"Sharon Green - Warrior Within" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Sharon)

With my eyes opened to mere slits, I stalked through the
bright, windless sunshine across the grass to the verge of
5


6 SHARON GREEN
Sandy's landing circle. Sandy was there, in a dark green one-
piece, leaning into the guts of his deep blue quadriwagon,
^and the banging was coming from the inside of the access
breach. I was vaguely, aware of someone or something
stretched out under a nearby tree, but I paid no attention.
Sandy was my target, and a very tempting target he made.
I stopped about a foot away from him, dutifully restraining^
myself as I called out his name, but the noise he was making
drowned me out. I shrugged a little with what I knew was an
evil grin, stepped a bit closer, then booted him in the behind
with my bare right foot
The banging stopped with a muffled, "Hey!" then there was a
hollow-sounding clank, followed by Sandy twisting himself out
of the quadriwagon. He straightened up with one hand on his
bead and a pained expression on his lace, but he went wide-
eyed at the sight of me.
"Terry," he said weakly and for some reason nervously.
"What are you doing here?"
"I heard your summons so I came right over," I answered,
folding my arms. "Or maybe I was mistaken and it was sup-
posed to be a mating call. I've never heard the mating call of a
quadriwagon."
"It won't envelop," he explained apologetically, gesturing
vaguely toward the 'wagon. "What good is a quadriwagon that
won't envelop?"
"What good indeed," I agreed pleasantly. "All you can do
with it then is take ground trips. Long, distant ground trips.
Why the hell don't you try it!"
He flinched a little at my almost-shrill roar, then pushed his
palms placatingly at me. "Now, Terry, no need to lose your
temper." I had no idea you were home yet, or I would have. ..."
"Well, now you know!" I snapped. "It isn't bad enough that I
had to spend four months straightening out that mess in
Dremmler's sector, just to get back in time for the Nervous
Nellies' Annual Hysterics and Fit-Throwing Convention. Oh,
no! After fourteen solid hours of diplomatically assuring every
neurotic xenophobe on the planet that we are not in imminent
danger of being invaded by the nearest alien barbarian horde, I
really needed your symphonic, rendition of 'When Worlds
Collide'! Sandy, you may be a colleague of sorts, but so help
me if I hear even one more tinkle out of


THE WARRIOR WITHIN 7