"Walter Jon Williams - The Crown Jewels" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

cool hologram-patterned door when he was intercepted.

"Pardon me, sir." A man in uniform, Maijstral recog-
nized, and a bearer of facts.

"Lieutenant Navarre."

18 / WALTER JON WILLIAMS

"I wonder, sir, if 1 might beg your indulgence in the
answering of ... well, an insolent question."

Maijstral regarded him with his lazy green eyes. "Speak
on, sir."

"The young lady you were just speaking to? An old
friend, perhaps?"

"You mean Miss Jensen. We just met, on the Pilgrim-
age."

Navarre seemed relieved. "There is no attachment, then?"

"None. sir. The field is clear."

The man grinned. "Thank you, sir. Please forgive the

impertinence."

"Your servant." Maijstral bowed and walked into the
warm Peteng night. A media globe asked for an interview
but was refused. He had all the publicity he needed.

If you have to be conquered by aliens from outer space,
you could do worse than be conquered by the Khosali. The
Khosali have conquered dozens of species and have had
lots of practice at it, and this ensures that a minimum
number of lives will be lost during the conquest and that
the readjustment can begin right away.

There wasn't much of a fight when the Khosali con-
.quered Earth. Humanity had barely got off its little rock in
space, and when a hundred thousand alien warships sud-
denly appeared around the planet, their missiles and beams


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trained on the inhabitants, only a few hundred humans, crew-