Alan Burt Akers [Dray Prescot 07] Arena of Antares (pdf)
Alan Burt Akers [Dray Prescot 14] Krozar of Kregen (pdf)
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 06] Trapped
James Alan Gardner [League Of Peoples 04] Hunted
Dean Cameron Candace Steele 01 PĹ‚omienne Pragnienie (nieof.)
Foster, Alan Dean Spellsinger 7 Son of Spellsinger
Foster, Alan Dean Catechist 03 A Triumph of Souls
Alan Dean Foster Damned 1 Call to Arms
Alan Dean Foster Icerigger 3 Deluge Drivers
Foster, Alan Dean Icerigger 3 Deluge Drivers
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
thing sounds crazy to me. Are you sure all this is necessary? The tranquüizer
rifle and all, I mean? Why don t I just have a couple of guys sneak up behind
him and bop him one? He s just an old man.
That old man, Huddy explained dryly, is probably the most dangerous
individual in the country, all the more so because he doesn t know it himself.
You do the pick-up the way you were instructed.
If you insist, Mr. Huddy. But I still think we re doing this the hard way.
Humor me. Huddy hung up.
Page 123
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Masterson put the phone back in its cradle and shook his head slowly.
Craziest business he d ever been in on. All this effort expended to apprehend
one tired old man. People covering the whole city. Hell, the whole state.
Still, his was not to reason why. Only to collect.
The CB buzzed and he lifted the speaker.
Stroud here. Come back, Masterson.
What s doing, Stroud? A check of his watch showed the time: four in the
morning. The men with the t-gun should be driving into the station any minute
now.
Trouble. Looks like the old boy s got a lift. Stroud balanced himself on
the car hood, holding the binoculars in one hand and the CB unit in the other.
Yeah, they re driving off. Seventy-four Ford pickup, maybe seventy-five.
License number six six seven DRF. Bright blue with red, black and yellow
stripes. Four spots on the cab.
Damn, Masterson muttered. Well, they d just have to adjust. He spoke
louder. Red, black and yellow stripes on a blue Ford pickup, check. That ll
be hard to miss. He thought of the unlucky couple who d shared the old man s
room. He didn t want any more trouble like that. Messy. Who s with him?
Looks like a kid, Stroud reported. Junior college age. Naw, come to think
of it he didn t look like the type. Almost out of my range now. Still on
First, heading east. His wife was waiting behind the wheel of their car,
fingers on the ignition key. Want us to follow em?
Yeah. Stay close but don t press them, Masterson ordered. Keep them in
sight. Masterson out.
Stroud piled into the car. His wife nodded, said brusquely, I heard, and
started the engine. They pulled out onto the nearly deserted street.
Masterson sat thinking for a moment, then touched controls before addressing
himself once again to the CB.
Central here. Outlook four, six and nine, subject is now traveling eastbound
on First Street in a late model Ford pickup; blue with red, black and yellow
striping, multiple spotlights on the cab. License number six six seven DRF.
Young man driving. Set up your position on First in advance of the interstate
on-ramp. The kid s probably heading home after a fast night in town. Maybe
we ll be lucky and he s too bombed to see much. Unit six, you ve got plenty of
time to set up on the bridge. Put the kid out too if you have a clean shot.
I ll be there in a few minutes myself.
He replaced the pickup in its holder and hurried forward. The van engine
turned over with a satisfying roar and he gunned it, laying rubber as he
headed southeast. He might get there in time to witness the actual pick-up and
he might not. A lot depended on how fast the kid was traveling. He still had
to pass through the traffic circle. There was usually a cop sitting there,
watching for people to run the stop signs on their way out of town. That
should slow him down a little.
Just outside Abilene s eastern flank lay a large industrial area spotted with
treed empty lots. It would be a good place to pick up the old man, Masterson
knew. Not much traffic of any kind out there this time of morning. It would be
neat and quick. He d be glad to be done with it. Other business was going
Page 124
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
unmonitored while he was forced to Fool arouncT with this old man.
As he sped down the feeder road he wondered what all the fuss was about in
the first place.
XIV
I still don t understand, mister. The kid let both hands hang loosely from
the top of the wheel. What re you doin out here the middle of the night? You
don t look like no wino. If you had, I wouldn t have picked you up.
I don t drink much, son.
Jake relaxed a little, only occasionally glancing at the side mirror mounted
outside his window. There were no signs of pursuit. Only city lights fading
into the distance. Outside it was rapidly becoming darker. Warehouses and
factory buildings loomed large against the night. The widely spaced street
lights they encountered were islands of light on the dark road.
Down on your luck then, said the driver. Jake studied him. Couldn t be much
more than seventeen, if he was that. He wondered what the youngster was doing
out so late, then decided that it was none of his business. The kid still had
acne mixed with his freckles. Combined with a deep West Texas tan it gave his
face the look of a Landsat false-color photograph. The western hat he wore was
a little too big for his head and he had to keep nudging it back off his
forehead. Some unfortunate rattlesnake had given its all for that hatband. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
