"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

only guarantee against aggression from the north. And those scoundrels were
now planning attacks on the ABM towers; those mercenary murderers of women
and children were being bought with Khonti's and Pandeya's filthy money.
Guy's face twitched with hatred. "That's where our real job is." He banged
his fist on the table. "That's why I joined the Legion rather than go to
work in a factory or office. Yes, I joined the Legion, which is now fighting
to save everything we hold dear."
Maxim listened greedily, as if to a horror story. And it was all the
more terrifying and fantastic because it had actually happened and was still
happening; at any moment the most horrible atrocities could happen again.
His own problems were trivial beside this.

The trucks turned sharply into a narrow street with tall brick
buildings. Pandi announced: "We're here, men." Pedestrians turned away,
shielding their eyes from the dazzling headlights. One truck stopped, and a
long telescopic antenna shot up above the cab.
"All out!" barked the leaders of the Second and Third Platoons. The
legionnaires hopped out.
"First Platoon, stay where you are!" ordered Guy.
Pandi and Maxim, about to jump out, sat down again.
"Fall into threes!" yelled the corporals on the sidewalk. "Second
Platoon, forward! Third Platoon, follow. Forward, march!"
Hobnailed boots thundered along the pavement, and someone shrieked
ecstatically: "Long live the Fighting Legion!"
"Hurrah!" shouted the pale-faced figures who had pressed against the
wall to clear the way for the men. The pedestrians were used to
legionnaires.
Candidate Zoiza, on Maxim's right, was still a kid. The lanky
youngster, with yellowish fuzz on his cheeks, poked Maxim in the ribs with
his sharp elbow and smiled happily. Maxim smiled back. The other platoons
had already vanished through the entrances; only the corporals, standing
staunchly at the doors with impassive faces, remained behind. The door of a
truck cab slammed and Captain Chachu barked: "First Platoon, out of the
trucks and fall in!"
Maxim leaped over the side. When the platoon was lined up, the captain,
with a wave of his hand, stopped Guy, who was running over to report. Then
he planted himself in front of the formation.
"Put on your helmets!"
The regular privates had expected this command, but the candidates were
slow to respond. The captain waited impatiently for Zoiza to adjust his chin
strap. Then he shouted: "Right turn" and "Forward, on the double." He ran in
front of them, waving his crippled hand, leading the platoon through a dark
archway and into a narrow courtyard. Then he turned under another archway,
just as gloomy and foul, and halted before a chipped door.
"Attention!" he barked. "The first team and Candidate Sim will follow
me. The rest of you stay here. Corporal Gaal, when I whistle, send another
team up to me on the fourth floor. Don't let anyone out. Take them alive.
Shoot only when absolutely necessary. First team and Candidate Sim, follow
me!"
He pushed the door open and disappeared. Maxim passed Pandi and