"Edward M. Lerner - Moonstruck" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lerner Edward M)

 - Chapter 3

"Yeah, right. They speak perfect English—and French, Spanish, German, and Russian. People I respect
say their Mandarin, Japanese, and Hindi are just as good. They made themselves folk heroes by
interrupting only commercials. You really think they never heard of the United Nations?"
"You don't buy that?"
"Hardly."
"Does everyone at Foggy Bottom feel this way?"
Her look of disgust was eloquent.
So . . . someone who didn't take the aliens at face value. Someone whose thinking was, at the same time,
orthogonal to his own. Kyle made a snap decision. "Congratulations."
"For what?"
For being selected a member of the Presidential Commission on Galactic Studies. Trying to look
enigmatic, he turned back to his computer screen, on which Ambassador H'ffl had just appeared.
"Ask me tomorrow."
***
After speaking of fellowship and galactic unity for fifteen minutes, Ambassador H'ffl extended an arm
toward the just-dedicated Fellowship Station. In one smooth motion, a talon sliced through the ribbon
and depressed the single control button. The crowd didn't go silent, that was too much to expect from
what the media now estimated at 720,000 people, but there was a decided abatement of the din. An inset
door in the station slid aside. H'ffl removed something that sparkled in the sunlight and handed it to
President Robeson.
"On behalf of the Commonwealth, I offer you this orb, symbol of galactic unity. May the peoples of
Earth soon qualify for membership."
Renewed shouting drowned out much of the President's response. As Kyle and Darlene watched, H'ffl
and his associates presented one orb after another to the assembled dignitaries. A phalanx of Secret
Service agents, Park Service police, and DC cops held back the crowd while the VIPs filed back to their
limos. Honking as it went, the motorcade receded.
Darlene and Kyle were among the lucky ones: they reached the Fellowship Station and received their
orbs in only a bit over five hours. Each was an ever-changing crystalline sphere, resting in a metallic
bowl atop a ceramic pedestal. It seemed a nice enough souvenir, if hardly worth the hoopla.
***
The next morning, an exhausted Kyle found an orb waiting on his desk. The note left beneath the
galactic memento read: When I told H'ffl about your new duties, he insisted that you get one of these.
Britt.



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- Chapter 4

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