"Jason M. Hardy - BattleTech - MechWarrior - Dark Age 13 - The Scorpion Jar" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hardin Clement)

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authorтАЩs
Imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.



The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is
http://www.penguinputnam.com




Acknowledgments
The process of writing this novel was not normal, which means the acknowledgments are a little strange,
too. But still, there are some people who need to be thanked:
яВ╖ Sharon Turner Mulvihill, for giving me a shot and being supportive and helpful throughout the
whole odd process;
яВ╖ Randall N. Bills, for being the exact right person for me to leech on over a number of years;
яВ╖ Loren L. Coleman, for being encouraging as I gradually stuck my toes into the ocean of the
BattleTech universe;
яВ╖ Past editorsтАФnotably Donna Ippolito and Janna SilversteinтАФwho were encouraging and positive
even when projects didnтАЩt work out as planned;
яВ╖ My wife, Kathy, for being . . . well, for being my wife, Kathy;
яВ╖ My son, Finn, for similar reasons;
яВ╖ Everyone who ever wrote a book I loved. You know who you are.
яВ╖ And though theyтАЩll likely never see this, thanks to Ethan Cannon and Sam Cannon (distant
cousins, not brothers) for first introducing me to RPGs. The adjustable-length ten-foot pole will
never be forgotten.


1
Paladin Steiner-DavionтАЩs Residence, Santa Fe
Terra, Prefecture X
1 October 3134

The final glimmer of a purple-and-orange sunset had disappeared into the chill of a late-autumn night.
Even here, away from downtown, the sky-glow from greater Santa Fe overwhelmed all but the brightest
stars, while the background noise of city traffic, machinery and, above all, people, underlay everything
like a heartbeat, or like breath.

At well past midnight, the sprawling headquarters of the Knights of the Sphere was, for the most part,
dark and silent. Even in its residential wings, quiet ruled. The majority of Knights with quarters in the
complex worked hard and valued their rest, and those who were of a mind to relax or work off tension
usually wandered to other parts of the city to play.