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

treated him with a deference that bordered on bootlicking. "You're going to
be the top man here," he would say. "And under you, I'll really show my
stuff." How and where he planned to show his stuff was not at all clear, but
one thing was certain: Green loved risky jobs and hated routine tasks. Maxim
disliked his wild, primitive cruelty. He was an ape in barely domesticated
form.
"I don't like this operation," said Memo morosely. "It's too risky. No
preparation. No checking into anything. No, I don't like it."
Memo Gramenu, the Hoof of Death, was perpetually discontented and
always appeared to be afraid of something. His past was kept secret because
he had once held a very high position in the underground. He had fallen into
the hands of the police and somehow survived. Crippled by torture, he was
dragged out by his cellmates who had arranged an escape. Thereafter, in
keeping with the rules of the underground, he was removed from his position,
although he was unquestionably above suspicion. He was appointed Gel
Ketshef's assistant. He had fought in attacks on towers, blown up patrol
cars, pursued and shot the commander of a Legion brigade, and was known for
his fanatic daring and excellent marksmanship.
On the eve of his appointment as leader of a group in some small town
in the southwest. Gel's group was caught. Hoofer remained above suspicion
and was appointed leader of the group, but he was haunted by the belief that
his comrades were uneasy about him. Actually his fears weren't justified,
although they very well could have been. People who were too lucky were not
especially liked in the underground. He was a silent but carping type, well
versed in the art of conspiracy and a stickler for the rules, even the most
trivial ones. Nothing, he felt, was worthwhile discussing except matters
related to the underground; all his energies were devoted to the group. He
saw to it that it was fully supplied with weapons, food, money, and safe
meeting places. Even a motorcycle. Although Maxim sensed his dislike for
him, he didn't understand the reason for Memo's attitude and preferred not
to question him about it. Memo wasn't the kind of person one could have a
frank conversation with. Perhaps Memo disliked him because Maxim was the
only one to sense his constant fear. The others would never have believed
that morose Hoofer, one of the founders of the underground movement and a
dedicated terrorist who treated staff representatives as his equals, could
be afraid of anything.
"I can't understand the staff's reasoning," continued Memo, smearing
another dose of repellent on his neck. "This isn't tie first time I've heard
about the plan. The staff has wanted to try it a hundred times but always
rejected it because it means almost certain death. While there's no
radiation, we still have a chance to get away in case we fail, and can live
to strike somewhere else. But with this plan, the very first failure means
we'll all be killed. It seems very strange to me that the staff can't see
such an obvious fact."
"You're not quite right about one thing, Hoofer," replied Ordi. "Now we
have Mac. If anything goes wrong, he can pull us out and maybe even blow up
the tower."
She smoked languidly, gazing into the distance at the swamp. Cool and
calm, she was ready for anything. People were intimidated by her because she
perceived them as more or less useful mechanisms of destruction. There was