Jon Courtenay Grimwood Arabesk 2 Effendi

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
. You re afraid. Afraid? I m scared shitless.You, me.it s just a matter of time. The will of God, Sarah said. You believe that?She thought about it. I used to, kind of still do.Maybe I just want. Yeah. Ka put his arm round her shoulders and this time she didn t push himaway.In the back of the truck was a thermoflage net, fitted with a pocket at eachcorner that could be filled with stones or loaded with sand, for when theterrain was impossible to peg.As well as blanking out thermal signatures, thehuge net stealthed radar.Or so the Colonel said and whatever that meant, itsounded good.The smashed boat was far behind them and night had come in.Heat stillradiated from the sand but the temperature of the air was in free fall, latentheat losing out to the sprinkling of cold stars overhead. We d be better sleeping inside. Ka made it almost a question. Front seat? That s still sticky.It should be the back.Sarah s grunt was doubtful. It s going to get colder, warned Ka.Something experience had told Sarahalready.Being out in the emptiness without a bag or fire was no joke and hersurvival blanket was back with the. Hey, he reached out, it s okay.She cried when they lay side by side on folded matting in the back of theyellow Seraphim, hot tears for what she d lost.Though crying made no realsense, because everything she d ever had to lose, Sarah had long since thoughtgone.Except her life maybe, and she was finding that increasingly hard tocare about.And so Ka held her tight and muttered his desolate promises into her ear.Thathe would look after her and any soldiers who came after them were dead, thatthe warwould stop once the river dried up.And she let his words wash over her and by the time Ka stopped promising andclimbed clumsily on top, she d stopped crying.It was his tears that fell intoher face and breasts as he moved slowly above her, his quiet sobs the lastthing she heard before they both fell into sleep.CHAPTER 21___________10th October Present, said Raf, tossing the scrawny animal at Hani so that it landedclaws out and stuck to her bare shoulder. This one doesn t need batteries. Ouch.Grabbing the cat by the scruff of its neck, Hani yanked back its head andglared.The animal glared right back and five seconds into their staringcontest it began to purr. The sound of nine lives, said Raf.Hani raised her dark eyebrows. Purring is a healing mechanism.27 44Hz.That frequency helps bones mend andheals cuts.It works on humans too.Sunday morning, at a stone table in the madersa s walled courtyard, the splashof the marble fountain Raf had paid to be mended cutting through the clatterof Donna working nearby in her huge kitchen.Breakfast was spread out in frontof them, almost untouched.Coffee for Raf, orange juice for Hani.Page 64ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlHaving drunk her juice, Hani had swallowed a token mouthful of balila and beenon the point of getting down when Raf beat her to it and went to get hisapology.Which was what the almost-cat was.For asking Hani how she foundAvatar.Right question, wrong way. For me?Raf nodded. What does it eat? Well. He considered her question. Bats are its favourite.That sa joke, Raf added hastily, when Hani started to look worried. TellDonna to get it some meat. What s it called?Raf shrugged. Uncle Ashraf, Hani s voice was mock sweet. If it s a boy can he live in theharemlek? Hani still had problems getting her head round the idea of anythingmale being allowed near the second floor of the madersa.Centuries oftradition were a hard mind-set to break. It s a girl, said Raf, and she can t live there.but she can visit,all right? She lives in the courtyard..or the kitchens.Raf pretended to think about that, knowing already that he would let Hani haveher way. Maybe, he said. Provided you clean up any mess and Donna agrees. She will, said Hani, with the absolute certainty of a child who knows shehas the winning hand in a particular relationship.With that, Hani slid fromher seat, not to go ask Donna but to find Khartoum.She needed to have aserious discussion about a sensible name.Having taken the dirty breakfast plates back to the kitchen, Raf stopped tocheck an update on the ISK rolling news channel, which was allDonna ever watched.Bodies had been found in a derelict house near Mahmoudiyafollowing a tip-off, and a nightclub called Sarahz, on the corner ofGumhuriya, had been firebombed, although the damage was less than it couldhave been.According to Ferdie Abdullah, the channel s elegant if elderly anchorman,these events were not related.CHAPTER 22___________13th OctoberChanging down a gear, General Koenig Pasha slung his favourite car around acorner and glanced at his passenger. We got the murderer,he said casually and smiled to see disbelief freeze the Senator s face. When? Senator Liz was so shocked she forgot to be polite [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Linki