Zahn, książki, po angielsku, z
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]Triplet
Timothy Zahn
TRIPLET
For Dan and Kathy, and Don and Kathe: who, in their own individual ways,
have scotched the rumor that writing is by necessity a lonely occupation.
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Triplet
Prologue
The world was a mass of garish color, surrounding him like splotches of light thrown into a
whirlpool. The faint background haze of plant life, the brighter and more localized bits that were
animals and insects, the almost painful shining that bespoke a member of humankind—it was a far
cry from the grays and blacks of his proper abode.
Astaroth hated it all.
He hated the humans most, of course, but none of it totally escaped his resentment. Not even the
plant life, for useless and innocent it might be by itself, without it none of the rest could exist... and
then the demon's own kind would not be in such a hateful position. Mortal life was both the enemy
and the prize in this war, and the resulting combination of lust and fury was often almost more than
he could bear. So incredibly frail and foolish, it was incredible that humankind could be at the same
time so impossibly strong. The demon didn't understand it—none of the Powers truly understood it—
and the frustration of that paradox merely added to his determination to destroy it all.
A human-shine swept past the spot where the demon floated curled about himself, and he winced.
But it was not the one, and it passed by unawares. Still, it would not be long before the one would
return and question him, and the demon knew it was time to prepare himself for that contact. To
conceal his hatred and smoldering anger of the human and his species. To present himself as a
willing and trustworthy servant, eager to do the foolish human's bidding. To hide the truth of which
of them was truly the master here.
It was a role Astaroth detested, a role most of his race would never have accepted and put up with.
But he had more patience than they did; or perhaps he saw the potential of the situation more clearly.
Soon, he knew, all of this pain and bitter humiliation would be turned back onto humankind and
repaid a thousand times over.
Very soon.
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Triplet
Chapter 1
The housecomp's trilling was quiet but persistent, and the machine itself of course had infinite
patience... and eventually Danae mal ce Taeger dragged herself out of her leaden sleep to answer it.
"Yes, Rax, what is it?" she mumbled.
"You had a call this morning from Dean Hsiu, Danae," the housecomp's soft voice said. "I'm sorry to
wake you, but he asked for you to call him back by eleven at the latest."
Danae forced her eyes open enough to focus on the holoclock at her side of the floatbed. Five
minutes till. "Did he say what he wanted?" she sighed, shifting tired muscles under the sheet and
cautioning a suddenly rebellious stomach.
"No, but from his tone I would say he was pleased about something."
"With Dean Hsiu that could mean practically anything," she said dryly, sitting up and scratching
vigorously at her hair. A belated glance beside her... but Pirro wasn't lying there trying to sleep
through the conversation. In fact, from the looks of it, he hadn't come to bed at all. "Pirro up and
gone already?" she asked with forced casualness, sliding off onto the floor and padding to her closet
for a robe.
"I believe he left the house shortly after you went to bed last night," Rax answered.
"This morning, you mean." Danae glared back at the bed. For a moment she was tempted to search
Pirro's half of the closet, to see whether he'd left in his work clothes or had simply gone off in search
of another party after theirs folded up. But Dean Hsiu was waiting... and checking up on Pirro was a
waste of effort, anyway. She'd known for a long time now that this one was over and done with.
"Code out Dean Hsiu for me, will you, Rax?" she sighed.
She was seated at the phone by the time the older man's holoimage appeared in front of her. "Ah—
Ms. Panya," Hsiu beamed. "Thank you for returning my call. I hope I didn't disturb you?"
"Not at all, sir," Danae told him. "I'm afraid I was helping some friends celebrate their graduate
assignments last night and it got a bit late."
"Well, you'll just have to call them all back tonight to return the favor," the other smiled. "Your own
assignment request has just come back in—" he paused dramatically—"marked
approved."
Danae felt her mouth fall open. "You mean... Triplet?"
"Triplet it is," Hsiu nodded. "Threshold, Shamsheer, and Karyx—you've been approved for all three
worlds. And to the best of my knowledge this is the first time anyone from Autaris has been so
honored. My heartiest congratulations to you."
Danae started to breathe again. "Thank you, sir. It's... a lot more than I expected myself."
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Triplet
"Yes, I can tell," the other said, a twinkle in his eye. "But you've got a lot of work ahead of you, so
get your heart restarted and get to it. First of all, you'll need to get a full high-retention mnemonic
treatment; after that'll come a three-week language course. Then—let's see—then you'll have another
three-weeker on the cultures of Shamsheer and Karyx; and finally, there'll be a lab on voice
commands and the more common spells."
"Yes. Right. Uh, was there anything about the Courier I asked for?"
"Courier? I didn't realize you'd made a specific request..." Hsiu peered somewhere off-camera. "Oh,
yes, here it is. Most experienced Courier... name given here is Ravagin."
"Am I getting him?"
Hsiu frowned slightly. "It's a little hard to tell from the wording... but it looks like if he agrees to it
Triplet Control itself is willing. He a friend of yours?"
"Never met him. But getting the most experienced Courier is important to the project proposal I
made."
"Ah." Hsiu shrugged, apparently dismissing it as none of his business. "Well, anyway, I've already
begun making the arrangements with the various departments involved. Why don't you check back
with my office tomorrow for the final schedule?"
Danae's jaw clenched momentarily; but there was nothing of her father's casual arrogance in either
Hsiu's face or voice.
He's just trying to help,
she told herself, sitting hard on the automatic rebellion
the other had inadvertently triggered. Not
trying to take over; not treating me like a child who can't
handle her own life. Just offering assistance and common courtesy.
It helped a little. "That would be
fine, sir," she told him, managing to keep her voice civil. "Thank you for taking the time out of your
busy schedule."
"Oh, no problem at all, Ms. Panya. Well, I'll let you go now. Once again, congratulations."
"Thank you, Dean Hsiu."
Hsiu's image smiled and vanished. Danae leaned back in her chair, eyes gazing unseeingly around
the room as she tried to absorb the magnitude of her triumph. Permits to visit either of the Hidden
Worlds of Triplet were as scarce as honest men... and or her—for
her
—to actually have been
awarded one of them was—
Was suspicious in the extreme.
She bit at her lip, the glow within her fading before the sudden doubt. If he had traced her here—and
if he had, he would certainly have learned of her application to Triplet....
All right, Danae—stop emoting and think.
She'd sent in the application... when? Three months ago?
About that. Okay: one-way spaceflight to Triplet would have been perhaps a week; evaluation would
have included a check with Earth's master records for possible psychological, political, or legal
problems. Another four to five weeks' round trip for that one, with handling and all; and of course at
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the very end there would be another week to get the approval back here to Autaris. Which left... six
or seven weeks at the most. Six weeks for them to shuffle her application out of the sacks and sacks
of similar requests; to study it, evaluate it, pass it around to everyone in sight and up the decision-
making hierarchy, and to approve it.
No way. There was simply no way.
"Damn," she said, very quietly. "Damn.
Damn!"
"Danae, are you all right?"
"No, Rax, I am
not
all right," she snarled. "Where is he?"
"Pirro? I believe—"
"The hell with Pirro. I mean Hart. Where is he?"
There was a slight pause. "I don't believe I know anyone by that name."
"Check again," she snapped. "He's here somewhere—next door, down the street, maybe under a rock
in the yard." Abruptly, she raised her voice. "Hart? I know you can hear me, you bastard. Get your
butt in here, now. You hear me?
Now."
There was no answer... but she hadn't really expected one. Tightening her robe sash savagely, she
stomped out of the room and downstairs to the foyer. There she waited, glaring at the front door.
There was a gentle, almost diffident rap on the steel-core wood. "Come in," Danae gritted, making
no move to unlock it. A short pause... and with a click the electronic lock disengaged and the door
swung open. A medium-nondescript man stepped quietly into the foyer, slipping a small electronic
scrambler back into his pocket.
For a moment they just eyed each other in silence. Then Danae took a deep breath. "You did it, didn't
you," she said. "You got me that slot on Triplet. You and Daddy Dear and a hell of a lot of money."
Hart shrugged fractionally. "I only make reports," he told her. "What your father does with the
information I couldn't say."
"Sure." She closed her eyes briefly, all her earlier excitement turning to ashes in her mouth. "What if
I turn it down? I can do that, you know. What would Daddy Dear do to you if he knew I'd caught on
to you and his little interference-running?"
"My job isn't to stay hidden forever, Ms. mal ce Taeger. You're far too intelligent for that, and your
father knows it. I'm here to guard you. That's all."
"And to help him interfere with every aspect of my life he can get his hands on. Right?"
Hart didn't answer. "How long have you been on to me?" Danae asked, for lack of anything better to
say.
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