"Richard Hatch - Battlestar Galactica 4 - Rebellion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hatch Richard)

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Battlestar Galactica
Rebellion by Richard Hatch
Chapter One
FOR A man who lived almost all his life in space, Apollo had a
planet-bound dream. Imagine a planet tearing itself apart; a glowing rock
heart melting and bursting from continent-sized cracks. All that was,
sinking.

Volcanoes exploding. Molten magma running brilliant red down black
mountains.

Apollo dreamt this. The lava licked at his heels as he ran. If he paused
for a micron, it would swallow him whole.

He'd wake, covered in sweat, breathing hard, legs cramping. How could
a man run so hard in his sleep? Why would a space-flown man dream of
what destroys great planets? You'd think a battlestar, or a Viper or a Cylon
basestar, better still.

But it was planet-bound, not flying, but running. Feet, not a Viper's
magic wings.

Every time Apollo woke from this dream, he felt like he'd escaped that
danger as if it were real. He'd outrun the volcano, something no man could
ever do outside of a dream. And as the frantic, desperate need to run
faded, Apollo would take a deep breath, feeling the sweet, real air filling
his lungs, and hold it for microns. Then let it out, and feel his heart
expanding with relief. You made it this time, he'd think. And then came
the joy: You're alive.

The planet was Kobol. And the destruction was real. Iblis meant to
make Hades real and take his revenge; out of their hope for the future,
he'd trapped them all. But this one time, they were all dreaming together
in that potential moment of complete destruction; the Cylons were blasted
into oblivion, and victory had been snatched in the last moments of
desperate struggle.

The Light Ship had risen from Kobol's ashes like a phoenix. But the
dream remained; the nightmare was over. Apollo was running; they were
all running, because they were men and women, not immortal birds or
beings of light. Their ships were made of metal worked by their own
hands.