Starport. George Martin R.R.

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ

      HarperVoyager An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2019

       Copyright © by George R.R. Martin 2019 Jacket design by David G. Stevenson © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019 Jacket illustration by Raya Golden © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

      George R.R. Martin asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed

      in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living

      or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By

      payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable

      right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be

      reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or

      introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any

      means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without

      the express written permission of HarperCollins.

      Source ISBN: 9780008342456 Ebook Edition © March 2019 ISBN: 9780008342463 Version: 2019-02-25

      PROLOGUE

      A decade ago, something amazing happened: Aliens

      discovered Earth. Three Chaseen ships landed, all randomly

      searching for active sports stadiums, looking to make a real

      entrance. The first ship landed in Singapore during the AFF

      Tiger Cup Championship. The second landed in Denmark at

      the Parken Stadium during a New Firm local rivalry pregame

      and unfortunately caused a small stampede of university

      students–which was indeed an entrance, although maybe

      not the one that particular pilot was looking for. The third

      landed at one other notable stadium on the other

      side of the planet, but more on that later.

      Thankfully, they didn’t come to rule over us or anything

      dramatic like that. Instead, humanity got to join the 314 other

      species within the Harmony of Worlds. With the help of three

      main pilgrim species–the Lohb, the Nhar, and the founding

      Chaseen–Earth began to construct three intergalactic treaty

      ports: one in Singapore, the first to open, six years after the

      landing; one in Copenhagen, which opened the following year

      ...and one plagued with delays and all sorts of

      intrigue, opening two years after that...

      CHAPTER ONE

       ...IN CHICAGO.

       ...WHILE THEAMERICAN STARPORT’SFIRST ANNIVERSARY ISAPPROACHING AND AS EARTHCELEBRATES ITS TEN-YEARANNIVERSARY OF HUMANITY’SDISCOVERY BY THE HARMONYOF WORLDS.

       THE PRESIDENT ISBUSY WORKING WITHOTHER GLOBAL LEADERS TOCOMMEMORATE THE DAY. ANINTERNATIONAL HOLIDAY IS BEINGPROPOSED, BUT MASSIVE TENSIONERUPTED OVER WHICH STARPORTWILL HOST THE CELEBRATION.AND HERE IN CHICAGO...

      ...PROTESTS

      CONTINUE AS NATIONAL

      MOTORS PREPARES TO

      FINALIZE ITS CONTROVERSIAL

      POWERCELL DEAL WITH

      HARMONY’S MOST ELUSIVE

      SPECIES, THE SKRIT.

      CHARLIE?

      WHAT TIME

      IS IT?

       MUCH RESTSON THE SUCCESSFULCONCLUSION OF THISVENTURE, WHICH MIGHTFINALLY PUT CHICAGOIN LINE WITHSINGAPORE...

       ...AND COPENHAGEN AS AMAJOR ECONOMICPOWER–DESPITE THE MANYDELAYS THAT PLAGUED THEOPENING OF ITS STARPORT JUST ABOUT A YEARAGO.

      SIX-THIRTY

      A.M.

      WAKING

      UP BRIGHT

      AND EARLY FOR

      YOUR NEW

      JOB, HUH?

      YES...

      DAMN IT!

      HERE,

      LET ME.

      YOU’RE

      GOOD.

      I THOUGHT

      YOU LEARNED THAT

      LAST NIGHT...

      YOU THINK

      THIS COLOR’S

      OKAY?

      YOU

      LOOK

      FINE.

      SEVEN

      YEARS IN UNIFORM,

      ALL YOU KNOW

      IS BLUE.

      IT’S AN

      ADJUSTMENT.

      WAIT...

      WHERE’S MY

      BADGE?

      DETECTIVE BAKER,

      ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT

      YOU СКАЧАТЬ