"Jay Lake - To Live Forever" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lake Jay)

To Live Forever by Jay Lake

****

Evacuation, Last Day, in January Landing

тАЬMerry Jack Battiste!тАЭ

DismasтАЩ breath heaved in his chest, his vision narrowed by rage. He clutched
a sharpened iron rod in his right hand. In a rented room not far away, DismasтАЩ sister
lay terribly mutilated, a forged shuttle ticket clutched in the bloody stumps of her
fingers.

A ship thundered overhead, vapor plume visible in the narrow crack of pale
sky above the alley rooftops. A dozen yards distant, Merry Jack turned to face
Dismas.

тАЬOh, itтАЩs the brother now, is it?тАЭ Merry Jack grinned. тАЬI believe your sister
needs some help. Better get along.тАЭ He patted his gear bag. тАЬIтАЩve got a date with a
shuttle, myself.тАЭ

тАЬBastard,тАЭ whispered Dismas, sprinting toward the other man.

It was Evacuation, the last day before the ChildrenтАЩs Compact took effect,
trapping the planet of Gol Goth in deathless splendor. The alien intelligence called
the Children of Gol Goth had been unrecognizable to the First Emigration until it
began to speak through the mouths of human dead. The Children had bargained with
the twinned coins of terror and immortality to halt the tide of Second Emigration in
mid-flood.

Merry Jack ducked, swung his gear bag wide and spun into DismasтАЩ assault.
Dismas leaped past the bag and slammed the iron bar against the side of Merry
JackтАЩs head with a sound like fruit being dropped. Merry Jack stumbled against the
wall of the alley.

тАЬNobody uses my sister,тАЭ shrieked Dismas, smashing one of Merry JackтАЩs
kneecaps. The other man collapsed to the cobbled street, shocked surprise written
on his face.

As Dismas raised the bar for another blow, Merry Jack smiled through his
pain. тАЬAt least youтАЩre never leaving either,тАЭ he gasped. тАЬAnd she always was a lousy
lay.тАЭ

Dismas eventually left his bar point-down in Merry JackтАЩs right eye socket. He
didnтАЩt bother to take the gear bag. Dismas didnтАЩt have a shuttle seat, and Merry
JackтАЩs bag would only have marked him as a thief, or worse.
 Instead, he stayed with his sister until the infection that was the Children came
for both of them, and she died of it.

****