"Janat Kagan - Hellspark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

woof of the 2nd skin; and because she had rolled forward at the crucial moment, it was unlikely she’d
even have a bruise from the attempted stabbing.
There was one further advantage: his disbelief gave Tocohl the few seconds necessary to regain her
breath and charge. The Sheveschkemen’s nerve broke. He gave a sharp squeak of panic, dropped his
knife, and fled.
Tocohl wasted no time following him; she rounded the corner into the alleyway—and stopped short.
The third Sheveschkemen was gone, and so was the off-worlder.
(Overlay infrared,) Tocohl snapped, and a line of ghostly red footprints appeared, drag marks trailing
them. The prints steamed away even as she watched, and she followed at a run.
Deep into the alleyway, the prints brightened and led to a narrow door. Even with her vision pushed
for available light, Tocohl might have missed it—it was flush with the alley wall—but in infrared, the
door’s outline was unmistakable and the misty heat patterns told the rest. The Sheveschkemen had
dropped the off-worlder, fumbled for the latch, then dragged her inside…
Once again sounding prim, Maggy began, (Breaking and entering—)
Tocohl cut her warning short, (It’s festival. Read up on it.)
(If you’re going in,) said Maggy, changing tactics, (put on your gloves so I can protect your hands.)
Tocohl gave each hand a sharp snap downward. Her neat cuffs unfolded and met just beyond the
tips of her fingers. She gave Maggy a moment to individuate the 2nd skin between fingers, then reached
for the latch and swung the door inward.
Maggy adjusted the spectacles so smoothly that Tocohl was not blinded by the unexpected glare of
electric lights.
The fisher, a woman almost as tall as Tocohl and twice as massive, wrapped twine tightly, viciously,
about the off-worlder. She looked up at the noise, grunted, and threw a shiny object—
Tocohl swiftly drew the door to, and the object struck it with a thud, splintering wood where
Tocohl’s head had been the moment before, then crashed to the floor and rolled away. It was a heavy
copper sap that fishers used to kill their netted catch.
Still using the door for partial cover, Tocohl kept her eyes on the Sheveschkemen.
Then the fisher’s eyes flicked once to the left. Warned by the movement, Tocohl leapt left even
before the Sheveschkemen.
The fisher’s knife lay beside a skein of netting twine. Tocohl swept it from the ironwood table
seconds before the fisher’s full weight struck her. Tocohl staggered back, but stayed between the fisher
and her knife, and blocked two punches in rapid succession.
Then she saw an opening, whipped the edge of her hand across the fisher’s temple. Maggy was good
to her promise: the 2nd skin stiffened and Tocohl felt bone crunch beneath the blow.
The Sheveschkemen fell, first to her knees, then onto her face. Tocohl stepped aside and, without
taking her eyes from the fisher, knelt for the knife.
Cautiously she rose and stood looking down at the fisher’s prone body. After a long moment, she let
out a sharp breath. (How’s my adrenaline level now?) she asked.
(Still high, but dropping,) Maggy answered, impervious to sarcasm.
Tocohl grinned in relief and turned her attention to the off-worlder. The small woman was still
unconscious and breathing with difficulty. Tocohl first removed the crude gag and blindfold, then set to
work on the rough twine with the fisher’s knife.
Over her 2nd skin, the off-worlder wore a kilt of charcoal gray, black boots, and a fringe bodice of
blue and silver. Silver threads laced through her jet-black hair, which hung in double braids over either
ear. Taken singly, the styles might have identified her world of origin, but together, they gave Tocohl no
clue.
Nor did her face. Her features were angular but gentle, and her skin was shockingly pale in contrast
to her hair, except for the burns on her cheeks caused by the force with which the fisher had gagged her.
Her breathing gradually became normal.
Tocohl sliced through the last of the twine, and the woman slumped forward. Tocohl caught and