"Lawrence Watt-Evans - War Surplus 01 - The Cyborg And The Sorcerers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

If he had some tool, such as a screwdriver, he could get them apart, he was sure. Mentally he reviewed
his supplies, what few he had.

He had a glider-chute, consisting of several meters of fine nylon, a lot of nylon cord, and spring-loaded
expanding plastic ribs that gave the 'chute its shape. The ribs might possibly be of use, but that would
mean climbing back onto the roof and ripping apart the 'chute.

He was wearing a helmet and oxygen mask; the mask hung loose around his neck. There was no help in
those two items.

The submachine gun was slung across his shoulders; if he could get a meter or two away, and disregard
the noise, he could blow the entire window apart

Last, there were the flashlight and snark on his belt; remembering the snark, he suddenly felt foolish.

It was clipped on the right, for easy use by his right hand; that hand was still clutching his makeshift rope,
however, so that he reached awkwardly across with his left and carefully unfastened the little weapon.
Moving very slowly and deliberately—it would not do to drop the thing in the alley —he brought it
across his body.

It wasn't safe to be too close to anything that the snark's beam hit; he edged back off the windowsill until
he hung from his right hand, his toes on the edge of the sill to steady him. Carefully, he used his thumb to
turn the control setting from SAFETY to MODERATE; the power dial lit a dull red, and the needle
swung to the 90 percent charge mark. He pointed it at the window and pressed the trigger, holding his
breath.

The casement vanished in a puff of gray dust, sparkling in the starlight; he heard a soft hissing as
powdered glass sprinkled across the windowsill.

He turned the setting back to SAFETY, then carefully clipped the snark back onto his belt. Reaching
forward, he thrust his hand through the opening the weapon had made.
It had not dissolved the entire window, but it had made a hole about a quarter meter across; within Slant
discovered that even had he gotten the casement open he would not have been able to just climb inside,
as there had indeed been shutters. The snark's beam had gone through these as well, removing their latch;
he could easily push them aside and reach across to the casement latch.

Slowly and carefully, so as not to dislodge any loosened panes of glass in what was left of the window,
he swung the casement open and slid into the room beyond.

Here he had virtually no light at all, not ever the starlight; closing what remained of the shutters behind
him, he took the flashlight from his belt and shone it about.

The room was, fortunately, uninhabited; that meant that he didn't have to kill anyone just yet Had it been
occupied, of course, his rattling about outside the window would probably have been heard.

Two of the four Walls, ahead and to his left, were lined with books from floor to ceiling, a matter of
slightly more than two meters; the Teyzhans apparently didn't bother with high ceilings everywhere as
they had in the Council chamber. A third wall was papered with maps and charts and diagrams. The
fourth wall, although lined with shelves, did not hold books but an amazing clutter of apparently random