"Nancy Kress - Art of War" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kress Nancy)

Author unknown, but the veteran actress Shimira Coltrane played the colonel (now,
of course, a general). Shimira’s brilliant green eyes were very effective, although not
accurate. General Anson had deflected a large meteor to crash into the enemy base,
destroying a major Teli weapons store and much of the Teli civilization on the entire
planet. It was an important Human victory in the war, and at that point we needed it.

What happened next was never made into a holo. In fact, it was a minor
incident in a minor corner of the Human-Teli war. But no corner of a war is minor to
the soldiers fighting there, and even a small incident can have enormous
repercussions. I know. I will be paying for what happened on 149-Delta for whatever
is left of my life.

This is neither philosophical maundering nor constitutional gloom. It is
mathematical fact.

****

Dalo and I were just settling into our quarters on the Sheherazade when the general
arrived, unannounced and in person. Crates of personal gear sat on the floor of our
tiny sitting room, where Dalo would spend most of her time while I was downside.
Neither of us wanted to be here. I’d put in for a posting to Terra, which neither of us
had ever visited, and we were excited about the chance to see, at long last, the
Sistine Chapel. So much Terran art has been lost in the original, but the Sistine is still
there, and we both longed to gaze up at that sublime ceiling. And then I had been
posted to 149-Delta.

Dalo was kneeling over a box of mutomati as the cabin door opened and an
aide announced, “General Anson to see Captain Porter, ten-hut!”

I sprang to attention, wondering how far I could go before she recog-nized it
as parody.

She came in, resplendent in full-dress uniform, glistening with medals, flanked
by two more aides, which badly crowded the cabin. Dalo, calm as always, stood
and dusted mutomati powder off her palms. The general stared at me bleakly. Her
eyes were shit brown. “At ease, soldier.”

“Thank you, ma’am. Welcome, ma’am.”

“Thank you. And this is...”
 “My wife, Dalomanimarito.”

“Your wife.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“They didn’t tell me you were married.”

“Yes, ma’am.” To a civilian, obviously. Not only that, a civilian who looked...
I don’t know why I did it. Well, yes, I do. I said, “My wife is half Teli.”