"Ann Maxwell - The Jaws of Menx" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

his brown skin blended well within the shadow of the forest. The question bird flew closer, made bold by
RhaneтАЩs sudden immobility. Fixing the human with a suspicious red eye, the bird opened its mouth and
asked its sweet, imperious question. Rhane waited silently. He was tempted to try a more forceful probe,
then decided against it. Though no one expected to find psi on Menx, the Carifil had taught him that psi
was always possible and often unpredictableтАФas it had been in his own case.
The birdтАЩs stiff lips parted, showing its ebony chisel teeth as it called yet another question. An answer
came this time, the same note in a lower register. The new note was repeated four times, each call
separated by longer pauses, like echoes returning from a greater and greater distance. The question bird
stretched its clawed wings and calmly began to feed, gnawing at the mure bark between its feet.
There was a sudden shiver of yellow leaves. A woman stepped toward the path where Rhane stood.
RhaneтАЩs yellow eyes narrowed as he focused on the woman. Then a glitter of rainbow wings against her
neck made him catch his breath. A wiri rode her shoulder. The tiny animal looked directly at him for an
instant, then whistled softly and seemed to vanish as the gold of its body blended perfectly into the
womanтАЩs clothes.
The woman, too, was difficult to see. Even when she moved, the random gold and dark patterns of
her clothes melted superbly into the forest background. When she was still, she was nearly invisible. She
looked neither young nor old, and he could not sense her mind at all; she was no more than an extension
of the sunset, a presence like distant fire.
Suddenly Rhane felt odd, off-balance, as though time had twisted back upon itself. He shut his eyes,
realizing how very alone he was, one man on a planet that had proved deadly to aliens, one man whose
brief Carifil training was as fragile as the blue ferns uncurling into the first misty hint of night. One man
poised between lake and forest, day and night, present and past. Alone.
тАЬStep out of the mure shadow, off-worlder,тАЭ said the woman in excellent, unaccented Galactic. тАЬI
donтАЩt like talking to a hidden face.тАЭ
Reluctantly, Rhane stepped out of the concealing gloom.
тАЬRhane!тАЭ
Rhane suddenly realized who stood in front of him.
тАЬShiya ...?тАЭ said Rhane, unable to accept that mere time could have affected the change between the
child of his memory and the woman who stood before him. He spoke slowly, trying to fit past and
present into a coherent whole. тАЬYouтАЩre older than my memories ... and more beautiful.тАЭ
Shiya made an involuntary movement, almost as though to hold out her hands to the man who had
risen out of the past as silently as mist off a hidden lake. Then she stepped back and became utterly still,
watching him.
тАЬDeath ages what it doesnтАЩt take,тАЭ Shiya said distinctly. тАЬYou, too, have changed. Why did you
come back to the planet that killed your father and brother?тАЭ
Rhane could not name or mindtouch the emotions that churned just beneath ShiyaтАЩs control, like a
river turbulent beneath its winter lid of ice; but he was certain that the emotions were there. He returned
her scrutiny with his own, measuring the present against the past.
Like most Menx, Shiya was tall and quick, nearly as tall as Rhane. Her skin was brown, her body
slender and hard. Her hair, braided into a protective cap, showed every color from auburn to pale gold.
In the twilight of forest and mist, her eyes were very dark with glints of copper.
The alien girl who had stirred two brothersтАЩ desire long ago had more than fulfilled the promise of her
nascent womanhood. He did not blame Cezine for wanting her with all the force of a boyтАЩs first taste of
his own manhood. No, he could not blame Cezine ....
тАЬWhy are you here, Concord man?тАЭ ShiyaтАЩs voice was cool, as though she had taken his silence for
disapproval. тАЬDo you too wish to die before your time?тАЭ
тАЬI came to see the place where my brother died before his.тАЭ
тАЬMenx no longer welcomes aliens,тАЭ said Shiya bluntly. тАЬEven if we did, the place where Cezine died
is beyond your reach.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm not asking for welcome.тАЭ Rhane paused. He disliked what he was going to say, but knew that it