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Ribofunk :: Филиппо Пол Ди
Страница: 49 из 156How are you?"
I tousled the sleek oily fur. "Doing okay, Big Guy. How's the missus and all the little calves?"
"The she is good. The lit-tle ones are good. We eat. We watch for bad things. We sleep. We build. Life is full."
"Great, great, I'm glad to hear it."
Charmaine squatted down beside me. "Can-can I pet him too?"
"Sure. Big Guy, this is my sister, Charmaine."
"Char– maine, hel-lo."
I watched Sis instinctively scratch Big Eater's favorite spot, right behind his ears. She seemed to have reverted to her innocent chrono-years. "Oooo, he's a real teddy-weddy, yes he is… "
Unable to resist a prod, I said, "I thought you Roaches weren't keen on mammals… "
Charmaine instantly got all hard. "Humans are what we hate, the privileged ones. These poor splices-they don't bear any responsibility for what they are. We show solidarity with all downtrodden species. And someday-"
"Someday what?" Charmaine didn't answer. "You know, you're almost talking Krazy Kat-style trash. You might even get arrested for it if the wrong people heard."
Standing, Charmaine said, "I don't care. We're willing to fight for what we believe in."
Before we could argue anymore, Big Eater interrupted. "Why did you call me, Cor-by?"
"Oh, right. It's time to try a new pill." I opened the packet Captain Ozturk had handed me.
Big Eater seemed puzzled. "It has not been e-nough days for more pills."
"I know. But this is a special pill. Protection."
"Pro– tec-tion?" Big Eater looked fierce. "Who wants to harm the pod?"
"A bad splice," I said, ignoring Charmaine's impolite snort.
Big Eater pondered. "I will get the o-thers."
He was gone with a splash, we hung in like a rash, soon they came en masse.
Now, most Eater Feeders, lazy CivServs that they are, just broadcast the pills on the waters and assume every coypu-cow will snatch one. They don't really care if an individual misses out and dies a nasty programmed deficiency death shortly thereafter, all hemorrhages and tachycardia. After all, they're just splices, right? You can always breed more.
I didn't buy it. I always fed my charges individually. It was my job.
So now, as Big Eater watched proudly from the side-lines-he was always the last to get his dose, insuring that all his pod were provided for first-I doled out the new pills one by one to the mantrias as they surfaced, gulped, and disappeared, a never-ending stream of whiskered snouts.
I tousled the sleek oily fur. "Doing okay, Big Guy. How's the missus and all the little calves?"
"The she is good. The lit-tle ones are good. We eat. We watch for bad things. We sleep. We build. Life is full."
"Great, great, I'm glad to hear it."
Charmaine squatted down beside me. "Can-can I pet him too?"
"Sure. Big Guy, this is my sister, Charmaine."
"Char– maine, hel-lo."
I watched Sis instinctively scratch Big Eater's favorite spot, right behind his ears. She seemed to have reverted to her innocent chrono-years. "Oooo, he's a real teddy-weddy, yes he is… "
Unable to resist a prod, I said, "I thought you Roaches weren't keen on mammals… "
Charmaine instantly got all hard. "Humans are what we hate, the privileged ones. These poor splices-they don't bear any responsibility for what they are. We show solidarity with all downtrodden species. And someday-"
"Someday what?" Charmaine didn't answer. "You know, you're almost talking Krazy Kat-style trash. You might even get arrested for it if the wrong people heard."
Standing, Charmaine said, "I don't care. We're willing to fight for what we believe in."
Before we could argue anymore, Big Eater interrupted. "Why did you call me, Cor-by?"
"Oh, right. It's time to try a new pill." I opened the packet Captain Ozturk had handed me.
Big Eater seemed puzzled. "It has not been e-nough days for more pills."
"I know. But this is a special pill. Protection."
"Pro– tec-tion?" Big Eater looked fierce. "Who wants to harm the pod?"
"A bad splice," I said, ignoring Charmaine's impolite snort.
Big Eater pondered. "I will get the o-thers."
He was gone with a splash, we hung in like a rash, soon they came en masse.
Now, most Eater Feeders, lazy CivServs that they are, just broadcast the pills on the waters and assume every coypu-cow will snatch one. They don't really care if an individual misses out and dies a nasty programmed deficiency death shortly thereafter, all hemorrhages and tachycardia. After all, they're just splices, right? You can always breed more.
I didn't buy it. I always fed my charges individually. It was my job.
So now, as Big Eater watched proudly from the side-lines-he was always the last to get his dose, insuring that all his pod were provided for first-I doled out the new pills one by one to the mantrias as they surfaced, gulped, and disappeared, a never-ending stream of whiskered snouts.