"Walter Jon Williams - Dread Empire's Fall 02 - The Sundering" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Walter John)

Sula finished her flat food, then called a chronometer onto her sleeve display and wondered if she had
enough time to look at her mail before suiting up to stand her watch.

She decided she had enough time.

Sula returned to her cabin, one that had originally belonged to a petty officer who had been killed at
Magaria, and which still contained most of his belongings. She snapped on the video display with her
right thumb, an action that caused a sudden sharp sting. She snatched her hand away, and as the display
flashed on she inspected the thick scar tissue on the pad of her thumb. After the battle, in the course of
conducting urgent repairs, her thumb had come into contact with a pipe of superheated coolant, and
though the wound had healed, a wrong movement could still send pain shrieking along the length of her
arm.

She tucked the thumb carefully into her palm and paged through menus with her index finger until she
found her mail.

Only one message, from Lieutenant Captain Lord Gareth Martinez, three days in transit via powerful
communications lasers. She opened the message.

тАЬWell,Corona managed to bungle another exercise,тАЭ he said wearily. His broad-shouldered figure was
slumped in a chairтАФhe, like Sula, had been suffering from many days of high gee, and his weariness
showed it. His viridian uniform tunic was unbuttoned at the throat. He had a lantern jaw, thick brows,
and olive skin; his provincial accent was heavy enough to send razor blades skating up SulaтАЩs nerves.

When they had first met, before the war, they had come together briefly, then came explosively apart. It
was all SulaтАЩs fault, she felt: sheтАЩd been too panicked, too paranoid, too far out of her depth. SheтАЩd spent
the next several months hiding from him. A conceited son of privilege like Foote was someone she
could cope with; Martinez was something else again.

If they were lucky enough to come together once more, she wasnтАЩt going to let them blow apart ever
again.




тАЬI said byzero-one-seven !тАЭ Martinez said. тАЬWhatтАЩs thematter, there?тАЭ

тАЬSorry, my lord!тАЭ Fingers punching the display. тАЬThatтАЩs zero-one-seven, my lord.тАЭ

file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis...d%20Empire's%20Fall%2002%20-%20The%20Sundering.html (9 of 324)23-2-2006 20:21:28
Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 02] - The Sundering




тАЬPilot, rotate ship.тАЭCorona was already a little late.

тАЬShip rotated, my lord. New heading two-two-seven by zero-one-seven.тАЭ

тАЬEngines, prepare to fire engines.тАЭ