"Linnea Sinclair - Gambit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sinclair Linnea)

hiring me." She stared past him, not meeting his gaze, hoping he wouldn't see the lies
laced in with the truths.
"So you thought you would take on the entire T'Sri empire yourself?"
She bristled at the sarcasm in his words. "I'm not helpless. And I was only aiming
for one person."
"You weren't going very far with one engine down."
"Think I don't know that? A major malfunction wasn't in my plans. But when I came
out of hyperspace at the Nahil Border Gates, every blessed light on my starboard
thruster board was screaming at me. Wasn't like I planned it this way."
"When you're going after game as big as Gri Pajtok, you have to account for all
eventualities."
She wasn't surprised he'd guessed that the T'Sri Emperor-Elect was her target. "Easy
for you to say. I'm five payments behind on my ship. A new thruster board would've
put me back even further. That's why this job's so important."
"How important, Captain Ty'mara Moran?"
More than you know, she thought, but kept her response unemotional. "Enough."
"Enough to work with the Jhen?"
"Maybe," she conceded slowly, knowing one never worked with the Jhen, only for
them or against them.
He asked the question she'd been waiting three hours to hear. "You want Pajtok
dead?"
She remembered the pain of one hundred fourteen voices screaming in terror. "Yes."
"So do I, Moran. So do I."


She stood beside him on the Abaris's bridge and tried to keep her mouth from falling
open. She'd never been on a huntership before. Of the larger starfreighters, she knew
the competent-- but outdated--systems of the Grindley. That looked nothing like the
tri-level structure before her now.
It wasnтАЩt just the fact that there was instrumentation and cross-instrumentation. It
wasn't even the precision with which everything worked. It was simply that
everything had been designed by one man. Jhen-Aris.
"Does my bridge meet with your approval?"
She realized he'd been watching her. She hadn't thought her reaction would matter.
Yet his gaze on her was questioning, almost searching. Well, if he needed his ego
stroked, so be it. She wouldn't have to lie. "More than approve. I'm envious."
He arched an eyebrow. "I'm flattered."
"I doubt it."
His rumble of laughter did nothing to soothe her nerves. She was well aware of who
he was, the power he wielded, and that his pleasantries were more than likely just a
facade. Or a ploy. She ran her fingers lightly over the gleaming metal cap of the
railing that encircled the third tier. She didn't doubt other captains had stood where
she was standing. But she knew of none who'd lived to tell of it. "Why show me all
this?"
He leaned back against the railing and lowered his voice. "As I said, we may find
each other useful. I wanted you to know what I had to offer."
"You're serious, then?"
"Absolutely."
She let out a small sound of incomprehension.
"You don't believe me?"