"Michael A. Stackpole - Dark Conspiracy 01 - A Gathering Evil" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stackpole Michael A)

"They'll be here." Another hack. "See, there they are."
Both men fell silent as I heard another vehicle drive up.
Its engine had a nasty ticking sound and the door slid
open. I immediately imagined it to be a van or delivery
truck.
Jack greeted the newcomers. "Evenin', tulmen."
"The last batch was unsatisfactory." The voice had no
compromise, and even less humanity in it.
Jack managed to keep fear out of his voice, but he
radiated it so palpably that I could feel it from within the
bag. "I know, and I'm sorry about that, but look, this one
will make it up to you."
I heard a pair of clicks and the pressure on my chest
and legs went away. I felt a tug near the top of my head,
then heard the rasping sound of the zipper being undone.
For a half-second the air rushing in felt cool; then it turned
hot and very dry. I smelled dust in the air and the sharp
scent of burned-out engines and steaming radiator fluid.
My nasal passages dried out immediately and I could feel
myself desiccating as they stood there.
Gruff-voice tried to let laughter override his anxiety.
"Look, he's mid-30s, clean and in good shape. No scars.
You can get kidneys, a liver and a heart out of him. His
eyes should be good, too. Hell, you could even take his
lungs and give them to Jack, here."
Panic again surged through me. They're selling off my
parts, but I'm not even dead yet. They can't do this, I have
to let them know I'm still alive!
"Why? He'd just ruin them as well." I felt fingers poke
and prod me. Hands slipped beneath my right shoulder
and lifted me enough to get a brief glimpse of my back.
My head fell back, opening my mouth, and I gasped
aloud. Jack and Gruff-voice jumped back, with one of
them clunking against the ambulance.
"Jesus!"
Yes, there, now they know I'm still alive.
The inspector laughed harshly. "Come now, aces like
you know gasses build up in corpses. Only time you'll
see this deader again is in your nightmares."
My heart sank.
"Well, we don't spend as much time around them as
you Reapers do. We generally get them before they
become spare parts."
"So you do. Still warm. Good. Looks clean. Where did
you get him?"
I heard Jack swallow hard. "Call came in an hour ago.
He was in a squat-shack hotel in Slymingtown. Setup
looked staged, like he had been dumped there. No one
was asking questions, but Scorpion Security was on its
way, so we snatched him and called you. How much?"