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Colfer, Eoin Und uebrigens noch was
Colfer, Eoin Artemis Fowl 05 Die Verlorene Kolonie
Colfer, Eoin Artemis Fowl 06 Das Zeitparadox
Colfer, Eoin Artemis Fowl 03 Der Geheimcode
Colfer, Eoin Artemis Fowl 02 Die Verschwoerung
Droga do wiecznosci Jack McDevitt
And Check the Oil Randall Garrett
Becky Doughty Waters Fall (v5.0) (epub)
ANTOLOGIA ROSYJSKIEJ FANTASTYKI
Dotyk Jus Accardo

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.Scopes were sending high-resshots of an Italian fortified town.A red dot was moving rapidly through the countryside towards the human population.'Do a thorough reconnaissance and report in.Do not attempt a retrieval.Is that understood?''Yessir.''We lost six men to troll attacks last quarter.Six men.That was below ground, in familiar territory.''I understand, sir.'Root pursed his lips doubtfully.'Do you understand, Short? Do you really?''I think so, sir.''Have you ever seen what a troll can do to flesh and bone?''No, sir.Not up close.''Good.Let's not make today your first time.''Understood.'Root glared at her.'I don't know why it is, Captain Short, but whenever you start agreeing with me, I get decidedly nervous.'Root was right to be nervous.If he'd known how this straightforward Recon assignment was going to turn out, he would probably have retired there and then.Tonight, history was going to be made.And it wasn't the discovery-of-radium, first-man-on-the-moon happy kind of history.It was the Spanish-Inquisition, here-comes-the-Hindenburg bad kind of history.Bad for humans and fairies.Bad for everyone.Holly proceeded directly to the chutes.Her normally chatty mouth was a grim slash of determination.One chance, that was it.She would allow nothing to break her concentration.There was the usual queue of holiday visa hopefuls stretching to the corner ofElevatorPlaza , but Holly bypassed it by waving her badge at the waiting line.A truculent gnome refused to yield.'How come you LEP guys get to go topside? What's so special about you?'Holly breathed deeply through her nose.Courtesy at all times.'Police business, sir.Now if you could just excuse me.'The gnome scratched his massive behind.'I hear you LEP guys make up your police business just to get a look at some moonlight.That's what I hear.'Holly attempted an amused smile.What actually formed on her lips resembled a lemon-sucking grimace.'Whoever told you that is an idiot…sir.Recon venture only above ground when absolutely necessary.'The gnome frowned.Obviously he had made up therumour himself and suspected that Holly might have just called him an idiot.By the time he'd figured it out, she had skipped through the double doors.Foalywas waiting for her in Ops.Foaly was a paranoid centaur, convinced that human intelligence agencies were monitoring his transport and surveillance network.To prevent them reading his mind, he wore a tinfoil hat at all times.He glanced up sharply when Holly entered through the pneumatic double doors.'Anybody see you come in here?'Holly thought about it.'The FBI, CIA, NSA, DEA, MI6.Oh and the EIB.'Foalyfrowned.'The EIB?''Everyone in the building,' smirked Holly.Foalyrose from his swivel chair and clip-clopped over to her.'Oh, you're very funny, Short.A regular riot.I thought theHamburg affair might have knocked some of the cockiness out of you.If I were you, I'd concentrate on the job in hand.'Holly composed herself.He was right.'OK,Foaly.Fill me in.'The centaur pointed to a live feed from theEurosat , which was displayed on a large plasma screen.'This red dot is the troll.He's moving towards Martina Franca, a fortified town near the city ofBrindisi.As far as we can tell, he stumbled into vent E7.It was on cool-down after a surface shot, that's why the troll isn't crispy barbecue right now.'Holly grimaced.Charming, she thought.'We've been lucky in that our target has bumped into some food along the way.He chewed on a couple of cows for an hour or two, so that bought us a bit of time.''A couple of cows?' exclaimed Holly.'Just how big is this fellow?'Foalyadjusted his foil bonnet.'Bull troll.Fully grown.One hundred and eighty kilos, with tusks like a wild boar.A really wild boar.'Holly swallowed.Suddenly Recon seemed a much better job than Retrieval.'Right.What have you got for me?'Foalycantered across to the equipment table.He selected what looked like a rectangular wristwatch.'Locator.You find him, we find you.Routine stuff.''Video?'The centaur clipped a small cylinder into the accommodating groove on Holly's helmet.'Live feed.Nuclear battery.No time limit.The mike is voice-activated.''Good,' said Holly.'Root said I should take a weapon on this one.Just in case.''Way ahead of you,' saidFoaly.He picked a platinum handgun from the pile.'A Neutrino 2000.The latest model.Even the tunnel gangs don't have these.Three settings, if you don't mind.Scorched, well done and crisped to a cinder.Nuclear power source too, so plug away.This baby will outlive you by a thousand years.'Holly strapped the lightweight weapon into her shoulder holster.'I'm ready…I think.'Foalychuckled.'I doubt it.No one's ever really ready for a troll.''Thanks for the confidence booster.''Confidence is ignorance,' advised the centaur.'If you're feeling cocky, it's because there's something you don't know.'Holly thought about arguing, but didn't.Maybe it was because she had a sneaking suspicion thatFoaly was right.The pressure elevators were powered by gaseous columns vented from the earth's core.The LEP tech boys, underFoaly's guidance, had fashioned titanium eggs that could ride on the currents.They had their own independent motors, but for an express ride to the surface there was nothing like the blast from a tidal flare.Foalyled her past a long line of chute bays to E7.The pod sat in its clamp, looking very fragile to be rocketing about on magma streams.Its underside was charred black and pockmarked from shrapnel.The centaur slapped it fondly on a fender.'This baby's been in service for fifty years.Oldest model still in the chutes.'Hollyswallowed.The chutes made her nervous enough without riding in an antique.'When does it come off-line?'Foalyscratched his hairy belly.'With funding the way it is, not until we have us a fatality.'Holly cranked open the heavy door, the rubber seal yielding with a hiss.The pod was not built for comfort.There was barely enough space for a restraining seat among the jumble of electronics.'What's that?' asked Holly, pointing at agreyish stain on the seat's headrest.Foalyshuffled uncomfortably.'Erm…brain fluid, I think.We had a pressure leak on the last mission.But that's plugged now.And the officer lived.Down a few IQ points, but alive, and he can still take liquids.''Well, that's all right then,' quipped Holly, threading her way through the mass of wires.Foalystrapped the harness on to her, checking the restraints thoroughly.'All set?'Holly nodded.Foalytapped her helmet mike.'Keep in touch,' he said, pulling the door behind him.Don't think about it, Holly told herself.Don't think about the white-hot magma flow that's going to engulf this tiny craft.Don't think about hurtling towards the surface with a MACH 2 force trying to turn you inside-out.And certainly don't think about the blood-crazed troll ready to disembowel you with his tusks.Nope.Don't think about any of that stuff…Too late.'-minus twenty,' he said.'We're on a secure channel in case the Mud People have s Foaly'svoice sounded in her earpiece.'Ttarted underground monitoring.You never know.An oil tanker from theMiddle East intercepted a transmission one time.What a mess that was.'Holly adjusted her helmet mike.'Focus,Foaly [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]