"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 2 - When True Night Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)saw one of the bundles on the trams begin to stir, as if
trying to free itself. Apparently so did Ian. The movement awakened him from his seeming trance, and he began to move toward the tram and its contents. Stepping over the line he had drawn, across the sigil-girded circle he had so carefully created. Drawing a slender knife from his belt as he moved. That was enough for Case. He was on his feet in an instant, and Lise was right behind him. While she moved to intercept the man, to keep him from reaching the tram, he took up. a solid position at the edge of the clearing and leveled his gun at the man's heart. "That's enough," he announced. "Party's over, Casca. Stay right where you are." The botanist reeled visibly, as though Case's words had not only stopped him in his tracks but had awakened him from some kind of trance. He turned toward the commander and gaped at him, as if trying to absorb the fact of his presence. "Leo," he said at last. Starting to move toward him. "How did you-" "Stay where you are!" Case ordered. "And keep your nodded; she was kneeling on the tram's bed, inspecting its contents. "No fast movements, you hear me? Just stay where you are and keep quiet." Lise had cut the tie on one of the bundles and was freeing its occupant. "Well?" Case demanded. "It's Erik Fielder." She reached a hand in to take his pulse, and added, "He's alive." Quickly she moved to the other bundle and unwrapped its upper end. "Liz Breslav. Out cold. I see bruises, some sort of impact damage to the side of the head . . . can't say how bad it is without MedOps. We need to get her back to the ship." It took him a minute to put the names in context; when he did, he darkened. Ian's choice of victims was all too practical. With true night coming, the colony's other members would have been huddled together in their makeshift cabins, seeking the dubious safety that could be found in numbers. It would have been hard for Ian to single out one or two of them, much less knock them out and drag their bodies from the camp without being seen. But Fielder and Breslav had drawn special guard duty for the night, which meant that they were already outside the camp, |
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