"Michael Stackpole "The Bacta War"" - читать интересную книгу автора

shrugged. "Left untreated the symptoms come and go inside two weeks, though
there is lingering weakness for another month after that. The symptoms are
congestion, coughing, fatigue, body aches, and a fairly ravenous appetite.
Bathing in the mineral springs here seems to help, but a bacta bath will be far
more helpful."
Ooryl's mouth parts clicked open and shut. "Your virus sounds similar to the
Cardooine Chills."
"True, though that illness can only afflict a person once before he or she
develops immunity." Farl led them on through another atmosphere lock and into a
darkened corri-dor. "This virus mutates so quickly that we can't create a
vaccine. It spreads through the population such that someone just recovering
from one strain catches the next. On a larger world there would be more of a lag
time between epidemics, and a bigger world would have more resources to be able
to deal with the illness. Right now, though, a sick person eats enough food for
a family of four, and this threatens the whole colony.
"The most recent strains have been nastier, increasing the appetite and
debilitating the victims, which is why we sent out our call for bacta." Farl
sighed. "When we got word from Thyferra about how much it would cost to fill our
order, well, we fairly well despaired. Then you showed up in-system with a
tanker ship carrying enough to go a long way toward wiping the epidemic out."
The small man led them into an office and invited them to sit in rickety, rusty
chairs. He walked around a makeshift desk and sat on a stool. "So, I need to
ask, what do we owe you for this bacta? The market value for it is something in
excess of a billion Imperial credits."
Corran glanced over at Ooryl, then shook his head. "You don't owe us anything."
"But this amount of bacta, it is valuable. You must have paid a great deal for
it."
The Gand leaned forward. "Ooryl believes Corran would tell you that the bacta
was collected as part of a bad debt. It cost Corran and Ooryl nothing; therefore
it's offered freely."
The puzzled look of amazement on Farl's face slackened into an expressionless
mask. "I see."
Corran smiled. "You needn't think of it as stolen, since
the government that would have demanded payment from you is not legitimate."
A wry grin twisted the lower half of Farl's face. "Dealing with pirates and
smugglers holds no difficulty for us. The transparisteel and other modern
conveniences you see here were not made here, so we have traded with outsiders
be-fore."
"If that's not the problem, what is?"
Farl frowned. "We've always given something in ex-change for what we took. In
some cases we have hidden peo-ple from their enemies. The fish we raise here are
considered delicacies on some worlds and are extinct on others, so some
collectors favor them. The problem is that a billion credits would buy all of
them, and most of this colony, too. We will not take charity, but we cannot
offer you value for what you have given us."
"I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement. You mentioned mineral springs
as part of your treatment for the chills before, right?"
"Yes, but I don't see-"
Corran held a hand up and looked at Ooryl. "Flying in here didn't I tell you I'd
give half a billion credits for a hot bath and a good fish dinner?"