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

тАЬ тАШWords spill like solar wind from a star, nearly infiniteтАФtheright words, precious commodities to be
hoarded and wielded with laser precision.тАЭ тАЩ

тАЬYou quote our ClanтАЩs founder to me?тАЭ Petr pretended outrage.

тАЬIf I become a small footnote next to Karen Nagasawa, I will be honored indeed.тАЭ

Petr couldnтАЩt help sink a barb, so rarely did the other man offer such an opening. тАЬMore so than by a
Bloodname? How . . . unClanlike.тАЭ

Jesup jerked as though kidney-punched, then assumed a contemplative look for several long heartbeats.
тАЬI will take both,quiaff ?тАЭ

Petr laughed. тАЬAff,Jesup. Nowthat is what we need in our Aimag. The determination to seize victory.тАЭ

тАЬIf that is what we need, ovKhan, then simply challenge him to a trial and remove him. Be done with this
obsession.тАЭ

Petr grimaced and waited for the flood of anger. It failed to materialize, allowing the memory of his last
trial against Sha to rise to the surface. He attempted to distract himself from the memory with a glance at
the mysterious data cube, but that further soured his mood. Already he had spent hours trying to pierce
the veil of its central riddle, to no avail. One obsession (to himself he would admit that word) was bad
enough. Two would be intolerable.

тАЬJesup, such action could have . . . unintended consequences.тАЭ He met JesupтАЩs gaze. тАЬThe KhanatesтАЩ
loyalty to Khan Hawker could be considered weak; some may even question the AimagsтАЩ loyalty to each
Khanate.тАЭ ShaтАЩs name echoed loudly, though unspoken.

тАЬAnd one ovKhan messing in the affairs of another Aimag might cause a cascading effect?тАЭ Jesup
finished the thought.

Petr smacked his palm against the desktop, venting his frustration. For the first time in many years,
multiple Aimags worked in close proximity, with dozens of JumpShips and multiple ArcShips canvassing
the same tracks of interstellar space, covering the same worlds. He feared for the consequences. More
important, he feared what ovKhan Sha Clarke might do.

The vehemence of his attack on the desk made the data cube jump, and once again it snared his
attention. Could this have something to do with Sha? With the great endeavor saKhan Mikel Sennet
marshaled the entire Spina Khanate to achieve?

тАЬLeave me,тАЭ he said abruptly.

Silence was the only reponse; even Jesup knew when to abandon a line of questioning and leave his
superior.

For the first time in memory, Petr closed the hatch and dogged it before returning to his chair; his mind
barely registered the squeal of springs that usually jogged a mental note to chastise the labor casteman
assigned the task of properly maintaining his equipment (promptly forgotten). Picking up the data cube,
he weighed it in his hand, as though to assess its value simply by tactile senses, and then slotted it into the
reader.