"Barry Longyear - Circusworld 2 - Elephant song" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

was a bit better. Fresh, cool air. He glanced to his left and could see the hazy outline of an
open maintenance port. Through the man-sized doorway, he could see green grass. He turned from the
ladder and lurched toward the closed doors that opened into the tubes as the rumble of the main
carrousel turning vibrated the shuttle.

Before the doors, three figures knelt over a fourth. One of the kneeling figures stood and grabbed
Bullhook. "What're you doin' here, Bullhook? You can hardly stand."

Bullhook forced his eyes to resolve the images before him. Packy Dern was holding him; Waco Whacko
and Dot the Pot were kneeling over the still body of Haystack Harry. "What happened, Packy?"

The bullhand nodded toward Haystack. "Waco and I managed to pull him out of the number four tube.
Too late." He looked back at Bullhook. "There's some others still in there."

"What about the rest of the bullhands?"

Packy shook his head. "God, I don't know. Most of 'em must be out of the shuttle by now."

Bullhook closed his eyes for a moment. "Waco. Get Dot out of here. Go through that open
maintenance port."

The snake charmer looked over his shoulder at the boss elephant man. "What about you?"

Bullhook moved over and pulled Dot the Pot to her feet.



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"Haystack's been exed, Dot. You have to get out of here."

Dot wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I can't just leave him. Don't make
me leave him."

"Packy and I'll take care of him. You go with Waco now. You're just in the way."

The snake charmer stood, held Dot's arm, and looked at Bullhook. "What about you?"

"I'll be along."

The snake charmer studied Bullhook with dark, narrowed eyes. "There aren't any heroes in the
circus, Bullhook; just dead troupers and live ones."

"Get along, Waco." He placed a hand on the snake charmer's shoulder. "I'll be all right."

Waco spat on the deck and turned Dot the Pot toward the maintenance port. As the pair moved toward
the opening, Bull-hook pointed at the body. "Packy, grab Haystack and get out of here."

Packy Dem shook his head. "I heard the big cage turning, Bullhook. If you open those doors, it'll