From the author
This book is a sequel to the series "Echoes of the Silver Wind". For the most part, it tells about other heroes, although the main characters of the "Wind" act here, and the universe is the same.
To facilitate the perception of the measure of weight, length and time, they are given in units familiar to the Russian-speaking reader. New terms and concepts are explained either in the text itself or in footnotes.
All coincidences with real people or events are accidental, the novel from beginning to end is the fruit of the author's imagination.
Chapter 1
A short, laughing girl in shabby overalls made of the cheapest synthetics, well, however, emphasizing her chiseled figure, hopped along the path of the old park to the hangars of the flying club visible in the distance. Ash-haired, quite pretty, but far from beautiful. Every now and then she threw her bag into the air, caught it, shouted something enthusiastically and, in general, looked completely happy. The people walking towards them smiled - at the sight of such carefree joy it was hard to suppress a smile.
- Well, pigalitsa, passed? - a huge gray-haired man, resembling a hardened bear, came out of the last hangar.
- Passed, Uncle Pimen! - From the fullness of feelings, the girl jumped on one leg, waving her bag. - Perfectly! And I already received a passport with a certificate! Another day before yesterday! 100 points in all subjects!
- Hey, smart girl! he threw up his hands. - Oh, beauty! Is it really a certificate with a golden seal of the Department of Education issued?
- Youth! Not everyone is capable of this. Now you should go to university...
- What kind of chishi? .. - Lina frowned. - Yes, and...
- What? Pimen raised his eyebrows. - Want to fly?
- Hunting! she scowled stubbornly. - And I will achieve my goal! I'll still get it!
“Girl-girl,” the instructor sighed heavily. “You know our admirals would rather hang themselves than let a woman become a military pilot. Don't go to military school.
- What about civil?
- And for a civil sponsor you need! Pimen grunted angrily, sinking onto a bench at the entrance to the hangar. Do you know how much a year of study there costs? Five thousand galactic credits, at least! Understand, no one will teach you like that! Your gold certificate entitles you to free education at intermediate level colleges, but only in industrial, electronic or textile. Not in flight school!
- I know ... - the girl drooped, dejectedly picking the sand with the toe of her boot. “But I can’t live without the sky, Uncle Pimen!” I'll die of longing without the sky! Just what to do? I do...
- I have already tried to find a sponsor for admission ... I sent out the results of the final exams, the conclusion of the medical board and your recommendations for all well-known transport companies. Of the eight, a request for a detailed questionnaire came. I sent…
- And? .. - Pimen was wary.
- They refused ... - Lina almost cried. They were all fine, except for one. Because I am a woman! How I fly, these bastards don't care!
“You are my good girl…” the instructor looked at her sadly. “Look, there is not a single female pilot in all of Rinkang. Do you hear? None!
So I'll be the first! The girl clenched her fists stubbornly. "I'll still get my way!"
- How? Pimen asked. Even if you do some miracle. How will you study? You have to live on something. After all, you were removed from the allowance of the fund from the day the certificate was issued?
“They did,” Lina reluctantly confirmed.
- That's the whole point.
In Rinkang, children from dysfunctional families were not taken to orphanages as orphans, but were placed on the so-called stock allowance. Most of the children's fund belonged to the state, the smaller part - to various public organizations. Funds for it were partly allocated from the treasury, partly collected by subscription from the wealthy sections of society. In practice, it looked like this: the child was registered at the district branch of the fund and assigned to the cafe closest to his home, paying for food from the fund's money, they were given the necessary clothes, textbooks and writing materials from warehouses, most often expired and purchased at residual value. The distribution of funds and the health of those on allowance were monitored by district social services. It is clear that a lot of money was deposited in the pockets of their employees, but the children also got something - at least they did not go hungry and did not get cold. Education was also received free of charge, but in schools of the lowest level. And there, of course, one could learn properly, but this required so much effort that few were capable of it. For the most part, the “children of the foundation” who graduated from school became workers in nearby factories and plants. One out of a thousand, no more, entered higher educational institutions. And even then - only in graduating mid-level specialists.
Tinalina Darilia Barcelat was the daughter of an experienced alcoholic. She herself did not know from whom she gave birth - she went to bed with everyone who brought a bottle of alcohol with them. How the girl survived in the early years is known only to the Blessed. Apparently, then her mother was not yet completely drunk and was able to think about the child. And when Lina was five years old, social workers came to the cluttered apartment of the alcoholic to put the baby on a fund allowance - the neighbors reported to the appropriate authorities, they took pity on the eternally hungry and ragged girl. To begin with, Lina was placed in a kindergarten, she only spent the night at home. And even then they brought her in the evenings, and in the morning the educators took her back - it turned out to be impossible to achieve this from her mother, who was only busy looking for a drink. In the district court, with the filing of the social service, the case of transferring Tinalina Barcelat to a state shelter was heard several times, but for some reason the jury did not decide to deprive her mother of parental rights, despite all the evidence collected by social workers.
From early childhood, the girl was used to taking care of herself - she quickly realized that there was nothing to hope for an eternally drunk mother. At home, she tried to appear as little as possible. After school, she either walked until dark, or sat in the free library, swallowing books in one gulp - they learned to read in kindergarten. When she was seven years old, she went to school. At first, Lina had a hard time there, because children are a pack of animals with their own rather rigid hierarchy. "Stock" began to poison the whole class. And the girl fought with all her might, fought like crazy, tore opponents with her teeth, never gave up, went to the end. In the end, classmates decided that she was "possessed" and left her alone. However, Lina did not make any friends - there were no other “fondists” in their fairly decent area, and ordinary children preferred not to mess with one, they only teased behind their backs. So the girl lived, content with her own company, until she was twelve. No one knew that almost every night Lina dreamed of the bottomless sky and translucent black wings behind her back. And then she accidentally met the instructor of the local flying club, the former fighter pilot of the VKF Rinkang, Major Pimen Raes Daenbron. And life has changed dramatically.
Remembering the hard fate of a talented child, the old pilot sighed sadly. How did they meet, give good memories? It seems that he then noticed how longingly he was looking at the flyers and gliders loitering over the airfield, standing by the fence, a pigalina about twelve years old in a cheap overalls of a "child of the foundation." In her dreams, she was clearly up there in the sky. Without knowing why, the instructor approached the girl and offered to ride a glider. From the flash of disbelief in her eyes and at the same time wild joy, the major became uneasy. It seems that the little girl was rarely met with kindness, which is not at all surprising in their "blessed" country. And he gave Lina a ride. Not just a ride, but allowed a little control of the glider. The girl shocked Pimen - she instinctively caught updrafts and downdrafts, after a few minutes she began to fly like many do not fly even after several months of training. Seriously interested in an unusual child, he offered to come more often, paying her an annual subscription from his not too big salary. Since then, the girl disappeared every evening in the flying club, in the summer she even spent the night right in the hangar. Soon all the local pilots fell in love with her and began to teach her how to fly for real. Lina did not disappoint them - she mastered new cars very quickly. And she flew, flew so that even the management looked at her constant presence through their fingers.
“So, girl, you have only one way out,” Pimen said after a short silence. - To get a job. After all, you need to eat something, the fund will not feed you for free anymore. And it’s time to leave your mother, you can’t live in that viper, you’ll disappear by the tail of the Damned. What follows from here? And the fact that you have to rent a room in some hostel. And this is also money. And a lot!
- You're right ... - Lina drooped, then sat down directly on the grass, leaving her bag next to her. - Where do you go to work? To the factory, right? I do not want…
“There is no need,” the instructor smiled knowingly. - I agreed with the management. You will work for us. Run in new cars for rich bums. Just be aware, you'll have to get an atmospheric flight license. But it’s not difficult for you, tomorrow morning you fly off the exam hours at the Dorinsky flying club, it is on the northeastern tip of the city - it’s only two hours from here by monorail. Lieutenant Colonel Kartiner is the director there, also a former naval officer, he has seen you fly more than once. He promised that everything would pass without any problems. Also, of course, you need to pass the theory at the Department of Transport, but it's quite simple, you'll learn it. The salary for a start is not too big, six hundred and fifty ranches, but it will be enough for a modest life.
- Uncle Pimen ... - the girl's eyes opened wide, tears appeared in them. – Uncle Pimen… You…
- I! he laughed.
Unable to stand it, Lina covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.
- Hey, don't cry here! Pimen was alarmed. You should laugh with joy, not cry!
“I know…” the girl squeezed out through her tears. – Only… Thank you!
“Not just me,” he chuckled. - Even the director was in favor, and he is a strict person. Deserved!
“Thank you…” Lina repeated. You have done so much for me...
Helping a good person is good! Major raised his finger instructively. In the future, you will help someone. And then that someone too. The one who helped me at one time called it the chain of kindness. And he's right. The more people help each other, just help each other, the better and cleaner our world will become. Remember it, girl.
- I'll remember, Uncle Pimen ...
- That's good. And now I have a little graduation present for you.
- Gift? Lina was surprised.
“Exactly,” Pimen smirked somehow very slyly. - A wonderful car to run in. The son of the owner of the "Sorma Galactic Lines" brought from the principality, but is not really able to run in. I want to entrust this to you. Just look at me - no outrageous regimes! You'll blow the engines! And don't go into space.
- To space?! The girl opened her mouth in shock. - Is it possible to go into space on a flyer?
- On a flyer - no, - the major grumbled, - but on a glider - easily. And you have to run in not a simple glider, but a sports one, for racing without rules. On such rich loafers in the asteroid belts have fun.
- Wow! Lina breathed out, her eyes lit up with delight.
“That’s why I’m warning you, wow!” Pimen shook his finger at her. - I know you - get carried away and forget about everything. And on the orbital fortresses they won’t figure out who it was that carried into orbit without permission - they’ll knock it to hell! Do you need it?
“No need,” she laughed. - Well, I'm not going into space with my foot!
“Go on,” the instructor waved his hand at her. I see that it's unbearable. Hold the flight key. Site number forty-six. And don't forget to wear a helmet! The director of the third day yelled at me for half an hour when he saw you in a flyer without a helmet.
“Excuse me…” Lina was embarrassed, hiding the key card in her pocket. - Will not happen again.
- Run, little bastard.
The girl jumped up and rushed to the hangar, leaving her bag on the grass. There she grabbed the first helmet that came across from the shelf, put it on her head and ran out onto the airfield. Well, where is this forty-sixth platform? Yeah, over there, at the very fence. And behind the fence, she saw Uncle Pimen, pleased with himself, comfortably seated on a chair about a hundred meters away. Everything is clear, I put the car in such a way to watch the start.
Lina shifted her gaze to the glider and caught her breath. Slightly flattened five-meter drop-shaped fuselage, three short supports, small wings on the sides, silver lightning bolts are depicted on the sides. What is this - "Silver Arrow" ?! The best racing glider Ke-El-Enah?! Yes, he's worth several hundred thousand galactic credits! And this is in the principality itself! How much it might cost in Rinkang, I didn't even want to think. Two or three times more expensive, at least. And got a rich idiot, not even able to break in on their own. Ehhhh...
Shaking her head decisively, the girl got rid of unnecessary regrets, stepped closer and put her hands on the glider's skin, sending him a pulse of joy. The on-board computer immediately caught the presence of a true pilot nearby and began warming up the starting and main engines. Without any intervention from Lina, and even without a flight key, which everyone around considered completely impossible. She used to be surprised by this herself, but she got used to it a long time ago. However, she did not tell anyone that they would not take her for a madwoman. Except Uncle Pimen. But he didn't believe...
A hatch slowly thawed on board, an openwork ladder touched the plastic concrete of the airfield. Then the pleasant baritone of the on-board computer announced that the glider was ready for launch. Shivering, the girl climbed into the cab and looked around with interest. It is necessary, nothing superfluous, pure functionality. However, the biochair is very comfortable, with a gravity compensator. Yes, it’s impossible without it, during the races there are such overloads that the pilot without protection will be smeared into a bloody mess. But where are the view screens? Lina did not immediately realize that, if necessary, the entire inner surface of the glider turns into an overview screen. Clearly holographic technology from the Aarn Order, who settled in the principality in large numbers after the Great War. Rinkangu is so far away! It's a pity.
The girl touched the cocoon of the bio-chair, and it opened like a flower. Sitting down in the seat, she put her hands on the control sticks and shook them to check. They walk easily, although a little unusual - everything is different on flyers. The chair's petals wrapped around her and swelled, the life-support system pumped shock-absorbing gel into them, the gravity compensator hummed softly. Closing her eyes, Lina inserted a magnetic flight key card into the slot on the control panel, activated it and directly connected to the onboard computer - no one knew about this ability of hers at all. Soon the girl stopped feeling her body, the glider became her body. She felt how fuel was supplied to the combustion chambers of the starting engines, how the computer was ringing the main control circuits, how the centrifuge of the planetary orientation system was gaining momentum, how the control units of gravity locators were communicating with ground services. That is how she mastered almost instantly new types of machines, flying them better than those who were taught this. This circumstance struck the pilots of the flying club to the point of numbness, they repeatedly slipped aircraft with non-standard control systems to the girl, but Lina always coped. Over time, the pilots took this feature of her as a given.
What if you mess around a little? Uncle Pimen will appreciate it, he flies extremely risky - a former fighter pilot, after all. Lina smiled slyly and smoothly pulled the joysticks towards each other. Few dared to do this. Even in space! One had to be an experienced ace in order to cope with the cross impulses of the engines and give them in time without making an irreparable mistake. But they made it possible to launch in the atmosphere at such a speed and along such a trajectory as nothing else.
- Control room! Lina spoke loudly into the helmet microphone. - Board forty-six fraction one. I ask permission to take off.
- I allow take-off, forty-six fraction one.
Lina gave a mental command, the engines of the glider whistled louder and higher, switching to the afterburner, and he slowly rose to three meters, pulled in the supports and changed the position to “nose up”. And then, faster and faster, began to rotate around its axis.
“What, is this girl crazy? Pimen gasped in shock at the sight of this. – Circular start?! On an unfamiliar car? Well well…
The glider spun with increasing speed until it turned into a foggy whirlwind. The major just shook his head - you need to have an iron vestibule to endure such a thing. He wouldn't take it. And then the Arrow, without stopping spinning, went up in a wide spiral, increasing speed so quickly that Pimen shivered - it was still too much. He quickly took out his golar and connected to the flying club's control room computer. Wow! The girl gained fifteen kilometers of height in just half a minute!
However, this was only the beginning. What Lina then began to do made the instructor whistle enthusiastically. He did not know pilots capable of repeating such puzzling stunts in the atmosphere. In space, yes, but it's in space! The glider descended to a height of about a kilometer and began to wind up aerobatics one after another. The barrel was replaced by a dead loop, the corkscrew turned into a glide above the ground itself. All the people in the flying club forgot about their business, fascinated by watching the Silver Arrow frolicking in the sky.
- What kind of ace do you have? - unexpectedly, someone's surprised voice sounded behind Pimen, speaking in general with an unfamiliar whistling accent. - Tark, right?
The major turned sharply, nearly falling off the wobbly chair, and saw a tall, black-haired man in the uniform of an astronaut, but with unfamiliar stripes. His skin was a somewhat strange lilac hue, which immediately told knowledgeable people about the Moovan origin of its owner. Apparently a pilot from a merchant ship.
“Not thark…” he shook his head negatively. - A seventeen-year-old girl. Pilot by the mercy of the Seelie!
“A seventeen-year-old girl?! The Mowan looked like something heavy had fallen on him. - Then she has a direct road to Tarkanak! There, this diamond will be cut with dignity.
– Are you kidding me? – Pimen frowned. – Remember, what is the cost of education in Tarkanak. Yes, and she will not get to the principality, only the road there will cost two or three thousand credits. Where does the “child of the fund” get such money from? They don’t even take her, poor thing, to a civilian flying school ...
But she's flying! - the Moovan was amazed. - Flies great!
“I taught you,” the major smiled proudly.
- Former fighter pilot. Shot down during the first war with Telly Stell, was badly wounded. Written off cleanly with a meager pension. Fortunately, I found myself a place as an instructor in this flying club.
“Lucky,” the Mowan nodded sympathetically. - But why is such a talented girl not taken to the school?
- Yes, simply because a woman! Only.
– Dela-ah... You know, if we were on Moowan now, I would immediately contact our Admiralty and tell about this nugget. I am sure that our military would be interested.
“Unfortunately, we are not on Moowan, but in Rinkang…” Pimen sighed heavily. - Thank the Good, I managed to get Lina into our flying club, otherwise I don’t know what would have happened to her. She is languishing with melancholy without the sky.
“Out of boredom…?” the Moovan repeated, looking thoughtful. “Then things are bad. She seems to be a born pilot. Are you familiar with this concept?
“I know something, but I don’t really understand what it is,” the major shrugged. “As far as I know, almost all of the pilots of the Aarn Order were born. It was said that the world had never seen the best aces.
"It's true," the Mowan shivered. “I’m also a former fighter. I once had a chance to clash with them. Do not want anymore! One born fifty ordinary ones will easily smear on the wall. They fly like gods!
“I didn’t see it, I can’t judge,” Pimen spread his hands. - But why do you think that Lina is one of the born?
“Fly like that at seventeen?” Don't make me laugh, only those who are born are capable of this! I saw the circular launch with my own eyes, that's why I mistook it for a tarka - no one else dares to start like that in the atmosphere. No, I can't conclude otherwise. However, I would like to warn you. If I'm right, then a girl can't live without heaven, she'll burn out in a couple of years. My older brother burned down so much ... Before my eyes ...
Nobody understood what was happening to him. He was physically weak, he did not go to the flight school due to his health. Just before her death, when it was already too late, they found out that he was born ... Your girl was very lucky that you gave her the opportunity to fly at least occasionally, otherwise she would have died.
- Fun ... - Pimen drawled anxiously.
“And one more thing.” The Moovan turned back to him and stared into his eyes. – It is in Tarkanak that best of all they know how to train the born. And they get them for free! Moreover, they give a scholarship, which is more than enough for a comfortable life, even by the standards of the principality. The only thing they ask is to sign an obligation to serve in the military fleet of Ke-El-Enakh for ten years. Not a very difficult condition, in my opinion.
“I have already said that we still need to get to this principality,” Pimen grimaced. - Neither I, nor, moreover, she has that kind of money and is not expected.
“If our ship had gone to Ke-el-Enakh, we would have found a place for her,” the Moovan sighed. – Alas, we are going to Krouha Lhan, and from there home. So I can't help. Although…
He thought for a moment, took out a golar from his pocket and began to look at something on a tiny screen that appeared in the air. Having found what he wanted, he pointed with his finger at the highlighted three numbers and said:
- Write it down. These are the personal numbers of the captains of merchant ships engaged in coastal transportation between Storn and Ke-el-Enach. They owe me something, so they will transfer from the empire to the principality, if you refer to me. Yes, the girl will have to work out the way, but this is a chance.
How can she get into the empire? the major asked skeptically, but just in case he entered the numbers in the memory of his golar.
“I don’t know,” the Mowan shrugged. “However, the shortest route to the principality lies just through the empire. I don’t advise you to meddle in T "He is a wild country with idiotic laws.
“Give the Good ones so that at least some chance falls out ...” Pimen muttered gloomily. "Why are you helping at all?"
- In memory of my brother. But…
“We need to know for sure if she’s a born pilot,” the Moovan frowned. "Would you mind asking the girl a few questions?"
- Ask, - Pimen agreed. “I am also interested in knowing. You just have to wait, now she won’t go down until she swoops down. Fortunately, there is not much fuel, otherwise I would fly until tomorrow.
- Well, I'll wait.
Crazy, sparkling joy flooded Lina's soul, only now she realized that flying on flyers was nothing. The machine obeyed any thought, doing something that, probably, its designers would have been surprised - what the girl was doing in the sky went far beyond the documented capabilities of the Silver Arrow. And she passionately wanted to get out into space and fly for real, without atmospheric restrictions. However, it is impossible ... Any intruder will be shot down by a massive volley from orbital stations - this is how the corporations that control Darat, Lina's home planet, tried to fight the theft. The method seems to be effective, but not working - it is not difficult to bribe the officials who issue permission to take off. And not too expensive.
The girl did not feel her body, she saw the world with the entire surface of the glider, felt the wind beating against her, bathed in the sun's rays, rising to the very edge of the stratosphere and collapsing almost to the ground. In those moments, she truly lived, only in these… Lina existed on earth, waiting for the magical moment when she would be in the sky again. After all, only the sky mattered ... And let the "earth rats" say that it's wrong to think so, let them! They will never understand, they will never understand! They care about money and success. And she can fly!
Whatever it is, she will become a pilot! Escape into space! At any price, whatever that price may be! Stop, dear, what if meanness becomes the price? If you need to betray, for example, Uncle Pimen? A sudden thought came to Lina with a deadly cold. Do not give the Good Ones such a choice! And… No, a dream that comes at the cost of meanness ceases to be a dream. You can not go to her over the corpses!
A sharp signal from the on-board computer, announcing that the fuel was running out, tore Lina out of her thoughts. She swore annoyedly - everything is clear, Uncle Pimen took care that the pupil did not fly into the air, as had happened more than once. It's a pity, but I'll have to sit down, otherwise the control room will take control and force the car to land. However, you need to sit down so that everyone's eyes pop out in surprise! But how exactly? The idea that came to mind made the girl let out a whistle of air through her clenched teeth. Wow! Are you brazen, dear? Is it worth the risk? On a glider? Not on a fighter? But if it works out, it's... Shaking her head, she began to think about the details. A difficult landing is ahead, few people will dare to sit down like that. Uncle Pimen, of course, will say a lot of things, he will swear for a long time, but that's later. It is not clear - he himself would also definitely do something non-standard, and when Lina does this, she swears. Why?
The instructor and the Moovan were standing by the fences, talking about everything in the world, when a shiny dot of a glider appeared in the sky, whistling down on the afterburner. Pimen was alarmed - did something happen? Why doesn't the girl slow down? Why is the car spinning like a spinning top, moreover, spinning unbalanced?
“Ar-rs l-lanhain…” the Mowan man managed in a barely audible voice. “D-dinharro… X-haranga…”
- What? Major was surprised.
“Sorry, that’s Moovan. I'm talking about the name of this kind of landing ... Usually only wrecked fighters did it, if there was very little fuel left. Remember, you saw it for sure.
“Good defenders…” Pimen gasped, realizing what the Moovan meant. - Is she crazy?
Why not? he chuckled. – Quite a natural decision for a born pilot. Why waste extra time and fuel when you can do without it?
- What do you mean why? You can get screwed!
- It won't crash, I give you a guarantee. The girl clearly thought of everything to the smallest detail. You will see for yourself now.
Indeed, nothing terrible happened. At a height of about a hundred meters, Lina, with four paired cross pulses, going, at first glance, out of order, abruptly extinguished speed and rotation. She would never have been able to explain how she knew that the impulses must be given precisely at this moment, in this sequence and in this particular way. She knew everything. The gravity compensator barely coped with the overload, the main hull structures creaked strainedly, but they survived - they were counted on and not for that. A moment before landing, the girl released the supports with a mental command, and the machine gently stood on them. Not even flinching. Sighing heavily, Lina ordered the computer to go into conservation mode. The engines stopped. Again to return to ordinary life, so that it has no bottom, no tires! After flying on the Strela, this was especially sickening, but there was nowhere to go.
A hatch thawed in the side of the glider, in which a flexible girlish figure soon appeared. She deftly jumped onto the plastic concrete of the airfield, without waiting for the ladder, and moved to the hangars. Soon Lina, leaving the flight helmet inside, appeared on the threshold.
“Well, come here, robber…” the instructor grumbled irritably. “And why the hell do you need it?”
“I wanted to,” the girl smiled shyly. - Don't be angry, Uncle Pimen... Everything went well.
“Fine…” he muttered. “My heart almost jumped out when I realized how you put the car in!” It's a glider, not a fighter! It is not intended for such landings, understand, silly!
Why not a fighter? - the Moovan intervened in the conversation. - Quite a fighter.
“I don’t understand…” the major turned to him. - And why is that?
"Don't you know what the Silver Arrow is?"
“A racing glider,” Pimen shrugged. - A very good glider. And what?
“Not just a racing glider,” the Moovan grinned wryly, “but a light civilian modification of the White Wolf of the second model. Only the weapons and shield generators have been removed, and the engines and control systems are the same. I don’t know how the Admiralty of the Principality allowed this to be done, but the fact remains. So you are wrong - this is a fighter, and one of the best in the galaxy.
– Modification of the “White Wolf”?! - Major hiccupped from such news. - All the tails of the Damned down my throat for the very reason!
- Good Defenders! Lina echoed him enthusiastically, clasping her cheeks with her hands. - That's lucky for me! And I kept thinking why this glider obeys the controls so much, feels the slightest movement of the fingers ... After all, the “Wolf” has order bioreceptors instead of electronics?
"That's right," the Moovan confirmed. By the way, I didn't introduce myself. Ralph Novingo, first pilot of the Darveth Lario commercial non-systemic, Moowan. I saw how you fly, and became interested. I want to ask something. I beg you to answer truthfully - your fate may depend on these answers. To fly or not to fly.
“Tinalina Darilia Barcelat,” the bewildered girl reluctantly introduced herself, trying to understand what this foreigner needed. “Just call Lina, I can’t stand the official name.”
"Okay," Ralph smiled. So, Lina. I want to ask you first of all this. Do you feel the car with your body when you fly? I repeat, the truthful answer is very important!
How does he know?! Lina looked at the Moovan warily, not understanding anything. And why does he claim that it is so important? Yes, it feels! So what? Why can it depend on this whether she can fly or not?
“I feel it,” she finally decided. “Sometimes I feel like I’m mentally controlling…
- That's right, - Ralph darkened, glancing at Pimen, who bit his lip in disbelief. - Are you familiar with such a concept as a "born pilot"?
- I heard something ... - Lina was even more confused. - But…
- Wait! The Moovan raised his hand. So, you are one of them. And your passion for the sky is not just that. Without heaven, you will simply die, wither away, like ... How my older brother withered! They found out that he was born, too late ...
Tark - this is the name of the graduates of the Tarkan Military Space Academy (colloquially - Tarkanak), located on the planet Kaldar, the Principality of Ke-El-Enah. Tarkanak was transferred to Kaldar twenty-five years ago from Aarn Sart. Before the transfer, it was led by the legendary order dwarch-admiral T "Sad Govah, the greatest naval commander of the last thousand years. The Tarks are rightfully considered the best pilots in the galaxy.
Not everyone dares to open their wings and take off. They do not dare even when there is no other way out, when to stay below means to perish. A very young girl decided on this, because she is a born pilot, and such people die without a sky. And the infinite Universe opened up before her, thousands of worlds, other intelligent races, joys and dangers, new friends and enemies appeared on her way. And adventures, as without them. True, the heroine did not want these adventures at all, her goal was to get to the planet of her dreams, where Tarkanak is located, the best military space Academy of the inhabited Galaxy. However, life does not ask a person for permission, throwing him into a whirlpool of events. The road was not easy, the victory was expensive. But maybe that's how it should have been?
A series: Echoes of the silver wind
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The following excerpt from the book Spread Your Wings (Iar Elterrus, 2009) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.
Having got out of the airbus on the overpass of the stop, Lina grimaced in displeasure. I didn't want to go home. Again, you will have to look at the exhausted faces of the mother and her last roommate - a vile little man with rotten teeth, swollen from vodka, who three months ago tried to rape the daughter of a roommate, for which he was mercilessly beaten by everything that came to the girl's arm. This parody of a man did not even dare to defend himself, only whined and covered his head with his hands. However, he harbored a grudge, and since then he has been crap as much as possible. He would pour salt into the bowl, then sugar into the soup, or even puke at the only shoes - he had to wash them five times already.
Okay, don't care! All the same, she had no more than a week left to live in this cluttered apartment, Uncle Pimen suggested in which hostel near the flying club one could rent a corner relatively inexpensively, for only two hundred ranches a month. In textile, where only girls live, you can not be afraid of unwanted suitors, men are simply not allowed there.
Lina daily fiercely scrubbed her room to sterile cleanliness and locked it - the locksmith of the flying club, at her request, made such a lock that not a single bear cub would open. The sloppiness of her mother made the girl disgusted, life in the dirt from early childhood did not make her the same slovenly - on the contrary, Lina was distinguished by painful cleanliness and love for the ideal order. Everything in her room knew its place.
If only the mother and partner were already asleep, otherwise drunken conversations “for life” would begin again. These two have recently been constantly urging that it is time for the grown-up girl to get a job and return the money spent on her upbringing. Lina pursed her lips indignantly at the memory. Wow! Money spent! Absolutely insolent, creatures! Her fund contained, not these. However, everything is clear, they hope for a free drink at her expense. Just don't break anything!
Unlocking the shabby door, Lina cautiously entered - anything could have been on the floor in the hallway. From a puddle of vomit to a drunken mother. However, there was a light inside. The girl mentally swore - do not sleep! And what's the bad luck? It remained to be hoped that the mother and her roommate got vodka today and they would not be up to it. Unfortunately, the only way to get to her room is through the salon, and Lina cautiously moved forward. When she entered, she stopped in shock. The interior was relatively clean! Not by her standards, of course, but for a mother, this is a feat. No things scattered everywhere, even the floor is somehow washed.
Glancing around the salon, Lina was completely at a loss. There was a set table against the far wall, a sumptuous table that she had never seen before. Moreover, untouched, which is almost impossible for a mother with a roommate. And on the table ... What was there just not there! Even branded vodka, and not the usual cheap drink from the nearest eatery. What does it mean? Where?! Did you win the lottery, or what?
The mother and partner, sitting by the window, threw longing glances at the table, swallowed saliva, but did not move, glancing timidly in the left corner, where there was a shattered desk freed from rubbish. And behind him was a guest. Not a bum or an alcoholic in rags, but an aristocratic-looking gentleman in a luxurious suit of classic cut made of natural wool. At the thought of how much such a suit costs, Lina almost felt sick. Who is this, Damned take it? What does he want here?
“Tinalina Darilia Barcelat?” the guest inquired in a pleasant baritone voice.
“Y-yes…” the girl squeezed out with difficulty.
"You're late," he remarked. - But okay. I am a lawyer for the Tigar Textile Concern, Kervio Dorin Hagrain.
– Very nice… But… Why are you here, dear sir?..
“To announce your new duties,” the lawyer chuckled coldly. “Your mother entered into a ten-year contract with our concern on your behalf. From tomorrow you are considered our employee. Here is the contract, read it and sign it. I will also ask you to give me the documents, until the expiration of the contract they will be in the personnel department of the concern.
- On my behalf?! Lina howled in shock. What right did she have?!
– Have you forgotten that you live in Rinkang? – in the eyes of Hagrain appeared mockery. - At the time of receiving the certificate, you have reached the first age of majority. The second will come when you are twenty-one years old. Before it occurs, parents have every right to decide the fate of the child and sign any documents for him. They can also give him complete freedom. By their choice. Your mother has made her choice.
– What right does this alcoholic have to decide for me?! - the girl was shaking. - I'm a "child of the foundation"!
“Not anymore,” the lawyer chuckled coldly. - According to the documents, Erika Ursula Barcelat is your birth mother. This is true?
- So ... - reluctantly confirmed Lina, she became more and more afraid with every moment.
- And if so, then she has every right to sign contracts for you until your second adulthood. According to the law.
The girl tried to pull herself together, but could not, she continued to beat. After all, such a law really existed! Almost never used, but existed. Well, what are you going to do now?! I just hoped that something in my life had changed, I only dared to dream of heaven, when I got this...
- If you please, get acquainted with the contract, - Hagrain put several sheets of plastic paper on the table.
Lina walked up on stiff legs, took them and began to read. With each paragraph she read, she became more and more uneasy. The girl could not imagine such enslaving conditions. The payment is only four hundred ranches a month, which is not enough for even the most modest life. At the same time, the concern undertakes to support the employee at its own expense and at its own discretion, however, it deducts the cost of maintenance, determined, again, arbitrarily, from his salary. If the salary is not enough to cover the debt, the concern reserves the right to extend the contract indefinitely. Moreover, the employee is forbidden to leave the territory of the residential complexes of the enterprise without the written permission of the administration. It can be used in any way and has no right to protest or complain. For any protest, a huge fine is imposed, greatly increasing the amount of the debt. Lina had heard of such contracts, which effectively put a person into slavery, but never believed in their existence. Turns out there are...
When the girl finished reading the last paragraph, written by hand, she caught her breath. It turns out that half of her salary for ten years is paid in advance to Erika Ursula Barcelat ... And she herself is left with everything about everything for the unfortunate two hundred ranches a month. You can never escape from such bondage ... So, the mother simply sold her own daughter into slavery? For a drink? Good Defenders!
“What a scum you are…” she turned to the drunkenly grinning mother. What kind of creature are you...
- And there was nothing to be touchy with yourself, bitch! - angrily spat out the roommate of that one. - Necha! So I jumped, bastard! Tama will quickly break you off!
He giggled disgustingly. So this is his idea? Not surprisingly, the mother herself simply would not have thought of such a thing, there would not have been enough brains.
- Did you read it? the lawyer asked. - Sign.
I won't sign this! Lina breathed out, throwing the contract away, the sheets scattered around.
“That doesn’t change anything,” Hagrain shrugged indifferently. “The contract is signed by your mother and officially registered with the magistrate. The advance payment indicated in the last paragraph - twenty-four thousand ranchs - was paid in cash in full, which is confirmed by a receipt certified by a notary.
So that's what money bought all this luxury on the table?! It seemed to Lina that now she would lose consciousness. A single thought beat like a crazy bird in my head: “For what, Good ?!”
“Mr. Hagrain…” the girl murmured. - But how is it possible?
“Nothing personal, business,” he chuckled.
- Look, I'm a born pilot...
- So what? - the lawyer was surprised, not knowing what it is.
“Varians born in the galaxy are worth their weight…” the girl squeezed out through her tears. – We are even trained in Tarkanak for free… Maybe the concern will need such a pilot?.. Without the sky, I’ll simply die in a few years…
“The Concern will use you as it sees fit. And I do not advise you to try to avoid your fate, it will only get worse.
From these words, Lina's soul was overwhelmed by a desperate, but at the same time cold rage. She clenched her fists and took a step back.
“I’ll ask for your documents,” the lawyer held out his hand.
- Don't get it! Lina hissed with hatred, with such hatred that Hagrain winced. - It won't work for you! Do you hear?! Will not work!
“It will come out,” he pulled himself together, surprised at the sudden fear that had arisen. Well, what can a seventeen-year-old girl do to him? .. - I repeat, I do not advise you to try to challenge the contract. If you don't show up at the concern's office before three o'clock tomorrow, the police will take you there. In this case, you will be punished, you will have to do much more unpleasant work than planned.
- For example? the girl asked mockingly.
- For example? A serpentine grin stretched the lawyer's lips. - For example, you can be assigned to a brothel for mid-level clerks, where you will have to fulfill any desire of customers. Or they'll come up with something even worse.
“Tail of the Damned for you!” Lina snapped. "I'd rather kill myself, okay?!"
“Yes, well…?” Hagrain laughed. - I doubt.
“But in vain,” the girl’s tone became icy. And one more goodbye. I swear someday to turn your, personally your life into hell! You have to pay for such inhuman meanness, and it is terrible to pay, good sir. And if I have to die, the Seelie will repay you. And you know this, because you understand that everything you do is monstrous! You are worse than any killer!
- Monstrous?.. - the lawyer was confused, looking at her with sincere bewilderment. - It's just business! You are just crazy!
“To doom a person to such a fate is just monstrous! - Lina nodded at the sheets of the contract scattered on the floor. “I would never sign that abomination!” You took advantage of the fact that my mother is an alcoholic who is not aware of her actions. Moreover, I have already been offered a good job and, moreover, in two months I would have received a referral from the Admiralty to Tarkanak. The Armory knows very well how valuable born pilots are!
Hagrain frowned. But the girl clearly believes in what she says ... It will be necessary to find out what these “born pilots” of her are. It is quite possible that the concern got much more valuable production than it seemed initially. And so they decided that they were lucky - to get a person with a gold certificate from the Ministry of Education on such conditions is almost unbelievable, so the executive director seized on the offer of mother Tinalina Barcelat immediately, even agreed to pay an advance in cash, which was rarely done.
- Someday you will have to answer for every meanness, there to answer, - Lina's finger pointed up. - And your references to human laws in that court will not help, they will make you pay for everything. Do you hear?! For all!
- This is too much! the lawyer was outraged.
- What, too much"? the girl asked sarcastically. - Doesn't it feel good to hear the truth? So it's your own fault - you know perfectly well that you are committing meanness! And you know that the Good are punished for this!
“No, what is it, huh? ..” Hagrain even admired himself to himself. “It won’t be easy, but we’ll break it off, they didn’t break off like that.”
He did not want to think about the words of the girl, deep down the lawyer understood that she was completely right. But... business is business. And what will happen there after death, and whether it will be at all - is the tenth thing. It is important now to snatch a piece fatter.
“In general, I repeat the advice not to create problems for us,” Hagrain pulled himself together. You still have to fulfill the terms of the contract. For my part, I can promise to find out everything known about these same “born pilots”. If they are really something of value, then you will not have to regret working for the concern. We value useful people and adequately pay for their work.
- It won't be your way! - Lina was so hurt and scared that she simply did not hear his words. - Will not!
She turned and rushed out of the apartment where she was born and raised. Something black and terrible pounded in her soul, despair washed over the girl in waves. Good, but why is she like that?! She only dreamed of flying, she dreamed of the sky! Is it so much?!
Lina ran through the streets of the night city, not knowing where, and sobbed on the go, smearing tears on her cheeks with her palms. A few passers-by stared after her in surprise—a rare thing to see here, the inhabitants of Radayn, the capital city of the planet Darat, usually preferred to look unperturbed no matter what happened. However, the girl was not up to “saving face”, the incident had hit her nerves too badly. She continued to rush somewhere, headlong, until she came across a small square. There she fell on the nearest bench and burst into tears even more desperately.
Crying out, Lina thought. From childhood, she taught herself to think carefully about everything that happens and rely solely on logic. Maybe in vain she broke loose in the presence of a lawyer? After all, he is quite capable of using it against her ... However, do not care! It won't get worse, everything is lost, you will have to say goodbye to the dream. The girl almost burst into tears again, restraining herself with the greatest difficulty. What does it get? And the fact that tomorrow from three days the police will start hunting for her ... Good ones! Delivered to the office of the accursed concern - and all. It remains only to strangle yourself, corporations never miss their prey - everyone knows this. So what to do? Right now, or what, hang yourself?
The girl convulsively sobbed - she wanted to live in such a way that her breath caught. But to live as a slave? Without sky? No, he can't. And he doesn't want to! However, it’s probably not worth rushing either, she will always have time to die. I would like to consult with someone ... With Uncle Pimen! There is simply no one else to be with.
Having made her decision, Lina got up and headed for the streets where she could hail a taxi - otherwise, at night, the southwestern outskirts of Radine, where her mentor inherited a tiny two-room house, in which there was nowhere to turn, could not be reached. According to rumors, there are still some night airbuses, but the girl did not know their schedule, and the metro is far away. If not for the money given by Uncle Pimen, we would have to wait until morning.
Having reached the nearest transport overpass, the girl with difficulty climbed the shaky iron stairs and pressed the button to call a taxi. Less than ten minutes later, a battered flyer, driven by a driver, moored to the site. Lina named the address, shuddered at the amount of twenty ranches mentioned - with this money you could ride on airbuses for two weeks! - however, she dutifully slipped her only fifty kopeck into the bill acceptor. Received change, sat down in a hard chair behind the cab and burst into tears again. The flyer, meanwhile, rose to the 300-meter height allowed in the city and, picking up speed, moved to the southwest.
“Arrived, dear lady,” the driver’s mechanical voice made her shudder.
Somehow pulling herself together, Lina got out and found herself at the rickety fence of the old pilot's house. She opened the gate, with unsteady steps approached the door and desperately pounded on it with her fists. For some time nothing happened, then the lights came on in the windows and a sleepy host appeared on the threshold.
“Who is the Damned carrying in the middle of the night?! he growled angrily.
“Dya-a-dya-a Pi-i-me-en ...” Lina groaned, fell on his chest and burst into tears.
"Girl, what happened?" - the major was confused, realizing who came to him.
“I’m lost, Uncle Pimen…” she sobbed. - Lost-ah-ah ...
- So, - the instructor came to his senses and shook the pupil. - No tantrums to me here! From any, even the most difficult situation, there is always a way out.
He took Lina into the house, seated her on an old sofa by the window, and made her drink some rum. The girl coughed - she couldn’t stand alcohol, having seen enough of her mother.
- Recovered? the major grumbled.
“Y-yes…” she answered in a barely audible voice, still sobbing.
- Then tell me. We said goodbye not too long ago! What happened?
- Yeah, it happened...
Lina spoke in detail about everything from the moment she returned home. Pimen became more and more gloomy with her every word. When the girl finished, he swore under his breath and slammed his fist on his knee in a fit of temper.
- Bastards! the Major murmured, calming down a little. - What bastards!
“What should I do now, Uncle Pimen?” Lina asked in a barely audible voice.
"Let's think," he sighed. - Don't cry, don't. You can’t succumb to emotions in trouble, you will disappear by the tail of the Damned. I have always taught you to face the truth, not to build stupid illusions. So, you got it. Got very serious! This is far from a joke, even the Admiralty will not mess with corporations. They pay money, which means they order music.
- That is, I have no way out? .. - the girl began to shake again.
– Not in Rinkang! Pimen snapped. - The law, unfortunately, is on the side of the concern. And why didn’t I think that your mother was capable of doing such a thing? .. Could have adopted you two years ago ...
“What now ...” Lina sighed heavily, it never even crossed her mind that her mother would go for it. “So there is no way out. And without the sky, I will soon die ...
“You’ll die,” the major agreed, thinking hard about something. "You know, little bastard...
- You need to run. From Rinkang. To the principality. To Tarkanak!
- How?! The girl clenched her fists at her chest. - How, Uncle Pimen ?! I don’t have any money, only thirty remained ...
"I don't know," Pimen admitted. - But I'll find out.
He thought again. There was one way, but he really did not want to use it, not for that he had at one time abandoned contacts with old friends in order to send the entire conspiracy down the drain to the Damned. I didn't want them to feel obligated. Just disappeared. However, now there is no choice, you have to surface - the girl needs to be saved. By any means! In the concern, she will not last long.
With a sigh, Pimen laid the golar on the table, then pulled out a battered notebook from the desk drawer and began leafing through it. Okay, here's Regan's number. Now, it seems, he serves in the Admiralty, he no longer flies. I wonder if he still remembers his old friends, or has he forgotten a long time ago? Sighing, the old pilot dialed a number. The dry voice of the machine said that this number no longer exists and offered to switch the connection to a new number of the desired subscriber if the caller gives the password.
- Password? Pimen asked in confusion.
Well, what, I wonder, might be the password? Only Regan's closest friends knew this number, no one else. So there must be something known to all of them. What? But only the motto of their squadron!
“Spread your wings,” the major said softly.
“The password is correct,” the machine confirmed. - I'm switching you to Mr. Rear Admiral.
Oh wow! Is Regan already a rear admiral?.. He rose high. Who expected that this slob without a king in his head would be capable of such a thing? Certainly not Pimen, who once taught the young dunce to fly properly, and more than once gave him in the neck.
- Who is it? came a dry, cracked voice from the speaker of the Golar. Kars, are you? Is there something wrong with the load?
Oh, and Kars is in this company? Wow. Apparently, all their old team gathered around the Rear Admiral.
No, it's Pimen.
- What else, to the Damned, Pimen ?! - above the table appeared the image of the face of a lean man with an extremely dissatisfied face. How do you know this number?
"Don't know, Regan?" the instructor chuckled. - Major Daenbron.
- What?! Rear Admiral's eyes popped onto his forehead. “So you’re alive, all the tails of the Damned are down your throat?! Oh, you bastard! The dog is mad! How dare you call? Where have you been all these years?! How could you do this to us?! And that's after everything that happened...
- We commemorate him at every meeting, we put candles in the church for the repose of the soul, but he is alive! Well, not a bastard, huh? ..
“I didn’t want you to feel obligated,” Pimen said gloomily. That's why he went to the bottom.
“Well, yes, he escaped from the hospital without leaving coordinates,” Regan grinned sarcastically. - And then the rumors spread that you died in the capital's hospital. We idiots believed... You know, friends don't do that!
“I was not myself after the decommissioning,” the major lowered his head guiltily. - When I realized that I could no longer fly in space ... I decided to completely break with my past life, I drank black for a year, then I pulled myself together. I wanted to call more than once, but did not dare. I understood that I acted ugly, that I offended you. And now I would not have dared if the trouble had not happened.
"You old fool!" Rear Admiral growled irritably. “I didn’t dare in vain, we wrap up such cases here ... And you would have found a place as a skipper.” Let the merchant, but would fly!
- Yes, indeed, a fool ... - Pimen agreed with a sigh. “Forgive me, right…
- Here I will fill my face - and I will forgive! Regan promised. - But that's later. What happened to you there?
“I have a pupil,” the major began. “A pilot, by the grace of the Seelie, flies like a god in any machine, masters unfamiliar control systems in a few minutes. Today, having seen the Silver Lightning for the first time, she took off into the sky with a circular launch.
– Circular start?! Rear Admiral was surprised. – In the atmosphere? In an unfamiliar car? You're not lying?!
“I saw it myself,” Pimen shrugged. “For a long time I did not understand how this was even possible. And today they helped me understand. She is a born pilot. He feels the car with his body.
- Oh you! Regan sighed. - So give it to us urgently, to the Admiralty! She needs to study!
- The girl tried to enter at least a civilian flight school, they refused, because she was a woman.
“A common thing in our precious country. However, gender restrictions do not apply to innate ones, they are too few to pay attention to such trifles. I think in a few months your pupil will go to Tarkanak. We are in dire need of thark level pilots! How air is needed!
“She was going to send a message about herself to the public reception of the Admiralty,” Pimen drooped. “I was going to call you too to let you know, but not today. However, as I said, there was a problem.
After a short pause, he spoke about the sale of Lina to the Tigar Textile concern.
- Damn it! the Rear Admiral slammed his fist on the table. - What kind of bestiality? These bastards will quickly figure out what a born pilot is and won't give us the girl. Most likely, the pirates will be sold, they will give more. And the pirates will find a way to make her fly, as they need ...
“So even the Admiralty can’t help?” Pimen turned gray.
"He can't," Regan said with a sigh. “Because the contract is certified by the magistrate, it cannot. We will ask, of course, to listen to our opinion, but the concern is unlikely to respond - its directors, first of all, profit is important. You know that the fleet in Rinkang is at the mercy of the corporations. We do what they say.
- Then the girl should be taken abroad! the old pilot slowly got to his feet. “Please, no, I’m begging for help!” I didn't want to talk about it, but you owe me, Damn it! Sorry for the reminder, send me away, but first help!!!
- In this case, it will be lost for our country ...
- So what? Aren't you tired of serving corporations yourself?
“I’ve been tired of it for a long time,” the Rear Admiral grinned wryly. “And not just me. But we are working to get out of their power. Will you come to us to do this noble deed?
- I'll go! Major said firmly. “But only after you help the girl get out of Rinkang.”
- Yah you! Regan exploded. - Completely crazy? Who do you think I am? For a bastard, right? How many times have we fought back to back?
“A lot,” Pimen chuckled. - Sorry. I'm glad you didn't turn into a bastard in a big position.
“Well, my subordinates still consider me that reptile, but that’s their business,” Rear Admiral grinned. - As far as I understand, you want to help the girl get to Tarkanak?
“Unfortunately, I can only deliver it to Storn. You'll have to do it yourself, I'm sorry. Our ships do not go to the principality. Unless they are smugglers, and it is undesirable to contact them. They will also be sold into slavery, you can expect everything from them.
- And that's bread! Pimen smiled with relief. - Thank you, buddy! But we need to hide Lina somewhere, they will start looking for her tomorrow from three days.
"Don't," Regan grumbled. The ship will start in five hours. By the way, Kars is the captain there.
“I would be glad to see this arrogant red infection!” Major laughed. - Where is the start?
- From a military spaceport three hundred kilometers from the city. Give me the address, I'll send a glider.
No need, I'll call a taxi.
- And who will let a taxi pass to the military cosmodrome? the Rear Admiral asked sarcastically. - I see that you have completely relaxed on civilian grubs, major. We'll have to remember the service.
- And what am I, I always! Pimen assured with a sly air. “Really relaxed. Military glider?
- What else? Regan growled. - Dictate.
- Southwestern tip, Halgran district, Twelfth Garden Street, house four hundred and forty-five. My Golar's number showed up on you, and I'm calling from it.
“All right, don’t leave the canal,” the Rear Admiral grunted and turned away, calling someone on another golar and giving orders to send the glider to the city.
Then he dialed the captain of the off-system frigate Slither, who was listed as a Rogue Trader. In fact, this ship, through figureheads, belonged to the Admiralty, was well armed and was used for smuggling and various slippery operations.
What happened, Regan? the sleepy face of Kars, a large man with bright red curly hair, appeared on the screen. "What the hell did you wake me up for?" I just fell asleep!
“It happened,” the Rear Admiral confirmed. Guess who just called me.
- How should I know? the captain shrugged.
— Pimen Daenbron.
– What-o-o-o?! Kars was stunned by this news. - So he, the beast, is alive ?!
"Alive," Regan chuckled. - Asks for help. One person must be taken out of our "blessed" country to Storn. Girl.
- Grandma on the ship? the captain grimaced. - I don't like this...
“Not just a woman, but a born pilot,” Rear Admiral cunningly clarified.
- Not the tail of the Damned! Kars wondered. - Then, of course, I will help, no question. With his own…
- That's it! The girl was sold by her mother to corporations. And the corporations don't even know what a born pilot is. They do not suspect that the poor thing will simply burn out in a couple of years without the sky.
- Paskuda! .. - the captain hissed with hatred. - Nothing, mouse tears will be shed for the cat ... They will pay for everything! Together!
“They will pay,” the Rear Admiral nodded in agreement. Someday they will pay. So I'm sending the girl along with Pimen to you?
- Ok. I'm waiting. But I'll definitely count Pimen's teeth!
"Your right," Regan chuckled. And you're not alone in line!
He chuckled and passed out. Then he turned again to the heavily sighing Pimen - he, of course, understood that no one would seriously beat him, but they would punch him in the neck. But he deserved it, you won’t say anything ... It was impossible to do this with old fighting friends. Science for the future.
“Listen here, loss,” the Rear Admiral’s gaze became piercing. “I think it’s better for you to hide too, the corporations will quickly find out who was closest to the girl, and they will take you up.” So after you see her off, come to me. Soldiers will take things from your house, I will arrange it. I will prepare a retrospective order for enlistment in military service with the restoration of rank and length of service.
“I see…” Pimen sighed. “Well, you're right, it's better for corporations to stay out of the way. Will you give me a ship?
“Lady, where are you going?” Regan grumbled indignantly. “Just look at me, no bad heroics!” You will quietly and peacefully carry one thing to the empire, bring back another. Unless you often have to fight off pirates, they have been interested in our cargo for a long time, we suspect an information leak. I want to fish live. Here you will be with us this live bait.
- Normally! The old pilot laughed. - And I already believed that I would have to become a coaster.
“I only needed your experience to use for all sorts of nonsense,” Rear Admiral also laughed. - In general, yes. The glider will come in an hour, discuss everything with the girl and fly. Don't say goodbye, see you in the morning. And learn! I'll still knock you on the neck! Understood?
“Understood…” Pimen sighed, looking at the extinguished holoscreen.
Lina sat quietly all this time, like a mouse, feeling hope rising in her soul. So, soon she will already be on a ship going to the Storn Empire? Thank you Uncle Pimen! If not for him...
“That’s the way it is, little piggy,” the mentor’s voice made the girl shudder. - Listen to me carefully.
- Listen, Uncle Pimen.
“Soon you will find yourself in a foreign country where you don’t know anyone or anything. Even the language is different. It's very hard, girl. There will be no one to help you in the empire, you will have to rely only on yourself and not do stupid things. Can you do it?
“I’ll try…” Lina said uncertainly. But I don't have any money...
- Oh yes! Pimen slapped himself on the forehead. - Wait a minute.
He got up and disappeared into the bedroom. I rummaged around there for a long time, but eventually returned, holding some kind of bundle in my hands. He looked at it thoughtfully and handed it to the girl, grumbling:
- Hold on. This is not enough for the road, but it will be enough for two years of a modest life.
Unfolding the package, Lina became speechless. She had never seen such money! Iridescent banknotes of small size glowing in the semi-darkness. They depicted star systems. What's this?
“Galactic credits,” the mentor understood her bewilderment. “Unfortunately, only six hundred remained from the old days. Exchange for local currency only in large banks, in no case do not go to exchange offices, there are always scammers grazing around them.
- I can't take them, Uncle Pimen! The girl's hands shook. “That’s a huge amount, more than eighteen thousand ranches!”
Take it, I said! the Major yelled at her. “I won't need them. Did you hear that I'm returning to military service?
“I heard,” Lina confirmed. But I can't take it! It's all your savings...
- So what? Pimen asked wearily. - It is said - take it! Otherwise you will be lost in the empire. People from Rinkang are not well liked there. The country is poor, prices are high. It is not known how long you will have to spend there before you find a way to get to the principality. What will you live on?
Well, I'll find a job...
- Yes, who will take you without documents? You're an illegal immigrant - no Rinkang passport, no imperial visa. You have to hide from the police. Keep in mind that any employer will immediately declare if an illegal immigrant contacts him. Orders in Storn are very strict! So - take it, and don't build yourself out of someone you don't know.
“Thank you…” Lina sobbed, hiding the money in her purse with trembling hands. - I will give, I will definitely give ...
- Oh, leave it! Pimen waved angrily. - The main thing is to survive and get to Tarkanak. One more thing…
“An old Moowan gave me the personal numbers of three captains plying between the empire and the principality. I suspect that these are smugglers, and even pirates. But still, write it down, but refer to them only as a last resort. Ralph said that if you refer to him, they will be taken to Ke-el-Enakh, but you will have to work out the way. I don't like this phrase.
- Why? Lina was surprised. - I agree to work! After all, no one will transport me for free.
“You little fool…” Pimen shook his head reproachfully. “You better think about what kind of work they can require from a young girl on a ship full of men starving for women. Like?
“Oh, mothers…” Lina's face changed. - No-ee ... I don’t need this!
“Exactly,” the major grumbled, and thought for a moment. - Finally, I want to give you some advice on how to behave in a foreign country.
- I'm listening...
He told his pupil a lot and, probably, wanted to tell even more, but did not have time - the whistle of a landing glider was heard in the street. The rear admiral warned that he would not be able to wait long. Pimen took the trembling Lina by the hand and led her outside. He did not collect things, not up to them - they will provide everything necessary in the service.
Following the mentor, the girl climbed the ladder of a large, camouflage-colored glider. Ahead was waiting for some completely unknown life. Everything close and familiar will soon be left behind. But there is no other way out...
This book is a sequel to the series "Echoes of the Silver Wind". For the most part, it tells about other heroes, although the main characters of the "Wind" act here, and the universe is the same.
To facilitate the perception of the measure of weight, length and time, they are given in units familiar to the Russian-speaking reader. New terms and concepts are explained either in the text itself or in footnotes.
All coincidences with real people or events are accidental, the novel from beginning to end is the fruit of the author's imagination.
A short, laughing girl in shabby overalls made of the cheapest synthetics, well, however, emphasizing her chiseled figure, hopped along the path of the old park to the hangars of the flying club visible in the distance. Ash-haired, quite pretty, but far from beautiful. Every now and then she threw her bag into the air, caught it, shouted something enthusiastically and, in general, looked completely happy. The people walking towards them smiled - at the sight of such carefree joy it was hard to suppress a smile.
- Well, pigalitsa, passed? - a huge gray-haired man, resembling a hardened bear, came out of the last hangar.
- Passed, Uncle Pimen! - From the fullness of feelings, the girl jumped on one leg, waving her bag. - Perfectly! And I already received a passport with a certificate! Another day before yesterday! 100 points in all subjects!
- Hey, smart girl! he threw up his hands. - Oh, beauty! Is it really a certificate with a golden seal of the Department of Education issued?
- Youth! Not everyone is capable of this. Now you should go to university...
- What kind of chishi? .. - Lina frowned. - Yes, and...
- What? Pimen raised his eyebrows. - Want to fly?
- Hunting! she scowled stubbornly. - And I will achieve my goal! I'll still get it!
“Girl-girl,” the instructor sighed heavily. “You know our admirals would rather hang themselves than let a woman become a military pilot. Don't go to military school.
- What about civil?
- And for a civil sponsor you need! Pimen grunted angrily, sinking onto a bench at the entrance to the hangar. Do you know how much a year of study there costs? Five thousand galactic credits, at least! Understand, no one will teach you like that! Your gold certificate entitles you to free education at intermediate level colleges, but only in industrial, electronic or textile. Not in flight school!
- I know ... - the girl drooped, dejectedly picking the sand with the toe of her boot. “But I can’t live without the sky, Uncle Pimen!” I'll die of longing without the sky! Just what to do? I do...
- I have already tried to find a sponsor for admission ... I sent out the results of the final exams, the conclusion of the medical board and your recommendations for all well-known transport companies. Of the eight, a request for a detailed questionnaire came. I sent…
- And? .. - Pimen was wary.
- They refused ... - Lina almost cried. They were all fine, except for one. Because I am a woman! How I fly, these bastards don't care!
“You are my good girl…” the instructor looked at her sadly. “Look, there is not a single female pilot in all of Rinkang. Do you hear? None!
So I'll be the first! The girl clenched her fists stubbornly. "I'll still get my way!"
- How? Pimen asked. Even if you do some miracle. How will you study? You have to live on something. After all, you were removed from the allowance of the fund from the day the certificate was issued?
“They did,” Lina reluctantly confirmed.
- That's the whole point.
In Rinkang, children from dysfunctional families were not taken to orphanages as orphans, but were placed on the so-called stock allowance. Most of the children's fund belonged to the state, the smaller part - to various public organizations. Funds for it were partly allocated from the treasury, partly collected by subscription from the wealthy sections of society. In practice, it looked like this: the child was registered at the district branch of the fund and assigned to the cafe closest to his home, paying for food from the fund's money, they were given the necessary clothes, textbooks and writing materials from warehouses, most often expired and purchased at residual value. The distribution of funds and the health of those on allowance were monitored by district social services. It is clear that a lot of money was deposited in the pockets of their employees, but the children also got something - at least they did not go hungry and did not get cold. Education was also received free of charge, but in schools of the lowest level. And there, of course, one could learn properly, but this required so much effort that few were capable of it. For the most part, the “children of the foundation” who graduated from school became workers in nearby factories and plants. One out of a thousand, no more, entered higher educational institutions. And even then - only in graduating mid-level specialists.
Tinalina Darilia Barcelat was the daughter of an experienced alcoholic. She herself did not know from whom she gave birth - she went to bed with everyone who brought a bottle of alcohol with them. How the girl survived in the early years is known only to the Blessed. Apparently, then her mother was not yet completely drunk and was able to think about the child. And when Lina was five years old, social workers came to the cluttered apartment of the alcoholic to put the baby on a fund allowance - the neighbors reported to the appropriate authorities, they took pity on the eternally hungry and ragged girl. To begin with, Lina was placed in a kindergarten, she only spent the night at home. And even then they brought her in the evenings, and in the morning the educators took her back - it turned out to be impossible to achieve this from her mother, who was only busy looking for a drink. In the district court, with the filing of the social service, the case of transferring Tinalina Barcelat to a state shelter was heard several times, but for some reason the jury did not decide to deprive her mother of parental rights, despite all the evidence collected by social workers.
From early childhood, the girl was used to taking care of herself - she quickly realized that there was nothing to hope for an eternally drunk mother. At home, she tried to appear as little as possible. After school, she either walked until dark, or sat in the free library, swallowing books in one gulp - they learned to read in kindergarten. When she was seven years old, she went to school. At first, Lina had a hard time there, because children are a pack of animals with their own rather rigid hierarchy. "Stock" began to poison the whole class. And the girl fought with all her might, fought like crazy, tore opponents with her teeth, never gave up, went to the end. In the end, classmates decided that she was "possessed" and left her alone. However, Lina did not make any friends - there were no other “fondists” in their fairly decent area, and ordinary children preferred not to mess with one, they only teased behind their backs. So the girl lived, content with her own company, until she was twelve. No one knew that almost every night Lina dreamed of the bottomless sky and translucent black wings behind her back. And then she accidentally met the instructor of the local flying club, the former fighter pilot of the VKF Rinkang, Major Pimen Raes Daenbron. And life has changed dramatically.
Remembering the hard fate of a talented child, the old pilot sighed sadly. How did they meet, give good memories? It seems that he then noticed how longingly he was looking at the flyers and gliders loitering over the airfield, standing by the fence, a pigalina about twelve years old in a cheap overalls of a "child of the foundation." In her dreams, she was clearly up there in the sky. Without knowing why, the instructor approached the girl and offered to ride a glider. From the flash of disbelief in her eyes and at the same time wild joy, the major became uneasy. It seems that the little girl was rarely met with kindness, which is not at all surprising in their "blessed" country. And he gave Lina a ride. Not just a ride, but allowed a little control of the glider. The girl shocked Pimen - she instinctively caught updrafts and downdrafts, after a few minutes she began to fly like many do not fly even after several months of training. Seriously interested in an unusual child, he offered to come more often, paying her an annual subscription from his not too big salary. Since then, the girl disappeared every evening in the flying club, in the summer she even spent the night right in the hangar. Soon all the local pilots fell in love with her and began to teach her how to fly for real. Lina did not disappoint them - she mastered new cars very quickly. And she flew, flew so that even the management looked at her constant presence through their fingers.
Iar Elterrus
This book is a sequel to the series "Echoes of the Silver Wind". For the most part, it tells about other heroes, although the main characters of the "Wind" act here, and the universe is the same.
To facilitate the perception of the measure of weight, length and time, they are given in units familiar to the Russian-speaking reader. New terms and concepts are explained either in the text itself or in footnotes.
All coincidences with real people or events are accidental, the novel from beginning to end is the fruit of the author's imagination.
A short, laughing girl in shabby overalls made of the cheapest synthetics, well, however, emphasizing her chiseled figure, hopped along the path of the old park to the hangars of the flying club visible in the distance. Ash-haired, quite pretty, but far from beautiful. Every now and then she threw her bag into the air, caught it, shouted something enthusiastically and, in general, looked completely happy. The people walking towards them smiled - at the sight of such carefree joy it was hard to suppress a smile.
- Well, pigalitsa, passed? - a huge gray-haired man, resembling a hardened bear, came out of the last hangar.
- Passed, Uncle Pimen! - From the fullness of feelings, the girl jumped on one leg, waving her bag. - Perfectly! And I already received a passport with a certificate! Another day before yesterday! 100 points in all subjects!
- Hey, smart girl! he threw up his hands. - Oh, beauty! Is it really a certificate with a golden seal of the Department of Education issued?
- Youth! Not everyone is capable of this. Now you should go to university...
- What kind of chishi? .. - Lina frowned. - Yes, and...
- What? Pimen raised his eyebrows. - Want to fly?
- Hunting! she scowled stubbornly. - And I will achieve my goal! I'll still get it!
“Girl-girl,” the instructor sighed heavily. “You know our admirals would rather hang themselves than let a woman become a military pilot. Don't go to military school.
- What about civil?
- And for a civil sponsor you need! Pimen grunted angrily, sinking onto a bench at the entrance to the hangar. Do you know how much a year of study there costs? Five thousand galactic credits, at least! Understand, no one will teach you like that! Your gold certificate entitles you to free education at intermediate level colleges, but only in industrial, electronic or textile. Not in flight school!
- I know ... - the girl drooped, dejectedly picking the sand with the toe of her boot. “But I can’t live without the sky, Uncle Pimen!” I'll die of longing without the sky! Just what to do? I do...
- I have already tried to find a sponsor for admission ... I sent out the results of the final exams, the conclusion of the medical board and your recommendations for all well-known transport companies. Of the eight, a request for a detailed questionnaire came. I sent…
- And? .. - Pimen was wary.
- They refused ... - Lina almost cried. They were all fine, except for one. Because I am a woman! How I fly, these bastards don't care!
“You are my good girl…” the instructor looked at her sadly. “Look, there is not a single female pilot in all of Rinkang. Do you hear? None!
So I'll be the first! The girl clenched her fists stubbornly. "I'll still get my way!"
- How? Pimen asked. Even if you do some miracle. How will you study? You have to live on something. After all, you were removed from the allowance of the fund from the day the certificate was issued?
“They did,” Lina reluctantly confirmed.
- That's the whole point.
In Rinkang, children from dysfunctional families were not taken to orphanages as orphans, but were placed on the so-called stock allowance. Most of the children's fund belonged to the state, the smaller part - to various public organizations. Funds for it were partly allocated from the treasury, partly collected by subscription from the wealthy sections of society. In practice, it looked like this: the child was registered at the district branch of the fund and assigned to the cafe closest to his home, paying for food from the fund's money, they were given the necessary clothes, textbooks and writing materials from warehouses, most often expired and purchased at residual value. The distribution of funds and the health of those on allowance were monitored by district social services. It is clear that a lot of money was deposited in the pockets of their employees, but the children also got something - at least they did not go hungry and did not get cold. Education was also received free of charge, but in schools of the lowest level. And there, of course, one could learn properly, but this required so much effort that few were capable of it. For the most part, the “children of the foundation” who graduated from school became workers in nearby factories and plants. One out of a thousand, no more, entered higher educational institutions. And even then - only in graduating mid-level specialists.
Tinalina Darilia Barcelat was the daughter of an experienced alcoholic. She herself did not know from whom she gave birth - she went to bed with everyone who brought a bottle of alcohol with them. How the girl survived in the early years is known only to the Blessed. Apparently, then her mother was not yet completely drunk and was able to think about the child. And when Lina was five years old, social workers came to the cluttered apartment of the alcoholic to put the baby on a fund allowance - the neighbors reported to the appropriate authorities, they took pity on the eternally hungry and ragged girl. To begin with, Lina was placed in a kindergarten, she only spent the night at home. And even then they brought her in the evenings, and in the morning the educators took her back - it turned out to be impossible to achieve this from her mother, who was only busy looking for a drink. In the district court, with the filing of the social service, the case of transferring Tinalina Barcelat to a state shelter was heard several times, but for some reason the jury did not decide to deprive her mother of parental rights, despite all the evidence collected by social workers.
From early childhood, the girl was used to taking care of herself - she quickly realized that there was nothing to hope for an eternally drunk mother. At home, she tried to appear as little as possible. After school, she either walked until dark, or sat in the free library, swallowing books in one gulp - they learned to read in kindergarten. When she was seven years old, she went to school. At first, Lina had a hard time there, because children are a pack of animals with their own rather rigid hierarchy. "Stock" began to poison the whole class. And the girl fought with all her might, fought like crazy, tore opponents with her teeth, never gave up, went to the end. In the end, classmates decided that she was "possessed" and left her alone. However, Lina did not make any friends - there were no other “fondists” in their fairly decent area, and ordinary children preferred not to mess with one, they only teased behind their backs. So the girl lived, content with her own company, until she was twelve. No one knew that almost every night Lina dreamed of the bottomless sky and translucent black wings behind her back. And then she accidentally met the instructor of the local flying club, the former fighter pilot of the VKF Rinkang, Major Pimen Raes Daenbron. And life has changed dramatically.
Not everyone dares to open their wings and take off. They do not dare even when there is no other way out, when to stay below means to perish. A very young girl decided on this, because she is a born pilot, and such people die without a sky. And the infinite Universe opened up before her, thousands of worlds, other intelligent races, joys and dangers, new friends and enemies appeared on her way. And adventures, as without them. True, the heroine did not want these adventures at all, her goal was to get to the planet of her dreams, where Tarkanak is located, the best military space Academy of the inhabited Galaxy. However, life does not ask a person for permission, throwing him into a whirlpool of events. The road was not easy, the victory was expensive. But maybe that's how it should have been?
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