"Lee Edgar - Princess 02 - Aftermath Of A Princess" - читать интересную книгу автора (Edgar Lee)

Bois de Boulogne where, not long ago, children had played and couples had fallen in love. But that was
before the war.
‘Look at that damage,’ murmured the pilot. ‘What a lousy waste of life and property. And all for what?’
‘Greed for power and money does that to you after a while. Let’s hope the Consortium which tricked the
superpowers into launching their weapons has finally been eliminated.’
‘Amen to that,’ said Gillian Green soberly.
‘Here they come!’ said the pilot suddenly.
The others looked around but the sky still seemed empty.
‘Behind,’ he clarified.
A dart-shaped aircraft was poised, like an eagle about to pounce, as they maintained course
north-westwards towards their final destination.
‘Is he going to shoot?’ whispered Gillian as she stared at the sleek jet bristling with weaponry, its air-brakes
open and undercarriage lowered to keep down to the helicopter’s speed.
‘It’s a MiG-25 Foxbat. If he was going to attack us, he could simply have fired a missile from ten miles
away and we’d never even have seen it coming.’
‘US Navy helicopter,’ the radio suddenly blasted out. ‘This is Flight-Lieutenant Ivan Pentovic of the Russian
Air Force. Please state your destination.’
‘What in tarnation are they up to?’ muttered the pilot.
‘Let’s not argue with the man,’ said Roger. ‘At least not while we’re in his sights.’
‘Okay.’ Frank pushed a switch. ‘We are part of the United Nations Task Force from the south and are on an
urgent mission of mercy.’
‘Will he believe us?’ asked the young woman.
‘I don’t know, Gill. We’ll soon know.’
The radio spoke again. ‘It is my information that you are American spies. Please turn southwards and clear
the area or I will have no alternative but to open fire.’
Roger looked around. The pilot who was speaking was obviously the one who had now drawn alongside and
was watching them closely. A second jet was right behind them.
‘They are not stupid, are they,’ he said. ‘Gill, get Jim to open the side door. Then you and Marianne show
yourselves. Wave to them or something. We’ve got to convince them that we mean them no harm.’
‘Righto,’ she said and disappeared. Roger heard the door being opened and glanced back to see that the
girls were doing their part well, smiling and waving frantically.
‘What is your destination?’ said the voice.
‘A place just outside Rouen,’ replied the pilot. ‘We are bringing a doctor for the woman at the tracking
station - the one who was badly injured.’
There was radio silence for some time as the Russian pilot conversed with his superiors.
‘I regret we have no record of either an injured person or a tracking station. You must turn south
immediately.’
Roger grabbed the microphone. ‘Now listen here, Comrade. That young lady is my sister and she is dying.
If the doctor we’re carrying doesn’t get to her right away, it will be too late, do you understand?’
‘I understand. But my orders are...’
‘To hell with your orders, Lieutenant. We’re going in. If you check with your superiors, you will know that we
are an unarmed United Nations flight direct from Geneva. If you attack us, you will start a war which will make
the last little episode look like a minor skirmish.’
‘One moment.’
There was a further delay as they continued down the Seine valley. Gradually, the ruins petered out as they
moved further from the capital. In this area, as in most of the rest of France and the low countries, it had been
radioactive fallout that had killed the population - not the blast itself.
The Russian-accented voice came once more. ‘It appears that your sister has locked herself into the
control centre of the tracking station. No-one can enter the building without setting off explosive devices which
will render the equipment useless.’