Mississippi Roll. Джордж Р. Р. Мартин

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      The refugees looked almost as stunned as Ray’s victims as he shook the two guards like a terrier with rats in its jaws, just to make sure they were out, then swiftly checked them all for more weapons. ‘Well, don’t just stand there,’ he told the refugees, ‘someone tie them up.’

      Twenty-odd prisoners leaped forward in response. It probably would have gone more efficiently if they didn’t keep getting in one another’s way, but Ray let them have their fun. In a few moments the three were tied and gagged and Ray had distributed their guns to refugees who professed familiarity with the weapons.

      ‘Keep your eye on them while we take care of the rest,’ Ray told them.

      ‘Let us go with you,’ one of the Kazakhs offered.

      Ray shook his head. ‘This job is for professionals. You stay here and guard these bozos.’

      They reluctantly accepted his advice, and Ray returned to the stairway, where the Angel stood watching him.

      ‘I didn’t think you’d need my help,’ she said.

      Ray snorted. ‘Not with those idiots. But there’s five left. Let’s check the bridge.’

      The Angel nodded, and they went up the walkway to the deck above, where all was still darkness. Ahead, in the bow, they could see the lit bridge and the figures who occupied it, who were unidentifiable at this distance.

      They moved quietly toward the light. Halfway there, Ray put out his arm in warning and he and the Angel stopped. They could hear something slithering before them in the darkness.

      ‘The snake,’ the Angel said quietly, and suddenly before them loomed IBT.

      Ray thrust himself forward between him and the Angel.

      ‘Stop right there,’ Ray said coldly, ‘or I will seriously fuck you up.’

      The human part of IBT’s body was raised up. He was as tall as a tall man standing, while the coils of his snake body writhed behind him.

      ‘Who are you?’

      ‘I’m Billy Ray,’ Ray replied, ‘and I owe you big for what you did to my wife.’

      ‘Wife?’ The expression on the joker-ace’s face went puzzled. ‘I don’t—’ He suddenly caught sight of the Angel beside Ray. ‘She’s your wife?’

      ‘That’s right,’ Ray said in a flat voice.

      ‘I remember,’ the Infamous Black Tongue said. ‘It was in Kazakhstan, on the battlefield. Neither of us were in our right minds then.’

      ‘Whatever—’ Ray said, and the Angel took his arm, stopping him before he could move.

      ‘He’s right, Billy,’ the Angel said. ‘It’s what you’ve been telling me all this time.’

      ‘I am sorry for what happened,’ IBT said.

      ‘As am I,’ the Angel replied. ‘But there’s no time for apologies now. What’s happening on the bridge?’

      ‘We made a deal with the man who calls himself Witness. A million dollars to take us to refuge in Cuba. But it was all a trap – he just wanted the money and people he could sell into servitude. He plans to scuttle the ship once we’re out to sea, take off the ones he thinks would be useful, and let the old and infirm drown.’

      ‘Where’s the Witness?’ Ray asked.

      ‘On the bridge. He has Olena.’ IBT looked desperate. ‘We have to rescue her, but he has guns.’

      For the first time Ray noticed that blood was oozing out of several segments of IBT’s colorful banded serpent body.

      ‘You’ve been shot,’ Ray said.

      IBT shook his head. ‘That’s not important. He has Olena. We must rescue her.’

      ‘All right. Calm down,’ Ray said as he saw the desperate look return to the joker’s face. ‘Let’s see. There’s five of them—’

      IBT shook his head. ‘Three. He sent out three men to guard the refugees in the hold—’

      ‘We took care of them,’ Ray said.

      ‘—and then two sentries to patrol the deck,’ IBT said, then added with some satisfaction, ‘and I took care of them.’

      ‘Okay,’ Ray said. He didn’t ask for details. ‘Uh, you didn’t run into a tall, pale, skinny guy in a dark suit, did you? Probably wearing a patch over one eye.’

      ‘No,’ IBT said.

      ‘Good. He’s one of us.’

      IBT nodded.

      ‘All right,’ Ray said. ‘Time to take the bridge.’

      It took only moments to arrange the ambush. IBT led them to a place of concealment where they had a decent view of the control room through the front windows shielding the bridge deck. The windows were already shot out, shattered in IBT’s original hopeless assault. They could see six people in the dim light of the chamber. Two were thugs with guns, one was Olena, the other two were the captain of the Schröder and his mate, who was steering the ship. The last—

      ‘It’s him,’ the Angel said.

      It was the Witness. Ray had encountered him first during the mission on which he’d met the Midnight Angel. He knew that this Witness and the Angel had a history between them, but she’d never revealed the extent of it and he’d never asked her. ‘Well,’ he said, ‘no sense in putting this off.’ He looked at IBT. ‘Get in place. Move when you hear the shots.’

      ‘Give me three minutes,’ IBT said.

      ‘You got it,’ Ray said, and the Tongue slithered off into the darkness.

      ‘You don’t want to do this,’ the Angel said.

      ‘Kill these guys?’ Ray shrugged. ‘Not particularly.’

      ‘No.’ The Angel smiled. ‘You’re not cold-blooded. Hot-blooded, yes. But you can’t kill from ambush.’

      ‘There’s always a first time,’ Ray said.

      ‘Not if there’s another way.’

      ‘I told you. All you had to do is get me here. I would take care of the rest.’

      ‘I love you,’ the Angel said.

      Ray smiled. ‘That’s good to hear.’

      ‘I know.’ She bowed her head. ‘Save me from evil, Lord,’ she prayed for the first time in months, ‘and heal this warrior’s heart.’

      Her wings appeared and she shot up into the sky. She was above the sight line from the bridge in a second, a reverse meteor burning through the sky. In her hands, Ray saw, was her flaming sword. She flew above the bridge, cut her way through the roof, and dropped down on top of them. The sword cut two swaths through the air, left and right, and the barrels of the guns dropped, severed in two. She broke her СКАЧАТЬ