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

her ship, once she'd realized that's what Jhen-Aris expected her to do. She'd miss
the Dreamweaver, Gods, how she'd miss her. Maybe one day she could reclaim
her.
If she lived through the next thirty-six hours.
She poked her head around the door and listened, hearing nothing but the thrumming
of the drives and the hammering of her own heart. Stunner ready, she crossed to the
walled maintenance area and climbed the ladder up the side. Above her, three
gleaming pursuit craft sat waiting. Zetas. Fast and deadly two-man fightercraft.
Such a prize might be almost as irresistible, though a tad more suspect, to the T'Sri
as her lifeless, defenseless freighter.
She saw the ring of red lights circling the fighters and stopped, her senses tingling.
More trip-alarms, activated by the ship's red-alert status. She closed her eyes. They
were more complicated than she could handle. If she could locate the main computer
access, though....
She turned, suddenly aware of movement on the other side of the hangar doors. She
lifted her stunner, ready. Two guards rushed through the sliding doorway. She fired.
The first fell. The other dropped to a crouch and returned her fire. She skirted
behind a Zeta. Something impacted, sizzling, on the floor near her. These guards
carried laser pistols, not stunners! Her own fire fell short. Stunners were close-range
weapons.
The guard spoke into a wrist-com; others, including Jhen-Aris, were probably on
their way. But for the next few minutes, perhaps even seconds, it was only the two
of them. She pocketed the stunner and brought her hands close to her chest,
whispering words she had said only in the teaching chambers of the Rachella. She
spoke hurriedly. She felt the warmth growing between her palms, but knew she
couldn't bring forth the same intense magic that Graeme or Fy'ella could.
She let loose the fire-ball. The guard flailed backwards, his pistol firing impotently
into the ceiling. One of the overhead lights shattered, showering the bay in sparks
before it died.
She tripped the Zeta's alarms. It didn't matter; they knew where she was. She hoisted
herself up on one black wing and was concentrating on unscrambling the hatchlock
when she heard her name.
"Moran!" Jhen-Aris stood in the open doorway with half a dozen crew behind him.
He cradled a sonic rifle in his arms. "Drop your weapon and climb down. Now. You
won't be harmed."
His crew fanned out around him, coming towards the Zeta.
She balanced on the wing, her gaze darting left and right. She saw Jhen-Aris nod.
Three guards on her left moved to raise their hand weapons, but she was quicker.
Adrenaline pumped through her. Fear sharpened her senses. Her left hand shot out,
sending a stream of flame like rainfall before them. They fell back, screaming,
swearing. Someone shouted the word "Myrlagh!" Witch!
She whirled to the group on her right. They were frozen in their stance, staring at
what they had heard of only in legends. Their hesitancy affected her. For a moment
she was off balance, dimly aware that the hatch lock behind her was just now
uncycling. The muted click drew her attention. She looked down to pull at the
hand-hold as a high whining filled her ears. And her whole world suddenly went
black.


-3-