"Steve Jordan - The Onuissance Cells" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jordan Steve)

The lift stopped and opened about midway up the city’s interior, and the three Peacekeepers stepped
out. Thomas immediately noted how sweet the air was, and a quick glance to the left revealed a bright row
of gladiolas in a window box a few meters distant. The window was apparently part of a commercial
establishment named “Glad Tidings”. The large double-door was wide open, and Thomas could see
bouquets of flowers and small bric-a-brac adorning its shelves.
They passed the shop and began walking along the wide-open gallery. The entire level seemed to be
made up of commercial establishments of every type, mostly small, but occasionally dozens of meters
across and possibly as deep. Thomas noted a number of cafes and restaurants, many craft shops, and a
few tronics suppliers.
There were a good many people milling around in these shops, as well. San and Frank waved at or said
hello to many people as they walked along. Thomas was glad to see the PKs were obviously popular
around here. There was nothing harder than starting a new posting in an area where no one liked you.
Eventually they came to an area separated from the shops by a few dozen yards, just beyond a corridor
that seemed to venture out of sight into the outer areas of the level, perhaps to the outside wall itself. A
slightly tinted glass wall nine meters wide revealed two open offices, separated by glass partitions. Other
than a large executive table and chairs, a larger conference table and more chairs, and a mini-kitchen, he
could see nothing else. If the display screens he could see were displaying anything, they were polarized
against the outer window, and blank to anyone outside. Just past the window was an extra-wide door, with
the five-sided shield of the Peacekeepers emblazoned in its center, and about as high as Thomas’ chest.
There was another door, the size of the average residence door, just a meter past that. That would be the
Commander’s quarters, Thomas thought, if standard PK design had been used to set up this station. So far,
he mused, he hadn’t seen anything to suggest they hadn’t followed standard designs.
The extra-wide door slid open for them immediately, and they stepped into a small security entry. It
only took a moment for the sensors in the entry to scan each of them over, before opening the heavier door
into the Peacekeeper station. The station was set up to specs, Thomas saw immediately. The
Commander’s desk, to Thomas’ right, was the chief piece of furniture in the room, with chairs and smaller
tables facing it or scattered around it. There was a sec built into the desk, and its clear screen jutted up
from the table’s surface at the edge of the sec’s control board. Now that they were inside, Thomas could
see a few lines of data displayed on the screen, but since he was standing behind the screen, he could not
make out the backwards data from that distance. On the left was the mini-kitchen, built into the wall with its
own counter. A short hallway to the left of the mini-kitchen led to the lockup rooms, a bath and locker
room, and a storage room. And beyond the Commander’s desk and through the glass partition, Thomas
could see the conference room, basically one table, six chairs and two wall screens.
Thomas glanced over his left shoulder at another, shorter hallway, with a heavy door at its end. That
was the direct door into the Commanding Officer’s apartment, which confirmed Thomas’ suspicions. He
also noticed at that moment how clean the office was, and he glanced over at San.
San managed a slight smile, and nodded. “Welcome to Midland Peacekeeper station, Commander.” She
placed his flight bag on the table opposite the desk. “You’re not scheduled to take over command until
tomorrow, but if you’d like to assume command now...” “No, that’s all right,” Thomas said, “tomorrow is
fine. And call me Thomas. Tell you what: Why don’t you just bring me up to date on your operations, and
then I’ll get settled into some quarters until the CO’s apartment is ready.”
“All right.” San started forward, stopped and turned back to Thomas a bit self-consciously. “And I’m
San.” She took the seat at the Commander’s chair, and Thomas pulled up a chair beside her.
“Excuse me,” Frank said. “I’m going to check up on Teez... uh, officer Laird.” With that, he stepped
past them and into the conference room.
San and Thomas spent the next half-hour going over the general concerns of the PK station. With the
season being mid-spring, apparently more than the usual amount of calls were related to people outside of
the city with equipment that had gone untended over the winter, or were out of shape themselves for the
strenuous recreational activities they were undertaking. There were a few projects going on outside of the
city that they were keeping an eye on, but otherwise things were relatively quiet in the area. San took the