Trekmaster. James B. Johnson
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Название: Trekmaster

Автор: James B. Johnson

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Научная фантастика

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isbn: 9781434447777

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СКАЧАТЬ only by one this time. I want to be that one. I don’t want Bear Ridge to have to wait ten more years for TODAY to arrive. No contact for ten more years? Think of the diseases that could be conquered in that time, think of....” He hesitated. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

      The Queen Mother nodded enthusiastically and Sharon felt an immediate liking for the old woman. She had the same craggy face the King must have under his beard. But there was something tough and smiling underneath Felicia’s put-down of her son. Entry to the Federation was as important to Felicia as it was to the King. Sharon did not agree with the Federation “hands-off” or quarantine of planets not yet admitted, but as part of that organization, she had to support the policy.

      The King was still staring directly at Sharon and she felt antagonism rise in her, displacing the attraction she’d felt earlier. He was challenging her.

      “If Bear Ridge passes my evaluation, you are up against only one other possible entrant to the Federation Council, Sire.”

      “Which one?”

      Sharon hesitated. Should she answer? She didn’t think it was required and wasn’t covered in her instructions. And since this was her first major assignment, she was unfamiliar with the form. The King continued to stare at her.

      “Two Tongues.” There, she had said it.

      “Tirano?” demanded the King, naming the ruler of Two Tongues.

      “Yes, Your Majesty.”

      “Christ.”

      The Chief Padre frowned.

      “Christ,” the King said again as if to upset the priest. “Two Tongues is technologically more advanced than we are,” he pointed out, his voice sounding depressed.

      Sharon sensed his disappointment. She also thought there might be more to his anger about Two Tongues than met the eye. “One seat, Your Majesty. Two potential applicants. Those odds are not bad.”

      “Tyrannical Tirano? Tyrannosaurus Rex? That lard-ass, son of a....”

      Felicia cleared her throat.

      The King of the planet of Bear Ridge looked guilty, shook his head and stopped. Everyone else in the room seemed to be inspecting either the ceiling or the floor. The Prince shook his head and made a disapproving, dour face at his father.

      “You know Tirano?” Sharon asked, curiosity overcoming diplomatic caution. Two Tongues was in this solar system, a rarity for two habitable planets to be located in the same system. But with only horsepower on Bear Ridge, how could...?

      “Yeah,” said the King. “Met him a couple of times. Fed sponsored conferences, here, on Two Tongues, at Fed-central.”

      Sharon failed to understand the animosity about Tirano. “May I continue?” Her voice came out more haughty than she’d intended.

      “Sure, go ahead.”

      “How I make the evaluations is all organized. By checklist. I shall observe, I shall investigate, I shall interview. There are certain mandatory requirements for entry to the Federation that must be met. For example, I must personally review everything about your military and observe a series of predetermined, complicated maneuvers. I must go through each governmental department to insure Bear Ridge is sound and able to adapt to Federation organization and regulations—if admitted.”

      “Besides all that,” TJ interrupted again, “do you foresee any special problems?” He’d changed from his ruined formal court garb into a simple, almost military, sky-blue tunic which was reflected in his gray eyes.

      “The mysterious inhabitants,” she said.

      The King seemed to withdraw into himself. “In what manner?” he said, and she thought you could ice-skate on his words.

      “Your relationship to them, their relationship to you, their position after—and if—you’ve gained Federation admission.”

      “Why should anything change? What the hell difference does it make?”

      Couldn’t she take a step without mashing his toes in some manner? She regretted it. But it was her job. “Mechanization. industrialization, technology, all these invariably and drastically change a planet. And the Federation is concerned with intelligent life—for we have yet to discover another space-faring race.”

      “The Webbines are not space-faring. They should not enter into the question,” the King said adamantly.

      Was the King trying to hide something? “We’ll see when we get to that point. Your Majesty.” Appease ’em, avoid confrontations. Cost her nothing. Just do her job. She was trained as a xenobiologist, and thus chosen for this mission. Fortunately for her, the others in that department at Federation Central were not available for the time span of this mission, and the task fell to her almost by default. Yet...that sounded almost too easy. Was she a political pawn? A sacrifice? Suppose she denied Bear Ridge admission to the Federation? Fine, the Council would back her up, no sweat. But if she said yes to TJ Shepherd, and that was not what the Council really wanted, couldn’t they simply overrule her, point out her inexperience and youth? Was that how her appointment to this important mission had occurred? And she had been so confident that circumstances and her outstanding job performance had provided her this opportunity.

      As a xenobiologist, she’d jumped at the chance. In fact, she was itching to meet one of the mysterious inhabitants of Bear Ridge, to study one, to communicate with one.

      “I hope you aren’t going to want to visit them?” the King asked in counterpoint to her thoughts.

      “Yes.”

      “Impossible.”

      “Why?”

      “Seldom are they seen. No one can speak to them if they are seen. They’re just there, mysterious and unaffected, going about their business, whatever that is.”

      Now she knew he was hiding something. “Nevertheless, I shall attempt it.”

      “Lady, your ship is gone. Did you perchance observe this continent from above on the way down?”

      “Yes, sir.”

      “Then you saw the two great ridges splitting the continent?”

      “Teddy Bear Ridge and Big Bear Ridge? Yes, I saw them.”

      “Well, you can’t get there from here. Unless you still have access to a ship.”

      “No, I don’t.”

      “That settles that. You see, they stay on the far side of the two ridges and we’re stuck over here. Hell, a damn monkeybird couldn’t climb Teddy Bear Ridge and live, much less the bigger one after that, Big Bear Ridge itself.”

      Everyone in the room looked at the King and the jester snorted.

      He shrugged. “Well, it is done, but perhaps only once in a generation.”

      “By whom?” Sharon demanded, thinking she was the recipient of the old “dazzle ’em with fancy footwork and baffle ’em with СКАЧАТЬ