The City Who Fought
- Автор: Маккефри Энн, Стирлинг Стивен Майкл
- Серия: brainship #4
- Язык: английский
- Жанр: Научная фантастика
Электронная книга - «The City Who Fought». Краткое содержание книги:
Simeon's love of wargaming would find unexpected uses when the brutal Kolnari attack the nearby colony planet, Bethel. Sheltering the colony's refugee's brought the city an invitation to serious trouble with Kolnari pirates.
Channa sighed. "Last week, she thought she was five years old and Simeon-Amos was her father. She would start to cry if he left the room. For some reason, she's totally fixated on him. Chaundra supposes that he resembles whoever dropped her on us. We don't know."
"Lies!" Rachel shrieked. "lies."
"The doctor should be here by now," Amos said, clearly uncomfortable. He picked up the doll and placed it carefully on a chair. "Ah… she will grieve later if it isn't there."
"You may go," Belazir said to him. His eyes never left Channa's.
Chaundra strode in. He walked over to the weeping girl and touched her shoulder gently. "Poor Rachel," he said soothingly, "poor little girl."
"Doctor," t'Marid said sharply. Chaundra turned and stood very straight, looking down. "This is your patient?"
"Yes, Master and God."
"I do not appreciate having my time wasted on the daydreams of this madwoman. If she is so much as seen again-no, no point. You may go. Wait. You have records of her illness? I want to see them."
"Yes, Master and God, but I can't access them from this computer. Medical records are on a closed system to protect the privacy of the patient."
Belazir made an impatient, dismissive gesture. "Serig," he said. "See to it, then back to the Bride, continue on the matter we were planning. I will join you shortly." Serig bowed deeply.
"At your command, lord," he said, his teeth showing slightly in cold amusement. "The doll, too?"
Belazir snorted. "Go, insolence."
Rachel took a deep breath and seemed to fight for dignity; the twitching lessened in her face. "They are lying, Master and God, you will see. I am telling the truth."
That ended in a squawk as Serig turned her about and pushed between her shoulderblades. She ran to avoid falling, and the door hissed open before her.
"Now," Belazir snarled. Chaundra followed.
In the strained silence that followed, Belazir and Channa studied each other.
At last Belazir spoke. "Have your man return."
Channa pressed the intercom button, "Simeon-Amos, would you come in here, please?"
"This Rachel is in love with you," t'Marid observed, a hint of laughter in the yellow eyes.
"I confess," Amos said bitterly, "that I am beginning to despise the very sight of her."
The Kolnari raised an eyebrow.
"One day," Channa informed him, "she became convinced that Simeon-Amos was God and went around the station trying to convert people to worshipping him. She's been a very difficult experience for all of us, but she's been a particular strain on Simeon-Amos."
"Simeon-Amos," Belazir said, "is rather obviously the victim of a similar fixation on you, Channahap. A strong reason to believe your tale."
"Yes, Master and God," Channa said. She closed her eyes. Simeon? she asked.
"He's halfway convinced, but still wondering. Impatient. Channa, it's starting. No more than twenty minutes until the pirates' sound alarm."
She opened her eyes again. "Simeon-Amos," she said. "Why don't you go see to the primary warehousing?"
He hesitated for a long second. "As you wish."
Now, Simeon commanded.
The worm raised its head from the ruins of the castle, looking out across a plain of volcanic fumaroles and blue-glowing lava. Flights of tongue-wasps patrolled there and arcs of lightning jagged over crater and canyon in patterned displays.
Thunder rumbled. A barking broke loose, louder than the thunder, and the vault of heaven split. The worm reared up, endless, longer than time, glutted with its feeding.
Simeon burst through and new skies sprang above the blasted landscape. The light changed from a pitiless white to the softer yellow of sunshine. The wasps fell, twitched, died. Three-headed and elephant-sized, the dog paced beside him. He raised the bat, struck.
The Grinder lunged and the concentric mouths damped on the end of the weapon. Then it recoiled, as the wood turned to a hoop and expanded, thrusting the rows of teeth back. It tried to shake loose, but the dog's three heads pinned its body to the earth. Wider and wider the glowing green circle swelled, until the mouths were a doorway.
A scalpel and icepick appeared in Simeon's hands. He walked into the worm's mouths and raised the tools.
"Heeeeeeere's Sim!" he shouted. "Open wide."
On the auxiliary command deck of the SSS-900-C, the Kolnari tech was reaching for the rear casing of the battle computer when he noticed the telltales.
"Lord!" he cried. "The-"
At that instant, the self-destruct charge built into the base of the computer detonated. It was not much in the way of an explosion, but much more than was required to destroy the sensitive inner workings. The designer had intended that to foil tampering. However, the flattened disk of jagged housing was more than enough to decapitate the pirate.
His companion reacted with tiger precision, scooping up his weapon and leaping for the doors. They clashed shut with a snap, and the warrior rebounded into the control chamber. It was empty save for him and there was no other exit. He pivoted, holding down the trigger of his plasma rifle and firing from the hip into the consoles.
"Naughty," a voice from the air said. The vents began to hiss. The Kolnari staggered at the first touch of the gas. His last act was to strip a grenade from his belt and trigger it, carefully held next to his own head.
"Damn," Simeon muttered. The mess was considerable and the equipment wasn't going to be much use for a while. Then he took the equivalent of a deep breath and concentrated. Several dozen things must be done at once.
"Let me up," Channa said, stroking Belazir's back.
"Not for a while yet," Belazir said lazily. "I have hastened as it is. There is another five minutes available." His body was dry against her sweat-slick one, but much warmer, with the higher metabolism of his breed.
"Are we staying, then?" she breathed against his ear.
"No," he replied. "You suspected?"
"That you'd take me with you, or that today would be the day to go? Both." She wiggled. "Now, please. I have to get some stuff."
"I shall keep you well," Belazir said, then rolled away off her. "Be swift."
He lay idly on the sofa, watching her disappear into the bedroom. Memorable, he decided. Starting with her skinning out of her clothes the moment they were alone. Anticipation is the best garnish. The Kolnari consulted his interior timesense: twenty minutes, unusually swift. Well within the day's schedule, too. He grinned to himself, stretching and tossing back strands of white-blond hair. Tomorrow stretched out before him in a road of fire and blood and gold.
"We are close to Channa's quarters?" Joseph asked.
They were leopard-crawling down the ductway; an action that was hard for one of his shoulder-breadth. Behind them Patsy was having less of a problem, since much of her volume was compressible.
"Yeah…" Joat paused. "I haven't actually been this way, y'know. I was trying to hide from Simeon." A pause. "We're right over the main corridor to the elevator shaft. I think."
"I think I had better check," Joseph said, with a tight smile. "Are you all right, Joat-my-friend?"
"Yeah." She threw a smile back at him. "Just… I got a little shook, is all. I'm fine."
She touched the junction node and her jacker. The membrane beneath them turned transparent. Chaundra did not look up. Instead, he glanced behind him, shook his head, moved on.
Joat crawled past, then froze as two more figures came beneath. Rachel was running, but Serig caught her easily in one hand, pushed her against the corridor wall. She screamed, breathy and catching in her throat, like someone awakening from one nightmare into another.