"JAMES LUCENO. SABOTEUR" - читать интересную книгу автора

beasts of burden.
The residents, all of whom either worked directly for Lommite Limited or were
there to defraud those who did, projected the same mix of autonomy from the laws
that regulated life on the Core worlds and enslavement to perpetual toil and
poverty.
Unlike Coruscant, where beings hustled to and fro with determination, here
reigned an atmosphere of purposelessness, of accidental life, as if the pitiful
beings who had been born here, or who had arrived for whatever reason, had
resigned themselves to the depths. Like the bottom feeders who dwelled in the
lawless bowels of Coruscant, they seemed to be going through the motions of
living, rather than grasping life and turning it to their own purposes.
The revelation fascinated Maul as much as it disheartened him. He decided that
he needed to gaze beyond appearances.
The air was thick with heat and humidity, and the buzzing and chirping sounds of
the surrounding forest played at the edge of his hearing. He could sense the
interplay of life there, the fights and flights, and the ongoing struggle for
survival. And the forest had imparted some of itself to the town. For here lived
beings who were not above hunting and killing to obtain the sustenance they
required. A veneer of laws regulated such things, but beneath that veneer lurked
a more base morality that allowed opponents to settle their matters without fear
of intrusion by keepers of the peace, judicials, or even worse, the Jedi
Knights.
Life was cheap.
Maul threw out his right hand and snatched a fist-sized insect in midflight.
Dazed, the flitter lay in his palm, perhaps wondering on some primitive level
just what make or manner of predator it had blundered into. The creature's six
legs wriggled and its pair of antennae twitched. Its twin eyespots and carapaced
body glowed with a faintly green bioluminescence.
Darth Maul studied the insect, then sent it on its way to rejoin the multitude
that buzzed about the town.
His Master had shown him many places, but always under escort, and now he was
suddenly on his own, a stranger on a strange world. He wondered if he might have
found his way to a place like Dorvalla had it not been for Darth Sidious and the
life he had provided. He had been raised to believe that he was extraordinary,
and he had come to accept that. But every so often doubt would drift in of its
own accord, and he would be left to wonder.
He shucked the mental intrusion and quickened his pace.
His Sith training allowed him to spot weaknesses of character or constitution in
each of the various beings he passed. He drew on his dark-side instincts to
guide him to the best means of carrying out his mission.
* * *
Maul came to a halt at the entrance to a noisy cantina. It was the sort of place
where anyone who entered would be appraised by the clientele within, so he moved
quickly-a blur to most; to others, just another laborer hurrying in out of the
rain. He slid onto a stool at the bar, keeping his hood raised and his face in
profile when the human female bartender approached.
"What can I get you, stranger?"
"Pure water," Maul growled.
"Big spender, huh?"
Maul made a negligent motion with his fingers. "You'll bring my drink and leave