"Tilley, Patrick - The Amtrack Wars 03 - Iron Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tilley Patrick)

sand-burrowers without realising he had given away the key to a
treasure house of information. Using the power granted by Talisman, he
had made a mental carbon copy of everything the cloud warrior knew;
every fact he had acquired, every learning experience since birth. The
entire range of Brickman's talents, skills and knowledge were now his
to command.

Yes... the loss of Clearwater's soul was a small price to pay for such
gifts.

The craft was powered by an electric motor culled from one of the
Skyhawks that had fallen in the battle with the iron snake. It was the
same motor that Brickman had fitted to Bluebird and then discarded just
before his escape because he could not make it work properly.

Cadillac did what Steve, in his haste, could not be bothered to do; he
took it to pieces, checked every part, rebuilt it with loving care, and
then continued to work on it until it functioned perfectly.

Now the equal of Brickman in the air, he took off from the bluff above
the settlement, skimming with the same lack of fear over the edge of
the steep escarpment into the void. He felt the wind embrace him, felt
its cool sweet breath upon his face; was overcome by a rapturous sense
of freedom as he was borne upwards in great sweeping spirals like the
golden eagles who nested on the nearby mountain peaks.

Higher and higher he went, into the sky-world with its ever-changing
sunlit terrain, climbing and diving between the towering walls of the
cloud canyons. From afar, they looked like vast impregnable
wind-carved snowdrifts, but the curving terraces and lofty pinnacles
that cried out to be explored melted away as he approached, dissolving
into a soft formless veil that enveloped his craft and swallowed the
sun - like the dawn mists that shrouded the earth at the Yellowing.

For this was the domain of the Sky Voices; a magical landscape that
existed only in the mind's eye - serene, awe-inspiring, majestic;
endowed with the same fugitive beauty as a rainbow - forever beyond the
grasp of mortal man.

Looking down, everything seemed so small. The problems that were so
burdensome on the ground shrank into insignificance. The sense of
release was so overwhelming, he stayed aloft for two whole hours.

Even after landing, he was on such an emotional high, his feet hardly
seemed to be touching the ground.

Mr Snow, in his characteristically sly way, let him wallow in the glow
of self-adoration for a few days then brought him down to earth with a
bump by telling him about the bargain he had struck with the Iron
Masters.