"Family d'Alembert 06 - The Purity Plot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

another week, during which final checks of the wiring and plumbing were completed.
There were only two guards stationed at the building's base, and they hadn't been
expecting any trouble. The party of invaders blasted them in cold blood, then continued
with their mission.

The leader checked the elevator tube and found it in workable condition. He and his
friends got in and rose quickly to the upper stories. The Imperial Trade Tower had been
designed like an enormous tulip about to blossom, with the bulb beginning a full thirty
stories above ground level. The intruders got off at the thirty-fourth floor and spread out.
Each of the eight team members planted his explosive charge in one of the offices
around the floor's perimeter, then returned to the central shaft. They went up the tube
four more floors. So far, everything had gone according to their plans, but now they ran
into something they had not counted on: people.

As it happened, this brand-new building, a showcase of Glasseyer architecture and
design, had attracted the interest of Lord Hok Fu-Choy, nephew of Grand Duke TChen
who owned Sector Seventeen in which Glasseye was located. Lord Hok had requested
a personal inspection while he was here on Glasseye, and Baron William of
Southbeach was most happy to consent. During the day though, the building was still
swarming with construction workers, and it would be hard for Lord Hok to observe it in
its proper form. Also, the Baron promised, Lord Hok would get a splendid nighttime view
of the panorama of Southbeach City if he came up here after hours. Lord Hok agreed to
a nighttime tour.

Neither Baron William nor his guest had expected to encounter any trouble in an
uncompleted building during an unannounced visit. Each man only had one
escort-bodyguard with him-wholly inadequate, it turned out, for the situation they found
themselves facing.

It would have been hard to say which side was more surprised at seeing the other
there, but the invaders who'd been prepared for anything that might happen-recovered
first. Being well armed, they drew their guns to kill the strangers, and they would have,
but the leader recognized the Baron and Lord Hok. Making a snap decision, he ordered
his followers to take them alive.

The escorts fought well, and managed to burn down two of their attackers, but they
were hopelessly outnumbered. In the end, they lay dead on the floor while the two
noblemen looked on, helpless. The saboteurs took their prisoners and set the
remainder of their explosive charges. Then, herding their captives into the elevator
tubes, they descended once more to the ground level and to the shuttle prepared for
their escape.

They pushed Lord Hok into the craft first. The young nobleman resented this brusque
treatment and, despite the guns that were trained on him, he began a brief struggle. His
attempt did not last long, as one of his captors hit him soundly across the face with the
butt of a blaster, but the minor scuffle did give Baron William a chance to break free of
the men who were holding him. Before any of the invaders knew quite what had
happened, the Baron was running down the transit tube into the darkness. A couple of
the men started after him, but they were called back by their leader. Their time was
running out; they dared not waste any by chasing the fleeing man. They still had one