"David Weber & Steve White - Starfire 2 - Crusade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

the imperial compound and knew he saw the answer. Mulrooney was one of the very few
Terrans who had visited Old Valkha and seen the cyclopean fortresses which dominated pre-
stellar Orion architecture like expressions of a warrior ethos in stone and mortar. New Valkha did
not boast their like. As a fortress, the imperial compound equaled any planetary defense center
in the Federation, yet it hid its teeth like an Orion smile. An almost tangible sense of peace
hovered over its elfin beauty, perfected by the background of the KhanateтАЩs mailed fist.

And that, he told himself, was how the ZheeerlikouтАЩval-khannaieee saw their imperial capital. It
was flowers and cold steel, the jewel in the KhanтАЩsiron crown, an eye of tranquillity in a
hurricaneтАЩs heart.

He sighed and turned from the window, pacing slowly back and forth. The summons had come
from the kholo-khanzir, the grand vizier, himself, and it was unusual to be kept waiting so long.
Mulrooney had many contacts in the Orion bureaucracy, and he knew some major crisis had
blown up with absolutely no warning. He could uncover no clue as to what it was, but the
whispers of rumored disaster made an ominous counterpoint to this unprecedented delay.

The sharp rap of wood on stone interrupted his thoughts, and he turned, reminding himself just
in time to avoid any quick movement which might suggest impatience. The knolokhanzirs
personal herald met his eyes, gripping the elaborately carved haft of his gemmed pike of office.
There was more than a little white in the OrionтАЩs tawny felinoid pelt, but his spine was straight
and he bowed with limber dignity. Then he straightened and beckoned politely for Mulrooney to
follow.

The herald led him down a sunny hall fringed by balconies with balustrades entwined in nodding
tendrils of ornamental vines. It wasnтАЩt a long walk, but MulrooneyтАЩs heart was beating fast when
the herald knocked at the door at its end. Two statue-still guards flanked it, armed not with
ornamental, palace-duty weapons but with businesslike needle rifles and side arms. Then the
heraldo pened the door and bowed him through.

Mulrooney entered with a crisp striae, then stopped dead. HeтАЩd expected the kholokhanzir, but it
seemed heтАЩd been summoned to meet another.

He recovered and moved forward once more towards the ancient Orion seated on the cushion-
strewn dais in the center of the room. He was bent with age, but his silvered pelt still showed the
midnight black of the noblest Orion bloodlines.

Mulrooney stopped a precise three meters from the dais and pressed nis clenched right hand to
his chest as he performed his most graceful DOW. Then he straightened and stood silently,
giving no sign of his racing thoughts, as he met the old, knowing eyes of Lihar-nowтАЩhirtalkin,
KhanтАЩaтАЩkhanaaeee of all the Orions.

"Greetings, Ambassador,тАЬ the Khan said, and Mulrooney swallowed. Orions guarded their
khanтАЩs person fanatically, yet he and Liharnow were alone. It was unheard of for any person not
sworn to hirikolus or hirik-rinzi - much less an alien - to be allowed into the KhanтАЩs presence
unguarded, and there was no protocol to guide him in modes of address, for the Khan never
spoke directly to a foreign envoy.
"Greetings, HiaтАЩkhan.тАЬ He hoped it was an appropriate response.

тАШI have asked you here to discuss a most urgent matter,тАЬ Liharnow came to the point with typical