"Sharon Green - Diana Santee 2 - Gateway To Xanadu" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Sharon)

The chiming started again so abruptly that I jumped, and this time it wasn't as sweet and mellow as it
had been the first time. I'd never before heard an annoyed alarm clock, but I knew damned well I was
hearing one then. I muttered a few words describing the personal habits of that alarm as I rose from the
bed, then included Val in for setting the damn thing in the first place. My eagerness to get going had
gotten me up, but I could still feel the drag of minus sleep beneath that eagerness, gluing shut my eyelids
and making me yawn. I hadn't slept very well in the days I'd waited for the Absari rep Phalsyn to get
there, and during that time I'd kept Val on the opposite side of the room with the well-known cold
shoulder-and a sincere promise to break off any extremities of his that I happened to find in grabbing
distance. He'd grinned at the promise, and had told me he could wait-which he did until last night, when
he made up for the wait. I couldn't honestly describe the time as wasted, but I'd needed the lost sleep
more.

I yawned again and shook my head, then grabbed up the monolon bag and headed for the door. I'd get all
the sleep I wanted or needed once we were on our way, and what I really needed right then was a cup of
coffee. The door slid open in front of me, giving me access to the hall of the residential section, which
led to the work area, which in turn led to the docking facilities. I didn't know how really early it was in
the base day until I walked past the offices in the work area and found most off them empty, no more
than the usual skeleton crew in the comm room. The small sounds of the base's life-support systems
bracketed the whisper of my deck shoes along the corridor carpeting, and the two men in the comm
room didn't even look up as I passed. I wondered if the early departure time had been Phalsyn's idea, the
intent being to get rid of the alien and the guinea pig with the fewest number of people watching,
keeping the gossip to a minimum. The base people would know Val and I were gone, but they would not
know where, at least until the formal talks started, and maybe not even then. If you think about how long
it takes most people to accept even the new family a few doors down, the idea of keeping as much as
possible secret for as long as possible begins to look a lot less unreasonable.

The docking area seemed just as empty as the office area had been, until I spotted Dameron leaning
against the hull of my ship, right beside the access hatch. The big man had his arms folded across the
chest of his dark blue base commander's uniform, studying the floor in front of his feet, the same
preoccupied air holding him that had held him the night before. Not until I stopped in front of him did
his eyes rise to my face.

"You're here sooner than Valdon thought you would be," he said, his broad face showing a hint of a
smile. "He only just entered the ship himself."

"Probably to double-check the work he did on it," I said, giving more in the way of a smile than I was
getting. "I don't blame him for not wanting to find out if he screwed up the hard way. Why don't you
come aboard and get your final good-byes said while I start the departure check?"

"They've already been said," he answered with a sigh. "All I have left are yours, along with a request or
two. You don't mind a request or two from a friend, do you?"

His dark eyes were studying me in a very sober, worried way. Considering the fact that Dameron knew

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more about what my line of work entailed than anyone else there, his worry had to be on behalf of my
new partner.