"Leo Frankowski - Stargard 2 - High-Tech Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frankowski Leo)

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Leo Frankowski - Conrad Starguard 2 - The High-Tech Knight

Book 2 of the Adventures of Conrad Starguard

Prologue

He unloaded the temporal canister, glanced quickly at his new subordinate, reloaded it with his previous
superior, and hit the retrieve button. That had to be done quickly. Holding the canister in 2,548,950 B.C.
was expensive.

He examined her frozen, nude body. It was just over four feet tall and skinny. The skin was dark brown,
the hair black and tightly curled, the breasts small yet pendulous. An excellent imitation of a type twenty-
seven protohuman. The biosculptors had done a good job.

He switched off her stasis field.

Her eyes opened, she stared shocked at the stalactites on the ceiling of the cave. She noticed the naked
brown man bending over her, noticed her own nakedness and yelped, covering her breasts and groin.

"Yeah, the uniform here is a bit skimpy." He chuckled. "The protos haven't invented clothes yet, so what
can we do? Hey. Don't look so shocked. I'm not going to rape you. You're not my adolescent fantasy any
more than I'm yours."

"Damn it! I have five doctorates!"

"I'm sure your mother is very proud of you. Are any of them in finding carrion or grubbing for grubs?
Anything else isn't very useful around here."

She glanced furtively at the cave's rock walls, at the torch that was its sole illumination.

"What is this place? When is it? And who are you?" She was still clutching her groin.

"You weren't briefed? This is anthropological research station fifty-seven. The time is half past two.
million B.C., and I am your charming host, Robert McDougall. I'd tip my hat, but you see the problem.
The tribe here calls me 'Gack,' so you might as well, too. No point in being formal when you're naked.
I'll be your boss for the next fifty years."

"Fifty years..."

"Right. Then I go home, a new chum arrives, and you get to be boss for fifty more."

The cave was cold and wet. She shivered. "This is all some horrible mistake!"

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