"Timothy Zahn - Blackcollar 3 - The Judas Solution" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

"None," Galway said. "As soon as we're gone, you can lift the lockdownтАФ"
And without warning, a pair of high-velocity flechettes whistled past his back and head.
"Cover!" he snapped, grabbing Judas's coat collar and hauling him toward the ground. With his other
hand he yanked his own paral-dart gun from its holster, his eyes searching for the source of the attack.
"Corner!" Weissmann barked, his gun tracking that direction.
There were two of them, Galway saw, crouched low beside a pair of houses on opposite sides of the
street, the muzzles of their long-barreled hunting rifles dipping as they corrected their aim. He swung his
own gun toward them, knowing instinctively that neither he nor Weissmann would make it in time.
And in that single frozen heartbeat, Taakh moved.
He wasn't as fast as a blackcollar, a detached part of Galway's mind noted. Nor was he as graceful, and
his movements didn't carry the same ultrarefined precision and elegance theirs did. But he was fast
enough, and more than precise enough. One of his huge hands grabbed the nearest of Weissmann's
Security men by the collar, pulling him on top of Judas and sending both men sprawling onto the
ground. The bits of snow from their landing were still flying when there were two silent bursts of green
light from the laser in the Ryq's other hand, and both attackers collapsed on top of their guns.
"You all right, Prefect?" Weissmann demanded. The rest of his men were on the move now, three
hurrying toward the would-be assassins, the rest spreading out for a sweep of the area.
"I'm fine," Galway assured him, watching Judas and the Security man as they untangled themselves and
stood up again. "Judas?"
"I'm all right," Judas said, his voice shaking. "What in hell was that all about?"
"You really don't know?" Galway countered.
Judas's hands paused in the act of brushing the snow off his chest. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that wasn't a rescue attempt," Galway said bluntly. "Not with just two men. Certainly not with
two men armed with lethal weapons."
Judas looked over at the sprawled bodies, a sudden tightness in his throat. "Are you saying they were
trying to kill me?"
"Why not?" Galway said. "You're of no use to them anymore. They might as well make sure you're no
use to us, either."
Which wasn't entirely true, he knew, a twinge of conscience tugging at him. The Resistance didn't have
to actually kill Judas to make him useless for Galway's purposes. All they had to do was mark him
somehow, either with a fresh scar or some minor but noticeable bit of muscle damage. The fact that the
first shots had missed strongly implied that that was indeed what they'd been going for.
But jumping to the wrong conclusion would help cut Judas's last emotional connection to the Resistance.
And it certainly wasn't Galway's job to rectify any faulty reasoning.

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 - Prologue

Taakh turned to Weissmann, his eyes flashing with anger. "Yae rill 'urn down the town," he ordered.
"All o' it."
Weissmann's eyes widened. "Burn downтАФ? But Your EminenceтАФ"
"Dae yae kestion ne?" the Ryq snarled, lifting his laser warningly.
"No, Your Eminence, of course not," Weissmann said hastily. "ButтАФ"
"I don't think we need to destroy the town, Your Eminence," Galway jumped in, gesturing Weissmann to
keep quiet. "We'll simply have Lieutenant Weissmann keep the area locked down for the next eight
months."
Weissmann transferred his stunned expression to Galway. "Eight months?" he hissed.
"Yae rill 'e silent," Taakh ground out.
For a long moment no one spoke. Taakh gazed across the snow at the Security men as they examined the
would-be assassins; and though Ryq expressions were nearly impossible for humans to read, Galway