"David Drake - Hammer's Slammers 02 - Cross The Stars (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

тАЬтАФand found the bodies; Terzia, it matters to me,тАЭ Slade concluded. His weariness was no veil over the angry
determination in his voice.
The Terzia lay on a glade-green spread in a pool of light muted to duplicate forest shadows. Slade had never been
sure of the process by which Terzia controlled the light. At other times, it had seemed to him to be extremely
sensual.
тАЬDon,тАЭ the Terzia began. Then she lowered the hand with which she had beckoned him. In a changed, business-
like voice, she said, тАЬBoth the bodies are with the carnivore, as you call it, some three kilometers from where it was
shot. A party of workers has been sent out to retrieve the remains from the seventeenth-segment limb on the animalтАЩs
right side and from its gullet. That business does not require you. This does. Sit down, please.тАЭ
SladeтАЩs lips workedтАФsilently, because he could not decide quite what words he wanted them to form. His left
hand, smudged already with carbon and metal, touched the fresh and gleaming barrel of his powergun for
reassurance. тАЬI donтАЩt . . .тАЭ Slade said without the haste or hostility of a moment before.
тАЬDon, come here if you think you might ever want to leave Terzia,тАЭ the other said. She held out her hand again.
Slade moved as he would have moved to mount his tank in an alert: quickly, but with the caution that kept haste
from being a danger. He laid his weapon on the table that had held it in the past and stepped toward the bed. He
wiped his palms nervously on the dirty fabric of his trousers. Slade was not fit to see a woman, to make love on a
sleek, resilient bed to a beauty herself so sleek and as capable of innovation as of response.
He did not hesitate, because he knew by more than words that the Terzia cared for the customary graces only as it
pleased her lover to provide them. Slade had made love in alleys and in trenches, once even on his own stretcher in
the casualty holding station as an affirmation to himself of his intention to survive. The Terzia was a jewel, not some
fellow-swimmer in the maelstrom as those other partners had been. Or againтАФ
SladeтАЩs groin was quickening with new excitement as he slid onto the bed.
тАЬIs . . .тАЭ he said as his hands cupped her left shoulder and right buttock, calluses over smooth skin and the muscles
supple beneath each. тАЬIs there word of a ship coming in?тАЭ
тАЬAnd any ship would be enough,тАЭ said the Terzia sadly. Her arms circled him, drawing her naked chest against
the big manтАЩs. His body quivered with a vibrancy she had not drunk from it in months. тАЬYou want to leave me so
badly.тАЭ
тАЬLady,тАЭ Slade said. He squeezed her tighter in unconscious reaction to the words he was framing. тАЬI donтАЩt want to
leave you, but I want to go home. IтАЩd. . . . YouтАЩre a princess here, a queen.тАЭ He arched back slightly so that he could
look at the TerziaтАЩs face. тАЬItтАЩd be crazy for you to leave all this to come to Tethys. Gravel and sea, thatтАЩs all itтАЩd be to
you. But itтАЩs my home.тАЭ
тАЬNo, I couldnтАЩt leave my world, even with you,тАЭ the Terzia said. Her eyes were on SladeтАЩs chest, on the black,
springy delicacy of the hairs that doubled by their shadows on his skin. тАЬIтАЩll arrange for you to leave, then, Don. I
think you should knowтАФтАЭ she looked up to meet his puzzled expressionтАФ тАЬthat matters on your homeworld are very
unsettled. You might find yourself saferтАФand happierтАФif you chose some other destination in which to settle down.
If not here, thenтАФтАЭ the assumed humanity of the Terzia caused her voice to catchтАФ тАЬperhaps back on Friesland.
Your friends there have not, have not forgotten you.тАЭ
Disbelieving, as tense and as careful as when he disarmed booby-traps, Don Slade said, тАЬLady, I thank you, but . .
. itтАЩs been a long road to get here, and I donтАЩt think IтАЩll turn back now. If thereтАЩs trouble on Tethys, then I guess
thereтАЩs trouble anywhere, one way or the other. IтАЩm as used to it as the next man. And IтАЩdтАФтАЭ he bent forward again
and nuzzled the TerziaтАЩs hairтАФ тАЬreally like to go home.тАЭ
тАЬYou will,тАЭ said the almost woman. She shifted her body to free SladeтАЩs trouser catches. тАЬYou will very soon, my
darling.тАЭ
 CHAPTER SEVEN
There was a bay concealed in the CitadelтАЩs flank. Its doors slowed, then latched open. Slade stared at the vessel
hangared within. Then he looked back at the Terzia. He was not sure whether she had made a mistake through
ignorance or whether he was the butt of a joke grim even by the standards of mercenary soldiers. тАЬTerzia,тАЭ Slade said
in a voice that he worked to control, тАЬthis is only a lifeboat. It canтАЩt carry me back home.тАЭ
тАЬNot directly,тАЭ agreed the Terzia off-handedly. For the first time since Slade had met her, she had not dressed
before leaving her chamber. Intellectually, Slade knew that there was no more reason to dress for the autochthones