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."Through there," Lathe told him, pointing along a rock-strewn cut between two steep hills."Single-file, and keep an eye out for aircraft overhead."They'd been hiking for just over an hour when a Security man stepped out of the undergrowthfifty meters ahead directly onto their path.All six men froze into statues as Lathe, in the lead, flashed the appropriate hand signal back tothem.The Security man, Caine noted uneasily, was heavily armed, with both a holstered paral-dartpistol and a shoulder-slung laser assault rifle.Radio headphones peeked out from under his mountaincap, and infrared-enhancement goggles were slung around his neck.Caine gnawed at his lip.The soldier wasn't looking their way at the moment was, in fact, facingninety degrees away from their line of approach.But balancing that was the fact that the terrain andsparse foliage near him precluded any kind of quiet approach.They'd have to take him out from wherethey stood.But Lathe was making no move to draw either his slingshot or a shuriken was making no moveaaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rat all, in fact."When are we going to take him?" he whispered to Skyler as the seconds crept by."Just relax," the other whispered back.And to Caine's surprise, the soldier turned and walked casually away."What.?" he hissed, totally confused now."You weren't paying attention to his stance and equipment," Skyler explained as they startedforward again."Both were more appropriate to a sentry than to someone on bush-beating duty.Bernhard, what's out here that anyone might want Security protection for?""No idea," the other said with a puzzled frown."Kanai?"The other shook his head slowly."Nothing I know of.Possibly a major intake to the city watersupply?""That's right you got a map of that network a few days ago, didn't you?" Skyler commented toCaine."Maybe they still think we're out to sabotage the system.""Doesn't matter," Lathe put in."From his positioning I'd guess the center of the ring is a wayssouth, off to our left.We'll veer north and see if we can avoid any more contacts.""Right," Caine said.He glanced at Skyler, caught the other's signal."Bernhard, Kanai do eitherof you know what those things were around the guard's neck? I've never seen goggles quite like thosebefore."Bernhard snorted and launched into a rather condescending explanation of infrared-enhancementequipment.Caine kept the whispered discussion going for several minutes longer as they continuedon, plying both him and Kanai with more such naive questions.It was an annoying role to play, but asa diversionary tactic it succeeded remarkably well.By the time the conversation ended, Skyler hadreturned to the group as quietly as he'd left it, without either of the Denver blackcollars having noticedhis absence.aaTTnnssFFffooDDrrPPmmYYeeYYrrBB22.BBAAClick here to buyClick here to buywwmmwwoowwcc.AAYYBBYYBBr rThe sun rose higher in the sky, eventually passing zenith, as they continued to hike."It sure didn'tlook this far on the map," Caine complained once as they broke for a ten-minute lunch."Uphill climbs never do," Kanai puffed, as out of breath as any of them despite his high-altitudeacclimation."For your full expedition out here, Lathe, I suggest you make the jump-off point a littlecloser.Reger isn't really going to learn anything useful about your destination, no matter where alongthe road his driver lets you off.""You may be right," Lathe conceded."Anyway, the worst part is over.I read the entrance asbeing just on the northern side of the peak over there." He pointed.Caine looked and sighed."What's that, another two or three hours?""One hour tops," Lathe promised."Let's go.I want to find the entrance, figure out what we'llneed to get it open, and be back at the pickup point before dark."Lathe's estimate turned out to have been on the optimistic side, but not by too much.Exactly anhour and fourteen minutes later they came to a halt beside a rocky overhang and the ventilation tunnelintake.Caine had wondered how the hell a two-meter grille could have remained unnoticed all theseyears, but now that he was here he realized that it wasn't nearly as unlikely as he'd imagined.Shieldedfrom above by the rock overhang, its surface covered by strategically placed grasses and other plants,the actual intake openings scattered in an irregular pattern instead of a normal crosshatching themore he studied it, the more he realized that even someone searching for the damn thing could walkright by without noticing it.Lathe might have been reading his mind."Lucky for us you knew precisely where this waslocated," he commented to Bernhard."Wasn't it?""Yes," the other said shortly."Hadn't you better get busy on your studies?""Yes, well, we're actually not in as much of a hurry ""Shh!" Kanai cut him off.Caine froze with the others, straining his ears."Behind us," Bernhard murmured, drawing a shuriken."Someone's coming.""A lot of someones, actually," Skyler told him stepping over to examine the grille."It's Mordecaiand the rest of the group.""What?" Kanai frowned, peering into the distance."But you said ""I guess he lied, didn't he?" Bernhard snarled, jamming his shuriken back into its pouch."That'sall [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]