"Andrew J. Offutt - Spaceways 17 - The Carnadyne Horde" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

made the pleasant effort of assisting her in the secreting of her comm-link.
She cocked her head to listen. "Uh. I'm sending Vark and Shig to intercept."
Jonuta's voice barely reached up from the snug recess between her warheads.
"You check on Verley, Kenny. I do not want any surprises." "Uh, Jone..."
Kenowa writhed, trying to unhook her wrists from the standpipe. "He's, uh,
trussed me up." "I've got to stay oncon," her captain said. "I'm sending Sak
to free your trussworthy body, m'love. Enjoy it while you can." Kenowa smiled.
The pain in her wrists diminished before the calm voice of her ever-competent
man. She closed her eyes and tried to pretend that she was a prisoner here of
that sublimely chivalrous but bondage-loving devil Captain Sword, who had long
lived in her imagination. The Akil stared at the hand that so firmly grasped
his wrist. Marekallian tugged harder, urging him on toward the bay that held
Eks's lander. "Sh'lashtiat kiz BavkaDil?" "Couldn't agree more," Eks said
without listening. He 25 peered around a comer along a pale blue tunnel and
ran at full gait to a sealed hatch. The alien called Phoenix must either run
along behind or be dragged. He ran. "This is it, fuzzface." He punched the
cycling switch on the hatch and waited all of two seconds before determining
that it had been deactivated. Swiftly he unlatched the manual cycling bar and
rotated it. Footsteps sounded down the tunnel. "Damn!" The hatch eased slowly
upward. Eks didn't waste time raising it more than a meter. Giving the Akil an
ungentle shove down and under, Eks dived through the hatch after him and
cycled it down from inside. Spacefarer First Shiganu saw the hatch seal just
as he rounded the corner. Vark stopped a pace behind him and
cursed. "Buggerhumpin' flainer's inside already! How the double vug're we
supposed to get in there with the sisterslicin'-" "Don't get fobbed," Shig
said, raising his wrist. "They're inside the lander bay, Cap'm. Give the hatch
some juice." The only response was a whine as the hatch slid up. The Terasak
and the Bleaker rushed into the empty airlock in time to see the pressure
warning light flash orange. "He's already evacuating the bay!" "He won't get
far with the outer hatch sealed," came the voice of Captain Cautious, and it
sounded oddly unself-assured. "Shree gast vo'tubriah!" the Akil was meanwhile
shouting, gesturing angrily. Eks raised one hand placatingly while the other
moved rapidly over the keys of his lander's inboard computer. He had kept the
lander on a trickle charge so that it could be powered up in a few
seconds. "Relax and strap-oh shit." He reached over to nudge 26 the Akil into
the other chair. "Get the drift?" The Akil strapped in after watching
Marekallian arrange his own safety gear. He settled back to stare at the
Out-reacher with a distinctly human frown. "Give it up, Eks," a voice crackled
over the intership comm. A voice deep and powerful. "The hatch is zipped up
tight and I'm overriding the pumps to repressurize the bay." "Just keep
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talking," Eks muttered under his adrenaline-accelerated breathing. He threw
all power to one of the lander's more specialized and definitely customized
acce-sories. The cabin lights dimmed. A green beam of unbearable light blazed
from the bow of the lander. The burrowing laser burned a hole through
Coronet's outer hull in seconds. "You son of a sisterslicing-" "Uh-huh." Eks
punched the laser off and the engines into throbbing life. Having torn a hole