"C M Kornbluth - Thirteen O'Clock" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kornbluth C M)

"Zasso?" asked Peter, blinking. He had been napping after hours of steady travel. "What war zone?"

"Trolls-you know."

"No, I don't!" snapped Peter. "What side are we on?"

"Depends on who stops us," said the stranger, speeding the engine. They were out of the tunnel now,
Peter saw, speeding along a couple of inches above the floor of an immense dim cave. Ahead the
glittering double strand of the track stretched into the distance.

"Oh-oh!" muttered the cloaked stranger. "Trouble ahead!" Peter saw a vague, stirring crowd before
them. "Those trolls?" he asked.

"Yep," answered the engineer resignedly, slowing the train. "What do you want?" he -asked a solid
looking little man in a ragged uniform. "To get the hell out of here," said the little man. He was about three
feet tall, Peter saw. "What happened?" he asked.

"The lousy Insurgents licked us," said the troll. "Will you let us on the train before they cut us down?"

"First," said the engineer methodically, "there isn't room. Second, I have to keep friends with the party in
power. Third, you know very well that you can't be killed."

"What if we are immortal?" asked the troll. "Would you like to live forever scattered in little pieces?"

"Second," said Peter abruptly, "you get out of it as best you can." He was speaking to the engineer.
"And first, you can dump all the freight you have for Almarish. He won't want it anyway when I'm through
with him." "That right?" asked the troll.

"Not by me!" exploded the engineer. "Now get your gang off the track before I plough them under!"
"Hugo," whispered Peter. With a lazy growl the bandur scorched the nape of the engineer's head.

"All right," said the engineer. "All right. Use force-all right." Then, to the leader of the trolls, "You tell
your men they can unload the freight and get as comfortable as they can."

"Wait!" said Peter. "Inasmuch as I got you out of this scrape-I think-would you be willing to help me out
in a little affair of honor with Almarish?"

"Sure!" said the troll. "Anything at all. You know, for a surface-dweller you're not half bad!" With which
he began to spread the good news among his army.

Later, when they were all together in the cab, taking turns with the shovel, the troll introduced himself as
General Skald-berg of the Third Loyalist Army.

Speeding ahead again at full speed the end of the cavern was in sight when another swarm of trolls
blocked the path. "Go through them!" ordered Peter coldly.

"For pity's sake," pleaded the stranger. "Think of what this will do to my franchise!"

"That's your worry," said the General. "You fix it up with the Insurgents. We gave you the franchise
anyway-they have no right of search."