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

lightning. He staggered back in despair as the hot wind buffeted
him, laden with the smell of burning. "You fool!" he hissed. "You
goddamn fool!"

The ship. He could see it in his mind's eye, not the proud ceramic
shell of their landing capsule but a ravaged, blackened husk, a
cloud of shrapnel and ash where there had once been a wealth of
computerware, lab equipment, bio-storage... and at the foot of the
flames a sea of hot slag, a molten lake which was quickly
dissolving all their hopes and their memories and their dreams... all
their heritage. All gone now. All gone.

Eyes squeezing forth hot tears, he managed to regain his feet. A
burning dust had begun to fall, fragments of metal and plastic
charred black by that terrible fire. He shielded his eyes with one
hand so that he could see where Ian Casca knelt - his hands
clasped as if in prayer, a look of terrible ecstasy on his face - then
he brought his gun hard about and fired. Once, twice, as many
times as there were bullets, until the trigger clicked futilely against
an empty chamber. And even then he kept firing. The fury in him
had a life of its own, and even the sight of Ian's chest and skull
peppered with bloody holes could not quell the storm of despair
that was raging inside him.

At last it was Lise who took hold of his arm, who forced the gun
from his shaking fingers. Her yellow hair was dusted with ash, and
blood smeared one cheek where a chunk of debris had struck her.

"We've lost it," he whispered hoarsely. "We've lost it all. You
realize that. Everything we had..."

Ever the pragmatist, she whispered, "We still have the settlement.
A few trams. Two generators-"

He shook his head. "Won't last. Can't repair them. Oh, my God,
Lise..." His hands were shaking. A cinder fell to the ground before
him, extinguishing itself on the damp soil. He struggled to think
clearly, to plan. Wasn't that his duty? "We'll have to record what we
can. All the data we can come up with... before people forget. Put it
down on paper, write down everything we know-"

"They won't want to do that." She said it quietly, but he knew as
soon as she spoke the words that they were true. "They'll want
weapons first. Security. They won't want to waste time recording
dead facts when there are things out there waiting to eat them."

"It isn't a waste-"

"I know that. You know that. But will they understand?"