"John Dalmas - Return to Fanglith" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dalmas John)

central worlds have a tendency to go imperial now and
then, and an empire usually became a dictatorship
after a while, if it wasn't one to start with.

Our way out of the wilderness was mostly downhill-
about four thousand feet downhill-but that didn't
mean it was fast or easy. We hiked through old forest
with lots of blown-down timber to pick your way over
or around, arid down ravines littered with boulders
and fallen trees. Toward noon a thunderstorm came
through, booming and banging, and we stopped to wait
it out in a thick dense glaru grove that would keep
us dry if it didn't rain too long.

As we crouched there, Deneen looked at Piet. "The
Empire didn't wait long, did it?" she asked.
It was a statement more than a question. A few
evenings earlier, around the cook fire, Jenoor had
asked Piet how long he thought it would be before the
Empire took over Evdash, He'd said probably within
two or three years.

"You don't suppose there's been much fighting, do
you?" Jenoor asked, looking at me.

I looked at Piet. He was leaving it to me. "I doubt
it," I told her. "A few skirmishes, maybe. Fly a
million-ton monster like that over the largest cities
on Evdash, and ideas about defending the planet
evaporate in a hurry. That battleship has got more
firepower all by itself than the whole Evdashian
navy. I'm just glad it's down here in the atmosphere
and not out a few hundred miles bombarding the
surface."

The rain had begun-fat drops in myriads assaulting
the leaves above, overlaying the swish of
wind-ruffled treetops with sibilant rustling;
intermittent rolls of thunder drowned them all.
Occasional shattered droplets touched my face with
mist, and the air smelled of ozone.
"Tell us what you're thinking about, Deneen," Piet
said.

I turned to look at her. She was frowning, more grim
than thoughtful.

"I wonder how long they've been here. They could have
taken over two weeks ago, or longer, and where we've
been, we wouldn't have known it." She turned to me.