[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.That’s the least of your problems.You do know it’s behind The Fence, don’t you?’Ishael nodded.‘The sealed section of Cornwall.The area reserved for government officials to take a little holiday.’Reeder laughed.‘Is that what you think? Is that really what you think?’‘What do you mean?’‘I take it you’ve never been as far as The Fence?’Marta said, ‘What’s behind it?’Reeder nodded towards the Land Rover.‘Get everyone on board.It’s time to leave.As for that accursed fence, my friend, in a couple of hours you’ll know exactly what’s behind it, and I’m afraid you’re not going to like it one bit.’Chapter Forty-NineMenaceClayton scowled through the broken windscreen as the sun began to rise behind them, bathing the dirt track they were traveling along in pale sunlight.After more than three hours of painstaking progress along the thin, overgrown lanes, the land cruiser’s battered suspension and the cold early morning air were starting to get to him.Dreggo’s Huntsmen were still tracking the Tube Riders’ scent, while Clayton’s men had been searching maps to try to find short cuts to haul back their quarry’s time advantage.The Tube Riders’ single vehicle could move much faster over the terrain, so only by second guessing them would Clayton’s men haul them in.The problem was that half of the roads on the map were overgrown or otherwise impassable.They had been forced to backtrack several times, and all the while the Tube Riders got further and further ahead.A small force had been dispatched to Falmouth to cut the Tube Riders off, but as Clayton had suspected, the scent trail was leading away from there, angling much further north.Falmouth was most likely a decoy, a town spat out at random in an attempt to buy them some time.Fortunately for Clayton’s men, though, the Tube Riders were running out of places to go.Deep into Cornwall now, Clayton had ordered fresh reinforcements from London to move in and cut off the major routes out of the area, should the Tube Riders and their little band try to double back.They were heading for the sea.There were no active ports in Cornwall, neither were there any air strips.It occurred to Clayton that the resistance force they had battled in Bristol might have an ocean-equipped vessel hidden away somewhere in an abandoned fishing port, but it was unlikely.Even if they could get out to sea, the government’s coastal defenses would easily pick them off.Beside him, Dreggo twisted.He had brought her up to his vehicle in order to more quickly relay his instructions to the Huntsmen, but it made him nervous to have her so close.It was difficult to concentrate with one hand pressed into his pocket, fingering the little remote that would screw up her nervous system.She looked at him and pouted.‘Are we there yet?’‘Shut up.’Dreggo grinned and glanced out of the passenger window at an overgrown field they were passing.‘Where are all the people?’‘I don’t know.’‘I’m sure you do but you can’t be bothered to tell me.’‘That’s right.’Dreggo leaned her head against his shoulder, close enough that he could smell the distinctly metallic odor of the inserts in her face and head.He tensed, and saw her smile as a result.‘You know, Mr.Clayton,’ she began in a childish, saccharine-soaked voice, ‘If I didn’t hate you with every inch of my body, and desire your death with every part of my will, I would probably find you attractive.In a grandfatherly kind of way.’‘I appreciate the compliment.’‘I would probably sleep with you, if I thought I could bring myself to touch you without wanting to tear you apart.’‘Give it a rest, would you?’ Clayton tried to shift away, but the gearbox and the driver’s seat blocked his escape.‘I haven’t been with a man – willingly – in a long time, Mr.Clayton.Even though the pond scum you work with filled me up with bits of metal, underneath it all I’m still a woman.I’m a woman with needs.’Clayton scowled at her.‘Just shut up, will you?’Dreggo looked about to reply when a crackle of static burst from the car’s internal radio.Clayton leaned forward.‘What is it?’ he barked.‘Mr.Clayton.’Even Dreggo shivered at the sound of the Governor’s voice.Clayton glanced at her before he answered.‘Sir? Yes, sir?’‘I trust you cannot yet confirm the capture of the Tube Riders?’‘Sir, I –’‘I thought not.Clayton, your incompetence is beginning to annoy me.’ Beside him, Dreggo smiled.‘Sir –’‘It appears you have developed a stutter.I suggest you put your breath to better use by more accurately briefing your men.In the meanwhile, we will rendezvous at Fence Checkpoint Three in approximately two hours.I assume you have surmised that the Tube Riders plan to go inside?’‘They won’t get far, sir.’‘You told me that back in London, and you told me that from Bristol, yet here we are taking a vacation in Cornwall with an unnecessary trail of bodies behind us.’The radio clicked off.Clayton glared at it.‘Sounds like you’re in trouble,’ Dreggo said.‘Shut up.’‘You know,’ she said, voice suddenly turning serious.‘We could start a revolution of our own.’‘What?’‘The Governor is coming to Cornwall.He’ll be unguarded.We have your men, and the Huntsmen –’Clayton lifted a hand.‘You talk of treason.I should kill you for those words.’‘Do it, I dare you.But with my last command to the Huntsmen I will order your death.’Clayton’s eyes narrowed.‘There’s not time.’With a slow smile Dreggo lifted a hand and touched her forehead.‘It’s already done.’‘You bitch.’‘Your men might cut them down, but yet another failure to maintain control will count against you.Your days are numbered.’‘I don’t need your help.’Dreggo reached out and touched his knee.Her eyes narrowed.‘I control the Huntsmen, Clayton.Through a little kinship and a lot of cruelty on behalf of your men, they trust me.We have enough to practically sack London.We can fight him.’Clayton shook his head with resignation.‘You have no idea what the Governor can do.’Dreggo fingered a piece of metal that protruded from her upper arm and bent over her shoulder as a kind of armour.Where it passed through the skin was a stretchy plastic membrane that had been fused with her skin tissue and melded to the metal.She reached out and put her fingers on the truck’s dashboard, pressing against the plastic.For a moment she appeared to strain and nothing happened.Then Clayton heard a creak and a fracture opened up in the plastic.His eyes widened.It would have taken a hammer to do the same amount of damage.‘I’m pretty sure I can imagine,’ she said, wiping sweat from her hand off on to her shirt.‘You can’t imagine it,’ Clayton said, regaining his composure.‘Unless you’ve seen it.’Dreggo closed her eyes.‘Well, pretty soon I’ll have a chance to, won’t I?’Chapter FiftyBreaking and EnteringReeder stopped the Land Rover on top of the rise.Ahead of them the dirt trail headed down into the valley, snaking through abandoned, overgrown farmland and into a thin thicket of woodland which spread across the valley floor.They could see it again as it broke out of the copse, angling up the hillside to where it ended at a small car park, a low brick building at its rear.A short distance beyond the building they could see a tall fence that stretched away for as far as they could see in either direction.‘Is there anything they haven’t fucking enclosed in this country?’ Switch said, climbing out and spitting on the ground.‘What the hell is behind this one?’Reeder climbed out beside him and lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes.He scanned back and forth.‘There.There’s one [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl milosnikstop.keep.pl
.That’s the least of your problems.You do know it’s behind The Fence, don’t you?’Ishael nodded.‘The sealed section of Cornwall.The area reserved for government officials to take a little holiday.’Reeder laughed.‘Is that what you think? Is that really what you think?’‘What do you mean?’‘I take it you’ve never been as far as The Fence?’Marta said, ‘What’s behind it?’Reeder nodded towards the Land Rover.‘Get everyone on board.It’s time to leave.As for that accursed fence, my friend, in a couple of hours you’ll know exactly what’s behind it, and I’m afraid you’re not going to like it one bit.’Chapter Forty-NineMenaceClayton scowled through the broken windscreen as the sun began to rise behind them, bathing the dirt track they were traveling along in pale sunlight.After more than three hours of painstaking progress along the thin, overgrown lanes, the land cruiser’s battered suspension and the cold early morning air were starting to get to him.Dreggo’s Huntsmen were still tracking the Tube Riders’ scent, while Clayton’s men had been searching maps to try to find short cuts to haul back their quarry’s time advantage.The Tube Riders’ single vehicle could move much faster over the terrain, so only by second guessing them would Clayton’s men haul them in.The problem was that half of the roads on the map were overgrown or otherwise impassable.They had been forced to backtrack several times, and all the while the Tube Riders got further and further ahead.A small force had been dispatched to Falmouth to cut the Tube Riders off, but as Clayton had suspected, the scent trail was leading away from there, angling much further north.Falmouth was most likely a decoy, a town spat out at random in an attempt to buy them some time.Fortunately for Clayton’s men, though, the Tube Riders were running out of places to go.Deep into Cornwall now, Clayton had ordered fresh reinforcements from London to move in and cut off the major routes out of the area, should the Tube Riders and their little band try to double back.They were heading for the sea.There were no active ports in Cornwall, neither were there any air strips.It occurred to Clayton that the resistance force they had battled in Bristol might have an ocean-equipped vessel hidden away somewhere in an abandoned fishing port, but it was unlikely.Even if they could get out to sea, the government’s coastal defenses would easily pick them off.Beside him, Dreggo twisted.He had brought her up to his vehicle in order to more quickly relay his instructions to the Huntsmen, but it made him nervous to have her so close.It was difficult to concentrate with one hand pressed into his pocket, fingering the little remote that would screw up her nervous system.She looked at him and pouted.‘Are we there yet?’‘Shut up.’Dreggo grinned and glanced out of the passenger window at an overgrown field they were passing.‘Where are all the people?’‘I don’t know.’‘I’m sure you do but you can’t be bothered to tell me.’‘That’s right.’Dreggo leaned her head against his shoulder, close enough that he could smell the distinctly metallic odor of the inserts in her face and head.He tensed, and saw her smile as a result.‘You know, Mr.Clayton,’ she began in a childish, saccharine-soaked voice, ‘If I didn’t hate you with every inch of my body, and desire your death with every part of my will, I would probably find you attractive.In a grandfatherly kind of way.’‘I appreciate the compliment.’‘I would probably sleep with you, if I thought I could bring myself to touch you without wanting to tear you apart.’‘Give it a rest, would you?’ Clayton tried to shift away, but the gearbox and the driver’s seat blocked his escape.‘I haven’t been with a man – willingly – in a long time, Mr.Clayton.Even though the pond scum you work with filled me up with bits of metal, underneath it all I’m still a woman.I’m a woman with needs.’Clayton scowled at her.‘Just shut up, will you?’Dreggo looked about to reply when a crackle of static burst from the car’s internal radio.Clayton leaned forward.‘What is it?’ he barked.‘Mr.Clayton.’Even Dreggo shivered at the sound of the Governor’s voice.Clayton glanced at her before he answered.‘Sir? Yes, sir?’‘I trust you cannot yet confirm the capture of the Tube Riders?’‘Sir, I –’‘I thought not.Clayton, your incompetence is beginning to annoy me.’ Beside him, Dreggo smiled.‘Sir –’‘It appears you have developed a stutter.I suggest you put your breath to better use by more accurately briefing your men.In the meanwhile, we will rendezvous at Fence Checkpoint Three in approximately two hours.I assume you have surmised that the Tube Riders plan to go inside?’‘They won’t get far, sir.’‘You told me that back in London, and you told me that from Bristol, yet here we are taking a vacation in Cornwall with an unnecessary trail of bodies behind us.’The radio clicked off.Clayton glared at it.‘Sounds like you’re in trouble,’ Dreggo said.‘Shut up.’‘You know,’ she said, voice suddenly turning serious.‘We could start a revolution of our own.’‘What?’‘The Governor is coming to Cornwall.He’ll be unguarded.We have your men, and the Huntsmen –’Clayton lifted a hand.‘You talk of treason.I should kill you for those words.’‘Do it, I dare you.But with my last command to the Huntsmen I will order your death.’Clayton’s eyes narrowed.‘There’s not time.’With a slow smile Dreggo lifted a hand and touched her forehead.‘It’s already done.’‘You bitch.’‘Your men might cut them down, but yet another failure to maintain control will count against you.Your days are numbered.’‘I don’t need your help.’Dreggo reached out and touched his knee.Her eyes narrowed.‘I control the Huntsmen, Clayton.Through a little kinship and a lot of cruelty on behalf of your men, they trust me.We have enough to practically sack London.We can fight him.’Clayton shook his head with resignation.‘You have no idea what the Governor can do.’Dreggo fingered a piece of metal that protruded from her upper arm and bent over her shoulder as a kind of armour.Where it passed through the skin was a stretchy plastic membrane that had been fused with her skin tissue and melded to the metal.She reached out and put her fingers on the truck’s dashboard, pressing against the plastic.For a moment she appeared to strain and nothing happened.Then Clayton heard a creak and a fracture opened up in the plastic.His eyes widened.It would have taken a hammer to do the same amount of damage.‘I’m pretty sure I can imagine,’ she said, wiping sweat from her hand off on to her shirt.‘You can’t imagine it,’ Clayton said, regaining his composure.‘Unless you’ve seen it.’Dreggo closed her eyes.‘Well, pretty soon I’ll have a chance to, won’t I?’Chapter FiftyBreaking and EnteringReeder stopped the Land Rover on top of the rise.Ahead of them the dirt trail headed down into the valley, snaking through abandoned, overgrown farmland and into a thin thicket of woodland which spread across the valley floor.They could see it again as it broke out of the copse, angling up the hillside to where it ended at a small car park, a low brick building at its rear.A short distance beyond the building they could see a tall fence that stretched away for as far as they could see in either direction.‘Is there anything they haven’t fucking enclosed in this country?’ Switch said, climbing out and spitting on the ground.‘What the hell is behind this one?’Reeder climbed out beside him and lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes.He scanned back and forth.‘There.There’s one [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]