"Jacqueline Lichtenberg - Dushau Trilogy 03 - Outreach" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lichtenberg Jacqueline)

Just beginning to feel the strain himself, Jindigar realized that Eithlarin and the others, less conditioned to
this kind of work, were beginning to waver. Determined, he held the Oliat perception steady until the
leaders of the swarm arrived at the designated cave. Only when Venlagar Received the warriors
possessing the cave did Jindigar reach for Zannesu's grip on. the linkages. The Inreach was shaking with
fatigue, and Jindigar had to pry loose the youngster's gripтАФreminding himself that despite the polished
performance they'd turned in today, this was still a collection of untrained beginners wishing they were a
real Oliat.

Finally in command of the levels again, Jindigar brought his Oliat down from the intense awareness focus,
letting the individualities emerge as much as possible, short of adjourning his Oliat.

Breathing easier, he allowed the sense of triumph to surface at last. They had finally worked a full
function.

He coughed. He felt drained and weak, and suddenly a whirling blackness billowed up from nowhere,
enveloping his Oliat. Disoriented, he just had time to realize that it was Krinata's mind surrendering to
unconsciousness and to feel Storm catch him as he fell. That was a mistake. I should have adjourned
us.

TWO
Krinata's Fever

Hiding in a huge hollow log, rotted out to a thin shell. Outside, the giant anthropoid covered with
tufts of stringy gray hair prowled hungrily, sniffing and nudging at the log. All of themтАФ the
surviving Outriders includedтАФquivered with shameless fear. Vistral was a shattered planet, the
ecology hopelessly upset. Everything was ragingly hungry, no longer selective about diet.

They had seen three Cassrians in their scouting party eaten alive, their exoskeletons cracked open
at the thorax and their organs sucked out by the gray giants. A similar fate awaited them all, if
anyone so much as moved while the predator lurked outside. Rescue had been too long in coming.

Someone sneezedтАФ-

A convulsive wave of terror engulfed them, throwing them up out of the nightmare, the sound of the
sneeze still ringing through Oliat consciousnessтАФhut which Oliat?

Jindigar awoke, sitting doubled over, the aftermath of the sneeze smarting through his air passages.
Coughing, he realized he was still Centering his Oliat, with one of his officers reliving an episode from a
previous Oliat. He groped to control the linkages again.

//It was Eithlarin!// Zannesu recovered first and scrambled out of bed to her side. //The Vistral
nightmare.//

They were in their quarters adjacent to the Aliom Temple hall. They must have been carried here and put
snugly to bed. The large room, built to accommodate the seven of them, was compartmentalized by thin
veils of indoor shrubbery lit by the skylight and the windows high up the walls. While Jindigar couldn't see
all his officers, he sensed their disorientation as their awarenesses swept the room.

In the great fireplace at the far end of the room, a new fire licked at a tree-trunk-sized log. A pot of hot
cereal steamed on the warmer hearth next to the teapot, which filled the room with the aroma of a native