"Walter Jon Williams - Logs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

Logs by Walter Jon Williams

тАЬLogsтАЭ is an excerpt from Conventions of War, Book Three of Dread EmpireтАЩs
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 squadronтАЩs 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, couldnтАЩt take a
meal in the wardroom without an invitation. Squadron Leader Chen had her own
dining room, as did the flagshipтАЩs 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 wasnтАЩt in command,
and he had to dine alone anyway.

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

тАЬThank you, Perry,тАЭ 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 warshipsтАФтАЭChenforceтАЭтАФwere 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
daysтАЩ time, and had already ordered the commander of the planetтАЩs ring station to
jettison any ships docked on the ring. Their destruction would provide a close-up
demonstration of the raidersтАЩ 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.