"Timothy Zahn - Angelmass" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

Angelmass



ANGELMASS
Timothy Zahn


To my mother: The first angel in my life




CHAPTER 1
There were two of them waiting as Jereko Kosta climbed awkwardly up the ladder through the
shuttle hatch: a young ensign and an equally young crewer second class, both clothed in shiny black
and silver Pax military uniforms, the glistening red and blue threads of the Komitadji's insignia
pattern swirling with arrogant pride across collarbone and shoulder. "Mr. Kosta," the ensign said, his
hand twitching halfway into an automatic salute before he seemed to remember the man facing him
was a civilian. "Welcome aboard the Komitadji. Commodore Lleshi's compliments; he'd like to see
you on the command deck immediately."

Kosta nodded, fighting against a strange fog of unreality as he looked around the docking bay's
spotless gray walls and ceilings. The Komitadji. He was actually aboard the Komitadji.
"Understood," he said, trying to match the ensign's neutral tone and not entirely succeeding. "I have
just the two bags...?"

"They'll be stowed aboard your ship," the ensign assured him as the crewer brushed smoothly past
Kosta and disappeared down the ladder into the shuttle. "If you'll follow me, please?"

The slidecar door was in a protected alcove in the docking bay's rear wall. The ensign ushered him in
and keyed a switch, and they started up toward the center of the ship.

Toward the center of the Komitadji.

It was, Kosta thought, like being aboard a living legend. Not even the crystal-walled towers of
academia had insulated him from the stories of the huge ship's military victories; and even if they
had, the eight weeks of intensive training he'd just finished would have quickly remedied any such
omission. Practically every one of Kosta's military trainers had had his or her favorite story to tell
about the Komitadji, stories that were invariably told with a sort of grim glee. For the military, as
well as most ordinary Pax citizens, the Komitadji was a symbol of pride and glory and power. A
symbol of the protection and strength that was the Pax.

To be traveling the corridors of a legend would have been impressive enough. To be traveling the

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Angelmass


corridors of a ship that had achieved such legendary status in barely five years of active service was