"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - StarShield Book 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

around her. She spun slowly, her arms stretched out to either side, her head tilted back as she joyfully
took it all in.
тАЬIтАЩll only be another moment,тАЭ Queekat said. He had already removed a control access panel
and was deep in conversation with the class III synthetic mind located there.
To Merinda, Queekat had spent the last ten minutes working absolute miracles. They had passed
through the security portals easily, Queekat playing the pass codes instantly on the keypads. The syn-
thetic minds of the projection center opened up to QueekatтАЩs palm interface instantly, their communica-
tion with the inquisitor a quiet secret between them. The rapport between them was unbelievable. After
brief conversations, the synthetic minds controlling nearly everything suddenly submitted to QueekatтАЩs
will and functioned perfectly once more. It was as though he was bringing them back to life тАФ a healer
of machines with a miraculous touch.
тАЬKapak?тАЭ Queekat said at last, as he walked onto the mammoth stage, тАЬdo you hear me?тАЭ
тАЬYes,тАЭ came the deep voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Queekat had appar-
ently talked the synth into running again. The synth had regained her voice. тАЬWhat is your bidding,
Queekat ShnтАЩdar?тАЭ
тАЬPlease play Queekat-alpha-seven-five on the main stage and see to the security instructions
IтАЩve left you in the Datapocket Thune.тАЭ
Merinda held herself, drinking in the beauty of the architecture and the deep history around her.
These stones had stood for thousands of years. They had, in their infancy, been witness to barbarisms
more frightening than she cared to fully imagine and had witnessed more history than a single person
could ever conceive let alone understand. The blood on these stones seemed to give them a life which
dwarfed MerindaтАЩs own mortality. She reveled in its timelessness.
тАЬMerinda?тАЭ
Merinda turned to the flutey tenor voice behind her, itтАЩs soft sound singing to her.
тАЬMerinda тАФ this is for us.тАЭ
With QueekatтАЩs words, the stage and the coliseum dissolved about them.
Merinda took in her breath.
тАЬI could have taken us anywhere in the universe,тАЭ Queekat said softly to her. тАЬBut there was
only one place that I wanted to go тАФ only one place I thought might make everything right again.тАЭ
The falls.
Denali Falls had suddenly appeared in the coliseum. Not just the falls alone but the monastery
above it and the mountains surrounding it. The pool thundered before her, complete in every detail. She
felt the warm mists rising around her and the soft sand under her feet.
She turned to him. He stood before her, his cape rustling behind him in the sudden breeze. He
smiled again and held out his hand.
тАЬPerhaps we just need to begin again,тАЭ he said softly, his eyes bright and intense. Then, as if
lines from a play, he said, тАЬMy darling Rini. IтАЩve returned home. How I have missed you, dear heart!тАЭ
She sobbed once in joy and relief as she took his hand.
In a sweeping motion, he pulled her toward him, enfolding her in his arms.
тАЬItтАЩs our own universe, Rini. IтАЩve sent the other one away. Please take me back. ItтАЩs been such a
long time.тАЭ
Merinda looked up, her face wet. She pulled him toward her. Their lips pressed together.
*****
Kapak was a synth and had not been built to smile. Still there was joy present within her. She

┬й Copyright 1997 by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman / All Rights Reserved. Page 30
was not a robotic nor even transportable. Her eyes were optics and her ears were sensors scattered all
through the Coliseum. She had no body тАФ yet she felt as though she had moved.
Kapak understood her instructions well. The QueekatтАЩs security datapocket smoothly merged
with a deeper memory.