"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 02 - The Timekeeper Conspiracy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

TIME DESERTERS
Until he had met Hunter, Lucas had not been aware of the existence of a temporal underground, a
network of deserters from the Temporal Corps. Most of them had chosen to defect to the time periods in
which they had deserted, but a few, like Hunter, possessed stolen chronoplates whose tracer functions
had been bypassed. These people had achieved the ultimate freedom. All of time was at their beck and
call.
Lucas wondered how many people in the past were actually from the future. It was frightening to
realize how fragile the time-stream had become!
The Time Wars Series by Simon Hawke
THE IVANHOE GAMBIT
THE TIMEKEEPER CONSPIRACY
THE TIMEKEEPER CONSPIRACY
An Ace Science Fiction Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Ace Original / April 1984
All rights reserved.
Copyright ┬й 1984 by Simon Hawke
Cover art by David Mattingly
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by mimeograph or any other means, without permission. For
information address:
The Berkley Publishing Group, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016
ISBN: 0-441-81136-1
Ace Science Fiction Books are published by
The Berkley Publishing Group,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

For Earl and Marian Woolley,
in whose home much of this was written,
with thanks and appreciation

PROLOGUE.
Garvin's life was leaking out of him in a dozen different places. He didn't think that it was possible to
lose so much blood and still be alive. He knew that he had only moments left to live, probably less.
Lodged beside a nerve behind his right ear was a micro-circuit that, when activated, sent out a coded
signal to the agency. They would find him by homing in on his implant signal, but they wouldn't be in time.
He would be dead in moments, at which point another signal would be sent. It would be the termination
signal and it would let them know that agent Richard Garvin, code name: Ferret, had bought the farm.
He had made a mess of it. Garvin had no idea how they had caught on to him. He would never learn
how his cover had been blown, but that was of no consequence. He didn't matter anymore. What
mattered was that they hadn't finished the job.
They had left him for dead, but he wasn't dead yet. He had to hang on just a little while longer, just
long enough to transmit his information. If he could do that, then it wouldn't be in vain. He would have
died for something, something that mattered. And he'd be able to get back at them, even from the grave.
He no longer felt any pain. All he felt was a deep and numb-ing cold. His breath came in burbling
gasps and he was shivering, even though it was a warm spring day. Springtime in Paris, he thought. A
lovely time to die. He chuckled and started coughing up blood.
He reached behind his left ear, only to discover that that side of his face was nothing but raw meat.
So much for the transmitter. The subcutaneous implants were very fragile. They had known just where to
cut. They hadn't bothered with his cerebral implant. They knew his fellow agents would never get to him