"Steve Perry - Matador 6 - The Albino Knife" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

DEATH CAME FOR them on electronic wings.

It came silently. No whisper betrayed itspresence, no false move disturbed the intricate viral/molecular
twined and interlocked essences of the ship's computer. The bioelectric brain continued to hold the
Republic shipKhadaji in tight orbit around Earth, performing ten thousand functions with ease, never a
pause, never an error, cupping the lives of the Republic President Rajeem Carlos, his wife and
companions and operators within the shell of spun carbonex fibers and denscris, proof against the hard
and cold vacuum of space.

The ship was armed as well as any Republic destroyer, crewed by the best troops available from any of
the fifty-six planets or eighty-nine wheelworlds. Named for the hero of the revolution, theKhadaji was the
acme of galactic technology, virtually impervious to intentional harm from without when lit, top of the line,
triple backups for every system onboard right down to the toilets. But there was no obvious enemy for
thedoppler guns to track, no visible incoming attacker to outrun or destroy. Death came wrapped in
grinning stealth and waited for its proper moment.

President Carlos walked with his wife Beel toward the dinner at which he was hosting the new
governors for the five planets of the Shin System. Just ahead of them, dressed in his characteristic dark
orthoskins and spetsdods, was Jarl, one of the family's four matador guards.

Carlos had been President for nearly five years, the term was almost over, and he was looking forward
to stepping down. They had come a long way since the Confederation had been toppled.Time for
somebody else to continue the work. He had done his part and he was ready to rest and let history judge
his actions. From Prebendary to President, it had been a far road and a perilous one.

As they entered the corridor between the dining room and the commons, the thin-sheet carbonex safety
door above the hatch ahead of them snapped down from its slim tube and shot into place, forming an
airtight seal over the portal.

Jarl spun away from the door, his right hand extended, the barrel of his back-of-the-hand weapon
seeking any attacker from their rear.

There was no one behind the trio. Almost in the same instant, however, the safety door at the opposite
end of the corridor popped into place.

Jarl came up from his crouch. Beel looked at Carlos, puzzled. The President watched the matador's jaw
muscles flex as he bit down too hard on his dentcom andsubvocalized a question.

"A breach in the hull—?"Carlos began.

"No, sir.The comp says the hull is patent—"

The lights went out.
 A heartbeat later the wall batteries lit the thin line of emergency beamers along the floor and ceiling. The
corridor was darker, but the beamers gave enough illumination so they could see to move. If there had
been any place to which they could move. They were bottled up.

Where were the warning sirens and emergency instructions?

"Rajeem—?"