"Simon R. Green - Deathstalker - 1 - Deathstalker" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

swallowed hard and clambered quickly into the opening before she could change
her mind.

The heat hit her from all directions, and she could feel the skin of her face
tightening and smarting. Sweat poured off her, evaporating in seconds. She
crawled on through the steel tunnel, and the heat seared her hands and knees even
through the protecting cloth. She hurried as much as she could, but it was a
narrow space with no room to maneuver. Her back brushed against the tunnel roof
now and again, and she had to grit her teeth against the heat and pain. The cloth
pads she'd made for her hands started to smoke. Her eyes narrowed to watering
slits against the fiery air, and her lungs felt scorched with every breath. The metal
creaked and groaned around her as though it might collapse at any moment.
Hazel's heart hammered in her chest, and a blind unreasoning fear gnawed at her

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Green, Simon R. - Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker (v1.0) (html)


self-control till she wanted to scream. But she didn't. Screaming wouldn't help.
She forced herself on through the heat, shuffling forward on hands and knees that
seemed to be one blazing mass of pain. She could smell her flesh burning. Tears
ran down her face, as much from frustration as pain, evaporating almost at once.

And then she was out of the tunnel, and the heat fell away from her like a burning
blanket. She'd made her way through the obstruction. She was back in the open
corridor, and the cool air was like a blessing. She lurched to her feet, gritting her
teeth at the pain in her hands and knees and back till her jaw ached. Her leggings
had burnt right through, and the blackened cloths around her hands fell apart as
she tried to unwrap them. She stumbled on, not daring to look at her hands, trying
to find the strength to hurry. She had no idea of how much time she had left. Her
struggle in the steel tunnel had seemed to last forever.

Most of the lights were out now, and the ship was dark and echoing. The smell of
smoke was heavy in the air. She forced herself on, having to guess the right way
as often as not, but finally she came to the escape pods, sitting calmly in their
racks as though they had all the time in the world. Hazel just stood and stared
numbly at them for a long moment. All her strength had gone into getting her
here, and she seemed to have none left to do anything else. A series of explosions
shook the ship, jarring her back to her senses. She stumbled over to the nearest
pod and hit the activation button with her blackened fist. The door swung open
maddeningly slowly, and the interior of the pod lit up as its systems came on-line.
Hazel clambered inside and sank into the waiting crash-webbing with something
like relief. It felt so good to be off her feet at last. The door hissed shut behind her,
and she worked her jaw to pop her ears as the air pressure changed.

The pod's cabin was barely a dozen feet long, with just enough room for two
passengers. It occurred to Hazel that it was not unlike lying in a coffin, and the
thought amused her briefly. A fitting fate for a would-be grave-robber. She pushed
the thought aside and painfully forced her blistered and stiffened fingers through
the series of commands that would eject the pod from the Shard. She braced