"Peter Watts - Bulk Food" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watts Peter)

P-28?тАЭ
That stops everyone cold. "P-28 is Transient," says a fortyish
woman with periwinkle shells braided into her long, graying hair.
10 Peter Watts

"L1 is a Resident pod." The accusation is clear. Is this man calling
Anna Marie Hamilton a liar?
The heretic falters in the stony silence. тАЬWell, thatтАЩs what the
Guide says.тАЭ He holds the document out like a protective amulet.
тАЬGive me that.тАЭ Periwinkle snatches the book away, riffles
through the pages. тАЬThis is the old edition.тАЭ She waves the
copyright page. тАЬThis was printed back in the nineteen-eighties,
for GoddessтАЩ sake! You're supposed to have the new edition, the
one Anna Marie approved. This is definitely L1." Periwinkle
throws the discredited volume over the side. тАЬBob Finch had a
hand in all those old guides until тАЩ02. You canтАЩt trust anything
from before then.тАЭ
The wheelhouse hatch swings open. DipnetтАЩs captain, a gangly
old salt whose ears look as though theyтАЩve been attached upside-
down, clears his throat. тАЬGot a message coming in,тАЭ he announces
over the growl of the engine. тАЬIтАЩll put it on the speakers.тАЭ The
hatch swings shut.
A message! Of course, Dipnet has all the technology, the
hydrophones, the computers, everything it needs for the
unenlightened to communicate with both species. ThereтАЩs a
speaker mounted on the roof of the cabin, pointing down at the rear
deck. It burps static for a moment, then:
тАЬSisters. Hurry.тАЭ A squeal of feedback. тАЬGrandmother. Says.
Hello.тАЭ
Count on crass western technology to turn a beautiful alien
tongue into pidgin English.
тАЬOoh,тАЭ says someone at the gunwales. тАЬLook.тАЭ The orcas are
pacing Dipnet on either side, rolling and breathing in perfect synch.
тАЬThey want us to follow them,тАЭ Periwinkle says excitedly.
тАЬYes, they do," intones one of the telepaths. "I can feel it."
The orcas are so close to the boat theyтАЩre almost touching the
hull. Dipnet plows straight ahead. Just as well. The whales arenтАЩt
leaving enough room for course changes anyway.

***
Bulk Food 11

The chair on the gangway is obviously not meant for children.
Ramona fusses with the straps, cranks the cross-hairs down to
child-height. She offers patient instruction in the use of the
harpoon. Papa-san hollers up instructions of his own in Japanese.
Conflicting ones, apparently; Tetsuo, bouncing excitedly in the
harness, gives nothing but grief. Herschel continues his cheerful
instigation: Hey, lady, we pay ten grand for this, we do it our way
thank you so much. He doesnтАЩt seem to have noticed that