"Evans,.Linda.-.Sleipnir" - читать интересную книгу автора (Evans Linda)

At a whispered command, the last terrorist in line started toward us,
his features lost in the smear of camouflage lampblack rubbed into
his skin. His rifleЧit looked like a Rumanian copy of the Soviet
AK-47Чglinted in the cold moonlight. I watched the terrorist's
boots walk straight toward my face. Saw him begin to stoop down
to peer under our tree . . .

I swore solemnly that if I got out of this patrol alive, I'd blood a
good steel knife and leave it under an oak tree for Odin.

It seemed to work for Gary.

Abruptly a small hedgehog, about the size of a well-grown box
turtle, waddled out from beside me into the patch of moonlight.
The terrorist stopped and grinned, teeth gleaming whitely for an
instant. Then he raised his rifle and aimed for center of mass on
the spiny little body. An angry hiss came from the trees. The
would-be shooter snarled something in reply. The hedgehog
reacted to the voices and snapped into a tightly curled ball, spines
bristling.

Another whispered argument broke out. The leader strode over
and grabbed his man by the arm. He gestured angrily toward the
missile site, then off toward the little village about two klicks away
through the forest. The subordinate shrugged and kicked viciously
at the hedgehog. It squealed and curled up tighter than ever,
skidding to a pathetic stop a few inches from our noses.

My knuckles went white gripping the useless rifle. If it'd been
loaded, I wouldn't even have stopped to think about it. Hurting a
hedgehog brought unthinkably bad luck. Not that I was overly
superstitiousЧ

The two terrorists rejoined their group, and the three of
usЧhedgehog, Gary, and IЧlay frozen in place, waiting. If they
searched the immediate vicinity for good measure . . . Fighting it
out under halfway decent odds was one thing. Given three-to-one
their favor, Gary probably would've charged in and let Odin sort it
out. But getting shot to pieces because all you had was an empty
tube with a flimsy plastic stock on one end was not my idea of a
good time. Even a Berserker would've prayed they just turned
around and walked away.

For once, something came out the way I wanted. The black-clad
PalestiniansЧor whoever they wereЧdisappeared into the
darkness. Gary and I waited until the sound of their footsteps had
died completely away; then I rested my forehead on my arm and
started breathing again. I tried not to shiver too loudly in case the
sound carried.