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The Stars My Destination ( Tiger! Tiger! ) :: Bester Alfred
Страница: 76 из 164«Dagenham's ship came down on the other side, but they've probably signaled him by now andhe'll be on his way. Hold your position, Gully. About ten seconds now. . .»
The hornets closed in and engulfed the tiny white suit.
«Foyle! Can you hear me? Foyle!» Dagenham's voice came in fuzzily and finally cleared. «This is Dagenham calling on your band. Come in, Foyle!»
«Jiz! Jiz! Can you get clear of them?»
«Hold your position, Gully. . . There she goes! It's a hole in one, son!» A crushing shock racked the Weekender as the safe, moving slowly but massively, rammed into themain hatch. At the same moment the white suited figure broke out of the cluster of yellow wasps. It came rocketing up to the Weekender, hotly pursued.
«Come on, Jiz! Come on!» Foyle howled. «Come, girl! Come!»
As Jisbella disappeared from sight behind the flank of the Weekender, Foyle set controls and prepared for top acceleration.
«Foyle! Will you answer me? This is Dagenham speaking.»
«To hell with you, Dagenham,» Foyle shouted. «Give me the word when you're aboard, Jiz, and hold on.»
«I can't make it, Gully.»
«Come on, girl!»
«I can't get aboard. The safe's blocking the hatch. It's wedged in halfway..,»
«Jiz,»
«There's no way in, I tell you,» she cried in despair. «I'm blocked out.» He stared around wildly. Dagenham's men were boarding the hull of the Weekender with the menacing purpose of professional raiders. Dagenham's ship was lifting over the brief horizon of the asteroid on a dead course for him. His head began to spin.
«Foyle, you're finished. You and the girl. But I'll offer a deal. . .»
«Gully, help me. Do something, Gully. I'm lost!»
«Vorga,» he said in a strangled voice. He closed his eyes and tripped the controls. The tail jets roared. The Weekender shook and shuddered forward. It broke free of Dagenham's boarders, of Jisbella, of warnings and pleas. It pressed Foyle back into the pilot's chair with the blackout of 10 G acceleration, an acceleration that was less pressing, less painful, less treacherous than the passion that drove him.
And as he passed from sight there rose up on his face the blood-red stigmata of his possession.
PART II
With a heart of furious fancies
Whereof I am commander,
With a burning spear and a horse of air,
To the wilderness I wander.
With a knight of ghosts and shadows
I summoned am to tourney,
Ten leagues beyond the wide world's end. Me thinks it is no journey.
The hornets closed in and engulfed the tiny white suit.
«Foyle! Can you hear me? Foyle!» Dagenham's voice came in fuzzily and finally cleared. «This is Dagenham calling on your band. Come in, Foyle!»
«Jiz! Jiz! Can you get clear of them?»
«Hold your position, Gully. . . There she goes! It's a hole in one, son!» A crushing shock racked the Weekender as the safe, moving slowly but massively, rammed into themain hatch. At the same moment the white suited figure broke out of the cluster of yellow wasps. It came rocketing up to the Weekender, hotly pursued.
«Come on, Jiz! Come on!» Foyle howled. «Come, girl! Come!»
As Jisbella disappeared from sight behind the flank of the Weekender, Foyle set controls and prepared for top acceleration.
«Foyle! Will you answer me? This is Dagenham speaking.»
«To hell with you, Dagenham,» Foyle shouted. «Give me the word when you're aboard, Jiz, and hold on.»
«I can't make it, Gully.»
«Come on, girl!»
«I can't get aboard. The safe's blocking the hatch. It's wedged in halfway..,»
«Jiz,»
«There's no way in, I tell you,» she cried in despair. «I'm blocked out.» He stared around wildly. Dagenham's men were boarding the hull of the Weekender with the menacing purpose of professional raiders. Dagenham's ship was lifting over the brief horizon of the asteroid on a dead course for him. His head began to spin.
«Foyle, you're finished. You and the girl. But I'll offer a deal. . .»
«Gully, help me. Do something, Gully. I'm lost!»
«Vorga,» he said in a strangled voice. He closed his eyes and tripped the controls. The tail jets roared. The Weekender shook and shuddered forward. It broke free of Dagenham's boarders, of Jisbella, of warnings and pleas. It pressed Foyle back into the pilot's chair with the blackout of 10 G acceleration, an acceleration that was less pressing, less painful, less treacherous than the passion that drove him.
And as he passed from sight there rose up on his face the blood-red stigmata of his possession.
PART II
With a heart of furious fancies
Whereof I am commander,
With a burning spear and a horse of air,
To the wilderness I wander.
With a knight of ghosts and shadows
I summoned am to tourney,
Ten leagues beyond the wide world's end. Me thinks it is no journey.