"Steve Perry - Battle Surgeons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

"Actually," Tolk said as she joined the group, "this is a rather nice day. Only one lightning storm so far."
A far-off rumble of thunder came from the east. They all turned and saw a new storm front massing
dark gray on the horizon.
Jos glanced at Tolk. "You really should know better than to say things like that."
The second storm subsided around midnight, though the skies remained cloudy. Drongar had no large
moon, and so Barriss, standing just outside one of the doors to the officers' quarters, was surprised to see
the huts and grounds illuminated by a wan light that shifted among green, pearl, and turquoise hues, as if the
clouds were somehow noctilucent.
"It's the spores," Zan told her. She was not surprised that he had stepped out alongside her; she'd felt his
presence in the Force before she could see him. "Some strains glow in the dark," he continued. "Clouds
make a good backdrop for them. Though you'd think all the rain would wash them out of the air."
She nodded. The bands of variegated light, twisting slowly far overhead, were more impressive than
many rainbows and auroras she'd seen on far more hospitable worlds.
It was nice to know that even Drongar had some beauty to offer.
"A lot prettier than the night sky, actually," Zan said. "We're so far out on the Rim that you don't see that
many stars. And the whorl itself isn't visible from this hemisphere." He grinned at her. "Not even a full
moon to walk hand-in-hand under."
Almost by reflex, she felt his aura gently with the Force, and found nothing in him but friendliness. She
smiled back at him. "Did you have a moon on .. . ?"
"Talus. No, we had something much more spectacu-lar: Tralus, our sister world."
"Ah. The Double Worlds of the Corellian system. Two planets, orbiting each other as they circle their
sun."
Zan nodded and looked impressed. "You know your galactic cartography."
"I would be a poor excuse for a Jedi if I did not."
He looked at her for a moment. Barriss could hear the sounds of the night all about them: the buzzing of
the scavenger moths, the dopplering hum of a worker droid as it pursued its tasks, and, far away, the
occasional dis-tant crackle of energy weapons and sharper cracks of slugthrowers. She might have thought
she was imagin-ing them, but she could feel the reverberations of death and destruction quite clearly
through the Force.
"And who were you," Zan asked, "before you be-came part of the Order?"
She hesitated as well before replying. "No one. I was brought to the Temple as an infant."
"Have you never tried to contact your parents, to find your homeworld'sтАФ"
Barriss looked away. "I was born on a liner in deep space. My parents' identities are unknown. I call no
world save Coruscant my home."
Zan said softly, "My apologies, Padawan Offee. I didn't mean to pry."
She turned back and smiled at him. "It is I who must apologize. There is no excuse for rudeness. As
Master Yoda says, 'If in anger you answer, then in shame you dwell.'"
"He's your instructor?"
"I am not Padawan to him; my Master is Luminara Unduli. Master Yoda is one of the most respected
mem-bers of the Council." She hesitated, then added, "He has been a mentor to nearly all the Jedi currently
in the Order. One student, to his great disappointment, left the Order and turned to the dark side of the
Force."
"I don't have children," Zan said, "though I hope to change that once I'm off this damp rock. I would
imag-ine that to lose a pupil like that must be almost as bad as a parent losing his child."
She nodded. "I hope that, someday, after this war is over, he will be able to return to training students.
He has much to offer."
"As do you, Padawan Offee." Zan yawned and turned back to the door. "I'm going to grab some
sleep while I can. You might want to do the same; if we're lucky, maybe tomorrow won't be too much
worse than today."
He disappeared into the building. Barriss lingered a moment longer, thinking.