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

Green tore the gun from Maxim's hands, rushed forward, stumbled, and fell.
Maxim got down and crawled back to his sack. Behind him guns crackled
away rapidly. Then, at long last, a grenade exploded, then another, then two
more simultaneously, and the machine gun fell silent. Only the submachine
guns kept clattering. Explosions boomed again. An inhuman scream rent the
air and it became quiet. Maxim grabbed the sack and ran. A column of smoke
rose above the guardhouse. There was a smell of gunpowder, and the
surrounding area was bright and deserted except for a dark round-shouldered
figure trudging alongside the guardhouse, hugging the wall. The figure
reached the gunport, tossed something into it, and dropped to the ground.
The gunport glowed red. Then came a loud bang. And everything was quiet
again.
Maxim stumbled and almost fell. After several more steps he stumbled
again and noticed short stakes protruding from the ground. Triggers to booby
traps concealed in the grass. "So that's it! God, am I a damn fool! If the
General had let me have my way and I had gone out alone, I would have lost
both legs and would be lying here as good as dead. Me and my big mouth!" Now
the tower was quite close. He ran cautiously, avoiding booby traps.
When he reached one of the tower's enormous iron paws, he put down his
sack of magnetic mines. Oh, how he would have loved to plaster one of those
pancakes on this wet steel. But he still had the guardhouse to worry about.
The steel door was slightly ajar, and lazy tongues of flame rolled out from
behind it. A legionnaire lay on the steps - it was all over with here.
Maxim circled the guardhouse and found the General. He was sitting on the
ground, leaning against the concrete wall; his eyes stared vacantly, and
Maxim realized that the pills had lost their effect. He glanced around,
lifted the General, and carried him away from the tower. About twenty steps
away, Ordi lay in the grass, with a grenade in her hand. She was lying face
down, but Maxim could tell that she was dead. Searching further, he found
Forester, also dead. Green, too. Who could he leave the General with?
Stunned by all the deaths, he walked around the field. Only minutes ago
he had thought himself prepared to face this eventuality. Now he was no
longer eager to return and blow up the tower, to finish the job they had
started. First he must see how Memo was doing. He found him lying alongside
the barbed wire. He had been wounded, probably had tried to crawl away and
lost consciousness. Maxim placed the General beside him and ran toward the
tower again. How strange to think that these two hundred miserable yards
could be crossed so easily now.
He attached the mines to the tower's supports, two to each, to be
doubly sure. Although he had time, he hurried; the General and Memo were
losing blood. And probably, somewhere along the highway, trucks loaded with
legionnaires were on their way. Guy had most likely been called out, and he
and Pandi were now bouncing along the cobblestones. In neighboring villages,
people were waking up: men were grabbing their guns; children were crying;
and women were cursing the bloodthirsty spies who had deprived them of their
sleep. He sensed the drizzly darkness stirring, springing to life, coming
alive with danger.
Maxim set up the five-minute fuses, activated them, and started to run
back to the General and Memo. Feeling that he had forgotten something, he
paused, looked around, and remembered. Ordi. He returned to her, lifted her