"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 2 - When True Night Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

what they were. What they had to be. Dear God. That's it.

The captain turned to him. "You see something?" He
nodded. His heart was pounding so loudly from excitement
he was amazed that the others couldn't hear it. "There." He
directed the man's gaze to the thing he had seen, then
handed his own telescope to Rasya. Not wanting to say
anything more until they had seen it for themselves. Until
they had confirmed it.

The captain spotted it first, and swore softly. "Vulkin'
ninth messiah. Stairs?"

"Barely footholds," Rasya corrected. "Slope's too steep
for more than that."

"Humans carved 'em, though. That's for sure."

Humans, Damien thought, or something that looks
human. Something that wears a human form and therefore
uses human tools. Are we looking at the work of a possible
ally . . . or is this the mark of our enemy? The uncertainty
made him cold inside. He tried to work a Knowing, to settle
his doubts, but the power that clung to the planet's surface
was still too far below them. Inaccessible. Tarrant might be
able to Work through this much water, but he sure as hell
couldn't.

"Ras?" the captain prompted.

"Be bad for a landing," she said quietly, "even for a
rowboat. And there's no place nearby to harbor the Glory -
at least not that we've seen yet. That means we'd have to
leave you here and move on, maybe ten, maybe a hundred
miles down the coast. Not good."
 "But if you want it, we'll do it," the captain assured
Damien. "That was the deal. Set you down wherever you
want . . . even if it is in the middle of just about nowhere."

"And against our better judgment," Rasya added.

Damien studied the coast for a long minute, as if
somehow that could settle his unease. "Can we wait here?
Until the sun sets? That's-"

"Seven hours," Rasya supplied, and the captain asked,
"Because of his Lordship?"

"I'd like him to take a look at this. Before any decisions
are made."