"Miller,.Steve.And.Lee,.Sharon.-.Liaden.Universe.03.-.Adventures.In.The.Liaden.Universe.v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Miller Steve)

came to the Knife Clan and requested facts. However, it is done,
and answer shall be made.

“It is fact that the Trader Clan brought Silver Mark Sweeney to the
Knife Clan, from which he commissioned a blade appropriate to
his size, We accepted the task, seeded the cavern and
encouraged not one, but many knives of a size and shape that
would be fitting to beings of Silver Mark Sweeney’s order. In the
fullness of time, the blades were ready and the Knife Clan caused
a message to be sent as instructed by Silver Mark Sweeney,
stating this.

“He did not come to claim his knife.”

“It was the responsibility of the Knife Clan to search—” began the
Trader Clan’s Speaker, with lamentable haste.

The T’carais raised a hand, reminding that it was his time now to
speak, and continued in the midst of the new silence.

“The Knife Clan searched. And, when it was found that our manner
of search is not efficient among the stars, we employed a skilled
tracker of the clans of Men to perform this task for us.” He paused
to consider how best to proceed. The Elders, wise beyond saying,
were old. They did not always recall that to those yet mobile,
change was ...

“You must remember,” he said diplomatically, “how short-lived are
the members of the Clans of Men. Where I engaged one to
search, his heir reported failure to me, as his father had grown too
feeble to travel. It was the belief of these trackers—and also
myself—that while we encouraged and refined the blade, Silver
Mark Sweeney achieved s’essellata and died.

“Thus, I commanded that the family of Silver Mark Sweeney be
found, that the blade might be placed into the hands of his kin.
Time passed, and when the first tracker’s heir came to me again,
he leaned heavily upon his own heir...”

The T’carais sighed gustily.

“It seems that Silver Mark Sweeney was both kinless and clanless,
as is not uncommon among that family of the Clans of Men named
‘Terran’.” He paused; signed summation.

“And so the knife is undelivered and the Trader Clan is bereft of its
fee. It is to be considered that the Knife clan had also considerable
investment in this venture. There is an entire room filled with blades
refined, awaiting only handles and sheathes, all too small for our
use.”