"Joe Haldeman - Tricentennial (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haldeman Joe)

Connors refilled both glasses. "How old were you in '47, Charlie?" ,

"I was born in '45."

"You don't remember the Blackout. Ten thousand people died . . . and
you want me to suggest-"

"Come on, Bo, it's not the same thing. We know the accumulators work
now-besides, the ones who died, most of them had faulty fail-safes on
their cars. If we warn them the power's going to drop, they'll check
their fail-safes or damn well stay out of the air."

"And the media? They'd have to take turns broadcasting. Are you going
to tell the People what they can watch?"

"Fuzz the media. They'll be getting the biggest story since the
Crucifixion."

"Maybe." Connors took a cigarette and pushed the box toward Charlie.
"You don't remember what happened to the Senators from California in
'47, do you?"

"Nothing good, I suppose." -

"No, indeed. They were impeached. Lucky they weren't lynched. Even
though the real trouble was 'way up in orbit.

"Like you say: people pay a grid tax to California. They think the
power comes from California. If something fuzzes up, they get pissed at
California. I'm the Lib Senator from California, Charlie; ask me for
the Moon, maybe I can do something. Don't ask me to fuzz around with
Death Valley."

"All right, all right. It's not like I was asking you to wire it for
me, Bo. Just get it on the ballot. We'll do everything we can to
educate-"

"Won't work. You barely got the Scylla probe voted in-and that was no
skin off nobody, not with L-5 picking up the tab."

"Just get it on the ballot."
"We'll see. I've got a quota, you know that. And the
Tricentennial coming up, hell, everybody wants on the ..

ballot"
"Please, Bo. This is bigger than that. This is bigger than anything.
Get it on the ballot." "Maybe as a rider. No promises."

March 1992: