"James Doohan - Flight Engineer Volume 3 -The Independent Com" - читать интересную книгу автора (Doohan James)

more than a roofed cubicle for the soldier on duty, and handed over his ID and Dr. PiancaтАЩs
invitation. With a wordless salute the soldier took them and began inputting a query.
It had been a brief and uneventful trip from Marjorie Base, on Come By ChanceтАЩs lone
moon, to Camp Seta, Star CommandтАЩs hospital/convalescent center on CBC itself. Raeder
would have welcomed a delay somewhere along the line, but wheels had turned with
miraculous smoothness and here he was in incredibly short order. Luckily, he was completely
superfluous on the Invincible while the dockyard crews worked her back upтАФa fact that
theyтАЩd made abundantly plain.
The guard in the security shack handed back PeterтАЩs documents with another salute and
Raeder walked out into the open. The warm, moist air held a delicate scent of spices and
flowers, making it a pleasure just to breathe.
Peter gazed about himself. The camp was set in a verdant valley cupped between craggy,
snow-capped mountains, under a clear sky full of wingsтАФmost too far away to show that
they were scaly leather instead of feathersтАФand it had an aura of serenity about it. The
buildings were sleek and modern with large windows and colorful native woods bright
against the white stucco architecture. Each ward-complex had its own unique fountain and
brightly flowered courtyard. The foothills beyond were lush with tropical vegetation; many of
the trees were a species of giant bromeliad and the colors varied from a green so deep it was
almost black to hot pink, deep red, rusty orange and good old Earth green. Beyond the
buildings, just visible between two low, green hills, the hint of a lake sparkled, fed by a
waterfall that leapt from stone to stone down a tall, narrow cliff in a glittering white cascade.
As though resisting the charm of this place a vague anxiety stirred within him concerning
duties left unfinished on the severely damaged Invincible. Belay that, he ordered himself.
YouтАЩve left Main Deck in very competent hands. Now what did he do about his anxiety in
regard to this visit?
Sarah JamesтАЩ doctor, Regina Pianca, had called and invited him to visit her. тАЬShe says she
misses your sparring matches,тАЭ the doctor explained with a smile.
The physical or the verbal ones? Raeder had wondered.
But just the idea of visiting Camp Seta, universally known in the service as Camp Stick
тАЩEm Together Again, gave him the collywobbles.
Spent too much time getting repaired at one of these myself, he thought.
Which was true, but unreasonable in this case. He wouldnтАЩt be visiting Sarah in the burn
ward, covered with pink, regenerating goo. He wouldnтАЩt see her in the reconstruction section,
struggling to master a new electronic limb. HeтАЩd be visiting her in the psych unit.
Well . . . maybe thatтАЩs what really has me scared. The doctor hadnтАЩt gone into detail
regarding SarahтАЩs problems. But the fact that her physician was making the invitation seemed
ominous to Raeder.
When sheтАЩd shipped out for Camp Seta Sarah was holding herself together by sheer
willpower. The Mollies hadnтАЩt had her in their hands long, but it had been more than long
enough to torture her.
Raeder remembered the last time heтАЩd seen herтАФsheтАЩd smiled at him, her voice had been
controlled, her hand steady as she saluted the captain. But her eyes had told a different story;
wide and shocked and wild. It made him glad that Star Command policy was to send anybody
recovered from Mollie captivity for psych evaluation.
He looked forward to seeing her; he dreaded seeing her.
Dr. Pianca had told him that theyтАЩd taken Camp Seta over from a very exclusive spa. тАЬNo
sense in trying to keep it open with the wartime travel restrictions in place,тАЭ sheтАЩd said. тАЬThe
environment is wonderful for the patients, and the Commonwealth is paying the owners a
pretty good rent.тАЭ
Raeder noticed that each building was so positioned that it would be difficult, if not