"Michael Swanwick - Tin Marsh" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swanwick Michael)

тАЬIs everything okay?тАЭ she murmured. тАЬIs something wrong?тАЭ

тАЬI was going to kill you, Patang. But killing you isnтАЩt enough. You have to
suffer first.тАЭ

тАЬWhat are you talking about?тАЭ

Then she remembered.

MacArthur had hit her. His chip had malfunctioned. There were no controls
on him now. And he hated her. Bad enough to kill her? Oh, yes. Easily.

MacArthur snapped something off her helmet. Then he slapped the power
button and the suit began to close around her. He chuckled and said, тАЬIтАЩll meet you
outside.тАЭ

****

Patang cycled out the lock and then didnтАЩt know what to do. She fearfully
went a distance up the road, and then hovered anxiously. She didnтАЩt exactly wait and
she didnтАЩt exactly go away. She had to know what MacArthur was up to.

The lock opened, and MacArthur went around to the side of the tavern, where
the drilling rig lay under its tarp. He bent down to separate the laser drill from the
support struts, data boxes, and alignment devices. Then he delicately tugged the
gold foil blanket back over the equipment.

He straightened, and turned toward Patang, the drill in his arms. He pointed it
at her.
 The words LASER HAZARD flashed on her visor.

She looked down and saw the rock at her feet blacken and smoke. тАЬYou
know what would happen if I punched a hole in your shielding,тАЭ MacArthur said.

She did. All the air in her suit would explode outward, while the enormous
atmospheric pressure simultaneously imploded the metal casing inward. The
mechanical cooling systems would fail instantly. She would be suffocated, broiled,
and crushed, all in an instant.

тАЬTurn around. Or IтАЩll lase you a new asshole.тАЭ

She obeyed.

тАЬHere are the rules. You get a half-hour head start. Then I come for you. If
you turn north or south, IтАЩll drill you. Head west. Noonward.тАЭ

тАЬNoonward?тАЭ She booted up the geodetics. There was nothing in that
direction but a couple more wrinkle ridges and, beyond them, tesserae. The tesserae
were marked orange on her maps. Orange for unpromising. Prospectors had passed
through them before and found nothing. тАЬWhy there?тАЭ