marguerite's birthday party will interfere."
"Oh." Edmund thought about that for a moment then sighed. "Definitely don't wait
up."


CHAPTER THREE
Rachel realized as she reached the apex of the backflip that there was no way
the power-ski was going to land in any semblance of an upright position.
She had been trying to keep up with Marguerite in a game of "follow the leader"
but not only did her friend have far more time on power-skis, she was just
naturally more adept at physical sports.
What came naturally to Marguerite was always a struggle for Rachel. Take for
example power skiing. All that you had to work with was a small T handle. This
generated a shield-shaped force-field under foot and an impeller wave. The
impeller could be used to hover the craft or push it forward. By driving forward
over the water, with the anti-gravity neutralized, the system could be used to
ski across the surface of the water using weight to adjust the angle of attack
and turns. From there, the rest was up to the imagination, balance and skill of
the skier. In this case, Rachel had done her best to keep up as Marguerite had
jetted off at nearly eighty kilometers per hour across the waves, jumping from
wave-top to wave-top and spinning like an insane dervish.
But her best had just turned out to not be good enough.
She watched the pelagic water coming up towards her and considered her options.
She had turned off the automatic stabilizing system, both because it interfered
with the maneuvers and because it was more fun with it off. So the ski wasn't
going to save her. And no matter how she twisted or turned, she couldn't seem to