"Энди Макнаб. Последний свет (engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

They both stood up and put their wet shirts back on. Sundance walked
over to turn off the TV. Neither of them bothered to look at me. It was
still as if I wasn't there.
The engine noise got louder. Doors slammed and the shutter came down
again.
The Yes Man appeared at the door, still in his suit and looking
severely pissed off. Trainers slipped dutifully out of the room, like the
family Labrador.
I wouldn't have thought it possible but the Yes Man's face was an even
brighter red than usual. He was under pressure. Yet again, C and his mates
weren't too pleased with their non-IB experiment.
He stopped just three or four feet away from me, looking like an irate
schoolteacher, legs apart, hands on hips.
"What happened, Stone?" he shouted.
"Can't you get anything right?"
What was he on about? Only two hours ago he'd wanted me killed, and now
he was telling me off like a naughty schoolboy. But it wasn't the moment to
point this out. It was the moment to creep big-time.
"I just don't know, Mr. Frampton. As soon as I had three lights up I
sent the fire commands. I don't know what happened after that. It should
have worked, all four of us had com ms up until then but-' "But nothing!" he
exploded.
"The task was a complete failure." His voice jumped an octave.
"I'm holding you personally responsible, you do know that, don't you?"
I did now. But what was new?
He took a deep breath.
"You don't understand the importance of this operation that you have
completely scuppered, do you?"
Scuppered? I tried not to smile but couldn't help it.
"Fucked up' was how Lynn would have put it.
The Yes Man was still playing the school-teacher. There's nothing to
smile about, Stone. Who, in heaven's name, do you think you are?"
It was time for a bit of damage limitation.
"Just someone trying to keep alive," I said. That's why I taped our
conversation, Mr. Frampton."
He was silent for a few seconds while that sank in, breathing heavily,
eyes bulging. Ah, yes, the tape and pictures. He must have just remembered
why I was still alive and he was here. But not for long; his brain switch
was set to Transmit rather than Receive. 'You've no idea of the damage
you've done. The Americans were adamant that this had to be done today. I
gave my word to them, and others, that it would." He was starting to feel
sorry for himself.
"I can't believe I had so much confidence in you."
So it was an American job. No wonder he was flapping. The senior Brits
had been trying to heal a number of rifts in their relationship with the USA
for quite a while now especially as some of the US agencies just saw the UK
as a route to extend its reach into Europe, and not as any sort of partner.
The 'special relationship' was, in effect, history.
But the big picture wasn't exactly top of my agenda right now. I didn't
care what had been scuppered. I didn't even care who had sponsored the job