"Eric Nylund - Paladin Blake and The Secret City" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nylund Eric)

"Great." Paladin climbed past Tennyson and maneuvered into the cockpit. As he strapped
himself in, he said, "I'll let you know how these contraptions work."

"Wait," Tennyson said. He climbed down and trotted to his locker. He returned with his lunch
pail. "You need to eat. There is a thermos of English Breakfast tea as well."

"Thanks, old man."

"Just come back in one piece."

"I always try." Paladin fired up the engine and waved to Tennyson as he pulled away the
ladder. He closed the canopy then flipped the release-a second of freefall-and the
Devastator splashed into the ocean.

"I try," Paladin said to himself, "but it just never works out that way."

Paladin eased the throttle to one-half, and rode over gentle waves until he was a hundred
yards from the pier, then he opened her up all the way. The Devastator nosed up and broke
free of the ocean. Paladin pulled a lever and dropped the pontoons.

He shot into the sky, pointing the Devastator toward the rising sun.

Flora wasn't the only reason Paladin was going to meet Matthew. Paladin had promised his
dead father that he'd get every last pirate in the sky...no matter what it took.

Even if that meant shooting down his own brother.

Chapter Two: White Knight / Black Knight

Paladin banked his Devastator between red and gold mesas. Below, a herd of wild mustangs
scattered, startled by the roar of the plane's powerful engine. It was four o'clock and he had
just cleared the Navajo border. Headwinds, a brief layover, and trouble with the locals had
held him up.

He had initially stopped to top off his tanks. If Matthew had a welcoming committee in the
air waiting for him, the last thing he wanted was to be flying on fumes. Paladin also
purchased a gallon of beige paint to cover the BAS logos on his Devastator. For the pirates
in Free Colorado, those markings were bulls-eyes.

Back in Navajo territory, his pale skin-and the handful of Hollywood five-dollar gold coins he
had used to pay for the fuel-had raised a few eyebrows at Sunning Lizard Airfield. They'd
taken his money without comment, but four dust-colored Ravenscroft Coyotes had appeared
when he'd tried to take off...to "escort" him to the border of the Navajo Nation. An escort
that hadn't been free.

The mesas and meadows melded into stone-covered foothills, pine forests, and the snow-
capped peaks of the Rockies. Paladin increased his throttle and climbed over them.

Free Colorado was certainly beautiful to look at from a thousand feet. It was too bad, he