"Allen, Roger MacBride - Chronicles of Solace 3 - Shores of Tomorrow" - читать интересную книгу автора (Allen Roger Macbride)

УBut youТrenot being arrested. Why would they fire you over answering some questions?Ф Sotales demanded.

УThey has a thing they says,Ф Elber answered, half-conscious that his speech patterns were drifting back from station man to the phrases of a lowdown peasant. УСIf it smells bad, it is bad.Т They donТt like things that donТtlook right in my office. My boss always talks about not wanting scenes and scandals. ThereТs lots of confidential info we see, and they donТt take chances on their people. If they arenТt sure of you all the way through, youТre outЧand my boss canТt be sure of me at all anymore. Maybe some uppersЧuh, higher-ranking peopleЧmight get a second chance, but not people like me.Ф The speech astonished Elber himself. He had never dreamed of saying so many words, or words so blunt, to the big boss.

Sotales looked toward the cop who had brought Elber in. УIs his account accurate?Ф

УUm, well, yes, sir. You just told me to bring him in to answer questions, and I didnТt thinkЧФ

УObviously you didnТt. Stars and devils, Jentens, if this man loses his job, why the hell should you keep yours?Ф

Jentens opened his mouth and shut it again, and he seemed to decide he couldnТt do himself any good by saying more.

Sotales glared at Jentens, and somehow that one look was worse than the worst shouting-down Elber had ever had. Sotales muttered something very unpleasant under his breath, then gestured toward the elevator. УGet out of here,Ф he said. УIТll deal with you later.Ф

Jentens turned beet red, then saluted, spun on his heels, and stepped back into the elevator car. He pushed a button, and the car lifted itself back up out of the strange room. The opening through which it had come irised shut in smooth and perfect silence, leaving only the thinnest circular scribe on the ceiling to show from where the elevator had come.

Sotales turned his attention back to Elber. УSit down, son,Ф he said. УLetТs see if we can work this thing out.Ф

Elber stepped forward and perched uncertainly at the corner of the big and expensive visitorТs chair, and found himself looking up at Commander Raenau, seated in majesty behind his enormous desk, and at Sotales, standing at his side, the loyal and powerful lieutenant ready to do the great leaderТs bidding. A part of him knew the furniture had been chosen and arranged to make the effect happenЧbut knowing didnТt stop it from working.

УI donТt know if there is that much to work out,Ф Raenau said with a crafty smile. УThe plan always was that weТd take care of Mr. Malloon. Now he just has a bit more incentive to helpus out.Ф

УIЧI donТt understand,Ф Elber said. Even in his confused and terrified state, the thoughtgood cop, bad cop flitted through his mind. They were both being good cops, and letting Jentens be the bad one. He realized it had all been a performance, a show. Jentens was more likely to get promoted than fired for the dayТs work.

Elber knew how it worked, knew they were pushing him around, trying to trick him. But even though he understood it was a trick, he knew the trick was going to work. They could do with him whatever they liked, and there was nothing he could do to stop them.

УHelp us,Ф said Commander Raenau. УHelp us, and weТll help you.Ф

УWith what?Ф Elber asked.

УNot so much with СwhatТ as with Сwho,Т Ф Sotales answered.

He handed Elber a datapad. It was looping a security camera recording, showing the very start of the Long Boulevard riot, of the moment when Zak Destan brought a wine bottle down on top of an enforcerТs head and touched off all the trouble.

Zak. Zak Destan. Now, at last, Elber was beginning to understand. An enhancement grid locked on to one scared-looking, blurry face at the edge of the action and brought it into sharp focus. It was his own faceЧdirty, half-starved, terrified, Elber at the absolute worst moment of his entire life.

УWe had the faces,Ф Sotales said. УBut no names, no I.D.s. We got lucky when we checked station records. We want to talk with you about Zak Destan.Ф

Whatever tiny shreds of hope Elber had begun to feel were swept away. Suddenly, once again, the future was nothing but blackness. Elber had done nothing wrong that night, but Zak had done plentyЧand in the world of the lowdowns, association was all that it took to draw a guilty verdictЧand a long, unpleasant punishment.

In ElberТs soul, that punishment had already begun.

Part Two

IGNITION DAY

Chapter Six

CURSES IN THE DARKNESS