"Martha Wells - Fall of Ile-Rien 03 - The Gate of Gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wells Martha)

townтАЩs defenses in a magical Gardier blockade since the beginning of the war. And with all their past
and ongoing problems with Gardier spies, Tremaine felt any discussion in a virtually public forum was
an incredibly bad idea. But while the Capidarans had lost some of their merchant ships, they hadnтАЩt yet
come under direct attack, and it was hard to convince them of the immediate danger.

Tremaine could almost understand why. Up until a few weeks ago they had all believed the Gardier had
come from a hidden city somewhere in the empty ocean between Ile-Rien and Capidara. Discovering
that the Gardier came from another world entirely, that they used an etheric world-gate spell to transport
their military vessels to a place they called the staging world, inhabited mostly by primitive peoples with
no sorcery or modern weapons to protect them, and from there to Ile-Rien and Adera, had been hard
enough to swallow, let alone explain.

And when it came down to it, Tremaine felt her presence here was useless. Not that her presence
anywhere else would have been particularly helpful. There was plenty of work for sorcerers; the
Capidaran and the expatriate Rienish and Aderassi sorcerers who had been trapped in Capidara when the
war started had all been conscripted to build Viller spheres, the only real defense against the Gardier.
The Viller Institute researchers were busy examining the prototype airship brought back from the
Gardier world, but Tremaine really didnтАЩt know enough about mechanics and engines to help with that.


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She grimaced and looked around again, impatient. Everyone wore sober wool or broadcloth suits, except
for Averi and the other military men present, who had on their dark blue dress uniforms. She noticed
AveriтАЩs uniform hung on his thin frame, making it obvious he had lost weight since it had first been
issued. Tremaine wore a new outfit of dark wool serge, and the narrow skirt and long-waisted jacket
might be fashionable, but she found it constricting and drafty. She didnтАЩt think the cloche hat did
anything for her either, but Capidaran polite society insisted women wear something on their heads. On
her bad days, she felt as if a dead albatross might be more appropriate headgear for her, suiting her mood
and her apparent role in life. Since they had arrived in Capistown, nothing seemed to be going right, or if
it did go right, it moved at a snailтАЩs pace.

тАЬWhere the hell is your father?тАЭ Gerard muttered, pulling out his pocket watch to check the time. Again.
The watch had been one of the first things he had purchased in Capistown, a replacement for the one
broken during an attack by the GardierтАЩs mechanical disruption spell. The same spell that Rienish
sorcerers couldnтАЩt defend against without the help of the spheres. The spell that had devastated Rienish
and Aderassi military forces.

тАЬOh, come now, Gerard. Considering what you sent him out to do, does either one of us really want to
know the answer to that?тАЭ Tremaine said dryly, and considered him paid back for the тАЬseven timesтАЭ
comment.

Gerard gave her a brief glare, putting his watch away. тАЬIf we can just get this nonsense over and done
with so we can get on with the experimentтАФтАЭ He stopped, relieved. тАЬThere he is.тАЭ

Tremaine looked at the double doors standing open to the dark marble-floored hall. Nicholas Valiarde
was just stepping into the room, nodding cordially to Colonel Averi, who nodded back with a closed and
somehow wary expression.