"Ann Maxwell - Fire Dancer 2 - Dancer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

Maxwell, Ann – Dancer’s luck




DAEMEN—

a forgotten place at the very edge of the galaxy, a dying planet where people lived by
luck alone. This was the number-one stop for Rheba, the; Senyas fire dancer, arid Kirtn,
her Bre’n mentor, as they sought to fulfill their promise to return a whole shipload of ex-
slaves to the widely scattered . worlds they called hdone.

Twice Rheba and Kirtn had achieved the impossible—first surviving tneir own home
system’s fiery doom, then escaping the lair of the evil Loo-chim bringing with them the
odd assortment of beings who were now their shipmates. Having blasted free of the Loo-
chim, Rheba and Kirtn assumed the worst was over. Then they landed on Daemen—



I

The ship came out ofreplacement in a soundless explosion of energy. Rheba checked the
colored status lights, peeled away the pilot mesh, and stood stiffly. She wanted nothing
more than sleep, but that was impossible. All around her in the control room were former
slaves whom she had promised to take home. Behind them a city and a culture lay in
ruins, burned to ash by a fire dancer’s rage and slaves’ revenge.
 It would not be smart to stir such hatred again. The sooner the ex-slaves were off
theDevalon ,the sooner she would feel safe.

A questing whistle rose above the babble of languages around her. She whistled in
return, looking over the heads of strangers for the familiar face of her Bre’n. Kirtn’s
whistle came again. His tall, muscular body pushed through the crowd of people. Around
his neck, bright against the very short copper plush that covered his body, there was a
snakelike being known as Fssa. Shy, vain, and astonishing, Fssa was both friend and
translator.

“We can keep everyone alive and nothing more,” said Kirtn, bending over her. He spoke
in Senyas now, an uncompromising language known for its bluntness and precision. It
was his native tongue, as it was Rheba’s. The second half of their language was Bre’n,
known for its subtlety and beauty. “The power core is good for tworeplacements and
maybe four days of maintaining this many people.”

Rheba looked at the slanted gold eyes so close to hers. Absently she rubbed her palm
over the soothing suede texture of Kirtn’s arm. “What does the navtrix show within
tworeplacements ?”

“Onan.” His voice was carefully neutral.

“Onan,” she said bleakly. A place she had every reason not to return to, having left
behind there a gaggle of enraged Yhelle Equality Rangers, a burning casino called the