"04 - Space Viking 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piper H Beam)

trees. Serving robots, flame-yellow and black in the Karvall colors, floated
about playing soft music and offering refreshments. There was a continuous
spiral of changing costume color around the circular robo-table. Voices
babbled happily like a mountain river.

As they stood looking down, another aircar circled low,

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green and gold, lettered PANPLANET NEWS SERVICE. Sesar Karvall swore in
irritation.

"Didn't there use to be something they called privacy?" he asked.


"It's a big story Sesar."

It was; more than the marriage of two people who
happened to be in love with each other. It was the marriage of the farming and
ranching barony of Traskon and the Karvall steel mills. More, it was public
announcement that the wealth and fighting men of both baronies were now
aligned behind Duke Angus of Wardshaven. So it was a general holiday. Every
industry had closed down at noon today, and would be closed until
morning-after-next, and there would be dancing in every park and feasting in
every tavern. To Sword-Worlders, any excuse for a holiday was better than
none.

"They're our people, Sesar; they have a right to have a good time with us. I
know everybody at Traskon is watching this by screen."

He raised his hand and waved to the news-car, and when it swung its pickup
around, he waved again. Then they went down the long escalator.

Lady Lavina Karvall was the center of a cluster of matrons and dowagers,
around whom tomorrow's bridesmaids fluttered like many-colored butterflies.
She took possession of her daughter and dragged her into the feminine circle.
He saw Rovard Grauffis, small and saturnine, Duke Angus' henchman, and Burt
Sandrasan, Lady Lavina's brother. They spoke, and then an upper-servant, his
tabard blazoned with the yellow flame and black hammer of Karvallmills,
approached his master with some tale of domestic crisis, and the two went away
together.

"You haven't met Captain Harkaman, Lucas," Rovard Grauffis said. "I wish you'd
come over and say hello and have a drink with him. I know your attitude, but
he's a good sort. Personally, I wish we had a few like him around here."

That was his main objection. There were ever and fewer men of that sort on any
of the SwordWorlds.

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