"Nick Pollotta - Bureau 13 - Judgment-Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pollotta Nick)

Following procedure for being away for this long, we ran a
security check, but the vehicle was clean. The only bugs were
the crickets in a cage to feed our pet watchdog. A fat little
lizard we called Amigo. He didn't appear dangerous, but the
carnivorous Gila had a tiny magical necklace about its throat
and God help the poor thief who broke into our van. тАШNuff
said.
Firmly locking the doors, we gently laid George on a bunk
that folded out from the wall. He was white and sweaty, but
did not complain of our rough handling. In short order, I had
his shirt off and the mages were taping his chest with a soft
golden cloth, muttering steadily. As we watched, the exposed
bruises started to pale and the fat man heaved a mighty sigh.
Convinced he was going to be fine, I made my way to the
rear of the van. Already, Donaher was elbow-deep in the
weapon locker reloading his shotgun and getting a belt of
mixed ammo for George. Mindy had her rainbow sword
strapped to her waist and was testing the balance on a
handful of razor-sharp oriental throwing stars. They have a
name, but I forget. Jessica was checking the action on a
53
 Judgement Night: Bureau 13 Book 1
by Nick Pollotta


double-barrel taser stun pistol. I helped myself to a couple of
reloads for the Magnum and a satchel of grenades. Everybody
took a new watch.
We then exchanged positions with the mages, who cycled
open the special cabinet containing their wands and books.
Raul's wand was about a foot long and made of steel.
Richard's was three feet long, and solid silver tipped with
gold. Apparently the better the wizard, the fancier the staff.
Guess they started off with wood and ended with diamond.
Jimmy used to tease Raul about the length of his staff, until
the mage turned him into a toad for an afternoon and that
sort of took the fun out of it.
Preliminaries over, the two wizards took seats at the back
of the van well away from the radio, which had a habit of not
working in their immediate presence; as did firearms, VCRs
and computers, but not fax machines. Once they tried to
explain why, but I got lost as they dove into quantum
mechanics and the nature of flux reality.
Jessica was in the swivel chair before the communications
console, her nimble fingers tapping authorizations and such
into the mainframe computer. The laser printer came to life
with a whine, sliding out the finished paper into view when
done.
тАЬHmm, it's in code,тАЭ she said, offering me the sheet. That
was odd. Sitting in the passenger seat, I stared at the paper,