"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 36 - Return to Kaldak" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

rubber material I took through last time survived as well as the Englor Alloy."
"More equipment, as well as Cheeky?" said J dubiously. "That's two experiments on one trip."

"True," said Blade. "But some sort of backpacking outfit shouldn't make that much difference. I was also
thinking of Cheeky. I can forage for my meals or tighten my belt better than he can. I've got to take some
food for him, at least." The feather-monkey yeeeped in apparent approval.

"I must say I was thinking along similar lines my self," said Leighton. "I would suggest some care, though.
We've got a second knife made of EA Two, so you'll have a spare. We can also make up one for
Cheeky in a few days. Other than that, I'd suggest not taking anything metal. Above all, no guns. I'd be a
trifle uneasy about subjecting anything explosive to the new field this time."

"I wasn't thinking of a gun," said Blade. "It's the sort of thing I might find a bit hard to explain if I landed
in a pretechnological society. I've been suspected of black magic often enough as it is. What about one of
those knockdown crossbows we used to have in MI6A? You remember them, sir. Fit in an attache case,
but a two-hundred-pound pull and no metal in them."

J nodded. "I think I still have enough influence to rout one of them out of the Weapons people."

"Then it's settled, is it?" said Leighton.

"As far as I'm concerned, it is," said Blade. "What about you, sir?"

J still had reservations. This was going to be the biggest leap into the dark since the original KALI
computer. However, they were already far beyond the limits of what anyone outside the Project
considered science. What did they have to lose?

"Might as well be hung for a sheep as for a lamb," said J. "See you next week, Richard." They shook
hands, and J also reached up and patted Cheeky's head. Blade had tried to teach the feather-monkey to
shake hands, but he flatly refused.

Outside, J was so preoccupied as he walked to his car that he was nearly run down by a delivery truck
pulling into Complex Two. Several men came out and started unloading crates and film canisters. J
watched them idly for a moment. It seemed that Complex Two was growing every time he came.

Well, it certainly didn't hurt the Project to have room to expand. There was already more than enough
equipment and people to fill two of the three buildings. If the Project was on the edge of a real
breakthrough . . .

J firmly squelched his optimism and climbed into his car. No matter how close they were to a
breakthrough, everything still depended on Richard Blade.

Chapter 2

During the next few days, everyone's nerves were stretched tight over the risks they were taking. Blade
tried at first to assemble his equipment from many different countries, so that no one would be able to tell
where he himself came from. He spent several days trying to find South African hiking boots and Czech
canteens before realizing that he was wasting his time. The Russians had penetrated Project Dimension X
twice, but both times their agents had died before revealing its secret. It was highly unlikely that he would
meet anyone in Dimension X who knew or cared where his gear came from.