Читаем Navigators of Dune полностью

As a final loyalty test, Valya ordered Sister Ninke to dispose of the talkative trader, since she could not risk anyone warning Vor that they were coming. The former Orthodox Sister passed the test with skill and discretion.

Now Valya had everything she needed.…

After careful consideration, she designated Sister Deborah as her alternate to run the school, and then handpicked Sisters who would join her on her mission to Corrin. It would not be a massive military operation, but a surgical strike with a single goal in mind. The threat this one man posed was not to be minimized, but she was confident in herself, and in her fellow Sisters.

Then she used the school’s funds to charter a compact spacefolder, which quietly departed from Wallach IX.

After reaching Corrin, the spacefolder remained above the dead machine planet, while three small shuttles dropped down and flew in over the night side. Each craft carried five expert fighters, adepts in the consolidated combat style that she had developed personally; four of them were also Truthsayers.

The Atreides didn’t stand a chance. Three teams, together but separate, each backing up the others, each looking for alternate ways to kill the target and block any escape. Valya led one squad, accompanied by a surprisingly determined Ninke, and an oddly reticent Tula, who had been quite moody of late. Valya insisted that she take heart, saying, “It will all be good again once he is dead.”

“No, it won’t,” Tula retorted. “You’ve said yourself it will never be like the old days. We Harkonnens have lost too much.”

“But we have not lost our honor. We will destroy these bastards—mark my words, Tula. We will win.”

The younger woman looked pale. “Do we still have our honor if we win like this—by sneaking in to kill men who are only trying to stay away from us?”

Valya nodded somberly. “If we do nothing, we will have lost our honor. You must understand that.”

“Part of me does, and part doesn’t.” Tula looked away, then back at Valya. “You’ve wanted this for such a long time.”

“Since I was a small child, years before Vorian murdered Griffin.” Valya was disturbed by her sister’s lack of enthusiasm. Even so, she knew she and her fellow commandos could defeat their enemy. When they got back to Wallach IX, she would make sure Tula underwent rigorous guilt-erasure training. The girl had to be cured of this nonsense.

As they landed outside the dark ruins of the former machine capital, the shuttle sensors mapped out the main scavenger settlement, the largest concentration of inhabitants on the surface. According to the trader and his sketches, that was where Vorian had gone to hide. Valya stared intently through the green-tinted gloom of her light-enhancement lenses.

The three squads of women emerged at separate staging points outside the scavenger settlement, so they could move across the landscape and converge with no warning. As soon as they disembarked, the teams moved through the night, closing in on the ruined city. Fifteen deadly fighters in three teams against a pair of victims: redundancy to make absolutely certain they were successful. Valya carried a dagger at her waist, for the finishing touches.

Leading her own squad, she slipped a protective mask over her face, as did the others, completing the seal of their slick black suits. Tula was behind her, silent and ready, as well as Sister Ninke, the Truthsayer Cindel, and a tough and spunky young Sister Gabi. Valya confirmed her connection with the two other five-woman teams on her private comm, and they streamed forward with hardly a sound, like deadly shadows.

Approaching where they knew Vor had taken shelter, according to the intelligence from the bribed Corrin trader, Valya and her team came upon a landed ship, a small personal vessel of a vintage design. Valya called up the information that the trader had given them, and confirmed that this ship belonged to Vorian Atreides. His personal craft.

Motioning her Sisters to a halt, they circled the ship warily, scanning it. She didn’t think the man would sleep inside, but still felt a chill to know it was his, that he had been here. “This is what Vorian Atreides will use to escape from us if we don’t kill him in the tunnels. He’ll try to get away.” She paused, ran her dark eyes over the outside of the craft, staring at the engines, and then directed her Sisters to open the cabin, easily bypassing the minimal interlocks of the access hatch.

“We have to make sure he does not survive if he tries to slip away from us,” Valya said. She nodded to Ninke and Gabi. “I assume you know how to rig the engines? Sabotage them? It is one of the skills I believe both of you have learned.”

The two women went to work—it was done easily enough.

Later, as they glided through the ruddy night toward the entrance to the underground settlement, the ruined machine city gently shifted and rumbled. “Be careful,” Valya said in a hushed voice. “The ruins seem unstable.”

Перейти на страницу:

Похожие книги

Аччелерандо
Аччелерандо

Сингулярность. Эпоха постгуманизма. Искусственный интеллект превысил возможности человеческого разума. Люди фактически обрели бессмертие, но одновременно биотехнологический прогресс поставил их на грань вымирания. Наноботы копируют себя и развиваются по собственной воле, а контакт с внеземной жизнью неизбежен. Само понятие личности теперь получает совершенно новое значение. В таком мире пытаются выжить разные поколения одного семейного клана. Его основатель когда-то натолкнулся на странный сигнал из далекого космоса и тем самым перевернул всю историю Земли. Его потомки пытаются остановить уничтожение человеческой цивилизации. Ведь что-то разрушает планеты Солнечной системы. Сущность, которая находится за пределами нашего разума и не видит смысла в существовании биологической жизни, какую бы форму та ни приняла.

Чарлз Стросс

Научная Фантастика
Дневники Киллербота
Дневники Киллербота

Три премии HugoЧетыре премии LocusДве премии NebulaПремия AlexПремия BooktubeSSFПремия StabbyПремия Hugo за лучшую сериюВ далёком корпоративном будущем каждая космическая экспедиция обязана получить от Компании снаряжение и специальных охранных мыслящих андроидов.После того, как один из них «хакнул» свой модуль управления, он получил свободу и стал называть себя «Киллерботом». Люди его не интересуют и все, что он действительно хочет – это смотреть в одиночестве скачанную медиатеку с 35 000 часов кинофильмов и сериалов.Однако, разные форс-мажорные ситуации, связанные с глупостью людей, коварством корпоратов и хитрыми планами искусственных интеллектов заставляют Киллербота выяснять, что происходит и решать эти опасные проблемы. И еще – Киллербот как-то со всем связан, а память об этом у него стерта. Но истина где-то рядом. Полное издание «Дневников Киллербота» – весь сериал в одном томе!Поздравляем! Вы – Киллербот!Весь цикл «Дневники Киллербота», все шесть романов и повестей, которые сделали Марту Уэллс звездой современной научной фантастики!Неосвоенные колонии на дальних планетах, космические орбитальные станции, власть всемогущих корпораций, происки полицейских, искусственные интеллекты в компьютерных сетях, функциональные андроиды и в центре – простые люди, которым всегда нужна помощь Киллербота.«Я теперь все ее остальные книги буду искать. Прекрасный автор, высшая лига… Рекомендую». – Сергей Лукьяненко«Ироничные наблюдения Киллербота за человеческим поведением столь же забавны, как и всегда. Еще один выигрышный выпуск сериала». – Publishers Weekly«Категорически оправдывает все ожидания. Остроумная, интеллектуальная, очень приятная космоопера». – Aurealis«Милая, веселая, остросюжетная и просто убийственная книга». – Кэмерон Херли«Умная, изобретательная, брутальная при необходимости и никогда не сентиментальная». – Кейт Эллиот

Марта Уэллс , Наталия В. Рокачевская

Фантастика / Космическая фантастика / Научная Фантастика