"Christopher Stasheff - Rogue Wizard 08 - A Wizard and a Warlo" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

A Wizard and a WarlordA Wizard and a Warlord
The Seventh Chronicle of Magnus D'Armand, Rogue Wizard
By Christopher Stasheff
ISBN: 0-812-24167-7


1
The transparent wall curved up to form a ceiling filled with the glory of a
million stars; below glowed the bank of screens that showed the views around the
ship. A smaller screen, set into the surface of the console in the center of the
room, lit the craggy features of the giant who sat poring over a database. He
was Magnus d'Armand, itinerant revolutionary, and the starlit room was the
bridge of his spaceship Herkimer.
"So there you are!"
Magnus braced himself even as he looked up; Alea was out for blood again. "Of
course."
She stood in the hatchway, fairly glowing with anger-tall, almost as tall as he,
with a face that some would have called angular but that he thought lovely. Even
in the loose light blue shipboard fatigues, her slender figure made his breath
catch.
She strode into the room, fairly sizzling with outrage. "What are you doing in
here? You're always in the lounge!"
"The press of work, I'm afraid." Magnus gestured at the screenful of data before
him. "It's time to start thinking about the planet we've picked for a landing."
"The one you picked! All I did was nod and agreenot that you would have paid
attention if I hadn't!" Magnus stared, hurt. "I would have chosen another
destination!"
Alea plowed right past the remark. "We're almost there. A little late to be
thinking about whether or not they need us, isn't it?"
Magnus bridled at her tone but fought to hide it. The adrenaline of battle sang
through his veins, and he hoped it didn't show in his eyes. "Yes, I've been
remiss. I'm afraid I've been enjoying your company too much to bother doing my
homework."
"Enjoying my company!" Alea's lip curled in scorn. "You know I'm a shrew and a
termagant-and I know it, too!"
"We do have some spirited discussions," Magnus admitted, "but they're enjoyable
in their way." He frowned. "Have you changed your mind, then? Is the visit not
worth our time?"
"Are there enough people to warrant it?" Alea countered. "Three huge continents,
but only the fourth one, the one that's almost small enough to call an island,
has been colonized."
"I don't think the worth of a people depends upon their number," Magnus said
gravely.
"But they're not exactly oppressed, are they?" Alea demanded. "Not from those
pictures you showed me! No one looks to be starving, no one's wearing rags-and
if there are oppressors, where do they live? We didn't see any castles, any
palaces just village after village of thatch-roofed cottages!"
"The pictures we saw when we started this trip were hundreds of years old,"
Magnus reminded her.
"A great deal may have changed. Those castles could be there now, and the people