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.Nor was he the only Corona so affected: heoverheard Ahmet complain to Knadjian about the damned newcomersfile:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis.Dead%20Empire's%20Fall%2Page 220 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html001%20-%20The%20Praxis.html (307 of 310)19-2-2006 4:01:19Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 01] - The Praxis bunglingeverything, getting in the way and making the ship look bad.If only Dalkieth were a more driving, ambitious sort of lieutenant.If onlyShankaracharya andVonderheydte had more experience.If only he weren t so torn between managingthe ship and bossing the squadron.Capping it all was Saavedra s discovery that two tons of flour intended forthe mess, which Martinez had signed for, was in fact used machine oil badly inneed of recycling.Someone was making a nice profit, apparently, selling Fleetsupplies, but that person wasn t Martinez.Martinez briefly lost his mind.His roars of anger as he marched from hisoffice to the food store and back sent even hardened crouchbacks dodging outof the way and looking for a place to hide until he stomped past.When he made his evening entry in the log, he saw the message light blinkingand found to his surprise that it was a video from Sula.She wore a sublieutenant s shoulder boards, he saw; she must have passed herexam.One hand was bandaged and cradled in the opposite arm.Her complexion was lightly flushed, and flawless, and took his breath away.There was a strange intensity in her green eyes, a kind of fever.Perhaps shewas in pain. So, she said, I lived.I m the only survivor from my ship.I got picked upby theDelhi , and they lost a lot of people too. She paused, and with a shockMartinez realized that she must have been the pinnace pilot who destroyed anentire enemy squadron.The report he d received from the Fleet hadn tmentioned any names.Sula s pointed tongue licked her lips for a second, and then she continued. So here s what I ve learned: I m the second luckiest person in the universe.And do you know who s the luckiest? The intense green eyes glittered. Youare, Sula said. You are, Gareth Martinez.You.Commander ofCorona , recipient of the Golden Orb.You. Her lips tightened ina smile.She hasn t even heard I m a squadron commander, it hasn t beenannounced.Martinez managed this thought through his wonderment. When I realized this, I decided to make some resolutions, Sula said. Sohere s the first:no more whining.No more complaining about my superiors or mylack of patronage or the fact that I don t have much money compared with everyother officer in the Fleet.No more whining about She hesitated. about my past.Why should I complain? I m the second luckiest person in theempire. file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kruis.Dead%20Empire's%20Fall%2001%20-%20The%20Praxis.html (308 of 310)19-2-2006 4:01:19Williams, Walter Jon - [Dead Empire's Fall 01] - The PraxisShe leaned toward the camera. And you shouldn t complain either.You re veryentertaining when you do it, and I laugh, but you didn t have any reasonbefore, and you damn well don t have any now.You re the luckiest person in the universe, so what do you have to complainabout? She leaned back, and the motion must have pained her, because she gave alittle wince and cradled her injured hand more carefully.She gave the cameraan unreadable look. My second resolution, she said, is to come looking for you the second fateand the Fleet permit.Two lucky people like us, what can t we do? Her eyesturned a little off-camera and she said, End transmission. Slow to master his thoughts, Martinez watched theEnd Transmission symbol for along time.He reached out a hand to recue the video and run it again, thenPage 221 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmldrew the hand back.Then he thought about replying, but he had no idea what he d say.The comm unit bleeped at him. This is Martinez, he said, and looked intoKelly s harassed face. It s a complete shambles in the weapons bay, my lord.Chau has totallybuggered up one of the robots during a reloading, and now he s under arrestfor busting Tippel in the chops, and we still don t know what to do with therobot, it s blocking everything and it s just too big to shove out of theway. And what in hell am I supposed to do about it?Martinez wanted to scream.But then he thought,No whining, and rose from his desk and went to his work.The Maw gaped wide and red, and tinged with a hint of blood the fine lace ofthe frost that had climbed halfway up the lifeboat s cockpit window.WarrantOfficer Severin had got used to the cold, got used to his breath frosting infront of him and the fact that his nose ran all the time.He had got used towearing layers of clothing even in bed, and wrapping himself in a thermalblanket whenever he rose so that he looked like an ambulatory tent.He wasused to the moisture condensing on the lifeboat s walls, and to the activitiesof the Naxid squadron in the Protipanu system.The eight ships had finished their long, long deceleration burn and reenteredthe system, swinging in a leisurely orbit about the brown dwarf and its outerplanets.They knew where the wormhole was now, but showed no sign of wantingto pass through it
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Tematy
IndexWarren Adler Wojna państwa Rose 01 Wojna państwa Rose
§ Menzel Iwona W poszukiwaniu zapachu snów 01 W poszukiwaniu zapachu snów
Lachlan M D Synowie boga 01 Synowie boga (2)
Robbins Harold Handlarze snów 01 Handlarze snow
§ Rudnicka Olga (01) Zacisze 13 Zacisze 13
Reynard Sylvain Piekło Gabriela 01 Piekło Gabriela
Kalifornijska noc 01 Kalifornijska noc Adler Elizabeth
Alexandra Bracken Mroczne umysły 01 Mroczne umysły
Roberts Nora Księżyc nad Karoliną
Small Bertrice Piekielnica