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

"Don't lower yourself," he repeated, raising his voice. The captain
punched him in the face. He stopped talking, put his hand to his cheek, and
glared at the captain.
"Get going, candidate," repeated the captain.
Mac turned to the prisoners and motioned to them with his gun. They
started along the path. The woman turned around shouted again: "Duck
Village, Number Two. Illi Tader!"
Mac walked behind them slowly with his gun raised in front of him. The
captain flung open the car door and sat down sideways behind the wheel with
his feet stretched out.
"O. K. We'll wait about fifteen minutes."
"Yes, sir," replied Guy mechanically.
He followed Mac with his eyes until the group disappeared behind a pink
ledge. "I'll have to buy a bottle on the way back," he thought. "Get him
good and drunk. They say it helps."
"You may smoke, corporal," said the captain.
"Thank you, sir, but I don't smoke."
The captain spat through his teeth.
"Aren't you worried that your friend will let you down?"
"Absolutely not, sir," said Guy, but without conviction. "Although, if
I may say so, sir, I'm very sorry that he got the woman. He's from the
mountains and they - "
"He's no more from the mountains than you or me," said the captain.
"Anyway, it's not a question of women. Well, we'll see what happens. By the
way, what were you doing when you were summoned to headquarters?"
"We were singing, sir."
"What were you singing?"
"Mountain songs, sir. He knows a lot of them."
The captain got out of the car and paced up and down along the path. He
had stopped talking, and about ten minutes later began whistling the "Legion
March." Guy kept listening for shots but didn't hear any. He began to grow
anxious. Could they have escaped from Mac? Impossible! Disarmed him? Even
more impossible. Then why the hell wasn't he firing? Maybe he had led them
beyond the usual spot? The stench there was pretty strong, and Mac had a
very keen sense of smell. He was so squeamish about that sort of thing, he
could very well have gone another mile or so.
"Well, Corporal Gaal," said the captain, halting, "that's it. I'm
afraid we can't wait any longer for your buddy. And I'm afraid you won't be
called corporal after today."
Guy looked at him in dismay. The captain grinned.
"What the hell's the matter with you? You look as if your eyes are
about to pop out. Your friend ran away, deserted. He's a coward and a
traitor. Do you understand. Corporal Gaal?"
Guy was stunned. Not so much by what the captain said as how he said
it. The captain was ecstatic. He looked as if he had just won a large bet.
Guy looked into the quarry mechanically and suddenly saw Mac. He was
returning alone, carrying his gun by its strap.
"Massaraksh," the captain said hoarsely. He, too, was stunned.
They stopped talking and watched Mac approach them - slowly, stepping
easily over the stone fragments. They watched his calm face with its strange