"Janet Kagan - The Nutcracker Coup" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

“Killim says thanks for the dyes, by the way. They’re just what she had in mind. She’d so busy,
she’s taken on two apprentices to help her. She makes ‘Christmas ornaments’ and half the art galleries
in the known universe are after her for more and more. The apprentices make glass beads. One of
them-one of Chornian’s kids, by the way-hit upon the bright idea of making simple sets of beads that can
be stuck on the ends of quills cold. Saves time and trouble over the hot glass method.
“What’s more-
 “Well, yesterday I stopped by to say ‘hi’ to Killim, when who should turn up but Koppen-you
remember him? he’s one of Halemtat’s advisors? You’ll never guess what he wanted: a set of quill
tipping beads.
“No, he hadn’t had his quills clipped. Nor was he buying them for a friend. He was planning, he
told Killim, to tell Halemtat a thing or two-I missed the details because he went too fast-and he expected
he’d be clipped for it, so he was planning ahead. Very expensive blue beads for him, if you please,
Killim!
“I find myself unprofessionally pleased. There’s a thing or two Halemtat ought to be told....
“Meanwhile, Chornian has gone into the business of making nutcrackers. -All right, so sue me, I
showed him how to make the actual cracker work. It was that or risk his taking Tatep’s present apart to
find out for himself.
“I’m sending holos-including a holo of the one I made-because you’ve got to see the
transformation Chornian’s worked on mine. The difference between a human-carved nutcracker and a
Rejoicer-carved nutcracker is as unmistakeable as the difference between Looking Up at Nick
and...well, looking up at Nick.
“I still miss you, even if you do think fireworks are appropriate at Christmas.
“See you soon-if Clarence doesn’t boil me in my own pudding and bury me with a stake of holly
through my heart.”
Marianne sat with her light pen poised over the screen for a long moment, then she added,
“Love, Marianne,” and saved it to the next out-going Dirt-bound mail.
###
Rejoicing
Midsummer’s Eve
(Rejoicer reckoning)
Dear Nick-
This time it’s not my fault. This time it’s Esperanza’s doing. Esperanza decided, for her
contribution to the our round of holidays, to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. (All right-if I’d known
about Martin Luther King I’d probably have suggested a celebration myself-but I didn’t. Look him up;
you’ll like him.) And she invited a handful of the Rejoicers to attend as well.
Now, the final part of the celebration is that each person in turn “has a dream.” This is not like
wishes, Nick. This is more on the order of setting yourself a goal, even one that looks to all intents and
purposes to be unattainable, but one you will strive to attain. Even Clarence got so into the occasion that
he had a dream that he would stop thinking of the Rejoicers as “Pincushions” so he could start thinking of
them as Rejoicers. Esperanza said later Clarence didn’t quite get the point but for him she supposed that
was a step in the right direction.
Well, after that, Tatep asked Esperanza, in his very polite fashion, if it would be proper for him to
have a dream as well. There was some consultation over the proper phrasing-Esperanza says her report
will tell you all about that-and then Tatep rose and said, “I have a dream.... I have a dream that someday
no-one will get his quills clipped for speaking the truth.”
(You’ll see it on the tape. Everybody agreed that this was a good dream, indeed.)
After which, Esperanza had her dream “for human rights for all.”
Following which, of course, we all took turns trying to explain the concept of “human rights” to a
half-dozen Rejoicers. Esperanza ended up translating five different constitutions for them-and an entire
book of speeches by Martin Luther King.