"Timothy Zahn - Cobra 2 - Cobra Strike" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

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COBRA STRIKE
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and
any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright ┬й 1986 by Timothy Zahn
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises 260 Fifth Avenue New York, N.Y. 10001
First printing, February 1986
ISBN: 0-671-65551-5
Cover art by Vincent Di Fate
Printed in the United States of America
Distributed by SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE PUBLISHING GROUP 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, N.Y.
10020
Chapter 1
The whine of Troft thrusters drifted in through the window on the late-summer breezes, jarring
Jonny Moreau awake. For one heart-wrenching moment he was back in the midst of the Adirondack war;
but as he tipped his recliner back to vertical the abrupt stab of pain in elbows and knees snapped
him back to the present. For a minute he just sat there, gazing out the window at the Capitalia
skyline and trying to bring his brain and body back on-line. Then, reaching carefully to his desk,
he jabbed at the intercom button on his phone. "Yes, Governor?" Theron Yutu said.
Jonny leaned back in his chair again, snagging a bottle of pain pills from the desktop as he did
so. "Is Corwin back from the Council meeting yet?"
The image jumped to another desk and Jonny's 27-year-old son. "Haven't gone yet, Dad," he said.
"The meeting's still an hour away."
"Oh?" Jonny squinted at his watch. He'd have sworn the meeting was scheduled for two . . . sure
enough, it was just a few minutes past one. "Felt like I'd slept longer," he muttered. "Well. You
all set to go?"
"Pretty much, unless there's something new you want me to bring up. Hang onтАФI'll come in there and
we can talk."
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2 Timothy Zahn
The screen went blank. Flexing his elbows experimentally, Jonny eyed the pain pills. Later, he
decided firmly. His arthritis would ease some as he started moving around again, and the drugs
invariably left his brain fuzzier than he liked.
The door opened and Corwin Jame Moreau strode into the room, the inevitable comboard tucked under
his arm. The boyтАФthe man, Jonny reminded himselfтАФ had taken to the world of politics with a zest
the older Moreau had never been able to generate. More and more Corwin reminded Jonny of his own
brother Jame, working up through the ranks of the Dominion of Man's highest political power.
Fourteen years ago Jame had been a trusted aide to a member of the Central Committee itself. What
was he now, Jonny often wonderedтАФaide, designated successor, a Com-mitte himself?
Jonny would never know. It was one of the few results of the Troft Corridor closing that he was
still able to wholeheartedly regret.
Setting his comboard on a corner of Jonny's desk, Corwin pulled up a chair. "Okay, let's see. The
main points you wanted me to present were the exclusivity clause of the new trade agreement with
the Hoibe'-ryi'saraiтАФ" the Troft demesne-name flowed smoothly from Corwin's tongueтАФ "the need for
more Cobras to be shifted to spine leapard duty in the outer districts, and the whole question of
whether Caelian is really worth hanging onto."
Jonny nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt for once again skipping the Council duties a governor