"Timothy Zahn - Cobra 3 - Cobra Bargain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

Cobra--and that's not just my opinion. I've given her the standard screening tests--"




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"You've _what?_" Corwin cut him off, aghast. "Justin--damn it all, you know better than that.
Those tests are _exclusively_ for the use of the Academy."

"Spare me the lecture, please. The point is that she scored in the top five percent of the
acceptance range. She's better equipped, mentally and emotionally, than ninety-five percent of the
people we've accepted."

"Even granting all that," Corwin sighed, "the point remains that she's a woman, and women have
never been Cobras."

"Up till _now_ they haven't--"

"Governor!" Thena MiGraw's voice on the intercom cut him off. "There's a man coming--"

And behind Justin the door slammed open and a stranger leaped into the office.

"Destroy the Cobras!" he shrieked.

Corwin froze, the sheer unexpectedness of it holding him in place for those first crucial seconds.
The intruder took a few rapid steps into the room, arms waving, raving just short of
incomprehensibility. Out of the corner of his eye Corwin saw that Justin had dropped out of his
chair, spinning on his heels into a crouch facing the intruder. "All right, hold it!" the Cobra
snapped. His hands were up, the little fingers with their implanted lasers tracking the man.

But if the other heard Justin's command, he ignored it. "The Cobras are the destruction of freedom
and liberty," he screamed, taking yet another step toward Corwin. "They must be _destroyed!_" His
right hand swung in a wide circle toward Corwin's face and then dipped into his tunic pocket--

And Justin's outstretched fingers spat needles of light directly into his chest.

The man shrieked, an oddly gurgling sound. His knees buckled, slamming him to the floor. With an
effort, Corwin shook off his stunned paralysis and jabbed at the intercom. "Thena! Security and a
med team, fast."

"Already called them, Governor," she said, her own voice trembling with shock.

Justin had stepped to the intruder's side and knelt down beside him. "Alive?" Corwin asked,
holding his breath as his brother's fingers touched the other's neck.

"Yeah. At least for the moment. Any idea what the hell that was all about?"

"None. Let's let Security sort it out." Corwin took a deep breath, let it out carefully. "Glad you