"Mike Resnick - Ivory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

her head sagged on her chest.

“Satisfied?” said Ajax the First, turning back to the table.

“How do we know she is not still operative?” asked the Gorgon suspiciously.

“Devise any test you wish and apply it,” said Ajax the Second.

“That will not be necessary,” said Tembo Laibon. “The house rules that she has been deactivated.” He
turned to Ajax the Second. “She is new,” he noted.

“We commissioned her about a year ago. She was completed last month, and she's been with us ever
since.”

“Why would anyone want to marry an android?” asked Son-of-Man curiously.

“Why not?” responded Ajax the Second. “We like a little pomp and ceremony from time to time.”

“How very interesting,” said the thing that looked like a man. “By the way, we haven't been introduced. I
am Son-of-Man.”

“We are the Aiantes,” said Ajax the Second.
“I beg your pardon?” said Son-of-Man.

Ajax the Second smiled. “You haven't read your Homer, have you?”

“Who is Homer?”

“I'veread him,” interjected the Iron Duchess. “And to the best of my memory, there was only one Ajax in
the Trojan War.”

“Then your memory deceives you,” replied Ajax the Second. “There was Ajax, son of Telamonian, a
giant warrior who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with Odysseus. That'shim . But there was also Ajax, son
of Oileus, who was small, slight, and the most accurate of spearthrowers. That'sme . Together, they were
known as the Aiantes.”

“I'm absolutely fascinated by names,” said Son-of-Man enthusiastically. “How did you happen to choose
yours?”

“Athenia offers us a safe haven, so whenever we're in this sector, we take Athenian names in gratitude,”
said Ajax the Second.

“But why the same name twice?”

“Why not?”

“It is very confusing.”

“Not to us, it isn't,” replied Ajax the Second.