"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 2 - When True Night Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

temporal gulf was almost too vast, too awesome to
contemplate. And it didn't really matter, Case told himself
grimly. The act that they were alone here, absolutely and
forever, was all that counted. As far as this colony was
concerned, there was no Earth.

He shifted uncomfortably in his mossy trench, all too
aware of the darkness that was gathering around him. It
was a thick darkness, cold and ominous, as unlike the
darknesses of Earth as this new sun's cold light was unlike
the warm splendor of Sol. For a moment homesickness
filled him, made doubly powerful by the fact that home as
he knew it no longer existed. The colonists had made their
commitment to Eden only to find that it had a serpent's
soul, but there was no escaping it now. Not with the figures
for coldsleep mortality in excess of 86% for second
immersion.

He heard a rustling beside him and stiffened; his left
hand moved for his weapon, even as he imagined all the
sorts of winged nightmares that might even now be
descending on him. But it was only Lise, come to join him.
He nodded a greeting and scrunched to one side, making
room for her to crawl forward. There was barely room for
both of them in the shallow gully.

Lise Perez, M.D. Thank God for her. She had saved his
life a few nights back, under circumstances he shuddered to
recall. She had almost saved Tom Bennet when that thing
got past the eastern fence and launched itself into the mess
cabin, and in any case she had prevented it from grabbing
anyone else, until a cook finally brought it down by
severing head from body with a meat cleaver. She was a
competent officer, always collected, she had a nose for
trouble - and she had been keeping tabs on Ian Casca for
nearly a month now. God bless her for it.

"How long?" he whispered.

She looked at her watch. "Half an hour." And glanced
up at him. "He'll be here before that," she assured him.

If anyone else had brought him out here - if anyone else
had even suggested that he should come out here, making
himself the perfect target for every nightmare beast in this
planet's ghastly repertoire - laughter would have been the
kindest of his responses. But Lise had suggested it and he
trusted her judgment, sometimes more than his own. And
Ian had to be dealt with. There was no way around that.
Case should have jailed the man when this all started, but