Zahn, Timothy Time Bomb and Zahndry Others
First King of Shannara Terry Brooks
Cartland_Barbara_Tajemnica_Anuszki
Brenden Laila Hannah 06 Jad
Alastair J Archibald Grimm Dragonblaster 03 Questor (v5.0)
Farmer Philip Jezus na Marsie
Komiksowe Hity 12010 Mass Effect Odkupienie
Glen Cook Garrett 04 Old Tin Sorrows
Chazan, Robert God, Humanity, and History
Finch, Carol Cora Tiffany Lieben und Lachen 0005.1 Hobby Liebe (Dina4)
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Signing off, he got to his feet and stepped over to the rack where his heated
suit was hanging.
"Go get your coat," he told Corwin. "We're about to give a customer the
Aventine equivalent of a free sample ... which, with any luck, won't turn out
to be exactly free."
The third passenger turned out to be Speaker One.
Corwin watched the Troft in a sort of surreptitious fascination as they flew
high above the
Aventinian landscape. He'd seen plenty of Trofts in his life, but never one so
close and for so long a time. The back-jointed legs and splaytoed feet; the
vaguely insectoid torso and abdomen;
the arms with their flexible radiator membranes; the oversized head with its
double throat bladder and strangely chicken-like face all the gross anatomical
features were as familiar to him as those of human beings or even spine
leopards. But there were fine details which Corwin realized he'd never so much
as noticed. The faint sheen of the
52
Timothy Zahn alien's skin, for example, was a more muted version of the same
shimmer shown by its leotard-like outfit. Even at a meter's distance he could
see the tiny lines crisscrossing its skin and the slender hairs growing out of
each intersection. Seated on its specially designed couch, the Troft moved
only occasionally during the flight, but whenever it did Corwin caught a
glimpse of wiry muscles working beneath the skin and sometimes a hint of its
skeletal structure as well. The large main eyes were a different color than
the three tiny compound eyes grouped around each one. The main eyes, he'd once
read, were for good binocular vision; the compound eyes permitted both night
vision and the detection of polarized sunlight for cloudy-day solar
navigation. The alien's short beak remained closed during the trip, which
Corwin regretted: he'd have liked to have seen what
Troft tri-cuspid teeth really looked like.
Jonny said virtually nothing during the 20-minute flight, beyond giving the
pilot their destination. Apparently he and Speaker One had worked this out in
advance and neither felt the need to discuss anything further. Corwin
considered pressing his father for information, but decided reluctantly that
Jenny's silence was a cue to be followed. Splitting his attention between the
Troft and the view out the window, he cultivated what patience he could
muster.
They landed at last near a large, squarish building nestled inexplicably out
in the snowy forest far from any village Corwin was familiar with, A two-man
escort was waiting as Jonny led the way out of the aircar .,. and it was only
then that Corwin began to get an inkling of what his father had in mind.
High on each man's chest was a patch with the words "Training Center"; beneath
it was the stylized hooded-snake emblem of the Cobra Academy.
"Governor," one of them nodded at Jonny. "You and your guests are cleared for
monitor room access.
If you'll all follow me. .. ."
COBRA STRIKE
53
Together they headed through an armored door and down an exceptionally drab
and anonymous corridor, footsteps echoing oddly against the metallic walls.
Their guide led them into an elevator; thirty seconds later they exited into a
large, unevenly lit room and a scene of muted tension. In the darker areas
along the wall at least thirty people sat before banks of small display
screens, working away at keyboards and joysticks, while in the center a large
semicircular console with larger displays was the focus of attention for a
half-dozen men in the red and black diamond-patterned tunics of the Cobras,
One of them headed over to meet the newcomers, and as he approached Corwin
recognized him as Cobra Coordinator Sun himself. The royal treatment, indeed,
he thought.
"Governor," Sun said, inclining his head briefly to Jonny as he neared the
Page 27
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
group. "Speaker One;
Mr. Moreau," he added with similar nods to the Troft and Corwin. "If you'll
step this way, the team has just penetrated the outer perimeter section."
"Is there an attack taking place?" Speaker One asked as they followed Sun back
toward the crescent-
shaped console.
"In a manner of speaking," Sun told it. "The Cobra team who'll be going to
Qasama is practicing their building assault techniques. Let's see how they're
doing." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
