"Chapter1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Carpenter Matthew)

Cool Darkness
by Matthew Carpenter



Chapter 1 : Mark of the Huntress

"Awe, shit. Man this is too much for one night" Dave sighed.
Five hours on the net after a full day's work at the office was enough
for a 24 hour day. He slouched back into his recliner and turned on the
built in massage, pulled the plugs from his system and blankly stared at
the ceiling.
"Too bad you still got a few hours before it's over." He loosened
his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his white shirt. A midnight
snack should be good he thought to himself. He sleepily stood up
between rolls of computer paper and electronic cables snaking through
the small den of his apartment in Philly. 'Thank god the lights are off or
I'd really have a headache.' Dave walked out of the room, still thinking
over the latest ideas from work involving the net connections between
North America and Europe. 'Goddamn bureaucrats think they know
everything. Hell, they probably couldn't even tell if I changed their
comm links from DC to LA.' The walk to the refrigerator was short. The
light from inside blinded him shortly since it was the only light on in
the house. 'I wonder what Cryon is up to tonight. They haven't been
going out as much lately as they used to.' A thought that sounded like
something was getting ready to go down, but with no background. They
haven't done anything lately that would hint to it. He didn't like that.
He pulled an open jar of pickles out of the frig and a container of
mustard, opened the bread drawer and got a loaf of old bread that was on
the brink of molding. Some meat and a bag of chips followed. He sat
down at the small round table next the to kitchen entrance and began
making a sandwich. He took a bite. 'Damn thing is getting stale. I
wonder how Nick is doing? The last time I talked with him must've been
2 weeks ago.' He swiveled around in his chair to a wall panel and entered
the code for a direct telecom interconnect.
The video jumped up and Nick's tired face showed up on the
screen.
"Nick, how you doin' man?" squawked Dave getting ready to take
another bite out of his sandwich.
"Dave...Do you know what time it is?"
"Yeah, but I couldn't sleep. What's up. I haven't.."
Blink. Blink. A monitor light went on. Someone's at the door,
thought Dave. 'Who the hell would come at a time like this?'
"Hang on, someone's at the door."
"At this time of night?" It was too late. Dave was already up and
heading for the door. Opening up another panel, the lights went on and
Dave spoke through the intercom mic.
"Who's there?"