Odnośniki
- Indeks
- C.S. IGRZYSKA ĹMIERCI 01 IGRZYSKA ĹMIERCI
- Jeff Erno Dumb Jock 01 Dumb Jock
- Beaton M.C. Hamish Macbeth 01 Hamish Macbethi ĹmierÄ plotkary
- Miller Henry Zwrotnik Raka 01 Zwrotnik Raka
- Frederick Marshall Brown [Ravaging Myths 01] Ravaging Myths (pdf)(1)
- Dragonlance Anthologies 01 The Dragons Of Krynn
- Lyn Hamilton [Archeological Mystery 01] The Xibalba Murders (v1.0) [lit]
- 34. Roberts Nora SpeĹniÄ marzenia 01 PieĹĹ gĂłr
- Annee Pfau [The Blood Curse 01] Redemption (pdf)
- M L N Hanover Black Sun's Daughter 01 Unclean Spirits
- zanotowane.pl
- doc.pisz.pl
- pdf.pisz.pl
- szostka.htw.pl
"You'll see soon enough." As Maruco spoke, his partnerbegan to remove from their stretchers and
carefully fold thepartially cured jaguar and margay pelts. When he had fin-ished with that, he resumed
breaking camp, reducing every-thing to a pile of poles, bindings, and disparate organic waste. This was
then scattered among the concealing brush, to decayand disintegrate, along with any indication that
people hadever spent any time at this particular spot.
"Must be rough." Cheelo was under no illusion that his at-tempts at casual conversation would ingratiate
him with theircaptors, but in lieu of any alternative activity, it would have tosuffice. "Having to tear down
and make a new camp everytime you come into the Reserva."
Maruco was dismissive. "Gets easier with practice. You learnwhat trees make the best hide stretchers,
what vines are themost supple and easiest to work. Why do you give a damn?"He grinned nastily.
"Thinking of going into competition?"
"Not me." Cheelo shook his head. "I'm a city boy."
"I figured. You skin different game."
As soon as the airtruck was loaded, the two captives wereherded on board. Cheelo found nothing
exceptional about thevehicle. He'd seen camouflaged stealth transport before. ButDesvendapur was
fascinated. It was the first complex piece ofpurely human technology he had encountered in person, and
every facet of it, from the layout of the instrumentation to thedesign of the climate-controlled interior, was
new to him.There was, of course, no place for him to sit down. For thranxpurposes, the floor was more
accommodating than the seatsdesigned for humans. He chose to stand, balancing himselfas the vehicle
lifted in virtual silence from its hiding place torise into the canopy.
Though it took four times as long as a straight flight wouldhave, Maruco followed a course that kept
them below spread-ing crests of the forest emergents, utilizing the canopy forcover whenever possible
and only rising above it when theairtruck threatened to leave too expansive a path of destruc-tion in the
form of broken branches and snapped lianas in itswake. From time to time the closely entangled rain
forestgave way to meandering streams and the occasionalcochathat allowed him to fly low at higher
speeds without leaving atrail behind.
Only when the first foothills hove into view among themists and low-hanging clouds was Cheelo moved
to com-ment. "I thought you said this place of yours was just outsidethe Reserva?"
"It is." Maruco spoke without turning while his partnerkept a watchful eye and the muzzle of a rifle
trained on theirhuman captive. "If you're familiar with the area, then youknow the western border of the
Reserva runs right up this sideof the Andes."
Cheelo watched the foothills give way rapidly to steep,green-shrouded slopes. "I know. I just assumed
your placewould be down low, where you could hide it in the trees."
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
Maruco smiled knowingly as the airtruck, following agorge, commenced a steady climb. "That's what
any rangerspatrolling the fringes would think. So we set ourselves upright out in the open, up where it's
barren and cold and un-comfortable. What stupidchingons would stick themselvesout on a treeless ridge
for everybody to see? Not anybodyrunning a poaching operation, right?"
"We've never had any trouble," Hapec chipped in. "No-body checks on us or our little shack." He
revealed a mouth-ful of gleaming, artificial, ceramic teeth. Light gold wascurrently a fashionable dental
tint. "Anybody asks, we tell'em we're running a private bird-watching operation."
"It's not a whole lie." Maruco was in a jovial mood. "We dowatch birds. And if they're rare enough, we
also snare and sell'em."
As the airtruck entered the zone of cloud forest and thepermanent mists that cloaked the mountainsides
in lugubri-ously wandering blankets of gray and white, the poacherswitched from manual to instrument
driving. Earlier, the de-humidifier had shut down and the vehicle's internal climatecontrol had switched
over from cool to heat. Meanwhile Cheelocontinued the meaningless banter that fooled no one. If pro-
voked, either of the two poachers would as soon shoot him asspit on him. He knew it, and he knew they
knew he knew it. But it was better than dead silence or trading insults. At leasthe might learn something.
Desvendapur certainly was. Not only the journey but theedgy conversation taking place between the
three humanscontinued to provide him with an unbridled flow of sugges-tion, stimulation, and inspiration.
Unable to freely utilizehis scri!ber for fear that their captors might appropriate it,he concentrated on
observing and remembering all that hecould. Tenseness and barely concealed agitation were racial
characteristics his kind had abandoned in favor of polite com-munion hundreds of years ago. In a highly
organized societythat chose to dwell underground in eternally close quarters,courtesy and politeness were
not merely encouraged, theywere an absolute necessity.
Humans, apparently, fought and argued at the slightest provocation. The energy they expended in such
recurrentconfrontations was breathtaking to behold: wasteful, but fas-cinating. It seemed they had
stamina to spare. The mostexcitable thranx was more circumspect and conservative. Theknowledge that
they intended to sell him into some kind of captivity did not engage him half so much as their constant
bickering. Captivity, if it occurred, would not be so bad. It would allow him to continue studying
humankind at closequarters. He doubted, however, that his troubled human com-panion felt similarly.
It was him these antisocial humans wanted, not CheeloMontoya. Neither did the poet have further need
for the self-confessed thief. More than once Desvendapur thought aboutspeaking up, revealing to the two
poachers his fluency in theirlanguage. The only reason he did not was because he knew itwould mean the
death of his companion. While that wouldbe, based on what he knew of Cheelo and what the man had
told him, small loss to the species, it contravened any numberof thranx rules of conduct. Recreant that he
was, Desvendapurwas not prepared to break with custom and culture tothat extent. At least, not yet. For
the moment it was moreamusing to play the game, to listen to the new humans makecomments about him
convinced that he understood nothingof what they were saying.
After a substantial interval the airtruck rose out of theclouds and into sunshine so bright and unfiltered it
was pain-ful. In the pure, cerulean distance rose peaks that effortlesslycrested five thousand meters. Just
ahead, a stony, intermit-tently green plateau rolled off to the west: hills standing atopmountains. The only
signs of habitation were a few detached farmhouses and long stretches of mountainside covered with
phototropic sheeting to protect the potatoes and other cropsthriving beneath.
On the eastern edge of a high ridge stood a modest, un-spectacular domicile attached by a pedestrian
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
corridor to aslightly larger structure. A roll-up door retracted as the air-truck approached. Guiding the
vehicle in manually use ofits automatic docking system ran the risk of sending out faintbut detectable
signals curious rangers might pick up Marucobrought it to a stop in the exact center of the garage
when the appropriate telltale on the truck's console turned green. A flipof one switch and the vehicle
settled gently to the smooth, im-pervious floor. The door rolled noisily shut behind them asthe structure's
internal heating panels roared to life. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]