"Doris Piserchia - Star Rider" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piserchia Doris)

STAR RIDER
by Doris Piserchia


This book is dedicated to my parents,


VIOLA and DEWEY SUMMERS


Copyright ┬й 1974 by Doris Piserchia.




Chapter I


Out of the D-2 void we came to stand on a barren asteroid in a sky full
of hot bits of debris. Hinx had made a rough landing to show me he was
insulted by my long silence, but I paid him no mind. It was good to be real
and solid again.
I jinked my mount from the top of his head to the soles of his four feet.
Hinx and I together were something going somewhere Separated, we were
stranded wherever we landed. He couldnтАЩt go anywhere without a jak on
his back and a jak needed a mount under him to take a trip.
I thought about not having a mount, looked up at the stars, imagined
how it would be to have to stay in one place The longing for those lights
hit me like a fist, clawed deep down into my brain and stirred up things
sleeping under the debris
I said to myself: TheyтАЩre yours, gal, any time you want them, so what are
you aching for?
I knew the answer. It was raw hunger. I had to have a beckoning light
and a mount to carry me there. That was a jak.
 тАЬSettle down, Hinx, youтАЩll throw me,тАЭ I bawled.
Startling the heck out of me, he stuck his nose straight at the sky and let
out the weirdest howl I ever heard.
тАЬWhat was that for?тАЭ
тАЬDonтАЩt know,тАЭ he said. тАЬsomething came over me.тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩll come over you, right across your rump with an old-fashioned
beating.тАЭ
тАЬDo you mind if I do it again?тАЭ
He didnтАЩt wait for an answer. His nose tilted up just as a big cinder
whizzed by, and the next thing I knew we were in D-2 with me hanging on
by a tuft of his fur.
тАЬSorry,тАЭ said Hinx, as we landed on a bigger asteroid.
тАЬWhatтАЩd you come here for?тАЭ I yelled. I wanted to dismount, but there
were flashing cinders here, too, and he might spook again and catch me
unaware.
тАЬYou worried about being left behind?тАЭ He sounded as if he might be