"Kristine Smith - Kilian 4 - Contact Imminent" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Kristine)

"No, Colonel." Nf Tsecha Egri, the Haarin dominant, shook his head back and
forth, his latest adoption of humanish gesture. "I have seen plays, and
holoVee programs. Histories and such. No dancing." He pushed up the edge of
his headscarf with one gold-skinned finger and scratched his scalp. "Nia," he
leaned close to Jani, his voice falling to a whisper, "ballet is leaping about
to music?"
"Pretty much, inshah."
"I saw a dancing goat once. Is that as ballet?"
"It is quite similar, yes." Jani unfolded to her feet and walked across the
shelter to join Niall at the console. She placed a hand on his shoulder, felt
his warmth through his blue fatigue shirt, and tried to remember the days when
she could feel warm under conditions like this. "Any change?"
Niall glared in injury, the scar that cut his left cheek from his nose to the
corner of his mouth deepening as he frowned. "A dancing goat?" His eyes spoke
to the frustrated patron of the arts that he was. Honey-brown and long-lashed,
his only handsome feature, they were currently laced with aggravation and
regret over missed performances and unapprecia-tive students who ignored
lunchtime instruction.
Jani offered a rueful grin. "I'm sorry you couldn't attend your ballet. I know
you looked forward to it." She dragged a stool from beneath the console and
sat next to him, then pointed to the display screen in the center of the
flickering communications array. "Doesn't look any different than it' did
twenty minutes ago."
"Part of that's the fact that the pickup's malfunctioning. Our comtech should
be back any minute with the replacement parts." Niall sighed. "The image
straightens out every few minutes. From what I can see, they're still clearing
CONTACT IMMINENT 3
snow. Marking out the cordon." He massaged the back of his neck. "Mine
clearance is one of those dichotomous activities. Nerve-wracking to perform,
but boring as all hell to watch. Especially when no one seems to be doing
anything."
"I heard that." A male voice laced with annoyance emerged from the array's
speaker system. "If you're both bored in that nice, warm, dry bunker, two
hundred meters from all the stuff that goes boom, I'd be more than happy to
trade places with you."
Niall and Jani looked at one another and smiled. "Hey, Pull," Niall said with
a laugh. "How's it going?"
"Saturday night at the Haarin enclaveтАФwhat a rip-roaring place." The
irritation in Lieutenant Randal Pullman's voice was palpable.
Jani glanced back at Tsecha, who had risen and now walked across the bunker to
join them. He stood taller than she by a headтАФthe top of his headscarf grazed
the light fixture as he passed beneath it, sending it swinging back and forth
and casting his thin frame in weird shadows on the wall.
"Rip-roaring, nia?" Tsecha stood over Jani, arms folded and hands tucked in
his sleeves, his long face skull-like. "What is rip-roaring?"
No sound emerged from the speaker for a time. Then came a throat-clearing
cough. "Is that you, ni Tsecha?"
"Yes, Lieutenant PullmanтАФglories of the night to you." Tsecha glanced at Jani
and bared his teeth, cracked amber eyes bright with humor. "What is
rip-roaring?"