"Tales From Jabbas Palace (Kevin Anderson)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Kevin J)

window high up on the bridge deck, unable to believe the incredible fortune
the luck of his ancestors had dropped in his lap.


His crawler's year-long trek across the wastelands had been practically
fruitless, and he would have been ashamed to return to his clan's hidden
fortress beating so little--but now a virgin ship lay within reach, unclaimed
by other scavenging clans and unsullied by time.


The ancient reactor engines shoved the immense sandcrawler into motion.
It ground over the shifting sands seeking purchase with wide treads in a
straight line for the smoldering wreckage.


The ship lay in a crater of loose, blasted sands that might have
cushioned the impact; some of the cargo should still be intact. The armored
chambers and parts of the computer core might be salvageable.


Or so Tteel Kkak hoped.


Jawas swarmed out of the sandcrawler toward the wreckage: the entire
scavenging arm of the Kkak clan, little hooded creatures surrounded by a rank
musty scent, chattering as they claimed their prize.


The front group of Jawas carried chemical fire-suppressant packs, which
they sprayed on the hissing hot metal to minimize further damage.


They did not look to see if anyone had survived the crash, because that
was not their primary concern. In fact, living passengers or crew would only
complicate the Kkak salvage claim. Those injured in such wrecks rarely
survived Jawa first aid.


The Jawas used up two battery packs in the sputtering old laser cutters
to cut their way through the hull into the armored bridge compartment.
Dim light from emergency systems and the still-flickering glow from
internally burning electronics components lit the abandoned stations.


Harsh chemical fumes and curling gray-blue smoke struck Tteel Kkak's
sensitive nostrils--but underneath he could detect an undertone of metallic
fear, the copper smells of blood splashed and burned. He knew he would find no
one alive in the captain's chair.