"Haldeman, Joe - Tricentennial" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haldeman Joe)

"Doesn't she always? You clowns never-do anything around here until I leave."

All Abigail Bemis would say over the phone was that

Charlie should come to her place for dinner; she'd y

prep him for the meeting. a
"That was good, Ab. Can't afford real food on
Earth."
She laughed and stacked the plates in the cleaner,
then drew two cups of coffee. She laughed again when
she sat down. Stocky, white-haired woman with bright
eyes in a sea of wrinkles.
"You're in a jolly mood tonight." _
"Yep. It's expectation."
"Johnny said you had a surprise."
"Hooboy, he doesn't know half. So you didn't get
anywhere with the Senator."
"No. Even less than I expected. What's the secret?"
"Connors is a nice-hearted boy. He's done a lot for
91
us.
"Come on, Ab. What is it?"
"He's right. Shut off the groundhogs' TV for twenty
minutes and they'd have another Revolution on their hands."

"Ab . . ."

"We're going to send the message." .

"Sure. I figured we would. Using Farside at whatever wattage we've got. If we're lucky-"

"Nope. Not enough power."

Charlie stirred a half-spoon of sugar into his coffee. "You plan to . . . defy Connors?"

"Fuzz Connors. We're not going to use radio at all."

"Visible light? Infra?"

"We're going to hand-carry it. In Daedalus."

Charlie's coffee cup was halfway to his mouth. He spilled a great deal.

"Here, have a napkin."

June 2040

From A Short History Of the Old Order (Freeman Press, 2040)