"Steve Perry - Matador 6 - Black Steel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Perry Steven)
Black Steel
By Steve Perry
Chapter ONE
DEATH CAME FOR him by mistake.
Sleel had left the commercial hopper and was walking in the shade under the protective gamp toward the
airport terminal when a woman with a sword stepped out of a darker shadow. There were other people
moving under the billowy canopy, but Sleel knew immediately that the swordswoman had come for him.
"Stupid," Sleel said, shaking his head. He was wearing the matador uniform, dark gray orthoskins, spun
dotic boots, and bilateral spetsdods. The would-be assassin was a good eight meters away. She wasn't a
big woman, but size didn't mean much when it came to this kind of thing; it was ability that counted.
Still, even if he suddenly went blind, Sleel could hit her before she moved a meter. She wasn't flashing a
projectile weapon around; she'd have to get close to use that blade, and that was just plain foolish. And
because it was so suicidal, it made Sleel think again. Maybe she had a partner? Since she didn't have a
prayer of getting to Sleel before she ate a load of shocktox, something was definitely wrong with this
Sleel scanned the people around him, extended his perception to its fullest, searching for another enemy.
Overhead the neosilk gamp fluttered in the tropical afternoon breeze, making tent noises. Some of the
other passengers on the flight had taken notice of the fern with the sword and were viewing her with
alarm. The smell of hot plastcrete rose and mingled with the hopper's fuel exhaust residue and machine
lube from the luggage carrier that rolled past in the Hawaiian sunshine. The air was heavy with humidity
and warm even under the canopy. Just another day in paradise, right?
If there were others lining up to attack him, Sleel couldn't spot them. Could it be just the one woman?
Was she really that stupid, to think she could just stroll over and carve one of the galaxy's best
bodyguards, just like that? Somebody who outgunned her with two fully loaded spetsdods to her sword?
Apparently so. The swordswoman smiled, a thin-lipped and tight expression. She had chocolate skin and
very white teeth, with red-brown hair curled tightly into a cap over her skull. She wore freight handler's
coveralls with the sleeves rolled up, and there was a tattoo on her left upper arm a couple of centimeters
above her elbow. The sword was about a meter long, slightly curved, thicker than a foil but thinner than
a saber. Some kind of shiny handguard protected the grip. The blade was black. Maybe it was stacked
carbon or squashed plastic to be that color. Maybe she was wearing body armor under the coverall;
maybe she thought that would protect her.
Lotta maybes here. The fem wanted him to see her coming that was obvious. Otherwise she could have
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