"Timothy Zahn - Spinneret" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

his desk chair, "tell me about Perez."

He listened in silence for the few minutes it took to recount her conversation with
Dunlop's alleged riot leader. "He seemed pretty sincere, Colonel," she said when
she had finished.

"I'm sure he did," Meredith nodded. "Whether he was or not is another story. A
massive plot to press-gang Hispanics is a bit hard to swallow."

"I know." She paused. "There do seem to be a lot of Hispanics here, though."

Meredith shrugged. "The climate here approximates the Southwest, and we
needed people experienced in farming sandy soils. That focuses on the area where
Hispanics are already concentrated, so what's the big deal?"

Carmen shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, sir. But even if nothing тАж unfair тАж has
occurred, there's still that perception. I was thinking on the way back тАж perhaps
you could set up something like a city council in each of the towns. Not with any
real power," she added quickly, correctly interpreting his expression. "It would be
more of an advisory sort of body, a clearinghouse for complaints and
suggestions."

"We already have channels like that set up," he reminded her.

"Yes, but тАж " She pursed her lips. "It's all organized along military lines. The
civilians may not feel comfortable with that; I know it took me a while to get used
to military procedure and I was raised in an Army home."

"What you're suggesting is that I give them the illusion of democracy without the
substance." Meredith shook his head. "It'd be more trouble than it's worth. You'd
add top-heaviness to the administrative sector, inject a battalion-worth of
unnecessary political maneuvering and infighting, and generally use up man-hours

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for no net gain."

"The gain would rest in smoother cooperation between civilians and military," she
countered.

"Technically speaking, Miss Olivero, there are no civilians on Astra. Everyone is
under military rule and law, and if some of them don't like it, I'm sorry. They'll get
used to it in time." He glanced at his watch. "I'd better let you go; it's getting late.
I'll want a formal report from you for the file, but there's no particular rush."

"Yes, sir." She recognized the dismissal and stood up, but then hesitated.
"Colonel? What are you going to do about Major Dunlop?"