"Andre Norton - Time Traders 6 - Echoes In Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

hand pulled out a kerchief and mopped some of the dust and grit from a
middle-aged female face as Saba approached.

The driver looked up, shoving the kerchief into a pocket. "La Professeur
Mariam? Vous etes Saba Mariam?" she asked.

Saba nodded, adding in French, "Is there an emergency?"

"Oui" French was obviously no more the driver's native tongue than it
was Saba's, but Saba had gotten used to polyglot conversations—often in
tongues chosen because possible surrounding listeners would not
understand the conversation. Not that any listeners were around now.

The woman said, "Je m'appelle Taski Aleyescoglu. Je suis avec L'Etoile
Projet."

Project Star.
 For a moment Saba stood staring at the unfamiliar woman, angry at
this breach of promise.

L'Etoile Projet—Project Star—was the bland name for one of the most
secret organizations in the world, one for which Saba had given her
strength, her spirit, and nearly her life.

Saba turned her gaze on the Time Agent courier. "I was promised a
year," she said in French. "A year to recover."

"It is an emergency," Agent Aleyescoglu replied.

"Answer me this first: has Lisette Al-Aseer reported in?"

The Time Agent did not pretend to not know the name. Her lips
pressed into a line, and she shook her head. "I am sorry, Professor
Mariam."

Saba drew a deep breath. "And they expect me to cut short my recovery
time? And return?"

The agent said, "Whatever is going on is classified over my head—as is
whatever your former partner is still working on. All I was told was to find
you and bring you back. Whatever it is that has them scrambling now,
apparently only you can solve it."

Saba turned her gaze to the last limb of the sun, sinking beyond the
western peaks. Shadows blended softly now, making it difficult to see the
woman's face. If she was to leave, she'd have to go now; they were miles
from any road, and driving about at night in Ethiopia in the dark was no
simple matter.

She looked back. "Me as a musicologist?"