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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] here. If she's sleeping somewhere, wake her up." A guard tech swiveled in his seat and picked up a phone. "Maybe someone ought to have a look at this coyote," the corporal suggested. "Maybe we ought to stay right here." Ooljee was staring intently at the wall of monitors. "If our file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t (98 of 117) [1/16/03 6:39:59 PM] file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t friend Gaggii had a diversion in mind, this might be it." "You think maybe he shoved that coyote in there?" Moody mulled the idea over.' 'How could he do that without showing up on vid or setting off an alarm?" "I do not know." "None of the alarms were tripped," said one of the monitor operators. * 'Not one. Anyone entering the tunnel would have been seen." There were three operators, two men and a woman, seated at the monitor bank. Moody regarded each in turn. "Nobody went out for a sandwich or anything?" If anyone had, he didn't expect the guilty party to confess to it. 260 Rlan Dean Foster He'd been through this sort of thing before, in Tampa. Leaving one's post while on duty could result in swift termination of one's job. The corporal wouldn't give up. "You don't think we should go and check the carcass?" "Leave it," snapped Moody. "If it's just a dead coyote it's a matter for the custodial staff, not us. If it's something else, you don't want to go running Page 130 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html after it.1' His eyes narrowed as he studied the guard. "You said you fired three rounds at it before you used your laser?" The guard looked up at him. "That's right." "Any of them hit?" "Couldn't say. I didn't take the time to find out. I had three shells in my gun and I used them all. I might've hit it, maybe not. But the laser stopped il cold. Il oughl to, as many volls as mat thing puts oul, and il was set to deliver full charge." That was when the graduate student came running in. She rested one palm on her sternum as though it could somehow pump extra air to her lungs. Her expression was wild. "I think I think somebody better come with me." The corporal tried to calm her. "What's the matter, miss?" She was trying to speak and swallow at the same time. "I found a man near where I was working. I think he's dead." The corporal glanced al Moody. "Want to check this oul?" Moody ignored the sarcasm. "Be right behind you. Oh, and can my friend and I gel a couple of those lasers?" The tiny armory was opened and weapons removed from their chargers. Thus additionally armed, the three officers followed the student to an elevator. "You sure he's dead?" the NDPS man asked the girl as they descended. CYBER WRY 261 "I think so. I'm pretty sure." Moody thought she was handling herself well. Where the devil was Grayhills? They found the corpse of the security guard outside a maintenance alcove on the lowest level of the complex. As the graduate student simultaneously hung back and tried to see, die three officers clustered around the body. Moody was "pretty sure" he was dead, too. His head lay bent at an unnatural angle and his throat had been torn out. Ooljee bent to examine me wound, cursing softly in Navaho, while Moody held tight to the laser. He didn't like tighl places and he didn't like being below ground. Ooljee carefully pried the gun from the dead man's fingers and removed the clip. He held it up so everyone could see. "Empty. Barrel's still hoi." He eyed ihe shadows and me dark places between pipes and lubes uneasily. "This didn't do him any good." "Any ideas?" Moody asked the corporal. "The guard said he was attacked by a coyote. What do you think?" ' 'I don't know what to think.'' The detective looked over at his partner. "How in hades do coyotes fit into this?" "Who can say?" Ooljee straightened. "According to legend, all things, all creatures, have some power and can be controlled with the right chant. If this was done by a coyote, then something new has been added to the equation." "Are you trying to lell me," Moody sputtered, "that our buddy Gaggii has learned how to hypnotize a bunch of coyotes into doing his dirty work for him?" "We do not yel know for certain that Gaggii is involved in this." Ooljee gestured at the body. "But I believe I can be excused for thinking of him whenever anything unnatural happens, and this is certainly unnatural. Draw your own suppositions from what you see, my friend. All I am saying is that someone who can produce a manifestation of Endless file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t (99 of 117) [1/16/03 6:39:59 PM] file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t 362 Rlan Dean Foster Page 131 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Snake" the corporal looked at him sharply "might not find it impossible to manipulate a few animals." "Yeah. But that snake-thing wasn't a real animal. It was a manifestation, like you said. Something from out of the web. Maybe our 'coyotes' are more closely related to it than to Lassie. And if that's the case, maybe it's why this works on them" he held up the laser "and bullets don't." Ooljee considered. "Our guns were useless against the snake-thing. Shells passed right through it." He drew his own taser, eyed it thoughtfully. "This delivers a violent electric charge. Enough to kill a real coyote or [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |