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.Malko stood and watched as the tent of the President of theUnited States went up in flames, and a stocky figure that couldbelong to nobody except the Old Man staggered, his body burn-ing, from the tent s wreckage.Meter-wide columns of lightmoved across the clearing, scores of them restlessly sweepingback and forth.They were colorless now; the shades automati-cally filtered the image, provided him with a stark, enhancedmonochrome picture of the horror that ensued. Moran 67For hours he stood and watched the beams move randomlyacross the mountainside.His legs began to cramp but he did notdare move.Heat sensors would be worthless until nightfall, andunder video his brown and green fatigues would show only as anindistinct patch against the burnt hillside.But there would bemotion sensors upstairs, he was sure, and knew himself correctwhen one of the wounded soldiers tried to crawl back toward thetrees.A column of light swept over him and left behind a husk ofburnt flesh that twitched briefly before it ceased movement.Greg was right behind him, and for a long time Malko heardhim swearing, in a mixture of Spanish and English, with a furyand holy passion Malko had never heard from him before.The morning wore on and the beams of light tracked acrossthe clearing.After the first half hour only six men still stood inMalko s field of vision.He did not know if it was safe to turn hishead, so he did not.As the morning passed the beams randomlypicked off the remaining soldiers.The air was scorched withozone, and so hot that Malko could breath only shallowly,through his nose.Behind him, Greg s curses trailed off at last.Malko could seeonly three men left standing when Greg said quietly, Malko? Yes? There s a beam tracking my way.If I don t make it you haveto kill Amnier for me. Malko had seen the beam.It was forty meters away, movingabout a meter per second.It had crossed the last twenty meterswithout deviating. Okay. If it doesn t change direction by the time it s within ten me-ters of me, said Castanaveras calmly, I m going to run for it.IfI just stand here the heat will kill you just as sure. Malko could think of nothing to say.At the other end of theclearing, a soldier Malko did not recognize at the distance waswatching them, and the soldier shook his head no.It was the longest thirty seconds of Malko s life.He heard the sounds of Greg s laser and autoshot striking theground beside him.Sensible.He d be able to run faster withoutthem.Grigorio Castanaveras emerged as a blur in his peripheral 68 Talesvision, crossed into the center of his field of vision, sprinting attop speed toward the remains of the President s tent.From deepin the dream Malko wondered why, as he had wondered for longyears, why Greg had chosen to run toward the remains of thePresident and the Old Man.Chance? As good a place to die as any.Three different beams converged on him like snakes striking.He stayed on his feet while the flesh peeled back from the bakedmuscle, longer than Malko Kalharri ever wanted to remember.Even in a dream.He did not scream.Dying, Grigorio Castanaveras did notmake a sound.At 11:05, according to Malko s watch, the laser cannonceased.He was the only living person in sight, in the clearing oranywhere in the burning forests.He waited calmly until 12:30precisely and then picked up Greg s weapons and began walkingnorth.Within his mind, Grigorio Castanaveras last moments, as heburned inside the light, played themselves over and over again.Within the nightmare. SO MUCH VIOLENCE, the old man whispered to himself, alone inthe midnight dark forty-four years later. So many changes. Hewondered whether Greg would have blamed him for not killingAmnier.He hoped not.The nightmare was not an unusual one, though he had it lessfrequently than in years past.At times they seemed almost ir-relevant to him, all of the deaths; four and a half decadespassed, and who remembered?Only forty-four years, and it was history already.Two gen-erations had grown up for whom the Unification of Earth wassomething that had happened long ago, in a galaxy far, far,away and the world they knew was vastly different from theworld of Malko Kalharri s childhood.Why, most of them had never seen a room constructed frommemory plastics.He himself had been well past his thirtiethbirthday before he d even heard the word inskin. Moran 69Sitting up slowly at the side of the bed, he pulled on a modestblue robe before calling Suzanne Montignet.At first her image did not appear in the darkened holofield.Malko called up the sunpaint and let her look him over.Finallythe holofield lit with an image of her sitting at the desk in theoffice of her Massapequa Park home.She was lovelier now thanthe first day he had met her, over three decades ago.A faint dis-coloration showed at her left temple, where the inskin was onlypartially covered by her hair.She smiled at him rather quizzi-cally. Hello, Malko.Why the late call? I can t sleep. Sleeping alone? Malko became aware of the empty bed, behind him in theholofield she was viewing. Tonight, yes. Suzanne nodded.Without apparent irony she said, That snot like you. Malko shrugged. We got back from Capital City fairly late.A few of the children were awake, but. His voice trailed away. Sex with them feels like masturbation. Something like that. His grin was tired. Thanks for takingthe call. Suzanne said awkwardly, Of course
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Tematy
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Gabriel Allon 05 Ksišżę ognia Silva Daniel
Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels 04 Magia Krwawi
Silva Daniel Gabriel Allon 07 Tajny sluga
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