"Robyn Tallis - Giants of Elenna - Planet Builders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tallis Robyn)

wondered if it felt more special if the day wasn't just numbers on a computer but was a real day, from
sunup to sundown, once a year." "I think it's all in your mind," Sean said with a shrug, then added quickly,
"though I think it was a good idea to plan this surprise for Philippa. Does anyone know if they celebrate
birthdays on Alphor-ion?"

"Even if they do, I don't think Philippa's family would celebrate hers now," Clea said, reminding the
others of the circumstances under which Philippa and her family had emigrated to Gauguin.

Daphne slung her long hair back, her gray eyes npw sparkling with interest. "You know, I've always
found it hard to picture the beautiful, polite, aristocratic Philippa Bidding having been involved with a
bunch of red-eyed revolutionaries!"

"She was," Zach said. "Though I don't know about the red eyes."

"The one we saw had green eyes," Sean said, wiggling his brows above his own green eyes. "Black hair,
too. Whatever his politics, the fellow had excellent looks." After the chorus of groans, Sean glanced
around. "Where is Philippa, anyway? After all that secret planning, I hope you toroids didn't forget to tell
her to come down here."

"She knew," Clea said, feeling suddenly cold inside. Has something happened? she thought, turning to
catch Arkady's eyes. He shook his head slightly. He didn't know.

Clea waited a moment. General conversation began flowing around her again. Clea shut her eyes and
reached mentally. And, a few kilometers away, Philippa felt Clea's question through the strange mental
current that had connected the eight teens since a mysterious occurrence shortly after their arrival on this
new frontier planet.

Philippa was walking slowly over a bridge toward home. The breeze that had sprung up with late
afternoon felt chilly, and she'd come very reluctantly to the conclusion that she'd have to go home to get a
wrap before she went down to the beach to meet the others. When she felt Clea seeking her, she reacted
automatically, shutting off the connection behind a mental shield.

Sorry, Clea, she thought to herself, shuddering. She couldn't help it. Always a private person, Philippa
had found the psychic bond hard to adjust to until Sean's recent, overwhelming discovery that the mental
current was not an isolated occurrence but had been fostered by an indigenous sentient species. Now it
was impossible to accept.
Philippa heard a familiar scratching noise. Her head jerked up — she looked around the bridge, backing
up against the rail when she spotted a pair of theskies bounding in the brush just below her.

"Ackle, awk!" The theskie chattered in a high, raucous voice. "Go away!" Philippa waved a hand at the
creature, whose triangular-shaped, reptilian head canted alertly at her. The theskie's feathery scales were
ruffled, and the clawed forelimbs seemed to gesture toward her. "Scat!" Philippa snapped, and the
creature leaped away, its long tail disappearing last among the leaves of a shrub. I hope Sean doesn't
somehow hear me doing that, she thought nervously. I'll get another lecture on how lucky we are to be
the ones who can share minds with these extraordinary creatures. She shook her head, trying to get rid of
the thought.

She still could not get used to the fact that Sean really could push his mind into the theskies' skulls and get
them to do whatever he liked .... For that matter, she could not get used to the fact that the small,
pillow-shaped, soft little creatures called quufers, which everyone in Ambora had adopted as pets, not