"Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena (ГИБЕЛЬ ФАЭНЫ, англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

him, anticipating possible searches which could have ruined his whole plan.
Endowed with exceptional strength, he would easily have coped with a lighter
opponent had it not been for the heavy burden on his back.
Yar Alt drew a long stiletto that served him as a personal antenna in
the Blood Guard communications system. Embracing the hunchback with one arm
and breathing heavily into his face, he drove the stiletto into his back.
But the point slid over something solid, slitting the cloth.
Yar Alt thought only of bullet-proof armour and of nothing else. This
spelled disaster, and not only for him.
Almost without hope of success, Yar Alt stabbed his foe in the chest.
Strange to say, the hunchback had no frontal armour. The stiletto went
straight into Kutsi's heart. His grip loosened and he fell backwards. A pool
of blood spread over the stones.
Yar Alt jumped to his feet and prodded the hunchback with his foot.
Only then did he turn to Mother Lua.
But she was not there. She had snatched up Alt's pistol and disappeared
during the brief struggle so as to warn Mada and save her life.
Yar Alt ran forward and immediately came up against the blank Wall. He
fixed a malignant glare on the centre of the spiral, but it never budged.
Yar Alt realised that Mother Lua was standing on the other side of the door
and by effort of will was commanding the door not to open. That was why the
automatic machines were not reacting to his own command!
A struggle began between Yar Alt and Mother Lua. Separated by a solid
barrier, they glared furiously at the centres of the two spirals. The
programmed machines were paralysed by the opposing wills.
Yar Alt was bathed in drops of sweat and his lips were flecked with
foam.
It had been easier to kill Kutsi Merc than to cope with this damned
witch. He knew that she composed forbidden songs. Her kind had once been
burned at the stake.
Finally, the Wall shuddered and parted to leave a gap, but slammed shut
again. Yar Alt just managed to catch sight of the nanny. Fortunately, it
hadn't occurred to her to shoot at him. At the mere thought of this, Yar
Alt's skin crawled. He had not noticed how exhausted she had been.
The Wall shuddered and was still by turns. Yar Alt ground his teeth.
Mother Lua's mistake had suggested a plan of action. He wanted very little
now: it was for a gap to open for only a fraction of a second. He himself
would not, of course, be in front of it.
The perspiration streamed into his eyes. In a wild frenzy, he continued
drilling the centre of the spiral with his eyes, commanding the Wall to
open. He made ready, drawing his left arm back in order to throw the
stiletto.
Mother Lua was almost losing consciousness. Her arms hung helplessly by
her sides. She knew her own life and that of her favourite depended on her
will-power.
The nanny swayed. The Wall opened just a little way. Yar Alt waited for
the right moment and hurled his stiletto through the gap. It pierced the
roundhead woman in the throat. Her eyes went blank and the Wall divided.
Yar Alt jumped over the fallen nanny. He tugged the stiletto out of her
throat and started racing down the corridor. After a few strides he suddenly