"Michael Z. Williamson - The Humans Call it Duty" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williamson Michael Z)

out a final warm, quivering mouthful of flesh, shredded it with his teeth and tongue,
and swallowed. Salty and rich, and he savored it. The taste of his Enemy’s death.
The rest of the body went into the firethorn bed, where it could fertilize them, and
the Comm went several hundred paces away with him. He bit hard, until the case and
a tooth cracked, then bashed it against a rock until it was open. It had to be
destroyed, and he wasn’t sure how good the Enemy’s tools were at finding it. He
urinated in the open case, and buried it as deep as he could in a damp depression
that was overgrown with weeds.

He was done. The Comm was safe, and he could rest, then transmit his last
Datadump and work his weary way back to Home. Hunger and fatigue gnawed at
him to do that very thing, but another part was still awake. That part was sad, angry,
and mean. It meant to avenge David’s death, and it did not want to be ignored. And
there were only five of them left. Rest could wait. The Datadump could wait if need
be. Some Duties were more pressing than others.

****

Dawn was breaking, and Cap was near the Enemy again. They looked ragged,
drained, and fearful. He would help them feel that even more. They’d found no sign
of either him or the Comm with their tools, and that meant Cap had done well. He
felt pleasure, and a hint of satisfaction. They had killed David and taken the Comm,
but he had killed three of them already and destroyed it. But it would not bring David
back. He whimpered in loneliness.

They were trudging back the way they’d come, and he followed them behind
and above, slinking from limb to limb on the overhead path they had yet to suspect.
He detoured where the trees thinned, but kept the Enemy always in sight. It was an
old game that he knew from instinct and training. When Leopards had been taken
from their Old Home to this New Home, they brought their skills with them. The
Ripper of the forest might be stronger and faster, but Leopards were better trackers.
And Cap, or Capstick, as David had called him since he was paired, was one of the
best Leopards in the Military.

Below, Sergeant said, “Look, it’s daylight, we should be fine. We’ll set mines
there,” he pointed, “and there. You watch, Cynd, and wake us in two hours. We’ll
move again, then rest again, okay?”

“I think so,” the female Cynd said. Cap watched as the Squad shuffled about
the area. They were placing the small boxes he recognized as explosives. He’d seen
those in training. They were smaller and different shaped than his people’s, but he
knew what they were. He paid rapt attention to the placement.

Then the Squad lay down to sleep again, leaving her to stand watch. But she
did stand, not sit, and he wasn’t sure of his chances.

He watched as she moved around, alert and careful. There was a smell of not
quite fear. Eagerness. Worry, that was it. Cap knew how to do this. First, he must
move away and out of sight.