"Timothy Zahn - Dragonback 01 - Dragon and Thief" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

The Havenseeker was still pitching away from its attacker. But the enemy was wise to its tricks now.
The violet beam remained steady, continuing its slow sweep forward. In his mind's eye, Draycos could
see his companions' bodies slumped in their seats or lying crumpled on the deck as the beam snuffed out
their lives and then moved on. The Shontine bodies would linger for awhile; those of the K'da, he knew,
would already be turning two-dimensional and rippling away into nothingness. A K'da death left no body
for his friends to mourn.
The beam was nearly to the control complex now, and Draycos could feel a slight and unpleasant
electric tingle along the scales on that side. "Here it comes," he said. Oddly enough, his voice sounded
almost as calm and peaceful as Polphir's had, even though he was far from feeling that way. "It's been an
honor to be associated with you, PolphirтАФ"
"Wait a moment," Polphir cut him off, leaning forward and pointing toward their attacker. "It sputtered
just thenтАФthere. Did you see it?"
"Yes," Draycos said, frowning. The yellow source-glow was indeed flickering; and now so was the
violet Death beam itself. Had the near-misses by the Havenseeker's missiles done some damage after
all?
And then, with one final flicker, both the yellow and violet lights went out.
"They've shut it off," Draycos breathed, blinking in bewilderment. Was this some kind of cruel trick?
One last gasp of false hope for the few survivors here at the Havenseeker's bow before their unknown
enemy turned the Death on them again?
But the weapon remained off. Draycos watched, afraid to believe it, as the fighter began to pull up and
away. "What are they playing at?" he wondered aloud. "Do they think they got all of us?"
"I would say they're just saving themselves a little trouble," Polphir said grimly. "Take a look. That last
maneuver put us into the atmosphere."
Draycos hissed around his tongue. Polphir was right; the thin white condensation trails were smoking
off the tips of the antennas rising from the hull.
Commander Chayd seemed to have become aware of their danger at the same time. "Full lateral
power," he ordered sharply.
"Not responding," the pilot called back. "Control lines are out."
"Drosh, MintukтАФget to the engine room," Chayd snapped. "You'll need to operate the drive manually."
"Do you want us to go, too?" Polphir called, starting to unstrap.
"No, you two stay there," Chayd said. "Landing sensors are also out. We'll need you to guide us in
visually."
Polphir glanced over his shoulder, his eyes briefly meeting Draycos's. Draycos could guess his thought:
that such a feat would be nearly impossible to carry out.
But there was nothing for it but to do their best. "Yes, sir," Polphir said, resealing his restraints.
"Everyone to your stations," Chayd said. There was little hope, Draycos knew, and he had no doubt
that Chayd knew it too. But the commander was a Shontine warrior, and he would never simply give up
without a struggle. Not while any of his crew remained alive. "Prepare yourselves," Chayd added. "One
way or another, we're going down."
 Chapter 2
"Jack? Come on, lad, rise and shine."
"Yeah, yeah," Jack Morgan muttered, turning over in his narrow bed and pulling the covers more tightly
around his thin shoulders. It felt early, and he didn't feel much like getting up.
Not much point to getting up, anyway. There was nothing to do here, not unless he wanted to sit
around outside the Essenay and pull apart pieces of the grass outside, the stuff that reminded him of
bluish-green curly fries. He'd spent part of yesterday doing that, and the thrill of it had faded mighty fast.
"Come on, lad, rise and shine," his uncle's voice came again. This time, the cabin's lights came on, too.
Jack pulled the covers up partway over his head, squeezing his eyes shut against the light and trying
hard to hold onto the quick temper that had gotten him into trouble so many times on so many different
worlds. Uncle Virgil had been on his case forever about that temper.