"Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur - Overlord Of Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eshbach Lloyd Arthur)

night now aglow with the light that rose from the Overlord's citadel. On the
heels of the first, the second pair--the third--split seconds between jumps, the
cords attached to the rod overhead automatically opening the 'chutes. ... Kerry
and Bodey took their place in the line, the last to jump save the pilot who
would abandon the glider and follow ....
With a rush of thin, icy air, Kerry and his partner plummeted toward the
Himalayan plateau far below. Automatically Kerry counted, his finger gripping
the emergency pull--one-and-a-two--he felt the wrench and jar under his
arm-pits, the thud against the back of his padded cap as the folds of black
synthane ballooned above them. Heard Bodey's sardonic, "Nice view--but too
blamed cold for comfort." He grinned a tight, strained grin and looked downward.
Brilliantly lighted, the Overlord's Throne lay like a jeweled mosaic among
snow-capped peaks. As the plateau leaped skyward, details appeared. Parklike
expanses of precisely trimmed green formed the setting for glittering buildings
of metal and plastic, neon-tubed and garish, where the tyrant government of
Earth held sway. One great structure of glistening steel in the center of the
plateau stood out by virtue of its shape, a perfect six-pointed star, the symbol
of the Overlord. Crimson lights flooded the top of the famous Star Tower which
held the Council Hall of Andrev and his lieutenants.
CURIOUSLY Kerry peered into the sky around him. As far as the eye could see, he
and Bodey were alone in the blackness. So perfectly were the others concealed by
their lustreless black that they defied detection. He heard Bodey's voice thinly
in his ears:
"Nice night for a murder!"
Kerry made no comment. Skillfully he maneuvered the 'chute toward the giant
structure. A great flying field surrounded the tower, a field where Andrev's
followers landed when they came to report to the Overlord. That was the
destination of two hundred of them--the very heart of things, where they hoped
to find the tyrant. Another hundred would seek the communication center--fifty
more, supply headquarters, and so on, completely covering the plateau. The wind
caught the 'chute and swept it toward the Star Tower ...closer...now to swerve
...
To Kerry's taut senses came a shrill, thin whine, mounting in a swift crescendo.
He'd been waiting for that--a powerful robot plane diving out of the blackness
with a four-ton cargo of destruction--plummeting toward the quarters of the
Overlord's Guard. Seconds after the first faint sound, it struck with a mighty
roaring blast that rolled thunderously over the mountains, and an angry, lurid
mass of smoke and flame plumed skyward. A direct hit, Kerry exulted, as
fragments of stone and metal and plastic rained earthward. That would
help--plenty!
With startling suddenness a hail of bursting shells flared toward them from
batteries of concealed anti-aircraft guns--and simultaneously the lights of the
Overlord's Throne winked into blackness! Kerry's eyes bored through the dark,
broken only by shell blasts and the red glow of the burning building. They had
expected this, of course--automatic detectors had picked them up and automatic
defenses had been tripped into motion. One of the secrets Andrev had brought
from the past. It didn't change things at all--if bursting shell fragments
didn't blast them out of the sky. Their plan provided for this. Once they'd
landed....
With a jar that shook them from head to feet, Kerry and Glenn Bodey crashed