"Christopher Stasheff - Starship Tropers 3 - A Slight Detour" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

"Coward!" Larry called. "Stick around for the last word!"

Marty turned back. "False advertising. I'd love to hear your last word, but I think you're planning to
keep living awhile." He started away again.

"You don't get away that easily!" Larry ran after him, caught up, and said, "The only time you can
think of a last word, is when you reach the end of a novel!"

"And I'm really looking forward to the end of this one, if it means I get to be free of you for a
while."

"I'm not free, KempтАФ"


Marty chimed in for the punch line. "But you're reasonable." Then solo, "Come on, Rash. That one
was old when the iguanas told it to the first mammal."

And off they went down the hall, bickering.

I heaved a sigh of relief. "That lad Marty is a natural diplomat."

"I agree, Horace." Barry nodded. "He defused the situation very nicely. With only a few words, he
managed to change it from an imminent beating into a verbal duel between himself and Larry. Amazing
chap. Glad we chose him."

Then he turned a stern gaze on Ramou. "I hope you realize that you mustn't explode on so little
evidence again, Mr. Lazarian."

The name itself was a rebuke; Barry had started calling Ramou by his first name halfway through
our abortive run on New Venus.

"Yeah, I know." Ramou looked so far down that he could have been playing Second Grave Digger.
"I don't know what made me pop off like that, Mr. Tallendar. I won't do it again. Sensei would be
ashamed of me."

It was, certainly, the only time I had ever seen Ramou truly lose his temper. He was a martial arts
devotee, and his teacher had taught him at least as much about the philosophy underlying the art as about
its methods of wreaking havoc. In fact, from the few comments Ramou had let drop, I gather that those
principles were the core of his life, and had far more to do with not being violent than with doing it most

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effectively. In attacking Larry, Ramou had betrayed himself as much as his teacher.

"I understand that emotionally, you were reacting to a threat to a friend," Barry said, his tone much
gentler. "It is one of the better aspects of a company of ours, that we begin to care about one another.
But for that very reason, you must be certain of your facts before you accuse another company member
of wrongdoing."