"E. E. Doc Smith - Lensman 7 - Masters Of The Vortex" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith E. E. Doc)

nowтАФa steel-lined room, a girl and a boy.
'Eureka! Good evening, folks.'
'Eureka? I hope you rot in hell, Graves ...'
'This isn't Graves. Cloud. Storm Cloud, the Vortex Blaster, investigating...'
'Oh, Bob, the Patrol!' the girl screamed.
'Quiet! This is a zwilnik outfit, isn't it?'
'I'll say it is!' Ryder gasped in relief. 'Thionite ...'
'Thionite! How could it be? How could they bring it in here?'
'They don't. They're growing broadleaf and making the stuff. That's why they're going to kill us.'
'Just a minute.' Cloud threw in another switch. 'Lieutenant? Worse than I thought. Thionite! Get over here fast with every-
thing you got. Armor and semi-portables. Blast down the May-ner Street door. Stairway to right, two floors down, corridor
to left, half-way along left side. Room B-Twelve. Snap it up, but keep your eyes peeled!'
'But wait, Cloud!' the lieutenant protested. 'Wait 'til we get thereтАФyou can't do anything alone!'
'Can't waitтАФgot to get these kids outтАФevidence!' Cloud broke the circuit and, as rapidly as he could, one-handed, buckled
on gun-belts. Graves would have to kill these two youngsters, if he possibly could.
'For God's sake save Jackie, anyway!' Ryder prayed. He knew just how high the stakes were. 'And watch out for gas,
radiation, and trapsтАФyou must have sprung a dozen alarms already.'
'What kind of traps?' Cloud demanded.
'Beams, deadfalls, sliding doorsтАФI don't know what they haven't got. Graves said he could kill us in here with rays or gas
or ...'
'Take Graves' private elevator, Dr. Cloud,' the girl broke in. 'Where is itтАФ which one?'
'It's the blank wallтАФthe yellow button on his desk opens it. Down as far as it will go.'
Cloud jumped up listening with half an ear to the babblings from below as he searched for air-helmets. Radiations, in that
metal-lined room, were outтАФexcept possibly for a few beam-projectors, which he could deal with easily enough. Gas,
though, would be bad; but every drug-house had air-helmets. Ah! Here they were!
He put one on, made shift to hang two more around his neck тАФhe had to keep his one hand free. He punched the yellow
button; rode the elevator down until it stopped of itself. He ran along the corridor and drove the narrowest, hottest possible
beam of a DeLameter into the lock of B-12. It took time to cut even that small semi-circle in that refractory and conductive
alloyтАФaltogether too much timeтАФbut the kids would know who it was. Zwilniks would open the cell with a key, not a
torch. They knew. When Cloud kicked the door open they fell upon him eagerly.
'A helmet and a Delameter apiece. Get them on quick! Now help me buckle this. Thanks. Jackie, you stay back there, out
of the way of our feet. Bob, you lie down here in the doorway.
44
Keep your gun outside and stick your head out just far enough so you can see. No farther. I'll join you after I see what
they've got in the line of radiation.'
A spot of light appeared in a semi-concealed port, then another. Cloud's weapon flamed briefly.
'Projectors like those aren't much good when the prisoners have Delameters,' he commented, 'but I imagine our air right
now is pretty foul. It won't be long now. Do you hear anything?'
'Somebody's coming, but suppose it's the Patrol?'
'If so, a few blasts won't hurt 'emтАФthey'll be in G P armor.' Cloud did not add that Graves would probably rush his nearest
thugs in just as they were; to kill the two witnesses before help could arrive.
The first detachment to round the corner was in fact un-armored. Cloud's weapon flamed white, followed quickly by
Ryder's, and those zwilniks died. Against the next to arrive, however, the DeLameters raved in vain. But only for a second.
'Back!' Cloud ordered, and swung the heavy door shut as the attackers' beams swept past. It could not be locked, but it
could be, and was, welded to the jamb with dispatch, if not with neatness. 'We'll cut that trap-door off, and stick it onto the
door, too тАФand any more loose metal we can find.'
'I hope they come in time,' the girl's low voice carried a prayer. Was this brief flare of hope false? Would not only she and
her Bob, but also their would-be rescuer, die? 'Oh! That noiseтАФs'pose it's the Patrol?"
It was not really a noiseтАФthe cell was sound-proofтАФit was an occasional jarring of the whole immense structure.
'I wouldn't wonder. Heavy stuffтАФprobably semi-portables. You might grab that bucket, Bob, and throw some of that water