"Michael A. Stackpole - Battletech - Mechwarrior - Dark Age 12 - Hunters Of The Deep" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stackpole Michael A)

тАЬovKhan.тАЭ Petr Kalasa pulled his gaze from the inert object that had swallowed his concentration for
long minutes and watched Jesup enter his command cabin. Petr never locked the door. He set the cube
on the small desktop and leaned back with studied casualness. The creak of his spine betrayed the length
of time heтАЩd been hunched over.

Petr almost commented on the ungainly way Jesup moved into the room, but refrained when he realized
it might shame his aide. If he moved so awkwardly in the magnetic slips that kept him attached to the
deck, then he truly must be in pain. It seemed the man fought innumerable Trials of Grievance; had his
latest trial come close to defeat for Jesup?

тАЬWhat is your report?тАЭ Petr tried to conceal his amusement; JesupтАЩs burning ears marked his failure.

тАЬThe repairs to theBehemoth proceed apace. Senior Technician Pol assured me we will be cleared to
make the jump to the Augustine system within the hour.тАЭ

тАЬWhat caused the breach? We sealed theStarmoth more than three years ago; the other two have been
attached far longer with no deterioration in their seals.тАЭ

Petr stood and walked around the left side of the desk. He refused to glance at the cube, but could
almost hear it calling him, a keening siren luring him to return and breathe the flames of life into the
banked coals of its contents.

тАЬPol has initiated an investigation, and assures me any trials required to challenge shoddy maintenance
will be dealt with. Personally.тАЭ

Petr moved with the deliberate grace of one long-accustomed to gravity slips. If he were claustrophobic,
the addition of one more person to the command cabin of theVoidswimmer would have driven him over
the edge of sanity. If that were the case, years of being trapped within the metal skin of a vessel 1,508
meters long, adrift in the unimaginable largeness of the galaxy (not truly adrift, of courseтАФPetrтАЩs mind
held a laser-lock on the hundreds of coordinates constituting the stellar path Delta Aimag would travel in
the next few weeks) would have driven him mad or downside long before now.

тАЬPol has never lacked in initiative, nor disappointed with performance. I do not doubt by weekтАЩs end we
will know what happened.тАЭ He shifted slightly, his dark blue one-piece body suit undulating like gentle
water in moonlight.

тАЬStill, it has given me time to think.тАЭ He glanced expectantly at his aide, waiting for the usual acerbic
comment, his eyes emerald chips that could cut if he were provoked.

тАЬBeta Aimag?тАЭ

тАЬWhat else?тАЭ The man must be seriously hurt if he had abandoned his habitual sarcasm. He must find out
who came so close to defeating Jesup in a Circle of Equals.

тАЬYour obsession with ovKhan Sha Clarke will be the death of you.тАЭ
тАЬOf course it will. But I will kill him first.тАЭ

тАЬKill?тАЭ scoffed Jesup.