"Planet Of Twilight (Barbara Hambley)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hambly Barbara)

They have only minimal internal computers; their actions are centrally
controlled, probably from Ashgad's ship, because I don't know of any
technology that would transmit from as far away as Chorios itself."
She folded her arms, and a small dark line appeared between the sharp
brushstrokes of her brow. "And as far as I know, they're very, very expensive.
Would you just make sure for me that they do get on their vessel?"
The Noghri inclined his head, but not before she saw the wrinkle of
amused comprehension in his eyes. "Gshkaath already sees to it, Lady."
Maybe the message she had received had prejudiced her, she thought,
shaking her head. It was something she tried daily to guard herself against,
but personal prejudice could never entirely be discounted.
The Noghri started to withdraw-they tended to keep themselves separate
from the Academy honor guard, who were among the few even aware of their
presence on the ship-but Leia raised her hand impulsively.
"What about Master Dzym?" she asked. "How does he smell to you?"
Ezrakh hesitated a moment, weighing the question, the folds of his
leathery gray face tightening. Then he made a sign of negation. "His smell is
a human smell. I do not like him either, Lady-I do not like his eyes-but he
smells as other humans do."
Leia nodded, a little comforted. "Will you come with me?" she asked.
"And you, Marcopius, if you would. She smiled to one of the young Academy
guards. It wasn't their fault, she knew, that the hunter-killers of Honoghr
could slice a potential assassin to pieces before a human-particularly these
youths-could unlimber a blaster rifle, nor was it the fault of the Academy
guards that she could not risk any possibility of threat while on this
mission. Throughout the trip she had been very careful to keep the Academy
guards in their usual position at her side, and to emphasize to them that the
Noghri were only a backup, a holdout weapon against unexpected catastrophe.
And as Luke would say, there was no way of telling which group might be
her salvation in a crisis.
At the turbolifts she touched the summon switch, and when she nd her two
guards were within the car, toggled the controls for the shuttlecraft hangar
deck.
Do not meet with Ash`gad.
Down on the Borealis shuttle deck, Luke Skywalker turned the slip of
fiimsiplast over in his hands.
It was small, about the length and width of two fingers, the semi-
transparent stuff used for packing and wrapping delicate objects for shipping.
It had been carefully but unevenly torn from a larger piece and wadded tight
in the innards of a cheap music box in fact.
The words were written in graphite marker, such as his uncle had used to
mark rocks and scrap metal out in the field.
The tune the box played was an old one, a song about a beleaguered queen
and her three magical birds.
The handwriting was Callista's.
Do not trust him or accede to any demand that he makes. Above all, do not
go to the Meridian sector.
Callista
His heart was a slow battering ram against the inside of his ribs.
He barely heard the quick, soft beeping at his side as the astromech