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

He reached into his pocket to remove the transponder. Sinking deeper into the water, he thrust it at
Commarin. "Take this," he hissed. "Make your way around the pen until you find a garbage trawler in
port. Check the ready lights on the berth. Find one that's nearly charged. Use your knife to remove the
tentacles, then tie yourself to it. It'll take you a hundred klicks out by morning if it senses no weight on its
limbs. Your friends will be able to retrieve you safely."

"You're coming too," Commarin said anxiously.

Zayder's lip curled in anger. "Don't think so, Commarin. Tiburon nicked my leg. Blood's still flowing. I've
got to get out of the water."

"But Ryan's there."

"I've dealt with sharks before. Now go. Go! Get out of here. I want to see Ryan lose for a change."

But Commarin shook his head. "Not a chance. I got you into this mess. I'm not going to abandon you
now. Look, if we can get to that helicopter, we can both get out of here."

"I don't know how to fly a helicopter."

"I do."

Staying under the deck, they moved around the perimeter of the shark pen toward the shed and the
moored helicopter. A long gray shadow dogged them on the other side of the mesh: Tiburon. Coursing
back and forth, back and forth, the shark's ceaseless motion focused on their slow progress.
They reached the shed without incident. The helicopter bobbed on the light swell only a few meters
away. There was no sign of Ryan.

"He was uninjured," Zayder hissed. "He'll have called for reinforcements by now."

The light tread of a foot overhead alerted them. The shark swam past, turned, swam past again.

"Commarin!" Ryan's voice boomed over the hiss/roar of the swell rising and falling against the mesh. "I
know where you are, Commarin. Your toothy escort is less shy about showing himself than you are.
Come out, Commarin. There's little to fear. You know I'm a practical man."

To Zayder the words seemed to be amplified, reverberating under the deck. The voice might have been
that of the shark, a dual entity, inescapable in its reach. He leaned back in the water, conscious of a soft
roar in his ears that was the helpless static of oxygen-starved nerves. Some part of him knew he was
bleeding to death. Salt water splashed into his mouth. He started to choke. He reached for the mesh to
keep from sinking, but suddenly Commarin was there, buoying him up with bandaged hands, hissing
something about Tiburon. And then: "We have to try to swim underwater to the other side of the
helicopter."

Zayder shook his head, fumbling to find the words to express his fears. "No good!" he whispered.
"Ryan's armed. Even if you managed to take off, Ryan could still bring you down. Have to get rid of
Ryan first."

But how? His mind seemed to be bobbing about on the surface of a swell. He had trouble focusing on a