[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
if certain circuits were reconnected, thousands of volts could shoot through
the damp steel. She let go hurriedly. A voice sounded on her right.
"Hinges are a little stiff, Miss Kai?sung." It was Philip. "Ah, there!"
A moment later something broke the surface on her left with a loud whoosh.
It was Hammurabi. He was followed seconds later by a thin whistle:
Porsupah. Even the Tolian was panting. Not because of fatigue, but because the
air here was anything but fresh.
"Everyone okay? All right, I'm going down to lift the gate," said the
youngster. "Miss Kai?sung, you and Porsupah?al wait ten seconds and come after
me. This tunnel descends slightly and then opens into the sea. It's not a long
drop, just deep enough to ensure that the outlet opening is always hidden from
surface view. The shore here is pretty rocky. Find a spot shielded from land.
Captain, after they've slipped out I'll resurface inside. Then you follow me
down. I'll be holding the grating open from the sea side. When you feel the
bottom of the grate, tap it with your watch and trail the body just behind
you. I'll hear it and let the gate drop. It ought to hold the corpse to the
seafloor solidly."
Page 56
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Without waiting for comment the youth hyperventilated, then ducked under.
Porsupah and Kitten counted off the seconds together and followed. Water
splashed the perpetually moist walls and Mal's face. Several millennia later
Mal heard the youngster break surface.
"Ready, Captain?"
Mal took an unbreakable grip on the corpse's neck with his right hand. "One
question. I'm no herpetologist, but I don't recall noticing any gills on
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Flinx%207%20-%
20Bloodhype.txt (64 of 162) [1/16/03 6:52:00 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Flinx%207%20-%
20Bloodhype.txt your scaly companion."
"Oh, Pip? I discovered?quite by accident?that he can go without oxygen for a
surprising amount of time. Some day I'll run across a xenoherpetologist who
can explain it to me. I'm going now." Deep breathing, an echoing splash in the
confining air bubble. Mal followed shortly, the tech's body a tugging,
naggingly buoyant parasite. Fortunately, as Philip had said, the gate didn't
go deep. He felt for and encountered the prongs at the bottom of the grating.
Carefully, he eased the body bellyup against them, then tapped one?two?three
times with his wristband. The grating immediately dropped with surprising
speed, pinning the unlucky, unnamed man to the muddy channel bottom.
Immediately Mal turned and swam, away and downward. He could feel pressure
waves from another body swimming alongside. The shipmaster had a moment of
worry. When the power to the gate was switched back on, the body jamming it
open ought to trigger every alarm on the island.
But by that time they'd be long gone.
They'd better be. The two men broke the surface together. Only one moon was
still in the sky, but there was enough light to make out two dim figures on
shore, huddled close by an overhanging block of gneiss. Two shadowed faces,
one human and the other not, stared back. Mal and Philip swam over and hugged
the boulder, catching their breath.
"Nice to breathe fresh air again," said Mal, "Yeah. I'd like to rest too, but
in the city. I'll feel a lot better when were on board that hoveraft of
yours."
"Which direction is the inlet?" Kitten whispered. "My Sense of direction is
scrambled:"
"Just around that point," the youngster replied, pointing ahead. "The island's
not very big, but parts of the complex go quite deep. Miss
Kai?sung, you and Porsupah] don't know where the Captain's raft is beached, so
be sure and stay close. The harbor is crowded enough to be confusing."
"Don't lecture me, my skinny samaritan. I'm a big girl now."
"What about harbor patrols and interior alarms?" Mal asked, to change the
subject.
"Aren't many this close in. There is a transceiving shield, quite illegal?and
efficient. Our best bet, therefore, is to get out of the landing proper and
skim like hell until we pass the defense perimeter. Then we can cast unblocked
to the Rectory in the city. Once they pick us up, his
Lordship should be too busy packing to worry about us."
"You hope," said Kitten.
"The best of all possibilities," he replied. He began paddling towards the
point of land he'd indicated.
"Any other vessels expected tonight?" Mal asked, swimming close behind.
"I don't know for sure, but I don't believe so. Why?"
"Going by your description of Rose's setup and what I know of similar ones,
this defensive situation is designed primarily for detecting boats trying to
get in. It just might ignore any going out. With luck it will be quite a while
before anyone notices our disappearance."
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Flinx%207%20-%
20Bloodhype.txt (65 of 162) [1/16/03 6:52:00 PM]
Page 57
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Flinx%207%20-%
20Bloodhype.txt
As they moved up the inlet, hugging the shoreline, Kitten couldn't escape the
feeling that Rose was watching from somewhere in the trees. At any moment a
light would lance out from the shadows and spear them with its unblinking
glare. But they reached the raft landing without anything other than a few
disturbed mollusks detecting their passage.
There were few lights on at the artificial beach. Nothing moved. Philip led
the way up the pebbled plastic sand cover. No one stopped him to ask what a
sanitation engineer was doing out for a late?night swim?in full workwear. A
gesture brought the others out of the water. Slick and hard, the plastic gave
excellent purchase to hover vehicles. The little group had no trouble making
their way towards the beached rafts, although there were places where some
frantic scrambling was necessary. They huddled next to the deflated sac of one
raft.
"I can make out one guard at the head of the loading pier," Philip whispered.
"We ought to be able to slip inside your craft without his noticing us."
"I'd rather make sure he doesn't," said Mal. He disappeared quietly under the
metal piering. Several minutes passed while the others waited and the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]