"Centauri, Arrival" - читать интересную книгу автора (Meier Sid)

Domai tapped the two drones next to him and motioned them into the fray. Picking up a metal tray from the table, he went in as well.


Centauri: Arrival, Episode 9


"Transmission incoming," said the nervous voice. As Zakharov watched, the flat panel on the wall over his desk resolved into the image of a narrow, sweaty face. "OK, we're here, Academician."
"Show me what's happening, Dmitri" said Zakharov.
"Yes, Academician," said the contact, Dmitri. The camera jerked away from him. Zakharov could see the low, curved shape of the alien temple, and then the purple-black clouds of the Churn overhead. Those clouds rippled outward in great rings. Zakharov suppressed a feeling of fear and told himself to study the data on the cloud formations later.
"Here we go," said Dmitri. The camera steadied on the energy shield and visual shroud that ringed the Temple, then the shroud flickered as the polarizing filters switched on. Stretching away from the Temple, Zakharov could see dusty red-brown earth, and then the thick tendrils of xenofungus.
"Turn on the infrared," Zakharov heard, and within a thick mass of xenofungus above the Temple a couple hundred shapes appeared. They stood absolutely still, and their bodies seemed unusually thick and strong.
"The Drone revolt army," said Zakharov.
"Yes, Academician," said Dmitri. "It doesn't appear that they have overly sophisticated weapons. Still, no one wants to fight a drone in close combat. Many of us havenТt been friendly to their kind. NowЕ"
The camera swiveled past the Alien Temple again to the other side. There was no need for infrared on this side, since the xenofungus sat much father back from the Temple.
Standing in a mass about 200 meters from the shroud were a thousand ragged-looking warriors, their bodies lean and narrow, wearing pieces of armor that were of poor quality but colored bright red and gold. Standing in front of them, between four huge bodyguards, was a small child, about six years old, holding a small bright dagger in one hand.
"Cha Dawn and his Cult," said Dmitri.
"How long have they been standing that way?" asked Zakharov.
"AboutЕfour metric hours now," said his contact. "It seems the Child has not taken his eyes off of the Temple. I don't think he even blinks."
Zakharov turned to the tall, pale woman who stood next to his desk. Her eyes stared blankly back at him, but Zakharov knew that behind those eyes an inhuman intelligence saw and processed.
I am a creature of the mind as well, Zakharov mused. Do people find me as inhuman as this one?
УThe child is a fanatic,Ф she said in a strangely flat voice. УHe wants the Temple.Ф
УAre the Drones allied with him?Ф Zakharov wondered. The woman made him uneasy. He knew she could run calculations faster through her cybernetic consciousness than he could through his beloved gray matter.
УIt seems too unlikely a coincidence otherwise. The Drones are independent but still impressionable. Perhaps the Child has promised them something if they take the Temple.Ф
УMaybe he promised them a home,Ф said Zakharov. УRegardless, there arenТt many Drones in this force.Ф
УThey are not afraid to die,Ф said Aki. УBut neither are my kind. The Consciousness pledges its support to you, in return for all of your information on the alien structure.Ф
УOf course,Ф said Zakharov. УBut weТll wait for them to make the first move.Ф

Episode 9, part 2

Deep in the blue-lit halls of Ergonomia Base, Sinder Roze tapped up a security matrix and surfed her way into the outer fringes of the University datalinks. She located a communication node, jacked into it, and transferred a command. Her eyes glowed with pleasure as she keyed in the final command sequence.
At the alien temple, the shield and the shroud vanished in an eyeblink.

Episode 9, part 3

Reanna opened her wide blue-black eyes to the sound of a hum so loud it jarred every bone in her body, and made her flesh shiver.
She reached out with her sense-awareness that had grown more acute with each passing day, and found that this sound bed filled her home valley with an ocean of harmonic waves.
She flipped on her vidscreen and scanned the datalinks. There was great unrest, starting with the marching of the new Cult warriors, led by a child, on Zakharov's fortification around the Alien Temple. And the new Drone unrest, which had halted the building of new med facilities, along with rumors of a Drone Army detonating charges and collapsing Yang's fledgling underground society.
And above it all were the dark clouds, rippling out in waves. And down here she could feel the waves of sound increasing, rippling out in waves, as if from a source far away, that now grew closer.
The sound reached a high pitch, splitting her brain and transforming into a small, bright light in her head. And the light became Planet against the sweep of space, and Planet became a field of energy, unfolding in vast harmonic petals.
"It is this," she said with a sudden realization, the vision burning in her mindТs eye. "They are coming for this."

Episode 9, part 4

Cha Dawn, the Child of Planet, felt his heart pound as the shroud and the shield dropped from around the Alien Temple. He caught his first glance of the Temple, with its low curved shapes and strange symbols.
He lifted his gleaming dagger and swept it across his forces. He looked at them, with their tattered armor and hungry eyes, and relished the moment. He could feel their anticipation wash over him and feed him.
He gave the order in a high, screeching voice. УNow!Ф
His forces thundered forward. His four carriers lifted him on a golden platform and joined the charge. He exulted in his warriors surging around him like an unstoppable tide.

Episode 9, part 5