"Alan Dean Foster - Empowered" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

automatic buzzed.
Before the bullets could strike home, a giant oak sprang full-grown from beneath
the crumbled tarmac between the gunman and the green figure. Slugs thudded
harmlessly into the thick wood.
Kreiger's jaw dropped. His careful plan contained no contingencies for
inexplicable interference.
The green-clad man stepped out from behind the tree. Lean muscle rippled
beneath his tight suit (spandex? Kreiger wondered dazedly) and he wore a green
band across his eyes.
"Give it up, Kreiger. It's all over."
"Like hell." Kreiger turned to his men. Already the distant complaint of sirens
could be heard approaching rapidly from the north. "Get him!"
Pohatan threw his massive bulk at the figure, only to run headlong into a dense
grove of new-sprung spruce that hadn't been there when he'd started his charge.
Brownlee succeeded in reaching him, whereupon the figure's arms seemed to
metamorphose into long vines. They wrapped around the startled assailant, lifted him
effortlessly off the pavement, and flung him clear over the ruined store into the street
beyond.
While the rest of his team rushed the floral fighter, Kreiger raced for the truck. A
glance back showed that they were having no better luck than their colleagues.
Kreiger stabbed the key into the ignition and fired up the big engine, slamming the
truck into drive. He accelerated as he bore down on the green shape, who had just
disposed of the rest of Kreiger's colleagues. No time for him to get out of the way,
though. Kreiger grinned. He liked running over people almost as much as he liked big
explosions.
Giant roots erupted from the ground immediately in front of the truck. Wide-eyed,
Kreiger tried to swerve. The roots twisted and grabbed at the truck, coiling around
both axles and lifting it off the ground. As the solemn-faced green man looked on,
they heaved the vehicle sideways. It smashed into a pair of parked cars, rolled over,
and came to rest among the tables of an outdoor restaurant whose patrons had
fortunately run inside and stayed there when Covey's explosives had initially gone
off.
The first patrol car to arrive in the parking lot behind the smoking ruins of the
jewelry store disgorged a pair of stunned officers, who gratefully took delivery of the
still-alive (but badly damaged) Kreiger and the rest of his gang. As the cops looked
on, a brace of flexible willows emerged from the earth to lightly grasp the green
figure. Bending their crowns to the ground, they aimed him skyward.
"Wait a minute!" yelled one of the officers. "Who are you? What are you?"
"Call me Earth Spirit," the green man intoned. "I was once one of you, one of
the teeming masses. Now because of an industrial accident I'm somewhat more, and
this is what I intend to do with my newfound powers. Spread the word among
lawbreakers and polluters. Let them know they're safe no more!"
With that, the willows sprang back with tremendous velocity, sending the green
man soaring out of sight. No doubt another tree or bush was waiting somewhere to
relay him on his way or cushion his descent. The officers exchanged a glance, then
set themselves to watch over the battered gang until backup and medics could arrive.


"You know, you're a very difficult person to locate."
"How did you find me?" Earth Spirit stepped back into the eave. "And how did