"Charles Ingrid - The Sand Wars 03 - Celestial Hit List" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ingrid Charles)

been disturbed—”

“It won’t be. We’ve had them under guard. Don’t you think I know
media tricks? It won’t be bugged, I promise you that. And we’ll have them
swept clean again tomorrow before the ceremony.”

Jack Storm paused again, a fraction of a moment, and their eyes met.
Nothing was more inviolate to a Knight than the suit of battle armor his life
depended upon. He did not say that to his commander, however, for the
man facing him also wore battle armor and the only name the commander
was known by was that of his armor: the Owner of the Purple. Jack’s friend
and commander was so well known for the mercenary armor passed down
to him by his father that he had lost his original identity.

If the waiting ranks of soldiers noted the tension, they said nothing. The
coming ceremony pricked at them, too. They’d worked and trained hard
and most of them looked forward to their first blooding. Not many relished
being paraded on live relays for civilians to gape at. Almost as one, they
shifted uneasily, waiting for their own battle gear to arrive.

Jack stopped again, two steps away from the Purple who lounged at the
base of his platform. “I’m a soldier, not a hero. None of this is necessary.”
He started to say more, but he wasn’t alone. He flinched under the tailor’s
measuring hologram, moving almost imperceptibly, and the round-bodied
man swore.

“You’ll be a soldier without legs if you don’t stand still!” The little man
glared at the tall one and he brandished his laser scissors. He met no
resistance this time as the Purple held Jack’s level stare.

“The emperor wants to review the troops,” the Purple said evenly.

“Damnit, he knows what we look like.”

At Jack’s flank, the tailor tapped in some adjustments on his keypad.
“You’ve filled out some more. That means another fitting!”

“Peace, Franco,” the commander said mildly. “He needed it, after
Lasertown. There’s only three meals between now and tomorrow morning.
The uniform should be adequate.”

Jack looked at the tailor, amusement flickering in his light blue eyes. The
tailor met the glance before looking quickly away. Bowing, he turned off the
holo and hurriedly skittered across the parade grounds.

The Purple straightened up. “Pepys wants you at your best tomorrow,”
he said. “How often does a contract laborer become a hero?”

“I was a Knight, first.”