"Linda Nagata - Hooks, Nets & Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nagata Linda)

was screaming. The bleeding corpse shuddered on the deck. His own leg felt as if fiery brands were
burning into his flesh. He choked on the pain.

Suddenly, the bolt of the harpoon was thrust in his face. He stared at the double image of the steel point
as it hovered, out of focus, scant centimeters from his eyes. He looked past the point to see Ryan
standing over him, face flushed with fury.

"Where is Commarin?" Ryan shouted. "Where is he?"

"Tiburon," Zayder gasped. "I told you--"

"No more lies! That shark has not fed. Where is he? Where is Commarin? Tell me now, or you'll die. Tell
me, because I'm going to find him anyway."

The screams of the wounded man were growing feebler. He was bleeding to death while his boss
continued to pursue the quarry.

In the pen, the waters were no longer calm. Sharks were gathering, drawn by the huge quantities of
blood that continued to drain into the water. Zayder glanced quickly at the frothing, whirling maelstrom of
fins, knowing his own death would lie there if he gave into Ryan.

Tiburon had never given in. Not even after his fins had been cut off five times, five times regrown in the
coursing waters of the recovery channels. He'd just gotten bigger and meaner; faster, stronger. Maybe
soon, he'd be able to jump over the deck to freedom.
All this passed through his mind in the space of a trembling breath. And then he made his decision. "Fuck
you, Ryan," he muttered.

Ducking quickly, he rolled off the deck. He heard Ryan scream at him, but the sound was cut off by the
water as he plunged into the pen, just on the edge of the frenzy.

Zayder opened his eyes to the brine. He saw dark shadows dart towards him. The water was murky
with blood. He stretched out his body and reached for the mesh of the shark pen's wall. He kicked.
Harsh skin scraped his ribs as a shark brushed against him. He kicked harder. His fingers found the
mesh. A gray shape loomed out of the froth and murk. Maw open, teeth bared, it bore down on him. He
jammed his head through the mesh, wriggled to get his shoulders through. The shark turned and darted
away, its dentate skin scraping his thigh as he pulled himself all the way through.

He surfaced under the deck, gasping for air. His eyes were closed in a grimace of pain as he fought the
urge to scream. Ryan was on the deck, just above. But there was so much blood in the water! Ryan
would have to believe he was dead. He would have to.

"Zayder!" a voice hissed, not an arm's length from his ear.

He jumped in shock. His eyes flew open to see Commarin adrift in the water beside him, still wearing the
diving gear, his bandaged hands awkward as he paddled to stay afloat.

A wave of dizziness swept over him. He could sense blood from the wound in his leg pumping into the
ocean. He could still feel the frantic thrashings of the frenzy in the currents driven through the mesh. His
trembling hands stroked the water. "Ryan knows you're here," he whispered to Commarin. "His goons
are dead. But he's the worst of them."