"Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson - Dune- Nighttime Shadows on Open Sand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert Brian & Frank)

In the center of the village, they encountered a festival of horrors.

The noise was appalling, as was the smell. Bodies lay sprawled on the
ground like squashed insects, arms and legs stiffened at odd angles,
while tortured survivors wandered about as if insane, shrieking and
snarling like animals. They had ripped hair out of their heads in bloody
clumps. Some used long fingernails to claw the eyes out of their faces,
then held the scooped eyeballs in their palms; blind, they staggered
against the tan walls of dwellings, leaving wet crimson smears.

Even the dead ones did not look at peace.

"By Shai-Hulud!" Liet whispered under his breath, while his father let
out a louder curse in common Imperial Galach.

One man with torn eye sockets like bloody extra mouths above his
cheekbones collided with a crawling woman; both victims flew into a
rage and ripped at each other's skin with bare hands, biting and spitting
and screaming. There were muddy spots on the street, overturned
containers of water.

Some buildings were locked and shuttered, barricaded against the
crazed wretches outside who pounded on the walls, wailing wordlessly
to get in. On an upper floor Liet saw a woman's terrified face at the
dust-streaked windowplaz. Others hid, somehow unaffected by the
murderous insanity.

"We must help these people, Father." Liet leaped out of the sealed
groundcar before his father had brought it to a complete stop. "Bring
your weapons. We may need to defend ourselves."

They carried old maula pistols as well as knives. His father, though a
scientist at heart, was also a good fighter-a skill he reserved for
defending his vision for Arrakis. The legend was told of how he had
slain several Harkonnen bravos who'd been attempting to kill three
young Fremen. Those rescued Fremen were now his most loyal
lieutenants, Stilgar, Turok, and Ommun. But Pardot Kynes had never
fought against anything like this...

The maddened villagers noticed them and moaned. They began to
move forward.

"Don't kill them unless you must," Kynes said, amazed at how quickly
his son had armed himself with a crysknife and maula pistol. "Watch
yourself."

Liet ventured into the street. What struck him first was the terrible
stink, as if the foul breath of a dying leper had been captured in a bottle
and slowly released.