"Karen Traviss - Wess'Har 06 - Judge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Traviss Karen)

Kimbell shielded his brow with his hand. тАЬNo, sir, itтАЩs changing shape, all right. Look.тАЭ

The cigar was thinning out at one point like a sausage of modeling clay rolled between a kidтАЩs palms.
Where the metal was deformingтАФwas it metal, did these creatures even use metal?тАФit was changing
color, too, turning from bronze to the powdery blue bloom of a grape. Then the smaller section broke
away and flew off, a perfect little rugby ball of a ship, silent and speed-blurred. It was just as if the damn
thing had given birth.

тАЬI suppose thatтАЩs why they call it the mothership,тАЭ Kimbell said. It was funny how he often drew the
same parallels that Bari did. тАЬYou have to see it to believe it, I suppose. ThatтАЩs some tech.тАЭ

The two of them watched the alien ship for as long as they could stand the heat. It wasnтАЩt alone. The
rugby ball had vanished but more dark shapes, the same bronze color, appeared in the sky but with
pebbled hulls as if theyтАЩd gathered barnacles on the journey.

It was a fleet.

Bari had known it was coming for the best part of thirty years. His teen years had been spent worrying
about the aliens who were coming to punish Earth for nuking an alien world and to sort out its dirty,
wasteful waysтАФhoping that AustraliaтАЩs cooperation would save his country. The Eqbas Vorhi fleetтАФthe
consequences of hubris, the judgment of godlike aliensтАФalways seemed to be around an unspecified
corner but never arriving, like the paperless office or peace on Earth. But it was here and happening. It
was now.

And he was now the prime minister of the country playing host to them, while the rest of Earth held its
breath.

How did we ever think we could pull this off? What the hell did we think we were doing?

It was the end of everything he knew and had taken for granted. Somehow, the images that heтАЩd been
studying for years hadnтАЩt prepared him for this moment.

Kimbell batted away a solitary fly. It was too hot even for them, most of the time.

тАЬIf theyтАЩre a million years ahead of us or whatever, how can they even begin to understand us?тАЭ he
asked.

тАЬYou think they even have to?тАЭ

тАЬWell, at least weтАЩll understand our other guests.тАЭ
тАЬThey might as well be aliens themselves.тАЭ Bari couldnтАЩt take his eyes off the ship. He was ready to
believe that it was just an expensive advertising stunt тАЬThe colonists have never seen Earth either.тАЭ

They were going to have a bloody hard time finding other Christians like themselves in this area, too, but
if theyтАЩd volunteered to come back to a world that was baking to death, then maybe they knew
something he didnтАЩt. Faith was a wonderful thing.

тАЬAt least theyтАЩre used to living underground,тАЭ Bari said. тАЬThey say they built an underground city with a
church, everything carved out of rock. I saw it on that BBChan documentary. Michallat.тАЭ