"R. Garcia y Robertson - Teen Angel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robertson R Garcia Y)

Deirdre sighed. “Chuck him over the balcony rail, that will show him.” Despite
the yawning virtual cliff, there was no drop “outside.” A swan dive off the balcony
would end in a belly flop on the cabin deck, masked by holographic display. But it
was not Deirdre’s job to disillusion him. If the boy wanted to believe he was safe at
home--instead of on a slaver starship about to be obliterated--what was the harm?
“Who are you?” the girl asked, wearing the junior miss version of her
brother’s outfit, right down to the snake-skin slippers, except she had on a pleated
skirt in place of pants, and cuffs trimmed with lace. There was no need to ask their
names--”Heather” and “Jason” were on their jacket collars.
“Deirdre.” She made an effort to smile, sitting up in her seat. Just because
they were all going to die was no reason not to be cheerful.
“Where are you from?” Jason demanded. “We’re from Elysium.” He pointed
to the panorama outside the picture windows.
Right. She glanced at the supposed scene outside. Skycycles circled over the
village below, riding thermals off steep pine-clad cliffs, red-gold afternoon sun
glinting on their control surfaces--too bad it was not true. “I’m from New
Harmony,” she admitted, sinking back in the chair, knowing what children raised in a
place like this would think.
“New Hicksville,” scoffed the boy. “Hippie planet.”
Heather told him, “It’s not nice to say that,” though you could tell by her tone
the blonde girl thought it was true.
Deirdre widened her smile to include Jason, thinking, “At least New Harmony
is a real planet, you little preppy-suited marmoset. I’m not making do with a holo,
and pretending it’s home.” But she did not say it, meeting rudeness with a smile. Her
“hippie planet” had taught her not to taunt helpless doomed children, no matter how
richly they deserved it.
“Where do you think we are?” Heather asked, stepping closer, ignoring her
brother’s pretense of being safe at home.
“You’re off planet,” Deidre told them, trying to break it to them slowly. Way
off planet.
Heather nodded soberly, “I guessed that. We have been gone for so long
without anyone finding us.” She was smart, belying what folks said about dyed
blondes. Smart enough to be far more scared than her brother.
 “But if they could take us off planet, they could have taken us to
Grandfather’s lodge,” the boy insisted. Kept alone like this, brother-sister bickering
must be the main entertainment.
“Where off planet?” Heather asked, not bothering to contradict her brother.
“Tartarus system.” She saw their blank stares. “Way the heck into the
Outback. Triple system in the Far Eridani, a small red dwarf primary, Tartarus A,
and a distant pair of white dwarf binaries--too far away to much affect Hades. That
is the planet we are orbiting.”
“Orbiting?” They both looked askance--the cabin seemed solidly rooted atop
its mountain ridge.
“We are aboard a starship.”
Jason scoffed, but Heather asked, “What starship?” Above hiding behind
fantasy, Heather wanted to hear the whole truth.
Not that the girl would get that from Deirdre, who did not mean to tell these
kids they would soon be blown to photons. “She’s the Fafnir, used to be the
survey ship Endurance. Slavers have her now.” She must let the kids know that
these were evil men, never to be trusted; though, needless to say, slavers had no