"Charles Ingrid - The Sand Wars 06 - Challenge Met" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ingrid Charles)

stood, one hand half held upward as if to touch them… worlds as they'd
been before sand or war or even man. Spinning almost into his grasp and
then away were Dorman's Stand, Opus, Malthen and then… his throat
constricted.

It spilled through his fingers like the illusion it was: verdant Claron,
whose untouched wildernesses had once given him back his sanity. Jack
curled his fingers, unable to hold the image of the planet that was now a
firestormed bit of char undergoing the painstaking process of terraforming
and rebirth.

He had done that much, at least. Unable to save his home world of
Dorman's Stand or the others from Thrakian sand, at least he had been able
to start the restoration of Claron. It had been flamed to scourge the first
traces of sand away… and to remove him.

The display operating was a long one. He finally realized he should
move and retired to the bench where Colin would have sat to watch and
think. He watched until it came to him that he wasn't seeing what was in
front of him, that he'd retreated into a near trance, his eyes no longer
focusing. The sand planet Milos swirled past along with bitter memories.
Jack blinked. He stood up in defeat.

"Jack… are you all right?"

Amber had been calling him. He raised his voice. "Be right down. I
haven't found anything."

The display stopped the moment he stepped out of the sensor field. Jack
stopped and looked back. Milos hung at the edge of his peripheral vision,
fading away into nothingness. It was the site of his most bitter defeat, but he
felt a catch in his throat as he lost it once again, before he went down to join
Amber.
 Chapter 4
«^»
Alarms shattered the night. Amber rolled from Jack's side to her feet,
shaking her head to scatter the last of sleep, even as she cursed the
interruption of their rest. Jack sat up.

"What is it?"

He listened, picking up security code signals in the alarm and gave a
grunt as he bent to pull on his boots. They'd both slept clothed, uneasy
under the protection of Pepys. "Not the emperor's wing. It's right
here—with us."

Her brown eyes with their golden flecks widened. "Nobody's bothering
us…"

"Jonathan!"