"Bova, Ben - Orion 07 - Vengeance of Orion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bova Ben)

I closed my eyes in concentration and a swirl of memories rushed in on me so
rapidly that it took my breath away. I saw a great shining globe of golden light
and the dark brooding figure of a fiercely malevolent man, a forest of giant
trees and a barren windswept desert and a world of unending ice and snow. And
her, this woman, clad in silver armor that gleamed against the dark-ness of
infinity.
"I... remember... death," I heard myself stammer. "The whole world, the entire
universe... all of space-time collapsed in on itself."
She nodded gravely. "And rebounded in a new cycle of expansion. That was
something that neither Ormazd nor Ahriman foresaw. The continuum does not end;
it begins anew."
"Ormazd," I muttered. "Ahriman." The names touched a chord in my mind. I felt
anger welling up inside me, anger tinged with fear and resentment. But I could
not recall who they were and why they stirred such strong emotions within me.
"They are still out there," she said, "still grappling with each other. But they
know, thanks to you, Orion, that the continuum cannot be destroyed so easily. It
perseveres."
"Those other lives I rememberЧyou were in them."
"Yes, as I will be in this one."
"I loved you, then."
Her smile lit the world. "Do you love me now?"
"Yes." And I knew it was so. I meant it with every atom of my being.
"And I love you, too, Orion. I always have and I always will. Through death and
infinity, my darling, I will always love you."
"But I'm leaving soon."
"I know."
Past her shoulder I could see through the restaurant's window the gaudy crescent
of Saturn hanging low on the horizon, the thin line of its rings slicing through
its bulging middle. Closer to the horizon the sky of Titan was its usual smoggy
orange overcast.
The starship was parked in orbit up there, waiting for us to finish our final
preparations and board it.
"We'll be gone for twenty years," I said.
"To the Sirius system. I know."
"It's a long voyage."
"Not as long as some we've already made, Orion," she said, "or others we will
make someday."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll explain it during the voyage." She smiled again. "We'll have plenty of
time to remember everything then."
My heart leaped in my chest. "You're going too?"
"Of course." She laughed. "We've endured the collapse and rebirth of the
universe, Orion. We have shared many lives and many deaths. I'm not going to be
separated from you now."
"But I haven't seen you at any of the crew briefings. You're not on the list..."
"I am now. We will journey out to the stars together, my beloved. We have a long
and full lifetime ahead of us. And perhaps even more than that."
I leaned across the table and kissed her lips. My loneliness was ended, at last.
I could face anything in the world now. I was ready to challenge the universe.