"Katherine Kurtz - Adept 02 - The Lodge of the Lynx" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

"We last encountered them about fifteen years ago. At that time, their leader was a man named Tudor-Jones.
We lost three members of our own Hunting Party before we succeeded in bringing the Lodge of the Lynx to
its reckoning. At the time, I dared to hope we'd gotten most of the ringleaders."
Peregrine blanched slightly. "Gotten!" he murmured.
His tone roused Adam from his abstracted recollection, and the older man smiled briefly at his young
colleague's discomfiture.
"I'm sorry. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that we - arrested them. You'll perhaps remember that
conversation we had in the car, the morning after the incident at Loch Ness, in which I said that Noel and I
were something like an occult police force? Well, the analogy holds true on several levels. Like our more
mundane colleagues, we're committed to upholding the Law - in this case, the Law of the Inner Planes. The
members of organizations like the Lodge of the Lynx, like any other criminal organization, want what they're
not entitled to, and will stop at nothing to get it. It's our job to apprehend such people and bring them to
justice before they can wreak harm on the world at large.
"Which is not to say that there haven't been fatalities on both sides," he continued soberly. "As it happens, in
the case of Tudor-Jones and his followers, most of those who were most heavily involved in the work of the
Lynx are dead. But that was certainly through no intention of ours. We're enforcers, not executioners. Our job
then - as now - was to stop them from committing serious violations against the Law of the Inner Planes.
When we're obliged to use force, we try to utilize only that force already employed by the opposition -
optimally, to turn it back against those who summoned it - but even then, only as a matter of necessity."
He might have said more, but at that moment there was a brief rap at the door, followed by the precipitous
entry of Humphrey carrying a small, tabletop TV.
"I beg your pardon, sir, for barging in like this," he said over his shoulder as he made hurriedly for the nearest
electrical outlet, "but one of the headlines on the morning news may interest you. The actual report should be
up any second now."
He set the TV on one of the mahogany side tables, plugged it in, and switched it on. Almost immediately, the
jagged silhouette of grey turrets against a greyer sky filled the screen, to the accompaniment of a cultivated
BBC voice-over.
"тАж Grampian Police are investigating a mysterious explosion that took place early this morning within the
grounds of Balmoral Castle," the voice said, as the camera tilted down to a wet-looking expanse of formal
garden and well-manicured lawn. "The explosion, which severely damaged the baronial tower of the castle,
occurred shortly after midnight. No one was injured. Chief Constable William McNab declined to comment on
the probable cause of the explosion, asserting that the facts will only be known following detailed examination
of the wreckage. A police forensics team from Aberdeen and another team from the army are presently sifting
through the debris in search of clues."
The steadicam panned to the damaged tower of the castle, showing a blackened stump of blasted masonry
where the north turret ought to have been. Several figures in military and police uniforms were picking through
the rubble that littered the grass around the base of the building. The camera pulled back to focus on the
figure of a cold-looking newscaster in rain slicker and tweed cap, standing in the foreground with microphone
in hand.
"A spokesman from Buckingham Palace has confirmed that no member of the Royal Family was in residence
at Balmoral at the time of the incident," the newscaster reported gravely. "The authorities are looking into the
possibility of a gas explosion, but it is understood that they have not yet ruled out the possibility of a terrorist
bomb. To add to the mystery, there have been several unconfirmed reports by local witnesses claiming to
have seen a freak bolt of lightning strike the roof of the castle. There has been no official statement as yet on
behalf of the police or of the regiment currently in charge of castle security. So until the authorities are
prepared to come forward with an explanation, the cause of the explosion seems destined to remain a
mystery. This is Alan Cafferty, BBC News, Balmoral Castle."
The story concluded with a final close-up of the ruined turret, smoke still rising in thin wisps from the
blackened stones. As coverage shifted back to London for the business news, Adam signed for Humphrey to
switch off the set and take it away, and glanced aside at the wide-eyed Peregrine.