"Terry Dowling - Roadsong" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dowling Terry)

"One of Ha-Ha's alter-egos," Archimbault said, recognizing the name.
"One among many, yes."
"They wouldn't declare their intentions," Tamas said, searching the horizons.
The old ecologist answered him. "Why not? I hear Ha-Ha enjoys elaborate . . . entertainments."
"So the name suggests," Ty said.
Her words brought the scholar back to it. "And not to be taken lightly, Lady. Not as innocent as it
sounds. In Britain a 'ha-ha' was the name given to a sunken fence surrounding a park or garden, named
that because the unwary would stumble from one level to another without warning."
"Pah!" Ti said, discounting Hamm's words, not bothering to conceal her dislike for the enthusiastic young
man.
But Archimbault confirmed it. "Tamas is right, Lady. It is from English water-garden traditions."
Ti raised the hood of her sand-cape. "We were wrong to take passage like this. We should have taken
tribal escort."
The taller woman laughed. "We wanted time away from our retinues, Ti."
"I wanted to annoy the Kutungurlu, not become a target for highwaymen."
Ty smiled at her new-found friend, then faced Tom. "Captain, can we summon support ships?"
"We can, yes. There were the two Emmened charvis at Port Allure, Garis and Eson. And the Lady Ti's
original escort, Berengar. But it might be simpler to put back."
"No," Ty said firmly. "Call them to us."
Tom studied the wide brown eyes below the Tarasin flower. The Emmened dowager was enjoying this
unexpected adventure. Ajaltas and fortune-tellers, now pirates.
"Lady . . ."
"Do it!" blue-clad Ti said. "Call Berengar!"
"This was your choice, Ladies," the words came, though no mouth had moved to form them.
All eyes went to the creop in its improvised cradle. The Israel Board flickered with the life of its
occupant.
Ti's eyes narrowed within their glittering cage of birkin fans. "Are you saying we should therefore risk
attack, possibly abduction?"
"Not at all, Ti," the voice came, reasonable, unhurried, a voice used to slow time, infrequent
conversation. "Notify the ships, by all means. Let their captains advise you. Alert the comsats as well. I
simply suggest that Captain Tyson be allowed to conduct his scan and give us counsel. Captain?"
Another time, Tom would have laughed - laughed at how smoothly the ancient Lady dealt with the
confused emotions of her corporeal counterparts, at how total the feared entrapment had now become.
"Thank you all for your concern," he said. "We'll complete our scan, notify the satellites, have them
confirm our readings. They can track us. And with your agreement, Ladies, we will call Port Allure and
see if your House ships have been deployed. If possible, we will summon Berengar after us."
"Good," Ty said, and the Chitalice Lady Ti nodded in approval, blazing blue at the eyes, the fans giving
her a fierce, elemental quality.
And as Tom began his running contact with Shannon down at com, the party of men and women moved
down onto the commons again, the Ladies not ordering the Nationals away. When the Blue Captain
heaved a sigh a few moments later, bent over com, he had quite possibly forgotten the untiring, flickering
gaze of the Lady Say.

Scan showed clear. Comsat readings from the Chargan and San-Mar units geo-tethered in the locality of
that stretch of the Adanaya-Nos confirmed it. No power readings. Raiders using insulated hulls could
only be kite-driven.
The Emmened charvis had departed as feared, but Berengar was on its way, a broken static-ridden
transmission confirmed.
Tom didn't make it general information, confided it only to Shannon and Scarbo, and they in turn to the
rest of the crew, but that torn signal worried him. The Chitalice response code was correct but felt