"Joan D. Vinge - Fireship" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Joan D)

ETHANACтАЩs cord passed through my suit. тАЬFriend, you may not
object to sitting on your brain; but no, I donтАЩt put mine on the
floor.тАЭ
It took a second for that to register, after which three pairs of
eyes impaled me with varying degrees of censure. My friend the
puffin said, тАЬNo. Absolutely not, Hana. I canтАЩt work with a man like
that; we couldnтАЩt possibly trust himтАФтАЭ I urged him on mentally.
тАЬHeтАЩs a criminal! We should report him to the Americans and let it
go at that.тАЭ
More like the urge to kill.
тАЬBasil,тАЭ Hana raised her voice over the general clamor in our
helmets. тАЬYou canтАЩt blame him for being a little sharp.тАЭ She lowered
it again, тАЬAfter all, weтАЩre blackmailing the man.тАЭ She looked back at
me. тАЬThese are my colleaguesтАФCephas Ntebe, and Basil Kraus.тАЭ
Rhymes with тАЬ louse .тАЭ
тАЬCephas, Basil, this isтАФтАЭ She glanced away. тАЬMichael Ethan
Yarrow Ring,тАЭ we said.
They looked confused. тАЬ тАШWhatтАЩs in a name,тАЩ Yarrow?тАЭ Ntebe
asked.
тАЬAs old WhatтАЩs-his-name once said.тАЭ I sat back against the wall,
looked over and down the long, long slope to the sheer drop of the
cliff at the volcanoтАЩs foot. тАЬSimply that I am not Michael Yarrow.
IтАЩm Ethan Ring.тАЭ
тАЬYou just happen to live in someone elseтАЩs body.тАЭ Hana gestured
sarcastically at my hidden fingerprints.
 I nodded. тАЬExactly.тАЭ
тАЬThis man is impossible!тАЭ Kraus snapped.
тАЬReally, Hana,тАЭ Ntebe said, тАЬI just donтАЩt think itтАЩs right to involve
outsidersтАФтАЭ
тАЬListenтАЭтАФshe pointed at him insteadтАФтАЬInez sent me with you
two so thereтАЩd be someone with a little common sense involved in
this. And I feel that we do need himтАФтАЭ
I leaned on an elbow, listening to their accents mingle, and gazed
broodingly up into the sky. A ship broke through the clouds as I
watched, startling me; I followed its gentle drop to landing, down at
Elysian Field. I fantasized having the ability to wish myself down
there from here, and pictured myself getting the hell off Mars on
the first available flightтАж I came back to reality with a jolt,
remembering that by coming to Mars in the first place, IтАЩd
inadvertently made sure IтАЩd never leave it againтАФat least not of my
own free will. The very complexity of the computer nets that shroud
cislunar spaceтАФfor shipping and security and
God-knows-whatтАФmade it easy for me to unravel a small hole and
slip through, with no one the wiser. But here on Mars life is
simpler; and IтАЩd discovered to my intense dismay that its equally
uncomplicated shipping systems make it into a kind of small town:
If you tried to tamper with anything, someone couldnтАЩt help but
notice. IтАЩd come to Mars posing as a crate of bologna; the only way
IтАЩd ever get off it again was in ironsтАж
Two icebound raindrops melted into sudden flowers on the glass