"Babylon 5 - The Nautilus Coil - J Gregory Keyes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Babylon 5)

"Except for you. They made you stronger."

"Yes. Step four, maybe, still not step five. They just didn't have time, not
with the Shadows coming too early. They had to use us as we were. After that
-- they left."

She faced him squarely. "You've seen the things I can do, Michael. I was
only a P5 when they modified me. Bester is a P12."

"And you think this planet is where they made the mould, so to speak? That
the secret to enhancing teeps is there?"

"Someone thought so. Someone 70 years ago."

"I thought you said you were the first telepath to know the Vorlons created
you."

"I thought so too. I was wrong."

The only response Garibaldi could think of was a long, low whistle.

***

"I know they must be out there," Garibaldi muttered. But for all of his
staring, he saw nothing but a lot of little stars and one big one, the
unnamed yellow-orange sphere that had greeted the {/Toreador/} and her crew
when they dropped out of hyperspace. The {/Toreador/} was a refitted IPX
ship, as red in tooth and claw as Garibaldi could make her. She couldn't duke
it out with a White Star, or even an EA destroyer like the {/Agamemnon/}, but
anything else had better watch out.

"Well, the planet's there," said Kirstin Firth, the freckled kid at
navigation. "About 50 million klicks form our present position. Can't tell
much about it from here."

"Shouldn't have come out so far away," Garibaldi complained.

Captain Dochale -- a middle-aged man with striking Dravidian features and
coloring and not a single gray hair -- cleared his throat. "That {/was/} the
way you wanted to do it, Mr. Garibaldi, remember?"

"I know. I didn't want to drop in to a warm reception. Now I'm worried they
beat us to the punch."

"Maybe they didn't come at all," Dochale said. "After all, Psi Corps has
plenty on its hands these days. Maybe too much for what could be a wild goose
chase."

"No. Bester would never let this pass. They'd come as soon as they managed