"James Patrick Kelly - Dividing the Sustain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kelly James Patrick)

At that moment, the babyface lit up. The eyes on the medallion blinked several
times, awash in a blue glow. They took in the people gathered at the table. Nelly gave
the babyface an uncertain smile; many of the colonists were spooked by the
long-unborn baby Quellan. Zola waved. Finally the babyface noticed Been.

“Hullo, baby,” Been said. “You’re very lucky to have such a devoted
mother.”

The babyface regarded him with blue seriousness.

“And a famous father, captain of this marvelous slipship.”

Zola gasped. Not only had she warned Been not to mention Ilona’s ex, but the
pod had reached consensus that he shouldn’t. Harlen Quellan was the reason Ilona
still suffered through her endless pregnancy. After the divorce, she had refused to
give birth to their son until Harlen agreed to honor a prenuptual agreement giving her
a third of their joint assets, which included the Nine Ball.

A shadow passed over Ilona’s features. “This baby doesn’t speak to
strang-ers, sir.”

“Really? I’m very good with children.” Been spoke with an easy
obliviousness. “You know, I’m still hoping to meet your husband someday, Ilona.
We’ve been a year aboard and I’ve only seen him on the lightboards, never in the
flesh. That’s odd, don’t you think? It’s not that big a ship.” He peered into the
babyface. “If your father has visitation rights, baby, would you put in the good
word?”

The little mouth on the babyface twisted. “Googoo, gah, ga, gah”

Ilona’s head dropped so that her chin rested against the babyface. She
covered her mouth with her hand and murmured to it. The babyface bur-bled back.
As this went on, Been was pleased to see that mother and baby were arguing.

As one, Been and his entire pod leaned toward Ilona Quellan, hoping to catch
some of the conversation. The rumors were that baby Quellan had long since
achieved consciousness in the womb, but nobody knew what it did with it.

Finally, Ilona let her hand fall to her side. She gave Been a prickly glare. “On
your birthday,” she said, “there is to be a party?” The babyface was watching him
intently.

The question caught Been by surprise. He glanced at his podmates, but they
just gawked back at him like he had sprouted another ear.

“Not that I know of,” he admitted.

“It doesn’t speak well of you, Been Watanabe, that no one cares to cel-ebrate
your birthday. These people, for instance.” She gestured at Zola, Nelly, and Sandor.
“Zola tells me you have been living together for the past year.”