[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
And yet it was not exact, he suddenly realized.
All the lintels were in place, the circle truly complete, the outer ring of stones all standing as well. The
stones were covered with swirling designs made of chalk and blue paint. There were other differences as
well: two smaller circles of upright wooden posts were in the middle, one inside the other, each the height
of a man and with holes carved, apparently at random, through the posts.
He had never thought that the Stonehenge the druid would create would be the one he remembered
from two thousand years ago, and not the one that was on the Salisbury Plains of today.
Making a link between the two would probably be impossible unless Kochanski could convince the
crazy old man to knock half of his structure down. And the thought of making his own full-sized
Stonehenge now seemed foolish. Even if he did, what chance would there ever be of success?
Dejected, he sat in the middle of the circle, pouring out the story to Deidre. She agreed with his analysis,
telling him that her grandfather had tried many times to find Earth, and had always failed. She then got
Kochanski to talk about himself, and sat with rapt attention until Leti and the others arrived to announce
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
they were leaving.
Stretching, Kochanski looked over at the dark-haired girl, who shook her head and forced a smile.
"A long flight," she sighed, and then to his surprise, she drew closer and slipped her hand into his.
"Kochanski!"
"Oh, shit," he whispered. "I know that voice."
He looked over his shoulder and saw Sara flying in from the west, escorted by two of the druid's
sorcerers.
"And here I fly across a damn ocean looking for you, worried sick, and I find you with this... this cheap
woman!"
"Now Sara," Kochanski said, looking from one girl to the other.
"And who is this loud-mouthed child?" Deidre retorted.
"I'm his lover," she snapped. "Hisex -lover."
"Lover?" Deidre looked at Kochanski with wide-eyed shock. "So you seduce girls barely old enough to
know better, is that it!"
She slapped him hard across the face and stalked away.
"I've never touched her!"
Deidre stormed off without replying.
Kochanski gave Sara a withering look. "Get out of my sight," he hissed.
"With pleasure, you cheater," she replied haughtily. "Now where's Leti?"
Kochanski nodded to where the rest of the group was landing.
"I'll never let you touch me now," she snapped, her voice choking.
"That's fine with me. I'd kiss a snake first."
She slapped him across the other cheek and stalked off.
Dazed, Kochanski stood in the darkness, swearing softly at whatever evil-minded god had ever
conceived of the idea of creating women.
From out of the shadows Mark appeared. "Getting punched around a bit tonight, aren't we?"
"They can all go to hell."
"Both of them will want you even more now, if only to beat the other one." Mark smiled.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"God spare me." Kochanski rubbed his jaw. "Just what the hel! is Sara doing here?"
"She was sent by Pina. I was just talking with her and Leti. It took them over a week to crack the
security code into the treasure vault. They wanted to double check, just to make sure. And they found
what we already know--some very valuable crystals were missing."
"Pina tore the place apart with a security check. Vena came up as a suspect so Sara was sent out here
to tip Leti off and run a check. The girl was seen in the area the night before the keeper was found. No
one ever suspected that he had been murdered until they got the vault open."
"Kind of risky, sending a kid out like that," Kochanski replied, unable to hide his concern.
"She can obviously take care of herself. And don't forget, she is pushing eighteen," Mark replied.
"Too bad she didn't get here a couple of days earlier."
Mark nodded in agreement. "There's something else, though."
Kochanski could sense his fear. "Go on."
"Gorgon cut behind Jartan's forces three days ago. We haven't heard a word from them since."
Kochanski was silent, knowing something more was coming.
"It was the confirmation for Leti," Mark replied. "It's no coincidence; she's convinced Patrice is in league
with him, that this whole thing was planned, and the only glitch in it was our forcing Vena to come along."
"Then what the hell was she up to?"
"With the power of the three Crystals of Fire, and the portal crystal, she could break the barriers the
gods have set about this world to keep Gorgon out. It looks like the entire war was a feint to draw the
three most powerful gods away from the true threat. Patrice is going to open a portal and let Gorgon in.
If she succeeds, he'll have his armies in Haven, perhaps even take Asmara and the Heart Crystal before
Jartan can get back."
"Jesus Christ," Kochanski whispered. "If only we had known before Patrice got to us."
"Sara's trip wasn't all a waste, though," Mark said quietly. "At least now we know how bad things are.
Patrice will probably try to cut us off," he went on. "We'll take enough time to eat, but exhausted or not,
we've got to try and catch her, or get back to Asmara and organize an attack before she opens the gate
into hell."
Chapter 13
"Jesus, Captain, I think it's burning," Kochanski called, coming up to fly by Mark's side.
Anxious, Mark tried to focus his attention through the thick overcast; he could sense the image of the
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
first floating island off the coast, but beyond that--nothing.
There was nothing on the comm link crystals, either, and since leaving the mainland, the group had
maintained a strict communications blackout to help avoid detection.
"He's right," Leti shouted, swinging up beside Mark and Ikawa. "They're in trouble."
"Let's get below these damn clouds. Maybe we'll see something."
Mark weighed the decision. Flying through the thick overcast hid their movement, since it was still
unknown if Patrice had support, yet he didn't want to drop down on the floating island without knowing
what was going on. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl chiara76.opx.pl
And yet it was not exact, he suddenly realized.
All the lintels were in place, the circle truly complete, the outer ring of stones all standing as well. The
stones were covered with swirling designs made of chalk and blue paint. There were other differences as
well: two smaller circles of upright wooden posts were in the middle, one inside the other, each the height
of a man and with holes carved, apparently at random, through the posts.
He had never thought that the Stonehenge the druid would create would be the one he remembered
from two thousand years ago, and not the one that was on the Salisbury Plains of today.
Making a link between the two would probably be impossible unless Kochanski could convince the
crazy old man to knock half of his structure down. And the thought of making his own full-sized
Stonehenge now seemed foolish. Even if he did, what chance would there ever be of success?
Dejected, he sat in the middle of the circle, pouring out the story to Deidre. She agreed with his analysis,
telling him that her grandfather had tried many times to find Earth, and had always failed. She then got
Kochanski to talk about himself, and sat with rapt attention until Leti and the others arrived to announce
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
they were leaving.
Stretching, Kochanski looked over at the dark-haired girl, who shook her head and forced a smile.
"A long flight," she sighed, and then to his surprise, she drew closer and slipped her hand into his.
"Kochanski!"
"Oh, shit," he whispered. "I know that voice."
He looked over his shoulder and saw Sara flying in from the west, escorted by two of the druid's
sorcerers.
"And here I fly across a damn ocean looking for you, worried sick, and I find you with this... this cheap
woman!"
"Now Sara," Kochanski said, looking from one girl to the other.
"And who is this loud-mouthed child?" Deidre retorted.
"I'm his lover," she snapped. "Hisex -lover."
"Lover?" Deidre looked at Kochanski with wide-eyed shock. "So you seduce girls barely old enough to
know better, is that it!"
She slapped him hard across the face and stalked away.
"I've never touched her!"
Deidre stormed off without replying.
Kochanski gave Sara a withering look. "Get out of my sight," he hissed.
"With pleasure, you cheater," she replied haughtily. "Now where's Leti?"
Kochanski nodded to where the rest of the group was landing.
"I'll never let you touch me now," she snapped, her voice choking.
"That's fine with me. I'd kiss a snake first."
She slapped him across the other cheek and stalked off.
Dazed, Kochanski stood in the darkness, swearing softly at whatever evil-minded god had ever
conceived of the idea of creating women.
From out of the shadows Mark appeared. "Getting punched around a bit tonight, aren't we?"
"They can all go to hell."
"Both of them will want you even more now, if only to beat the other one." Mark smiled.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"God spare me." Kochanski rubbed his jaw. "Just what the hel! is Sara doing here?"
"She was sent by Pina. I was just talking with her and Leti. It took them over a week to crack the
security code into the treasure vault. They wanted to double check, just to make sure. And they found
what we already know--some very valuable crystals were missing."
"Pina tore the place apart with a security check. Vena came up as a suspect so Sara was sent out here
to tip Leti off and run a check. The girl was seen in the area the night before the keeper was found. No
one ever suspected that he had been murdered until they got the vault open."
"Kind of risky, sending a kid out like that," Kochanski replied, unable to hide his concern.
"She can obviously take care of herself. And don't forget, she is pushing eighteen," Mark replied.
"Too bad she didn't get here a couple of days earlier."
Mark nodded in agreement. "There's something else, though."
Kochanski could sense his fear. "Go on."
"Gorgon cut behind Jartan's forces three days ago. We haven't heard a word from them since."
Kochanski was silent, knowing something more was coming.
"It was the confirmation for Leti," Mark replied. "It's no coincidence; she's convinced Patrice is in league
with him, that this whole thing was planned, and the only glitch in it was our forcing Vena to come along."
"Then what the hell was she up to?"
"With the power of the three Crystals of Fire, and the portal crystal, she could break the barriers the
gods have set about this world to keep Gorgon out. It looks like the entire war was a feint to draw the
three most powerful gods away from the true threat. Patrice is going to open a portal and let Gorgon in.
If she succeeds, he'll have his armies in Haven, perhaps even take Asmara and the Heart Crystal before
Jartan can get back."
"Jesus Christ," Kochanski whispered. "If only we had known before Patrice got to us."
"Sara's trip wasn't all a waste, though," Mark said quietly. "At least now we know how bad things are.
Patrice will probably try to cut us off," he went on. "We'll take enough time to eat, but exhausted or not,
we've got to try and catch her, or get back to Asmara and organize an attack before she opens the gate
into hell."
Chapter 13
"Jesus, Captain, I think it's burning," Kochanski called, coming up to fly by Mark's side.
Anxious, Mark tried to focus his attention through the thick overcast; he could sense the image of the
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
first floating island off the coast, but beyond that--nothing.
There was nothing on the comm link crystals, either, and since leaving the mainland, the group had
maintained a strict communications blackout to help avoid detection.
"He's right," Leti shouted, swinging up beside Mark and Ikawa. "They're in trouble."
"Let's get below these damn clouds. Maybe we'll see something."
Mark weighed the decision. Flying through the thick overcast hid their movement, since it was still
unknown if Patrice had support, yet he didn't want to drop down on the floating island without knowing
what was going on. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]