"R. Garcia Y Robertson - Oxygen Rising" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robertson R Garcia Y)

lives, as many as I can. You have given the Greenies a good thumping, and they no longer think they can
take this place by direct assault."
Pender chuckled, leaning back against a blast shield. "Happy to hear that."

"Bad news is that the Greenies plan to just blast you to atoms. There is an Osiris missile in orbit with an
antimatter warhead, aimed right where we are standing. I'm your last chance to get anyone out of here
alive."

Pender took the news evenly, well aware that the Greenies were losing patience. "So what's the deal if
we leave?"

"No deal, I'm afraid." Derek didn't try to con Pender; whatever happened next, he was talking to a dead
man. "You give up your guns and come out. Greenies already have a blanket amnesty for women and
kidsтАФmost women, anyway." He did not want to get the gunner from Portland's hopes up, since the
women and kids amnesty did not apply to her. "But the best I can promise you and your troops is
civilized treatment and a fair trial."

Big Bill shook his bald head. "You're not offering much."

"I am not offering anything, just passing on the Greenies' terms." Derek knew how bad that sounded, like
being a messenger boy for Photo sapiens. "Look, they could have sent a holo. Or just a warhead. I
volunteered for this, and I'm here in the flesh to show I understand the seriousness of what I'm saying.
Innocent human lives are at stakeтАФincluding mine. That is who I speak for."

Pender grinned. "You volunteered?"

"Sounds stupid, doesn't it." Derek grinned back. "I won't lie, I'm getting triple hazard pay just for being
hereтАФbut no amount of pay would drag me to ground zero if I didn't think it was right. Send out the
kids, at least."

General Pender smiled pleasantly at him, like a veteran poker player who'd bet his limit on a busted flush,
but was too much of a pro to show it. "Stay here, you deserve an answer."

Derek watched Big Bill Pender disappear through the inner lock, then he turned to the gunner in her
niche. "So, what did you do in Portland?"

"Nothing," the woman did not take her head out of the sighting hood. "That's why I came hereтАФtwo
years out of grad school, and way overqualified for any job I could hope to get. There are dance clubs in
Portland where the hostesses all have advanced degrees. Colonizing the stars sounded romantic, a
chance to do something with my life, like in ZPG commercials."

Everyone makes mistakes. "Try not to judge the cosmos by Ares system," Derek suggested, "some parts
are amazingly lovely."

Pulling her head out of the hood, the woman brushed brown hair out of green eyes and asked, "Is it part
of your job to be nice to me?"

"I'm a negotiator," Derek declared blandly, hiding behind business. "It's my job to be nice to everyone."

But the Portland woman was not buying. "Doesn't your trainingтАж"