"Gordon, Steve - Insectoid 03 - Death to the Insectoids!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gordon Steve)

in every department. The shock of the loss of his friends was still
sinking in. And all he had left was the Clapper and Sashay, also known
as the Paperweight.
He couldn't just abandon Red Sally. "Stay here," said Croft. "If
I don't return in ten minutes, you're on your own."
Sashay grew wide-eyed, and the Clapper's hands fluttered
nervously. Croft didn't stay to look for any further reactions before
heading out the door, his blaster drawn.
If he ran into an Insectoid patrol he could take out two, maybe
three of them before they got him. If only he had the Silencer with
him! But the Silencer was dead. Or was he? Croft had seen him shot, but
he didn't know for sure that he was dead. Maybe....
Croft inched down the corridor for several hundred feet.
Suddenly, he thought he saw a flash of orange light from a side
corridor. He turned down that corridor and started to hear the faint
noise of battle.
The scene, when he reached it, was truly stunning; Red Sally and
two men were trapped in a dead end, Red was shooting sheets of flames
at the Insectoids while the men fired blasters; the Insectoids, some
firing back and others on fire, shrieking in pain, were running around
blindly.
Croft, coming up behind the Insectoids, didn't hesitate, opening
fire. After a second one fell, and the others turned to face this new
threat. He saw a beam whiz by his right eye, and he instinctively
crouched down, still firing. The Insectoids were falling rapidly, but
there were so many of them!
Red Sally and the others were taking advantage of this
distraction to cut down the Insectoids from their side. In a moment,
the last Insectoid was hit, and all was suddenly silent, except for the
crackle of Insectoid body parts on fire.
Croft stood up. He saw now that one of the two men with Red Sally
was bleeding, and there were bodies of two other men on the ground
besides them..
"Come on," said Croft hoarsely. "We're pushing our luck by just
standing around."
Sally and the other two men gingerly picked their way over the
charred Insectoid bodies to reach Croft. As they sprinted back to the
hideout, Croft could see Sally's red hair, glistening with sweat,
starting to turn blonde again.
They reached the hiding place without incident. The Clapper gave
a muted squeal of joy when he saw Red Sally. They all sat on the
floor, gasping to recover their breath, while Sashay continued to watch
the door.
"This hideout isn't safe," said Sally. "It's too close to a main
corridor and too near our last encounter with the bugs. We should go to
the one that we set up."
After Croft's group had been forced to evacuate one of their
previous hideouts during a particularly hurried retreat, leaving them
with no secure base to go to, he had decreed that in the future they
would always have a backup hideout. But, oddly enough, Croft had had