Odnośniki
|
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
gi-ant, dying fire close by and Noguchi saw the two hu-mans in the viewscreen as theShell actually
touched the ground, a tremendous, draggingcrunch of wood be-ing forced into the soil, of plants and
trees being chopped down by the nose of the still-moving ship.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
No!
Noguchi saw the two figures running, pumping hell-bent to get out of the way and then the ship plowed
upward, the jerking image of the fleeing people gone from the screen. She saw shadowed green,
mov-ing, she saw a flash of dark sky, then green again and then it was over, theShell coming to rest.
The second she felt that the ship had settled, she popped the seat harness and grabbed her mask,
desper-ate to get out, to see if she'd done the unthinkable. What a cruel irony it would be, to be
responsible for killing people she'd come to save from the Hunters, a Clan ship the instrument of their
deaths.
She doubted that the queen had survived the land-ing, but she hesitated at the hatch back into the shuttle
dock all the same, listening. She'd already half slipped into battle mode, all of her senses tuning up for
what-ever came next. There was nothing but the clattering, hissing alarm, no sound, nofeel of movement.
Noguchi moved quickly across the dock, popping the air-lock door on the east side.
The rush of air seemed cold compared to theShell's heated atmosphere, and she welcomed it, breathing
deeply as she looked down, assessing her climb. The ship was easily twenty-five meters high, but there
were trees pressed against the side, less than a four-meter drop to the closest branch; Noguchi donned
her mask and quickly lowered herself over the lock's edge, able to slide part of the way down theShell's
curving slope.
From the trees to the ground it was an easy climb,
mostly dropping from branch to branch, steadying her-self with one hand against the hull. Her ankle was
still sore from her fight with Shorty, but the rest of her in-juries seemed to have melted away. As soon as
her feet touched, she took off her mask, hurrying around to the front of the ship.
Please, let them be here, let them be unhurt
Noguchi stepped away from the ship, searching and there they were, standing in a small semi-clearing
right in front of theShell. A man and a woman, both di-sheveled and dirty, both staring at her as if she
were an alien; the thought made her smile, just a little. The woman, who held a handgun, lowered it
slightly. They glanced at each other uncertainly, then back at her.
A sudden crunch of nerves hit her, seeing two hu-man faces, humanexpressions for the first time in
three years, it's been three years. What must I look like, what are they thinking? What am I
going to say?
Noguchi forced herself to relax. She'd tell them the truth, that was all.
The woman was slender, long, reddish hair framing an intelligent and wary face. The man was
dark-skinned, of African descent perhaps, and had been hurt recently; bruises covered his face and one
of his eyes was badly swollen. Only the woman was armed, though the male held himself carefully,
obviously pre-pared to fight if she were an attacker.
Noguchi swallowed dryly, stepping closer to the couple. "Sorry," she said, still smiling just a little, her
heart pounding as if she faced an army of drones. "I've never had much luck with landings. My name is
Machiko Noguchi, and I'm here to help."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
22
Of all the weird shit Jess had seen and experienced in the last couple of weeks, this had to be, hands
down, the absolute mother of 'em all. The crash landing of agiant alien ship that had very nearly run them
down, followed by the appearance of a small, deadly-looking Japanese woman, maybe early 30s TS,
with beaded hair and a scar shaped like a light-ning bolt between her eyes. Wearing alien armor that
looked a hell of a lot like the armor on that cloaked creature . . .
. . .and the hair, and that mask she's holding . . .
"You're human," he said finally, a stupid statement but all he could think of; he wantedreassurance.
The woman, Noguchi, nodded almost shyly. "Yeah. Um, thanks. I you'll have to excuse me, I
haven't you don't know how good it is to speak to people again."
They stood for a moment not speaking at all, just staring at one another, the crackling light of the ebbing
station fire making it all seem even stranger, jagged shadows dancing across the peculiar scene. Jess
knew
that they had to find Ellis, that they needed weapons and supplies, that they had to get off of Bunda but
all he could do was stare at this woman, wondering when he was going to wake up.
And just when I thought things couldn't get any more fantastic. Christ, what a freak show.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plblacksoulman.xlx.pl
|
