"Daniel Marcus - Heart of Molten Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marcus Daniel)

I looked over at him.

And you're making yours over into the image of the planet, I thought.This place is an open fucking
ward.

I looked around at the damage. тАЬThis ship is never flying again,тАЭ I said. тАЬNot without a major overhaul.тАЭ

Flint shook his head. A strand of blonde hair fell across his face. тАЬI didn't think he'd go this far. Not
offing himself, anyway. He's been getting more and more wrapped up in SchwartzтАЩ messiah trip. When
we found out you were coming, he freaked. He kept saying, тАШHe'll ruin everything. He'll ruin everything.тАЩтАЭ
I nodded. That explained the scuffle when I was coming in.

тАЬIt doesn't matter anymore. There's a jumpship at Deep Station. We have to get down there. Are there
any more flitters?тАЭ

Flint shook his head again. тАЬOrbison took our only one.тАЭ

тАЬWell, there must be some way.тАЭ

тАЬWe do have a couple of cargo barges. Null-g ground effect vehicles, nothing fancy, but they'll do about
thirty knots.тАЭ

тАЬThat's crazy,тАЭ I said. тАЬThis is some of the roughest country I've ever seen. We won't get two klicks
overland.тАЭ

Flint smiled grimly. тАЬYeah, we'll have to use the river.тАЭ

I felt the blood drain from my face. тАЬNo...тАЭ The idea of riding a cargo barge for two thousand klicks
down a river of molten lava to confront a messianic lunatic had very limited appeal.

тАЬIf you can think of any alternatives, Company man, I'm all ears.тАЭ

I looked at Flint. He was actually smiling.

тАЬYou're out of your fucking mind,тАЭ I said.

He laughed out loud. тАЬStyx and stones, man. Styx and stones.тАЭ
****

We didn't have much to take with usтАФsome rations, a couple of hand lasers. As an afterthought, I
backed Schwartz's transcripts onto an infodisk. The Company was going to want some documentation
on how this operation went fubar.

The cargo barge was a flat pallet of titanium and fullerene, ten meters long by five wide, featureless
except for a raised control platform at the front and a low railing that ran around its perimeter. It rode
about half a meter above the ground on a cushion of null-g fields. When Flint drove it out from behind
one of the processing shacks, his andy was standing beside him at the controls. Their e-fields shimmered
faintly in the half-dark.