Оглавление
Mikhail Akhmanov. Farther than the Farthest Stars
The crew of the Ludwig Klein
Chapter 1. The Obsessed
Chapter 2. Avalon
Chapter 3. The Priest
Chapter 4. The Ship
Chapter 5. The Globular Cluster
Chapter 6. The Silvery Dust
Chapter 7. The Outpost on Devil’s Horns
Chapter 8. In the Gap
Chapter 9. The Orbit of Borg
Chapter 10. The Battle
Chapter 11. The City and the Ship
Chapter 12. The House of Memory
Chapter 13. Diane Khan
Chapter 14. The Pit
Chapter 15. The City and the Ship
Chapter 16. The Caves
Chapter 17. The Curse
Chapter 18. The Outcome
Epilogue. Avalon
Отрывок из книги
This agricultural planet was named Opensho. It was small, a little bit bigger than Mars but nice: three green continents, its islands reminded flowerbeds, there were picturesque mountains and the warm turquoise-coloured ocean. Neither deserts nor ice, the climate was that of the paradise, the gravity amounted to three fourth of the standard… Actually Kaleb dropped in hoping to have a rest and have a spree spending the money he had made on Cervantes. No matter what you say, the Free Hunter also needed some rest, especially after his rendezvous with saber-toothed rats. He found a comfortable hotel in a seashore town, he rested for ten days, drinking sweet rose wine, he met compliant girls and then he ran across Wesley King. The latter was not on vacation, he intended to work, but it seemed that the work was beyond his capacity. Wesley would have never said that, but there was some anxiety and uneasiness to be read in his eyes – it seemed that it was even apprehension or fear. He did not want to risk without a partner, and that was no surprise if you think about their usual activities… Kaleb had nearly forgotten the rats on Cervantes and decided to help him. No money is ever extra, and the Monasteries paid well.
He stood on the platform by the foot of the hill looking at the stone bridge vaulting above the river and the ruins of the old city on the opposite bank. The wide cylinder tower of the Monastery sat on the top of the hill, streets with tile-roofed houses stretched down the gentle slope reminding fingers spread wide. The chapel’s sharp-pointed spire stuck out below among stone slabs – probably, they had a cemetery there. There were other buildings in the valley overgrown with vineyards and fruit groves – farms with wine-pressing buildings and cattle-sheds, the crystal cube of the power station and the squat tin factory. It was warm, the sky was clear, the sun reminded of a silver eye, fresh breeze was blowing from the river… A peaceful sight! It was time to drop in a tavern under a striped tent, drink some wine and get acquainted with a local beauty… But all pubs and taverns in the village were closed, all residents were here – standing in a crowd. Close to one another, whispering quietly. The sounds they made reminded of a swarm of bees. The taller people were descendents of colonists, the locals looked like elves – lithe, fragile, beardless, with thin bones. Probably, it seemed to them that if they stuck all together, they would not be so frightened.
.....
“That’s a lively guy!” Wesley King answered him. “Well, and where is he now?”
The red spot on the screen moved to the ruins on the right side of the square and froze there. Just standing and waiting. Surely, he was not a man any more, but the creature did have some brains. It understood that someone had come after it.
.....
