Archiwum
- Index
- McAllister Anne, Gordon Lucy Nieoczekiwana zmiana miejsc
- 169. Mather Anne Sekretne miejsce
- Herries Anne Dom na urwisku
- Mallory Anne Sekret kurtyzany
- Sward Anne Lato polarne
- Anne Moir Dav
- McCaffrey Anne Smocze werble
- Cathryn Fox Knocking On Demon's Door (pdf)
- Graham_Lynne_ _Duma_i_uleglosc
- Dav
- zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- epicusfuror.xlx.pl
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where this information will be most valuable. Rafik HAS to have that
information."
"They call themselves Linyaari," Misra said with that odiously superior tone
he so often adopted. "We know their planet of origin, but it has been totally
destroyed by these invaders whom they call the Khieevi. They have
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reestablished a home world only to be forced to run again from these . . .
these things. They thought to warn us, and they have other couriers doing the
same task in the hope of finding some group strong enough, or militaristically
advanced enough, to overcome the threat the Khieevi so obviously are. Let me
remind you that all communications would now cease even if the Shield were not
in place, in case these . . . predators . . . have equipment able to detect
even planetary-based signals."
"That," Hafiz said, "could prove as expensive as not having the Shield at
all." No communications meant no trade, and how long could Rafik carry all the
burdens of House Harakamian's multitudinous business schemes by himself? Not
only that, but he would be absolutely unable to complete some agreements
without Hafiz's personal authorization, and there were others he had not been
told of. ... Well, the boy had already proved his worth as heir to House
Harakamian; he wouldn't be a worthy heir if he didn't have, somewhere, a
source of information about ALL the House's business plans, as well as a code
key that would allow him to forge his uncle's authorization. In that sense at
least, one could always trust one's family. . . . But to do exactly what?
Rafik couldn't protect Acorna and manage Hafiz's business simultaneously.
Hafiz paced his study and could not decide which choice would cause him most
distress.
Rafik was somewhat surprised to receive a message from his uncle, who should
know that the Uhuru was already orbiting Laboue and that Rafik would be
reporting in person shortly. The message had obviously suffered some damage in
transit, and the only word that came through unmutilated was "Acorna's ..."
Rafik fired off a request for a repetition of the message while he waited for
confirmation of his first message, requesting permission to land.
The com board gave a warning beep; Rafik glanced over to see that his second
message had been returned as undeliverable. There was still no response to the
first one ... and a new series of beeps alerted him to the possibility that
there would be none. Laboues main communications satellite had stopped
transmitting. "Check alternates, display visuals, trace," Rafik snapped, and
the visual-display screen came up showing a sphere of cloudy gray, to all
appearances completely enclosing the green planet where he had just been
preparing to land. The test of alternate communications routes returned a
null; apparently none of the backup satellites was transmitting or receiving
messages either. The red tracer line that showed the futile progress of his
communications burst from one possible node to another also showed a strange
ship, one whose beacon signal, if any, was unknown to the Uhuru's computer . .
. and Rafik would have sworn that his uncle Hafiz had access to every
ship-recognition code, registered or unregistered, in known space.
What sort of threat had that little ship posed, to make Hafiz take the
unprecedented step of shutting, Laboue off from the rest of the universe with
the Shield? Should he stay and try to help from here? After a moments
agonizing debate, Rafik decided against it. He had every confidence in Uncle
Hafiz s ability to take care of himself. Besides, if this confidence should
prove to be misplaced for once, Hafiz would surely not be pleased to see his
heir run into the same noose that had captured him. And that garbled message
had said something about Acorna... perhaps to warn of some danger threatening
her? Clearly his duty was to return to Maganos Moon Base at once, to check up
on Acorna, and once there perhaps to enlist Delszaki Li's aid in finding out
what disaster had cut off his uncle's communications.
On board the Balakiire, joy and confusion almost overwhelmed the Linyaari
envoys at this evidence that one had survived who had long been considered
dead to them. They were not, however, so overset that Mehreenya, the
communications specialist, failed to copy and trace the single message that
emerged before a shield impenetrable even to their sophisticated equipment
blanked out transmissions from the planet below.
Among themselves they did not bother to speak aloud; after so many months of
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travel, the small crew were all perfectly attuned to one another's
thought-patterns, so that the rudimentary short-distance telepathic
communication of their kind was even less effort than speaking.
(That pod was marked with the names of Feriila and Vaanye.) That was Neeva,
Feriila's sister, one of the two senior members of the envoy team. The hope
that some member of her family might have survived had overpowered her
emotions; her golden eyes were narrowed to vertical slits, and the gilt
tendrils other mane quivered in the still air of the ship.
(But we know they destroyed their ship rather than be captured by the Khieevi.
How could one of the survival pods have come so far, to be in the possession
of these barbarians?) Thariinye, young and beautiful and arrogantly male,
prided himself on his unemotional analytical reasoning.
The thought-streams of the whole crew blended, coalescing and separating like
partial conversations at a very crowded party.
(We don't know they are barbarians. They may be perfectly civilized people.)
The thought-shape that accompanied this concept was of a group of hornless
unicorns with flimsy, soft hands and feet. If Khaari had been speaking, the
words that went with this thought-shape would have been "people like us."
(Then why won't they treat with us? Anyway, they look like carnivores to me.
Did you see those pointy side teeth?)
(We still don't know all the properties of the device Vaanye used to destroy
the ship; his research notes went with him. But we can postulate it was
developed as an offshoot of his research into space topology and
transportation.)
(Who cares about the research! I want to find Feriila's child!)
(Neeva, calm yourself. That they have a vid does not prove that they have the
child, only that there has been some previous contact with our kind. The vid
was of a young girl; its been three ghaanyi since the explosion; if Feriila's
youngling had lived, she would be fully grown by now.)
(My point about the research was, Vaanye said the new weapon worked by folding
space to make two distant points contiguous, but there were still a few minor
problems to be solved.)
(So?)
(So maybe what he meant by "a few minor problems" was that objects close to
the fold might be unpredictably transported to an unknown distant point.
Physicists think like that, you know. And when he used his experimental weapon
to blow up his ship and the Khieevi attackers, maybe as a side effect, the
youngling's escape pod was transported into this sector.)
(A lot of "maybes" there.)
(Okay, you explain how they got hold of a pod from a ship that was supposed to
have been destroyed down to the molecular level three ghaanyi ago.)
(I'm sure she survived. I'm sure of it. The barbarian was holding his hand up
to show us how much she'd grown. And that word he kept saying-"Acorna"-that
must be what they called her.)
("Acorna"? That word was in the transmission that was sent just before the
Shield closed down. It was the only signal I picked up clearly. But it was
enough to send that neighboring ship out of orbit.)
(Can we follow it?)
(Of course we can, if Melireenya will give me details of the ship's signal. I
didn't get this for nothing.) Khaari tapped the crescent-shaped silver medal
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