"Walter Jon Williams - Dread Empire's Fall - 03.5 - Logs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

Logs by Walter Jon Williams

УLogsФ is an excerpt from Conventions of War, Book Three of Dread EmpireТs Fall, which will be published in 2005 by HarperCollins (U.S.) and Simon & Schuster (U.K.)

***

LORD GARETH MARTINEZ ate alone in his office, staring sourly at the plump buttocks and chubby faces of the naked winged children that so oddly ornamented his office walls. He was served by his cook, Perry, and he dined alone.

It was normal for him to eat by himself. He was the squadronТs tactical officer. A tactical officer was normally a lieutenant, and would mess in the wardroom, a kind of club for the lieutenants. Martinez, a full captain, couldnТt take a meal in the wardroom without an invitation. Squadron Leader Chen had her own dining room, as did the flagshipТs Captain Gomberg. Unless someone invited him, or unless he invited others, his unique status on the ship ensured his solitude.

He had left the relatively carefree life of a lieutenant behind, but he missed the companionship that life had brought him. He would have traded that companionship for the loneliness of command, but the fact remained that he wasnТt in command, and he had to dine alone anyway.

Perry cleared MartinezТ plate and offered to pour more wine. Martinez placed his hand over the glass.

УThank you, Perry,Ф he said. Perry took the glass and left in silence.

Martinez called the tactical display onto the wall, just to make certain nothing new had appeared. Even though the naked children on the walls gazed at the displays as if in fascination, Martinez found there had been no change.

The flagship Illustrious and six other warshipsЧФChenforceФЧwere on an extended raid into Naxid space. Their task was to destroy enemy commerce, not to engage Naxid squadrons, and every enemy vessel at large in the Termaine system had been destroyed by Chenforce missiles within the first few days after the wormhole jump into the system. Chenforce would pass by Termaine itself in three daysТ time, and had already ordered the commander of the planetТs ring station to jettison any ships docked on the ring. Their destruction would provide a close-up demonstration of the raidersТ power.

The raid would last another two or three months. Martinez could look forward to many dinners alone in his office.

He closed the display and gazed at his desk, at the images of his wife Terza that floated in the midnight surface. He thought of the child they had made together and he was suddenly possessed by a desperate exaltation, a hunger he could taste far more keenly than he had his meal. The idea of a child was a wonder to him, and he felt a sudden blade-sharp longing.

Suddenly, desperately, he wanted to be with his family aboard the Ensenada, the Martinez family yacht that was taking them from abandoned Zanshaa to safety on Laredo. He wanted to be with Terza, to bask in her tranquil smile and watch the minute progress of the child growing within her. For a brief, intense moment he would have thrown away all ambition in exchange for a quiet life of familial bliss.

There was a knock on the frame of his cabin door, and he looked up to see Lieutenant Chandra Prasad, the one person on Illustrious with whom he didnТt want to be alone.

УYes?Ф he said.

Chandra entered, closed the door behind her, and walked to his desk. She braced properly at the salute, shoulders flared back, chin high, throat baredЧthe posture imposed by the Shaa conquerors on all vanquished species, the better to allow their superiors to cut their throat if they felt so inclined.

УYes, lieutenant?Ф Martinez said.

She relaxed and held out a thick envelope. УFrom Lord Captain Fletcher.Ф

The envelope was of a thick smooth paper of a faintly cranberry shade, no doubt custom-made for Captain Fletcher by the foremost paper-maker of Harzapid. The seal on the envelope had many quarterings, reflecting the captainТs illustrious heritage.
Martinez broke the seal and withdrew a card, which invited him to dine with the captain on the next day, to honor the birthday of Squadron Commander Chen. Exigencies of the service permitting, of course.
He looked up at Chandra. She had auburn hair, a pointed chin, and a mischievous glint in her long eyes.

УIТll come, of course,Ф he said.

УShall I wait for your reply?Ф Chandra asked.

Even though the captainТs quarters were only a few paces away and the invitation was nothing a sane officer could possibly decline, custom of the service nevertheless required that Martinez reply to a written invitation with a written reply.

УIf youТre not required elsewhere,Ф he said.

The mischievous eyes sparkled. УI am entirely at the captainТs service,Ф Chandra said.