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

"Obviously," Mara said. "I was wondering more about the Empire part. You
and your Rebel friends certainly had plenty of trouble with Palpatine's
Empire. You suppose the Chiss might be having similar problems with Thrawn's?"
"Could be," Luke said doubtfully. Grand Admiral Thrawn?Mitth'raw'nuruodo,
to give his full Chiss name?had been arguably the greatest military genius the
galaxy had ever known, certainly the greatest the Empire had ever had in its
ranks. Palpatine had sent him and a task force out into the Unknown Regions
before the Rebel Alliance had been formed, ostensibly in punishment for a
breach of palace politics, but in reality with the secret mission of exploring
and conquering new systems for future Imperial expansion.
On their last visit to Nirauan, Luke and Mara had learned just how well
he had succeeded at that task. In just those few short years he had opened up
huge expanses of territory, putting them under the control of his Imperial
forces and the handful of Chiss such as Stent who had remained loyal to him.
The original secrecy of the project had also been maintained, with the leaders
of the Imperial Remnant on Bastion having never even heard of the project up
to that point.
Now, three years later, Supreme Commander Pellaeon and a handful of
trusted advisers had had some limited contact with Parck and the Nirauan
offshoot of their former regime. Leia and some of the other top people in the
New Republic also knew of its existence, though Luke suspected neither
government had any idea how extensive the new territory actually was. Only he
and Mara knew that, and for the moment they had decided to keep it private.
The designation Empire of the Hand for the region, however, was a new one
on them. "I can't see Thrawn becoming that kind of tyrant, though," he went
on, thinking back over the New Republic's own struggles against the Grand
Admiral. "He never struck me as the sort to rule by terror or suppression."
"Doesn't mean he couldn't have learned," Mara pointed out. "Palpatine was
an excellent teacher. Or if not Thrawn himself, maybe those who succeeded him
went in that direction. Happens all the time."
"I suppose," Luke conceded. "Still?"
He broke off as the comm display came on again, this time revealing a
gray-haired human with a lined face and quick, shrewd eyes. "Hello, Mara," he
said. "Master Skywalker. This is a surprise, I must say. I assumed you'd be
well on your way to Crustai by now."
Luke frowned. "Crustai?"
"The rendezvous point," Parck said, his forehead furrowing as he frowned
in turn. "Didn't you get my message?"
"Unfortunately, it took a wrong turn," Mara told him. "Someone named Dean
Jinzler made off with it before anyone else could see the contents."
"Really," Parck murmured, looking back and forth between them. "You know
this man?"
"Never heard of him before," Mara said. "I take it this message was worth
stealing?"
"In the proper hands, it could very well be," Parck said, his lips
compressing briefly. "This is not good at all."
"Yes, that's basically the conclusion we came to," Mara agreed. "You want
to fill us in?"
"Of course," Parck said, his thoughts clearly still on the wayward
message. "Though if the Chiss..." He seemed to shake himself. "Well, what's