"Charles Ingrid - The Sand Wars 04 - Alien Salute" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ingrid Charles)

"No. I'm afraid what they'll have in mind this time is taking prisoners."

The copilot broke the silence with a hoarse whisper. "We'd be better off
dead."




Chapter 2
 «^»
Giving up already, Leoni?" Harkness growled.
"No, sir." The sallow-faced man straightened hunched shoulders. "Have
you ever seen a sand planet, sir? After the Thraks have come in and taken
over?"

Jack stood quietly, listening to the exchange. He was very careful not to
let emotion flicker across his face.

Harkness shook his head.

"Well, I have. About ten years ago. The crew I was on had to bring in a
load of supplies under treaty. Not that the bugs need much on a sand
planet, but trade is trade, right?" His brown eyes blinked guiltily. His
employer did not respond. Leoni plunged ahead. "It's eerie. My guess is the
planets don't survive long, with the whole ecosystem shot like that… the
oceans are there, but most of the vegetation is gone. It's been eaten down
into these coarse granules, beige and rust colored. I held some in my bare
hand. It felt like bugs were in it, squirming around. My skin stung for
weeks. The Thraks lay their eggs in the stuff, and the larvae eat the sand,
sort of. I remember looking at it and thinking, this used to be grassland,
once. Or maybe a forest or someone's farm. No more."

Leoni looked around the control room. "I could stand there. I could still
breathe the air even though it had thinned out some. But I wouldn't want to
live there. It's my idea of hell."

"You were lucky," Alij said. "I heard about a trader run that stayed—the
bodies of its crew added to the supply list."

"That's an old story," Harkness countered. "I've never heard proof of it."

"What proof would there be? We know from the Sand Wars that the
Thraks have little use for prisoners. Even if they wanted us, we wouldn't be
kept in very good shape."

"Then we need to make sure it won't go that far."

Jack let his breath out slowly. He felt their gazes upon him. He looked
about the control room. Harkness cleared his throat.