"J. Robert King - Invasion Cycle 01 - Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (King Robert J)

tightened the bolts on the longitude and latitude levers.
The engines barked once and then droned with fierce
life.
"Brace for planeshift!" Sisay called.
The planks bucked. Beyond the bridge, air wavered as if
from heat stress. An envelope of calm rose around
Weatherlight. It pushed back the shimmering sky and sea.
Once again, reality stretched beyond its breaking point.
Black seams snaked across the sky. The heavens unraveled.
Scraps of the world fled away. Then there was only the vast
blackness.
This planeshift was different, though. Instead of gliding
through emptiness, the ship seemed to be plunging forward
through muck. The power envelope rattled. The engines
whined. Everything felt sluggish and hot. A wall of energy
appeared ahead. Supercharged chaos slowed to take on
momentary form. In seconds, Weatherlight struck that
endless barrier.
Despite their handholds, the crew pitched forward.
Sisay and Tahngarth kept their feet. Gerrard staggered to


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one knee. Squee scampered up beneath the navigational
consoles and clutched Hanna's legs.
Then they were through. Reality coalesced again out of
chaos.
Below, the plains and woodlands of Benalia spread to
the horizons. Above, the sky was cluttered with clouds. In
their steamy midst hung a vast black hole, a hole in the
heavens.
"There's your Phyrexian portal," Sisay noted quietly.
"But where's the portal ship?"
Through gritted teeth, Gerrard growled, "On the other
sideтАФ in Rath, or Phyrexia, or wherever. Makes it
impossible to destroy from here."
"That hole is big enough to admit three ships abreast,"
Tahngarth whispered.
Gerrard nodded. "And there they are, coming through."
Light failed beyond the lip of the portal; though within
it, in murky crimson, huge and horrible figures appeared.
They were shipsтАФdragon ships the size of Weatherlight,
cruisers thrice her displacement, and some larger still,
massive things covered with holes.
Here was the long-dreamed evil.
"Plague ships," Orim growled.
"They've seen us," Sisay said, pointing. "Look."
Two of the cruisers nosed through the gap. The sunlight