"James C. Glass - Shanji" - читать интересную книгу автора (Glass James C)

They had traveled for only two hours when the flyer came to interrupt their journey.

Kati had dozed, rocked to sleep during the long ascent on a rocky trail to the plateau at the base of the
western peaks. She was awakened by the flyer's whine as it passed closely overhead, a silver craft
shaped like a plate, an open cockpit seating several men who looked down at them.

"It's barely first light, and already they're out," growled Kuchlug. "They grow bolder all the time,
Temujin, and we say nothing!"

The flyer proceeded to the plateau just ahead of them, hovering, then descending until it was out of sight.
"Think of The Eye, my friend, and calm yourself, lest a Searcher sense your hostility and make trouble for
us. The eyes of our women are more than enough betrayal of our feelings. Ride back and ask Toregene
to come up here. I want her beside me to see anything important in their auras if they stop us."

Kuchlug turned his mount, and sprinted away. Kati was squeezing the reins so hard her fingers were
numb. "Are we doing something wrong, Da?"

"No, Kati. The Emperor knows about Festival, and has always allowed it. I don't expect any trouble.
Just think of something nice. There's no need to be frightened."

Kati thought of what Da had told Kuchlug. "I will think of my pendant Ma gave me this morning. See?"

Da hugged her gently. "Yes, it's pretty."

Ma rode up on her chestnut, and her eyes were tinged red. "Will we be stopped?" Baber leaned back
against her, head lolled over, sound asleep.

"I think so," said Da. "Let me know if you see anything dangerous in their auras, and clear your throat if I
start to say anything to cause suspicion."
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Ma nodded, but the redness in her eyes was brighter now. Kati sensed a deep wariness in her mother.
"I'm going to think about my pendant," she said seriously.

Ma didn't smile. "And I will think about the blackness of a cave," she said. "There is sure to be a
Searcher with them." Ma sighed, and her eyes seemed to cloud over. While Kati watched, fascinated,
her mother's eyes changed from red to yellow to their normal deep brown. Women could do things men
couldn't do, and Kati looked forward to that time when, with the first budding of her breasts, her own
eyes would reflect her feelings and she would be able to see the life force emanating from other people. It
would mean she was no longer a child, but a woman, held in high esteem among her people.

They reached the plateau, the trail ahead faint in short, tuffy grass. Here and there, in the shade of large
rocks, were the white splotches of rotting snow. The flyer had come down in the middle of the plateau,
near the trail, and five men were standing there, a sixth still in the cockpit of the craft. Kati glanced at Ma,
saw that her eyes were closed, her chest slowly rising and falling with deep breathing. She looked down
at her pendant, stared at it, memorized the shape, two strips of golden metal, like the entrance to a cave,
blackness inside. She held the image in her mind as they approached the waiting men. Behind her, people