"Kim Stanley Robinson - Sixty Days and Counting" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Kim Stanley)

тАЬYes.тАЭ
Skating downwind did not feel as fast as crossing the lake had, but then they passed
the end of the peninsula, and Caroline steered the craft in another broad curve, and
as she did it picked up speed until it shot across the ice, into the gap leading to the
longer stretch of the lake. Looking back, Frank saw the men crossing the lake. They
saw him; one of them took a phone from his jacket pocket and held it to his ear.
Back at the house, tiny now, he saw the two others running around the back of the
house.
Then the point of the peninsula blocked the view.
тАЬThe ones still at the house went for the driveway,тАЭ he said. тАЬTheyтАЩre going to drive
around the lake, I bet. Do you think they can get to the southern end of the lake
before we do?тАЭ
тАЬDepends on the wind,тАЭ Caroline said. тАЬAlso, they might stop at PondтАЩs End, for a
second at least, to take a look and see if weтАЩre coming up to that end.тАЭ
тАЬBut it wouldnтАЩt make sense for us to do that.тАЭ
тАЬUnless we had parked there. But theyтАЩll only stop a second, because theyтАЩll be able
to see us. You can see all the way down the lake. So theyтАЩll see which way weтАЩre
going.тАЭ
тАЬAnd then?тАЭ
тАЬI think we can beat them. TheyтАЩll have to circle around on the roads. If the wind
holds, IтАЩm sure we can beat them.тАЭ
The craft emerged from the channel onto the long stretch of the lake, where the wind
was even stronger. Looking through the binoculars as best he could given the
chatter, Frank saw a dark van stop at the far end of the pond, then, after a few
momentsтАЩ pause, drive on.
He had made the same drive himself a couple of hours before, and it seemed to him
it had taken about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty, to get to the south end of the pond
by way of the small roads through the woods. But he hadnтАЩt been hurrying. At full
speed it might take only half that.
But now the iceboat had the full force of the north wind behind it, funneling down
the steep granite walls to both sidesтАФand the gusts felt stronger than ever, even
though they were running straight downwind. The boat only touched the ice along
the edges of the metal runners, screeching their banshee trio. CarolineтАЩs attention
was fixed on the sail, her body hunched at the tiller and line, feeling the wind like a
telegraph operator. Frank didnтАЩt disturb her, but only sat on the gunwale opposite to
the sail, as she had told him to do. The stretch of the lake they had to sail looked a
couple of miles long. In a sailboat they would have been in trouble. On the ice,
however, they zipped along as if in a catamaranтАЩs dream, almost frictionless despite
the loud noise of what friction was left. Frank guessed they were going about twenty
miles an hour, maybe twenty-five, maybe thirty; it was hard to tell. Fast enough:
down a granite wind tunnel, perfectly shaped to their need for speed. The dwarf
trees on the steep granite slopes to each side bounced and whistled, the sun was
almost blocked by the western cliff, blazing in the pale streaked sky, whitening the
cloud to each side of it. Caroline spared a moment to give Frank a look, and it
seemed she was going to speak, then shook her head and simply gestured at the
surrounding scene, mouth tight. Frustrated.
тАЬI guess them showing up so soon suggests I tipped them off somehow,тАЭ he said.
тАЬYes.тАЭ She was looking at the sail.
тАЬIтАЩm sorry. I thought I needed to warn you.тАЭ
Her mouth stayed tight. She said nothing.