Маленький Скорпион писал(а):Den [WM], где прочесть?
В "Детях Керенского", глава 5.
Malvina Hazen had the members of the scientist caste ushered into her office. Several Jade Falcon warriors stood guard, giving the scientists something to nervously glance at. Their fear was unmasked, showing in trembling hands and beads of sweat on one bald head. She savored their trepidation. They have good reason to be terrified of me.
She hid her contempt as she sat in her seat and slowly, methodically surveyed the five of them. The longer she did not speak, the more nervous they appeared.
Finally, she shattered the silence. “Artem, my chief scientist, what has been your progress on penetrating this so-called Fortress Republic?”
“My Khan—” he began, but she cut him off.
“Neg!” Malvina snapped, making two of the scientists jump slightly. “My title is Chingis Khan. That is how you will address me.”
“My apologies, Chingis Khan,” he said, dipping his head in respect. “We have been working around the clock on this problem.”
“And…?”
“We have narrowed some of the options,” Artem said. “It seems to be some sort of disruption of hyperspace. When our ships jump, they seem to misalign to the hyperspace at the destination and are either destroyed or suffer a catastrophic misjump. Hyperspace is highly complex, but we have a working theory that it is somehow tied to the emergence wave generated during a jump, but that is just one of several theories. That ‘jump-flux,’ as we have started to call it, has blocked off much of Prefecture X of the Republic.”
Words… they have brought me nothing but words, technical jargon. “So it is a weapon, quiaff?”
“Neg, Chingis Khan,” he replied. “Not in the conventional sense. We do not know if it is a barrier, or something that targets incoming ships.”
Frustration pounded in her ears. “Artem, you are our Clan’s expert in hyperspace. The Watch has reported that some Republic forces have been able to penetrate this wall. Have you solved this problem? Can we continue our drive to Terra?” Malvina’s voice got louder. In the far corner of the room she saw Cynthy, her precious child, cower slightly. Cynthy understands my lack of patience.
“Neg, Chingis Khan, we have not. We believe we are close, however, to fully understanding the nature of the disruption.” Artem kept talking, but she did not hear his words. Rage turned her whole body into a weapon.
Drawing a pistol from her desk, she shot Artem. The weapon hummed slightly. His eyes exploded in a crimson mist and blood sprayed out of his nose. There was a whiff of cooking meat in the air, not unlike bacon. A black smoking hole appeared on his brow, and at the back of his head a wisp of smoke rolled upward. His body remained upright for a few seconds, then his eyes rolled back and he dropped with a dull thud, his right foot twitching. The guards did not flinch; they had seen this before. Cynthy covered her eyes, yet seemed to peek between her fingers.
The other scientists backed away from him, realizing they too were trapped. Good. Fear is a motivator for bellycrawlers like these. She rose to her feet, pistol still in her hand.
“Artem had a long history of failing the Jade Falcons,” she said. “You people,” she waved the pistol at the four remaining scientists, “you are all that is between where we sit now and the Jade Falcons fulfilling their destiny to be the ilClan. You are all a problem, a barrier to a solution. Now you have seen how I treat those that give me words when I want action.”
One scientist, a younger female, spoke up. “The Republic’s technology is complex, but we will find a solution, Chingis Khan.”
“See?” Malvina looked at the other three scientists. “That is the proper approach. You, your name?” she asked of the young female scientist.
“Claire.”
“Claire,” Malvina repeated. “Very well, Claire, you are my new chief scientist. You will find a way through this Fortress Republic. If you do not, I will kill you, then you…” she pointed the pistol at the bald man, “you will be my new chief scientist.”
“We will redouble our efforts and teams,” Claire said.
“A good idea,” Malvina said, putting the pistol back into her desk. “I am glad we had this little chat. It is motivational, quaiff?”
“Aff, Chingis Khan,” Claire said, bowing her head. Her demonstration of respect made Malvina smile thinly.
“Now then, back to work!”
Добавлено: 26 авг 2018, 17:07
Если бы кто пару мешков теплой одежды в приют отнес, а потом захотел в книге появиться, то отчего бы нет. А за "просто так" отношение может быть только негативным.
