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

тАЬYou son of a bitch! IтАЩm going to get you, MacArthur! IтАЩm going to turn the
goddamned tables on you, and when I doтАФ!тАЭ

It wasnтАЩt as if she were totally hopeless. She had explosives. Hell, her muscle
suit could throw a rock with enough energy to smash a hole right through his suit.
She couldтАФ

Blankness.

****

She came to with the suit auto-walking down the far slope of the first wrinkle
ridge. There was a buzzing in her ear. Somebody talking. Mac-Arthur, over the
short-range radio. тАЬWhat?тАЭ she asked blurrily. тАЬWere you saying something,
MacArthur? I didnтАЩt quite catch that.тАЭ

тАЬYou had a bad thought, didnтАЩt you?тАЭ MacArthur said gleefully. тАЬNaughty
girl! Papa spank.тАЭ

LASER HAZARD

LASER HAZARD

Arrows pointed to either side. SheтАЩd been walking straight Noonward, and
heтАЩd fired on her anyway.

тАЬDamn it, thatтАЩs not fair!тАЭ

тАЬFair! Was it fair, the things you said to me? Talking. All the time talking.тАЭ

тАЬI didnтАЩt mean anything by it.тАЭ

тАЬYou did! Those things ... the things you said ... unforgivable!тАЭ

тАЬI was only deviling you, MacArthur,тАЭ she said placatingly. It was a word
from her childhood; it meant teasing, the kind of teasing a sister inflicted on a
brother. тАЬI wouldnтАЩt do it if we werenтАЩt friends.тАЭ

MacArthur made a noise he might have thought was laughter. тАЬBelieve me,
Patang, you and I are not friends.тАЭ

The deviling had been innocent enough at the start. SheтАЩd only done it to pass
the time. At what point had it passed over the edge? She hadnтАЩt always hated
MacArthur. Back in Port Ishtar, heтАЩd seemed like a pleasant companion. SheтАЩd even
thought he was cute.

It hurt to think about Port Ishtar, but she couldnтАЩt help herself. It was like
trying not to think about Heaven when you were roasting in Hell.