"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Alliances" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

any longer.
тАЬDid the Dulacs speak English when they told you of this great find?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ Galland started, but she didnтАЩt let him finish.
тАЬDid the Hacrim? How about the CrativтАЩn?тАЭ
тАЬNo.тАЭ
тАЬDid they use one of these devices to communicate with you?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ Galland said.
тАЬSo you had to speak to them through translators.тАЭ
тАЬYes, but-тАЭ
тАЬHuman translators, trained at some university and hired by the Patrol, right?тАЭ
тАЬYes, but-тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt you find that somewhat suspicious?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ Galland said.
She couldnтАЩt believe he had just said that. тАЬNo?тАЭ
Galland nodded. тАЬNo.тАЭ
She stood up. Now she was confused. тАЬWhy not?тАЭ And then she mentally kicked
herself for asking the question.
тАЬBecause,тАЭ he said, тАЬthey claim these creatures donтАЩt want the translator in anyone
elseтАЩs hands.тАЭ
тАЬSo,тАЭ she said, тАЬon the off chance that this universal translator does exist, what am I
supposed to do? Steal the technology?тАЭ
тАЬThatтАЩs your suggestion, Captain.тАЭ
She let out a surprised laugh. тАЬI was being sarcastic, Admiral.тАЭ
тАЬReally?тАЭ he said, тАЬSomehow, I hadnтАЩt noticed.тАЭ
She stared at him, shocked. тАЬYou canтАЩt be serious.тАЭ
He grinned. тАЬIt was your suggestion.тАЭ
She shook her head. How she hated the meetings with him. The thing was she knew
she had little recourse. The
Alliance let a lot of things slide, particularly if the end result benefited Alliance
members.
And to think she had been idealistic when she joined up, believing that тАЬfor the good
of all racesтАЭ crap that had been in the recruiting ads. To think that she once believed
she and her crew would fly all over the galaxy doing good.
How naive was that?
Probably as naive as letting Admiral Galland help her avoid reassignment.
тАЬAdmiral,тАЭ she said, choosing her words carefully, тАЬwe couldnтАЩt invent a universal
translator for human languages. Human beings-the same species-donтАЩt base our
language on the same structure and concepts. How can there be a universal translator
for humans and aliens? ItтАЩs not possible and you know it. You want me to risk my
life and my crewтАЩs for someoneтАЩs con.тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs not a con,тАЭ he said. тАЬThree different kinds of aliens-тАЭ
тАЬYeah. They couldnтАЩt all have been bought off.тАЭ She put up her hands as if to ward
off his next remark. тАЬThat was sarcasm too, in case you didnтАЩt catch it.тАЭ
тАЬLook, Captain. You and I have both seen a lot of strange things in our careers.
ThatтАЩs part of what space is about.тАЭ Galland was being serious now. Somehow that
disconcerted her even more. тАЬWhat if this translator works for some alien races? If it
works forty percent of the time, then itтАЩs better than anything we have.тАЭ
тАЬAnd if, in the remaining sixty percent, it mistranslates and we donтАЩt know it, arenтАЩt
we setting ourselves up for something completely terrible?тАЭ she asked.
тАЬLetтАЩs find out if it exists first, Roz. Then weтАЩll worry about it.тАЭ