"Peter W. Prellwitz - Book 02 - Shards" - читать интересную книгу автора (Prellwitz Peter W)

down.тАЭ He looked at me. тАЬA little girl. How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"So young. So young."


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"Is there someone you'd like me to contact? NATech won't."

"I know they won't. You'd ... you'd do that?тАЭ He shook his head with wonder when I nodded. тАЬThat's
classy. Yeah, tell my sister, Colleen, that I wished we'd emigrated now.тАЭ He choked out where I could
contact her and was silent. I thought he was gone, but he opened his eyes slightly and smiled.

"I'd always thought I'd die in a buddy's arms, saying something really impressive and memorable. I think
this is better. I only wish...тАЭ And then he died.

We took the wounded man back to the other two. Both were down but breathing. The lurker was out in
the rain, somewhere, but he wasn't coming back. I went toward him to locate my gun, which had been
knocked clear. It took me about five minutes, but I found both my gun and headset. The first was fine,
the second shattered. I holstered the gun, tossed the headset, and headed back to Charles. He was
listening to his headset, then frowned. He pulled it off and shook it, fiddling with the limited controls.

"Did you lose the signal?"

"Yeah, I see it picked up a crack during the fight. Water must have leaked in. Doesn't matter. I got most
of the message.тАЭ He continued messing with the headset.

"So?тАЭ I said expectantly.

"Sorry. That was Corporal Gibbons. He said they'll be back in five minutes, and we should report back
immediately. That's when it cut out.тАЭ He looked down. тАЬWhat about these three?тАЭ He paused. тАЬAnd
wasn't there a fifth one?"

"Uhhh ... yeah, there was. I don't think he'll be bothering us.тАЭ His eyes widened a bit, so I hurried on.
тАЬAs for these guys, two of them will be out another hour or so. And this one...тАЭ I let my voice trail off.
The wounded man looked at me.

"Hey, I'm no coward, but I'm not an idiot either. I'll fight you for a paycheck, but getting killed makes it
hard to spend 'em."

"At least your living expenses would go down. Come on. We'll get you fixed up at the hov, then put you
out for an hour or so.тАЭ He nodded, then grimaced from the pain. We tossed their weapons off into the
darkness and picked up the wounded man.

We headed back to the hov. Charles took most of the man's weight, with me helping as best I could. We
walked in the darkness and growing thunderstorm. Maybe I overdid it just a bit, bringing down the