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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] let them meet another bearded Sikh. Sunner Dain? Black eyes scanned him, and he heard no irony. You may come with me. He turned to Mindi. We assume responsibility. Thank you, Lieutenant. She turned to Quin. Careful! she whispered. Please! Sunner Dain, come with me. The Sikh lieutenant left him to wait in a long empty room, not quite so magnificent as Barranca s halls. Alone, he had an uneasy sense of hidden lenses watching. One high wall was a computer simulation of a window into space, opening on the Earth from above the skyweb. The planet itself looked realistic, half moonlit shadow, half Sunlit, splendid against the empty dark. The skyweb was exaggerated, a bright golden net that stretched far out from Earth s equator, beaded with brighter yellow diamonds for its cities, anchored everywhere with the Sun-disks that marked the surface terminals. The opposite wall was recessed with huge holo portraits, gigantic heads of historic Kwans and Chens. In most of them he thought he saw a certain hawkish family likeness, Romanoff noses jutting, hooded eyes slightly slanted. They seemed to turn, watching with a shrewd intentness as he walked down the file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Jack%20Williamson%20-%20Eldren%201%20-%20Lifeburst.h tml (171 of 285)10-12-2006 0:56:47 Page 108 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Jack Williamson - Eldren 1 - Lifeburst (v1.1) room. Chairs were set around a tiny-seeming table, but he felt too restless to sit. Almost overwhelmed by those imperious giants, he stopped at the end of the room and turned uneasily to admire the shining simulation of their empire. Quin? The raspy voice startled him. Quin Dain? A lean old man in a plain tan shipsuit had come from a door beyond the table, leaning on a cane. A long yellow jacket was drawn close around him, as if he were cold. His Sunmark had dimmed, a pale yellow moon at the edge of a thin, grizzled beard. Breathtaken, Quin saw the arrogant tilt of the nose, the hooded eyes inspecting him. It could have been an aged Jason, moustache and beard and flowing hair gone white. Fernando Kwan! He knew the face from coins and history tapes. The Sun Tycoon! You are Nadya The old voice wavered. Nadya s son? Sir He had to catch his breath, and his own voice came hoarsely. Nadya Dain was my mother. I was born on the Aldebaran , three weeks before she got to Halo Station. Then you are mine. Swaying a little, the Tycoon put more weight on the cane and leaned to peer again. A fine young man. An imperative whisper. Come here to me. Himself unsteady, Quin walked into his arms. A brief embrace. He caught a sharp medicinal pungence, felt thin old bones through age-wasted flesh. Come along. Rustily cracked, the voice had kept a ring of command. I need to sit. He followed around the table and through the door. The office they entered was small, at least by comparison, walled with maps and a holo screen and model spacecraft and antique paintings and shelves of old paper books. It seemed to Quin strangely out of date. He saw no computer console, only a battered wooden desk. Old, old! The Tycoon sank into an equally ancient chair and paused to breathe. All too old. The House and the Company. Even this. He breathed again, pale eyes on Quin, his unsteady hand on the time-scarred oak. Ivan Kwan had this in Hong Kong, file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Jack%20Williamson%20-%20Eldren%201%20-%20Lifeburst.h tml (172 of 285)10-12-2006 0:56:47 Jack Williamson - Eldren 1 - Lifeburst (v1.1) Yet another wheezy breath. Sit, please. He waved the cane at the other chair. I ve arranged for us to be alone. Quin sat, his heart throbbing hard. I never knew. He thought he saw the shine of a tear. Even though I saw her again. Once when I wanted to see the remains of what they called the starbird. Again down in Sun Country, when I could still stand the gravity. I wish she had told me. Quin said, She never told me. Then how The hawk-eyes narrowed. I found this in the lab where she was killed. He leaned to offer the foam-stained holo. Called the number written on the back. Quivering fingers took the holo, turned it, turned it again. Pale eyes blinked and came back to him. You are my son. The shriveled face twitched. I wish I had known while while she was alive. For a long time he said no more. Waiting, Quin felt a sting of pity for him, washed away in a surge of sympathy and sorrow for his mother. Page 109 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Though it may have been may have been better. The old head shook, lips sternly set. I couldn t have claimed you. I can t claim you now. The old Tycoon seemed to sigh. Perhaps I should tell you, if your mother never did, what we were to each other. Sir, if you would! You needn t call me sir. A wan half-smile, while the old man decided what to say. My wife was Mei-ling Chen. We married young. Years before I met your mother. Mei-ling had looks and charm enough then, but our marriage wasn t for love. Our parents imagined it would help them bring the House back together. A sad blunder, because the Chens never let her forget that she was one of them. Our first real quarrel was over Jason. file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Jack%20Williamson%20-%20Eldren%201%20-%20Lifeburst.h tml (173 of 285)10-12-2006 0:56:47 Jack Williamson - Eldren 1 - Lifeburst (v1.1) He nodded at a little niche in the wall above that odd wooden desk. It held Jason s handsome bronze- haired head, a computer-sculpture smiling with the casual arrogance Quin remembered. His own half- brother that thought was an unpleasant jolt. She hated me because I let him come to space with me on the halo expedition. She wanted to keep him with her here and turn him into a Chen. I brought him back an all-out Kwan. She never forgave me. He shrugged. Not that I cared by then. He paused to breathe before he went on. When I was young enough, I loved to travel Earthside. Mountains, the sea, the woods, and the weather. All the wonders we ll never have in space. I even loved the Earthfolk, and diplomatic dealings with them. I was good at it. Visiting lowside friends, speaking to lowside crowds, fighting the Revelator. That s how I met Nadya. I d picked up an Earthside virus. The lowsiders breed a lot of bugs, along with more babies than they can feed. The medics called Nadya in she had turned to study mutant viruses when she found her genes weren t entirely right for space. We fell in love. I stretched out my convalescence. Wistfully, the old eyes smiled. I planned to keep her near me as my official medic. Planned A rueful shake of the faded head. I d just got into office. I had a lot to learn about the limits of power. Thin lips twitched and tightened. Too many Chens talked too much. Mei-ling made an ugly public scene. In spite of the bitch because of the bitch I needed Nadya. Begged her to help me bluff it out. She was too proud. Too proud. A long-drawn sigh. She disappeared. Gone to the halo on that relief ship before I knew where she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |