"Survivors Quest (Timothy Zahn)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

peering at the long-range scanner. "We'd better get a little closer if we
don't want eavesdroppers."
"You want to take us in, or shall I?"
"I'll do it," Mara said. Taking a quick look at the monitors, she got a
grip on the control stick and pushed it forward. Luke leaned back in his seat,
hunching his shoulders once to stretch tired muscles, and watched his wife
work.
Wife. For a moment he listened to the word as it bounced around his
brain, marveling at the sound of it. Even after nearly three years of marriage
there was something that felt strange and awesome about the whole concept.
Of course, it had hardly been three years the way normal couples counted
time. Even Han and Leia, who'd dealt with crisis after crisis early in their
marriage, had at least been fighting those battles at each other's side. In
Luke and Mara's case, his responsibilities at the Jedi academy and her need to
disengage herself in an orderly fashion from the intricate workings of Talon
Karrde's organization had kept them apart almost as much as they'd been before
their wedding. Their moments together had been few and precious, and they'd
had only a handful of the longer periods of togetherness that Han had once
privately referred to as the breaking-in period.
That was in fact one of the reasons Luke had suggested he accompany Mara
on this particular trip. She would still be working, of course, meeting with
groups of Karrde's current and former associates. But between meetings he'd
hoped they would be able to spend some decent stretches of time together.
It had actually worked pretty well. Up until now.
"I trust you've already noticed how strange this is," Mara said into his
musings. "Even if we push the Sabre for all she's worth, we're at least a week
away from Coruscant. Whatever this new crisis is, we're too far away to be of
any use to anyone."
"Especially since I made it clear to Leia at the start that we weren't
supposed to be disturbed unless it was a flat-out invasion," Luke agreed. "Of
course, if this isn't Leia, it only leaves one possibility."
"Two, actually," Mara corrected. "And I'd certainly hope Karrde knows
better by now than to flag us for anything trivial."
"Leia and Karrde make two," Luke said. "Who's this third option?"
She threw him a sideways look. "We're meeting Karrde aboard the Errant
Venture, remember?"
Luke made a face. "Booster."
"Right," Mara said. "And Booster might not know better. If he doesn't,
shall we make a pact right now to make sure he does before we leave this
system?"
"Deal."
She threw him a slightly evil smile and returned to her piloting.
Luke turned back to the canopy, smiling out at the stars. Despite all the
time they'd spent apart, he and Mara had a distinct advantage: They were both
Jedi. And because of that, they shared a mental and emotional bond that was
far deeper than most couples were able to forge in an entire lifetime
together. Deeper and stronger even than anything Luke had experienced in his
doomed relationships with Gaeriel Captison or the long-departed Callista.
He still remembered vividly the moment that bond had first appeared,
hammered into existence as the two of them fought those combat droids deep