"Lisanne Norman - Sholan 02 - Fortune's Wheel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norman Lisanne)

Commander Raguul lay propped up on one elbow, regard-ing him balefully. The set of his ears showed
his irritation at being disturbed in the middle of his night.

"Yes, Myak?"

"The duty crew thought you'd like to know we've just re-ceived a transmission from the Sirroki, sir."

"The Sirrokil" Raguul frowned, ears flicking briefly. "She's the one that missed the rendezvous in the
sixth quad-rant, isn't she?"

"That's right, sir. You just posted her as officially miss-ing."

"You didn't wake me just for that, surely. What was it this time? Not more freak storms?"

"Not this time, sir. They've found the Others." Myak could hardly keep his tail from swaying with
pleasure.

Raguul sat up. "Found them?"

"Yes, sir. The Sirroki was shot down by them on a planet designated as KX 1311. Our people are in
hiding with a sec-ond group of aliens and request that we go to their aid."

"Natives, eh?"

"Not natives, sir, colonists, a new species. Sub-Commander Kolem thought you might want to hear the
original transmis-sion yourself."

Raguul was already out of bed and dressing. "Tell me about the Others," he ordered as he pressed the
seals on his jacket.

"They've a substantial base on the planet, plus two domed cities and garrison posts at each of the four
colony towns. They're capable of putting up a formidable resistance."

"Has—whatzisname—transmitted the locations of these occupied zones?" demanded the Commander,
fumbling with his belt.

Myak moved forward to help him. "Captain Garras, sir. Communications is still decoding the message,
but we be-lieve so."

"These colonists, what're they like?"

"They're upright and bilateral like us, and there's a tele-path among them," said Myak, stepping back as
he finished with die Commander's belt.

Raguul's tail began to flick as his ears and head swiveled round to look at Myak. "Telepaths, you say."

"Yes, sir. It seems that our telepath has formed a link to one of the female colonists."

"Has he now?" Raguul took the brush Myak was holding out toward him and, flattening his ears out of
the way, ran it cursorily across the top of his head. He handed it back to his adjutant.