"Jeff Kirvin - Unification Chronicles 3 - First Contact III" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kirvin Jeff)

insisted that Jack and his men “earn their keep” by helping with the construction. Jack had
been building parts of the compound ever since.

Jack knew the real reason for the order, of course. While the security team’s powered
assistance was valued, the real reason Chenzokov wanted them working was so Jack wouldn’t
have time to pursue his “paranoid theories.”

All that was about to change. Jack and some civilian workers were just putting together the
last building now. Once that was completed, Chenzokov would have to let Jack conduct
“security patrols”; to do otherwise would call undue attention to himself. Chenzokov wasn’t a
politician himself, but he answered to politicians, and there were lots of VIPs in the colony that
would be quite upset to discover that the captain had placed them in possible danger.

Jack looked around the colony to appraise his handiwork. The first settlement on New
Eden was a sight to behold. It was a frontier outpost, to be sure, and inefficient compared to
the arcologies, but they’d done a damn fine job putting it together. The gleaming white
buildings covered almost a square kilometer, several of them two or three stories tall.
Everything the colony needed was present, much of it transplanted from the Envoy. They had
hydroponics gardens, dormitories, labs for biochemistry, zoology and the other ecosciences.
Each building was a marvel of modern architecture, self sufficient and self contained. The roofs
were composed of high-efficiency solar cells, and each building could be hermetically sealed if
the need arose. Around the complex was a four-meter tall perimeter fence, ample protection
from anything smaller than the creature that killed Rodas.

But Jack wasn’t concerned about wildlife. He was still convinced the mark on that creature
was a brand, and that the colonists weren’t the only sentients on New Eden. And now he had
the opportunity to test that theory.

Jack strode across the compound, looking for his Marines. He found Sergeant Major
Eleanor Jabari and Corporal Horatio Shimura in the barracks.

“Suit up,” he said from the door, his armor-amplified voice ringing off the prefab walls.
“We’re going on patrol.”


* * *


Jack and his patrol started off to the north, the same direction the creature had come from.
The rain forest made for easy travel, sparse tree trunks dotting the landscape under the high,
interlocking canopy of foliage. It was quiet, peaceful, and it gave Jack the creeps.

“You looking for anything in particular, Major?” asked Jabari.
 “Yeah,” Jack said. “Whatever made that brand. If there’s another sentient species on this
planet, I want to make sure they’re friendly.”

“We didn’t see any signs of settlement from orbit,” Shimura said, “or on the way down.
What makes you think they’re still here, sir?”

“I don’t, necessarily. It’s possible they just left that creature behind by accident. But I have