"H. Beam Piper & J. J. McGuire - Null-ABC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piper H Beam)

now, that other favorite of millions, Literate First Class Elliot C. Mongery."

Pelton muttered: "Why Frank sponsors that blabbermouth of a Mongery—"

Ray, sliding back onto the bench, returned to his food.

"Jimmy's book had pictures," he complained, forking up another mixture of eggs, bacon, toast and honey.

"Book?" Claire echoed. "Oh, the instructions for the 'copter?"

"Pipe down, both of you!" Pelton commanded. "The newscast—"

Literate First Class Elliot C. Mongery, revealed by a quick left quarter-turn of the pickup camera, wore
the same starchy white smock, the same Sam Browne belt glittering with the badges of the organizations
and corporations for whom he was authorized to practice Literacy. The tablet on his belt, Pelton knew,
was really a camouflaged holster for a small automatic, and the gold stylus was a gas-projector. The
black-leather-jacketed bodyguards, of course, were discreetly out of range of the camera. Members of
the Associated Fraternities of Literates weren't exactly loved by the non-reading public they claimed to
serve. The sight of one of those starchy, perpetually-spotless, white smocks always affected Pelton like a
red cape to a bull. He snorted in disdain. The raised eyebrow toward the announcer on the left, the
quick, perennially boyish smile, followed by the levelly serious gaze into the camera—the whole act might
have been a film-transcription of Mongery's first appearance on the video, fifteen years ago. At least, it
was off the same ear of corn.

"That big hunk of cheese," Ray commented. For once, Pelton didn't shush him; that was too close to his
own attitude, at least in family-breakfast-table terminology.

"... First of all; for the country, and especially the Newer New York area, and by the way, it looks as
though somebody thought somebody needed a little cooling off, but we'll come to that later. Here's the
forecast: Today and tomorrow, the weather will continue fine; warm in the sun, chilly in the shadows.
There won't be anything to keep you from the polls, tomorrow, except bird-hunting, or a last chance at a
game of golf. This is the first time within this commentator's memory that the weather has definitely been
in favor of the party out of power.




"On the world scene: You'll be glad to hear that the survivors of the wrecked strato-rocket have all been
rescued from the top of Mount Everest, after a difficult and heroic effort by the Royal Nepalese Air
Force.... The results of last week's election in Russia are being challenged by twelve of the fourteen
parties represented on the ballot; the only parties not hurling accusations of fraud are the Democrats, who
won, and the Christian Communists, who are about as influential in Russian politics as the
Vegetarian-Anti-Vaccination Party is here.... The Central Diplomatic Council of the Reunited Nations
has just announced, for the hundred and seventy-eighth time, that the Arab-Israel dispute has been finally,
definitely and satisfactorily settled. This morning's reports from Baghdad and Tel Aviv only list four Arabs
and six Israelis killed in border clashes in the past twenty-four hours, so maybe they're really getting
things patched up, after all. During the same period, there were more fatalities in Newer New York as a
result of clashes between the private troops of rival racket gangs, political parties and business houses.

"Which brings us to the local scene. On my way to the studio this morning, I stopped at City Hall, and