"Simon R. Green - Deathstalker Prelude 02 - Ghostworld" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

The marines' faces went blank as they accessed the pinnace's firing controls through
their comm implants, their eyes filled with what the gunsights showed them. The
Investigator's cold face hardly changed at all as she looked quickly around her at
bulkheads that were suddenly transparent. The esper looked at Silence uncertainly.
"What exactly am I scanning for, Captain?"
"Something, anything; for whatever's out there."
"But . . . there's nothing there, Captain. It's just a storm."
"No," said Silence. "It's not just the storm. Run a scan, esper. That's an order."
"Aye, sir." The esper's eyes became fixed and unseeing, and her face was suddenly
blank and untenanted as her mind leapt up and out beyond the pinnace.
The storm boiled around her, but could not touch her. Metal trees burned in her mind
like brilliant searchlights plunging up through the clouds, guttering here and there as
automated mining machinery tore through a tree's roots. Apart from the trees, there was
no life anywhere in range of her esp, and yet it seemed to her that there was something
at the edges of her mind, sensed only as swift flashes of movement and an occasional
feeling of being watched. Diana forced her esp to its limits, pushing at the range of her
scan, but was unable to get a clear view of whatever it was. If there was anything at all .
..
Stasiak grinned nastily, feeling the pinnace's guns swivelling back and forth, responsive
to his thoughts. Four disrupter cannon, state of the art and fully charged, were scattered
the length of the pinnace and ready to kick ass at his command, or merest whim. But
there was only the storm and the wind and the endless bloody trees. According to the
sensors, there was nothing out there worth firing at. He found a secure line and patched
into Ripper's comm implant.
"Hey, Rip, you see anything?"
"No. But that doesn't mean it's not out there."
"Yeah, sure. You ask me, the Captain's got ants in his pants over nothing. This world's
dead, Rip; everyone knows that."
"Maybe. There's nothing on the sensors. But I still keep getting the feeling that we're

file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/Simo...thstalker%20Prelude%2002%20-%20Ghostworld.html (6 of 133) [10/18/2004 3:53:28 PM]
Simon R. Green- Deathstalker Prelude 02 - Ghostworld


not alone up here. Stand ready, Lew. I don't like the feel of this at all. And if it does all
hit the fan, don't waste your shots; place them carefully. Remember, these cannon take
four minutes to recharge between each shot. A lot can happen in four minutes."
"Yeah, right," Stasiak stirred unhappily in his seat, trying to look every way at once.
Now that Ripper mentioned it, he could feel it too. Something waiting, watching, hiding
just out of range of his sensors. His mind caressed the fire controls, feeling them
respond like hounds straining at the leash. The pinnace's AI was programmed against
activating the guns itself except in the direst emergencies, to keep it from getting ideas
above its station, but it too sensed something was wrong about the storm, and in its own
way was just as eager for action as Stasiak was.
Investigator Frost looked across at the Captain. "Sensors all report negative. There are
no life signs registering anywhere within their range."
"I didn't think there would be," said Silence, staring unblinkingly out at the storm.
"Odin, how long till we touch down?"
"Twelve minutes and forty seconds, Captain," said the AI promptly. "Assuming nothing
interferes with my flight plan."