"Brad Ferguson - To Tell The Troof" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ferguson Brad)

“No. No one’s been hurt. No crime was committed in my presence. I’m
not a cop, either. Look, Edith, I’ve got enough problems without turning
informer. I don’t care what you had aboard. Tell you the truth, I’m relieved
I don’t have to deal with the situation.”
“Thanks. That’s honest.” Edith paused again, more comfortable now.
“Well,” she finally said, “enough about me. What about you?” She sipped
at her coffee.
McAleer gave her a small, sad smile. “It’s a pretty short story. I don’t
know how much you know about Henderson — ”
“Zero. It was here when I needed it, that’s all.”
“Okay. Actually, there’s not much to tell,” McAleer began. “Henderson
was first charted fifteen years ago. The exploration team stayed for a
while, but didn’t do much except introduce the Troof to the Fed; that’s
when Standard was introduced here.
“Anyway, the team left after a few months. There was really nothing
here for it to chart, and its report was buried under a mass of explorers’
reports from likelier star systems. Henderson doesn’t have much in the
way of natural resources, and it’s not in a good location for easy
exploitation. Its best and pretty much only value is as a way station on an
unpopular trade route. In fact, no one came back here until the Feds
opened a trading post in town about three years ago. That’s when the field
you landed on was built, by the way.”
Edith nodded. “So what happened to the traders?”
McAleer shrugged. “It turned out that the Troof had no interest in trade
with the Fed, so the post was closed down a year or so back. All the Troof
got out of the deal was the field and, six months ago, me. The traders’ final
report managed not to get itself buried in the bureaucracy, and my bishop
transferred me here right after a summary hit his desk.”
“Just like that?”
“Sure. That’s the way it works, Edith. Someone comes up with a planet
full of sentients, and off we go, if we’re able. My bishop’s rather
determined on the subject, so we’re most often able. Representatives of
other Terran sects will almost certainly come fairly soon but, as of now,
I’m the only human — the only other human — on Henderson. And I’ve
done damned little with my, uh, monopoly.”
“I once work for explorers and trade team,” Zweebl put in. “Was
go-between with my people for Feds back then. That how I know Terrans
so good. Father Mort show up with no idea of what to do here. He hire me
right away. Found this building for him, hired labor for reconstruct, et
cetera. Showed him the ropes according to Hoyle.”
“Zweebl taught me a lot about the Troof,” McAleer said. He sighed.
“Apparently not enough, though. I’m afraid my efforts here have been
rather fruitless.”
Edith looked puzzled.
“I mean the mission is far from successful,” McAleer continued. “I have
no Troof congregants, none at all. I don’t have anyone taking instruction
in the faith, either. I realized that the Troof might not take to Orthodox
Catholicism, but I haven’t even had so much as an inquiry about it. No
one’s seemed in the least interested, not even Zweebl. He just works for
me, that’s all.”