"David Weber & Steve White - Starfire 2 - Crusade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

Khardanish noted Lieutenant JohansenтАЩs teeth-hidden smile with approval, for Humans often
forgot that bared teeth were a challenge among his people. He knew Jo-hansen had studied the
Zheeer├╝kouтАЩvalkhannaieee carefully in preparation for this assignment, yet it was still gratifying
to see such awareness of proper behavior. Not mat he was quite prepared to stop teasing his
guest just yet.

"I am glad,тАЬ he said, "and I apologize for how long the cooks took to grasp that you would truly
prefer it cooked.тАЬ

"Not necessary, Captain. I console myself with the thought that a TFN chef would find it just as
hard to believe you would truly prefer it raw.тАЬ
Khardanish allowed himself the snarling purr of a chuckle. It was remarkable how well he and
Johansen had learned to read one anotherтАЩs nuances, particularly since neither had the proper
vocal apparatus to speak the otherтАЩs language. Khardanish suspected he had drawn the Lorelei
Patrol at least partly because he understood Terran Standard English. There was much talk of
new translating software, but the current generation remained crude and impreciseтАж and used
too much memory for a lowly destroyer, anyway.

The least claw had been less than enthusiastic when he heard about his new post. It was
flattering for a least claw to serve, in effect, as a small claw with his own squadron, but the Tenth
Destroyer SquadronтАЩs four old ships hardly constituted the NavyтАЩs cutting edge, nor did the
Lorelei System qualify as a critical sector. It was one of the very few systems the Khanate had
succeeded in wresting from the Federation in the First Interstellar War of two Orion centuries
before, but the thoroughly useless star was hopelessly indefensible (as the Terrans had proved
in ISW-2), which, he suspected, was probably why the Federation had permitted his people to
keep it. Lorelei had no habitable planets, and only one of its six warp points led to Orion territory;
four led to Terran space, and the sixth led only to death, for no survey ship had ever returned
from its far terminus. His Znamae and her sisters were here purely to "show the flag,тАЬ as the
Terrans put it.

Yet Khardanish had come to realize his duty held an importance too few of his fellows could
appreciate. Most agreed that when the Federation and Khanate allied against the Rigelians in
the. Third Interstellar War, the Treaty of ValkhaтАЩs assignment of liaison officers to all border
patrols had made sense as a means of defusing potential incidents. Far fewer would admit that
the contact those liaison assignments engendered remained equally desirable as a means of
nurturing the still slowgrowing mutual respect of the star nationsтАЩ warriors.

Khardanish himself was surprised by how genuinely fond of the lieutenant he had become. He
would never find Humans attractive. Their faces were flat; their ears were small, round, and set
far too low; they lacked any hint of a decent pelt; and the absence of the whiskers which were an
OrionтАЩs pride made it difficult to take them seriously. Even their males had only a soft, cub-like
fuzz, but it was even worse in the lieutenantтАЩs case. She was a female, and the long hair which
framed her face only emphasized its total, disgusting bareness. And if the Human custom of
wearing body-shrouding clothing at all times was less aesthetically objectionable - at least it hid
their naked skins! - it still seemedтАж odd.

But Samantha Johansen had many qualities he admired. She was observant, intelligent, and
keenly sensitive to the inevitable differences Between their cultures, and her military credentials
were impressive. The lieutenant was only fifty-three - tweiтАЩtтАЩtty-eтАЩtтАЩt^ht, by hex peopleтАЩs reckoning
- but sтАЩtтАЩtтАЩtтАЩte had seen the zeget. Her mess tunic bore the ribbon of the FederationтАЩs Military