"Steve Perry - Aliens 01 - Earth Hive" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

Earth Hive
Aliens - 01
Steve Perry
 1
Even inside her bulky E-suit, Billie could feel the cold night bite at her. Sure, the land crawler
blocked most of the icy wind, and they had pulled one of the crawlerтАЩs portable heaters and turned it
up full, pretending it was a campfire, but it was still cold. It was the best they could doтАФthere wasnтАЩt
any wood on the planet Ferro, and if there had been they sure as shit wouldnтАЩt be burning it. Wood
was worth more per gram than platinum on this world. How the guys in the vids could chop it up and
waste it was unreal.
The frozen wind howled like some kind of unhappy beast as it blew past the squat form of the
crawler; the song changed to a whistle where it flowed over the tractorтАЩs sharp treads. The sounds
were eerie. Every now and then through a patchy break in the roiling and thick clouds, the stars
gleamed briefly, hard pinpricks against a dead-black curtain, glittering like diamonds caught in a laser
beam. Even without the clouds it would have been dim; Ferro had no moons.
Well, right, so it wasnтАЩt comfortable out here, but at least the three of them werenтАЩt stuck inside
the colony with the do-nothing dweebs, bored half stupid.
тАЬOkay,тАЭ Mag said, тАЬwhat else we sтАЩposed to do here? We ate the RTE rations and sang that
fool song about logs and holes in the bottom of the sea. This is terminal droll, Carly.тАЭ
At twelve, Mag was a year younger than Billie and Carly, and she always had a smart crack
about everything.
Billie shivered inside her E-suit. тАЬYeah, juice brain, what else was on that old disc about
camping?тАЭ
тАЬIf you two dweebs will shut up, IтАЩll tell you.тАЭ
Mag slapped herself over the heart. тАЬOh, killer clever,тАЭ Mag said. тАЬGot me.тАЭ
тАЬThey used to tell stories,тАЭ Carly said, pretending to ignore her. тАЬLike ghosts and monsters and
shit.тАЭ
тАЬFine,тАЭ Mag said. тАЬSo, tell us one.тАЭ
Carly went off on a ramble about vampires and ghosts and Billie knew sheтАЩd pulled it from an
old entcom file. Even so, it was one thing to see the vid in your cube, all warm and well lit, another
thing to hear the story out here a klick away from the Main Building in the dark and cold and all.
Spooky.
Windblown hail spattered briefly, like a handful of gravel tossed at them, but stopped just as
Carly hit the climax of her story.
тАЬтАФand every year, one of the survivors of that horrible night goes crazyтАФand now itтАЩs my
turn!тАЭ
Mag and Billie both jumped as Carly lunged at them. Then all three began to giggle. тАЬOkay,
Mag, youтАЩre up.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, okay. There was this old witch, seeтАж?тАЭ Halfway through MagтАЩs tale some ice pellets
fell and bounced around. One must have gotten into the heaterтАЩs circuits. The unit flashed brightly,
blew its fuse, and died. As the glow faded, the only light they had left was from the stars and the
crawlerтАЩs LEDs. The night moved in on them, and the cold and the dark both thickened. All of a
sudden, the Main Building seemed a lot farther than a klick away. More hail showered on them.
Billie shivered, and it wasnтАЩt just from the cold.
тАЬAw, shit. Look at that. My dad is gonna be pissed we shorted out the aux heater. IтАЩm getting
into the crawler,тАЭ Mag said. тАЬCome on, finish your story.тАЭ тАЬForget it. My ears are about to freeze
off.тАЭ
тАЬWell, we have to at least let Billie tell one.тАЭ Carly nodded at Billie. тАЬYour turn.тАЭ
 тАЬI think Mag is right, letтАЩs get in the crawler.тАЭ
тАЬCome on, Billie, donтАЩt do a guppy-up on us.тАЭ Billie took a deep breath and blew out a cloud