"Joel Rosenberg - Hidden Ways 2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rosenberg Joel C)

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 Hidden Ways 2.htm

Harbard sighed. There had been a time when such would have excited him, when the thought of the clash of axes and the clatter of
spears would have aroused a fervor within him. Brave men facing other brave men, all competing for the honor of being noticed
by Harbard and his friends, in life or in death...

But that time was long past, and Harbard preferred things quieter these days.

"Tell me," he said.




Part One


HARDWOOD, NORTH DAKOTA
CHAPTER 0NE


Homecoming
тАЬYou want to try and land it, Ian?" the redheaded pilot shouted over the roar of the Lance's single engine.

Even after more than two hours in the air, Ian was still surprised by how loud it was.

Ian Silverstein shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks." His chuckle was tight in his chest, and his hands clenched the steering
yoke. It had probably been a mistake to ask if he could fly it a little. Ian had been joking, but Greg Cotton had said yes, then
flicked off the autopilot when Ian put his hands on the steering yoke, well before Ian had put his feet on the rudder pedals.

Ian was surprised to find that flying really wasn't all that hard, but it was nervous-making. And it was one thing to try to hold the
small plane steady and levelтАФhe kept having to push the nose down, or the plane would climbтАФbut it would be another thing to
try to line it up with the landing strip that was what Karin Thorsen had laughingly referred to as Hardwood International, and yet
another thing to try to put the plane down.

Besides, Greg was kidding. At least, he thought Greg was kidding.

"Okay," Greg said. "I've got it."

"Eh?"

"I said, 'I've got it.' That means I'm flying now. You can let go. Honest."

The breath came out of him with a rush, and Ian let himself sag back in the right-hand seat as he wiped the palms of his hands on
his pants.

Two thousand feet above Hardwood, North Dakota, the sky was clear and the air was smooth, with no trace of the turbulence that

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