"Peter W. Prellwitz - Shards Universe - Promise Tide" - читать интересную книгу автора (Prellwitz Peter W)

but it had a polluted odor. He charged me.

тАЬUnholy aberration!тАЭ he shouted, drawing a knife.

I slipped to his side and smacked him on the back of the head. Not hard, just enough to let him finish
the trip into the cosmetics table.

He and the cosmetics crashed to the floor. I winced. I should probably pay for that. He had trouble
getting to his feet, so I took a moment to find Chrissy.

She had faded into the gathering crowd. Good. She was human and blended well with the others. She
always wanted to help me when things like this happened, but knew her disappearing was the best
thing to do. It let me focus.

A focus I had let slip. A guttural snort brought me back to the task at hand. The maniac, covered in
bright pinks and reds and smelling of roses, was charging again.

His knife flashed from side to side, threatening to disembowel me. I couldnтАЩt back up without
endangering the people, so I vaulted lightly into the air. He passed under me and I tugged his shirt
back. IтАЩm fairly tall, but slim, so I donтАЩt look to be strong. My ancestry put the lie to that.

He jerked back like a fish on a hook and crashed to the floor. Using his mass for a counterweight, I
stopped my forward movement and landed over him, my foot on his throat.

He writhed under my foot, his arm slashing back and forth. A startledтАФfrightened?тАФgasp came from
my audience as they watched him vainly try to cut my legs. They saw only a blur as I moved and
replaced each leg, dodging the knife as easily as I dodged the razor sharp coral of a reef in the darkest
waters.

I needed to end this, so I applied more pressure to his throat.

тАЬI can snap your neck right now,тАЭ I said quietly, тАЬAnd no court in the country would prosecute me.тАЭ


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Peter W. Prellwitz - Shards Universe - Promise Tide (v1.1)


Then with an even quieter voice, I added, тАЬAnd since you know who I am, you know that I will.тАЭ

He stared at me with seething hatred, a hatred only expressed by racists, and nodded. I relaxed
slightly. Maybe I could avoid a mess as bad as the last time. That one had noтАж A scream. HeтАЩd flipped
the knife in his hand and thrown it at the crowd.

I dove at the knife, seeing it move through the air. One step. Two. My left hand shot out and pulled it
from its flight. Sliding to the floor to avoid running into a well-dressed woman frozen in terror, I spun
around and jammed the knife into the floor, braking hard. That bastard!

I rose quickly, but a new problem had reared up. HeтАЩd cleared a gun from his jacket and brought it to
bear. I moved to my left slowly. If I moved too fast, heтАЩd panic and begin firing indiscriminately.