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.In the second before they parted, the Fireman applied the leverage of his massive arms and broke Hasson’s leg sideways at the knee.Pain and shock obliterated Hasson’s mind, gutting him of all strength and resolve.He floated in the blackness for an indeterminate period, arms moving uncertainly, face contorted in a silent scream.The great spiral nebula far below continued to spin, but a dark shape was moving steadily across it, and part of Hasson’s mind informed him that there was no time for indulgence in natural reactions to injury.He was hopelessly outclassed on the physical level, and if life were to continue it would only be through the exercise of intelligence.But how was he to think when pain had invaded his body like an army and was firing mortar shells of agony straight into his brain?For a start, Hasson told himself, you have to get rid of Lloyd Inglis.He began reeling in his comrade’s body with the intention of unhooking it, but almost immediately the Fireman spoke from close behind him.“How did you like it, Hasson?” The voice was triumphant.“That was to show you I can beat you at your own game.Now we’re going to play my game.”Hasson tried drawing the line in faster.Inglis’s body bobbed closer and finally came within interference radius.Hasson and Inglis began to fall.The Fireman dived in on them on the instant, hooked an arm around Hasson’s body, and all three dropped together.The whirlpool of fire began to expand beneath them.“This is my game,” the Fireman sang through the gathering slipstream.“I can ride you all the way to the ground, ’cause I’m the Fireman.”Hasson, knowing the tactics of aerial chicken, shut out the pain from his trailing leg, reached for his master switch, but hesitated without throwing it.In two-man chicken the extinguishing of one CG field restored the other one to its normal efficacy, causing a fierce differential which tended to drag one opponent vertically away from the other.The standard countermove was for the second man to kill his own field at the same time so that both bodies would continue to plunge downwards together until somebody’s nerve broke and forced him to reactivate his harness.In the present game of death, however, the situation was complicated by the presence of Inglis, the silent partner who had already lost.His field would continue negating those of the other two, regardless of what they did, unless …Hasson freed an arm from the Fireman’s mock-sexual embrace and pulled Inglis’s body in close.He groped for the dead man’s master switch but found only a smooth plaque of frozen blood.The jewelled horizons were rising rapidly on all sides now, and the circling traffic stream was opening like a carnivorous flower.Air rushed by at terminal velocity, deafeningly.Hasson fought to break the icy casting away from the switch on Inglis’s harness, but at that moment the Fireman slid an arm around his neck and pulled his head back.“Don’t try to get away from me,” he shouted into Hasson’s ear.“Don’t try to chicken out—I want to see how well you bounce.”They continued to fall.Hasson, encumbered by his nets, felt for the buckle of the belt which held, among other things, the towline dispenser.He fumbled it open with numb fingers and was about to release Inglis’s body when it occurred to him he would gain very little in doing so.An experienced chicken player always delayed breaking out of field interference until the last possible instant, leaving it so late that even with his harness set at maximum lift he hit the ground at the highest speed he could withstand.The Fireman probably intended going to the limit this time, leaving Hasson too disabled to prevent himself being smashed on impact.Getting rid of Inglis’s body would not change that.They had dropped almost two thousand metres and in just a few seconds would be penetrating the crowded commuter levels.The Fireman began to whoop with excitement, grinding himself against Hasson like a rutting dog.Holding Inglis with his left hand, Hasson used his right to loop the plasteel towline around the Fireman’s upraised thigh and to pull it into a hard knot.He was still tightening the knot as they bombed down into the traffic flow.Lights flashed past nearby and suddenly the slow-spinning galaxy was above them.Patterns of street lamps blossomed beneath, with moving ground cars clearly visible.This, Hanson knew, was close to the moment at which the Fireman had to break free if he was to shed enough downward velocity before reaching ground level.“Thanks for the ride,” the Fireman shouted, his voice ripping away in the slipstream.“Got to leave you soon.”Hasson switched on his flares and then jerked the towline violently, bringing it to the Fireman’s attention.The Fireman looked at the loop around his thigh.His body convulsed with shock as he made the discovery that it was he and not Hasson who was linked to the dead and deadly skycop.He pushed Hasson away and began clawing at the line.Hasson swam free in the wind, knowing that the line would resist even the Fireman’s great strength.As he felt his CG field spread its invisible wings he turned to look back.He saw the two bodies, one of them struggling frantically, pass beyond the range of his flares on their way to a lethal impact with the ground [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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