"Brian Herbert - Dune - Nightime Shadows On Open Sand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

outstretched like eagle claws, their mouths open like bottomless pits. Liet pointed the maula
pistol, closed his eyes to utter a quick prayer, then fired twice. The perfect shots hit each of
the attackers in the chest, and they fell dead.

Liet bowed. "Forgive me, Shai-Hulud."

Pardot watched him. I have tried to teach my son many things, but at least he has learned
compassion. All other information can be learned from filmbooks тАж but not compassion. This was
born into him.


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The young man bent over the two bodies, studied them closely, pushing back his superstitious fear.
"I do not think it's a disease." He looked back at Pardot. "I've assisted the healers, as you
know, and тАж" His voice trailed off.

"What, then?"

"I believe they've been poisoned."

One by one, the tortured villagers wandering the dusty streets fell onto their backs in screaming
convulsions, until only three remained alive. Liet moved quickly with the crysknife and dispatched
the last victims painlessly and efficiently. No tribe or village would ever accept them again, no
matter how much they recovered, for fear that they had been corrupted by demons; even their water
would be considered tainted.

Liet found it odd how easily he had taken command in front of his father. He gestured toward two
of the sealed buildings. "Convince the people inside those barred dwellings that we mean them no
harm. We must discover what happened here." His voice became low and icy. "And we must learn who
is to blame."

Pardot Kynes moved to the dusty building. Fingernail scratches and bloody handprints marked the
mud-brick walls and pitted metal doors where crazed victims had tried to pound their way in. He
swallowed hard and prepared to make his case, to convince the terrified survivors that their
ordeal was over. He turned back to his son. "Where will you be, Liet?"

The young man looked at an overturned water container. He knew of only one way the poison could
affect so many people at once. "Checking the water supply."

His face etched with concern, Pardot nodded.

Liet studied the terrain around the village, saw a faint trail leading up the side of the
overhanging mesa. Yes, they had hidden a qanat there, their own emergency water supply.

Moving with the speed of a sun-warmed lizard, he scurried up the mountain path and reached the
cistern. The evidence of its location had been cleverly disguised, though the villagers had made
many errors. Even a clumsy Harkonnen patrol could have discovered the illegal reservoir. He