"E. C. Tubb - Dumarest 04 - Kalin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tubb E. C)

stabbing with his fingers, kicking, using elbows and head as a
weapon. Lashing out, always on the move, always on the attack.

Abruptly he was standing alone, ringed by savage faces, the
moans and whimpers of the injured rising above the soft rustle
of advancing flames, the ragged sounds of breathing.

A man spat a mouthful of blood. "Listen," he said. "I don't
know who you are but we want that girl. Do we have to kill you to
get her?"

"You could try," said Dumarest.

"We can do more than that," said the man. "You're one
against the lot of us. You're quick and you're fast but how long
do you think you can hold out?"

"Be sensible," urged someone from the rear of the crowd.
"What's the girl to you? Hell, man, why lose your life trying to
protect someone you don't even know?"

"You've done enough," said a third. "Maybe you don't
understand, so we'll let it go. But try to stop us again and you'll
get taken apart."

Dumarest edged a little further from the ring of faces. They
were talking, normally a good sign: men who talk rarely act. But
these people were degenerate rabble taking advantage of the
Bloodtime to slake their lust for violence. They were talking to
summon up their courage, not to arrive at a compromise.

Dumarest glanced over his shoulder. The girl stood before the
assembled guards, her eyes wide as she watched the mob. Why
didn't she pass through the gate into the field?

The first speaker wiped blood from his mouth. "She can't
escape," he said. "The guards won't let her through the gate.
Only those with booked passage are permitted on the field at
Bloodtime. There's no sanctuary in there."

Dumarest raised his voice and called to the trader. "Seegihm."

"Earl?"

"Get a message to the captain. Have him book a passage for
the girl at my expense. Use the phone and pass her through when
it's done."

A woman screamed from the rear of the mob. "Mister, you're
crazy! You don't know what you're doing. That girl's a witch!"