"Steve Perry - Matador 4 - The Omega Cage" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)

Chapter Two
The processing seemed almost perfunctory when compared to some other cages
into which Maro had been filed. He already had the haircut, so they didn't bother
with that. A bored guard ran Maro's left wrist under a viral scanner and the
digital ID coded into the prisoner's pisiform bone made the audio squeal. On his
scanner, the guard would be seeing a quick biograph appear: retinal prints, EEG
patterns, history, and so forth.

"Maro, Dain," the guard said. "MMF, and life."

MMF: murder most foul. It had a quaint sound to it, Maro thought, a pre-space
feeling that went along with colorful costumes and riding on beasts or under
steam or fossil power. The sentence was worth a trip to the Omega Cage, though.
Ordinary murderтАФwhatever that wasтАФwouldn't do it. Maro had killed people in
his time, though never for money and not without his own life on the line. This
particular crime was a set-up; of it, at least, he was as innocent as an uncoded
viral computer. He had enemies, thoughтАж

The guard interrupted his thoughts. "Pass him through. Standard chem wash and
irradiate."

Pig grinned. "Strip, pretty boy."


file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...y%20-%20Matador%204%20-%20The%20Omega%20Cage.html (11 of 280)23-2-2006 17:43:06
Perry,Steve - Matador 4 - The Omega Cage (v1.0) (html).html


Wordlessly, Maro did as ordered. He was in pretty good shape, despite the three
months of lock-time before the trial. He had had enough room to do basic flex
and kata in his cell, and he'd been in good condition when they had caught him.
If you'd been in top condition, he thought ironically, maybe they wouldn't have
caught youтАж

"Inside."

The small room was windowless and dark, and the jets started spraying as soon
as he was inside, even before the warped plastic door slid completely shut. Detox
red first, with that alcohol-pine smell and the uncomfortable tingle on his bare
skin. The crimson mist stopped, and was followed immediately by a yellow
spray, probably some fungicide. He closed his eyes, but not quickly enough to
keep them from stinging. The air now smelled like burning insulation.

Finally the chem wash stopped and a glare filled the room. Maro kept his eyes
shut tight as the irradiant bathed him. Most of his internal flora would die from
the radiation; he'd have diarrhea for a few days until he could grow more E. coli.