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

Carmen frowned. "Sir?"

"Oh, you didn't know? Your friend Perez is one of the new breed of college-
educated Hispanic Rights activists crowding the landscape these days. Sort of a
newcomer to the field, but damn good at itтАФhas one of those golden oratory
styles that turns crowds and liberal media inside out. I don't know who the iron-
head was who approved him for Astra, but I intend to get him disapproved and
sent back to Arizona as soon as I can."

"I see." Perez's presence here was starting to make senseтАФ perhaps on more than
one level. "Colonel тАж have you given any more thought to the idea of setting up a
citizen advisory council? I think it might ease the tension if you announcedтАФ"

"Miss Olivero." Meredith's voice was soft and excruciatingly patient. "The farm
work in Crosse is three days behind schedule, work on Martello's landing field is
being interrupted while Major Brown tries to figure out whether we should be
building defenses against that Rooshrike mining group two planets over, and

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Zahn, Timothy - Spinneret


about thirty percent of my troops are currently tied up with civil peacekeeping
duty. I'll tell you just once more: we cannot spare the man-hours a farce like that
would cost. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," she said between rigid lips.

"Good. You can tell Perez you delivered his messageтАФand the next time he has
something to say, he can write me a note. Dismissed."

Silently, Carmen got to her feet and left the room, resisting the urge to slam the
door behind her. Of course an advisory council would use up timeтАФbut so did
civil unrest. In the long run the good such councils did nearly always outweighed
their costs; she'd seen the studies that proved it. Why wouldn't the colonel at least
give the idea a fair hearing? Was he simply allergic to civilian politics, like so
many other career officers she'd known? OrтАФ

Or was it because she was a Hispanic?

"Excuse me, miss?"

She came to an abrupt halt and focused for the first time on the man who had
stepped between her and the outer office door. "Yes, ahтАФ?" she said, trying to
figure out where she'd seen him before.

"I'm Dr. Peter Hafner," he identified himself. "Geologist. I saw you with Colonel
Meredith the second night here, when I came to ask about the grounded flyers."