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then they kissed the way they were supposed to, and the sweet taste in both their mouths seemed to consume them. They knew what to do and they did it, all inhibitions and thoughts fleeing. It was, for all that, a quiet consummation; one of the things the drink, a mild natural drug also used to quiet the cries of babies, did was numb the vocal cords. It would not do to propagate the race and betray the Family at the same time. In the end, he was surprised, almost shocked to discover how totally exhausted he was, and sore, too, almost like he'd run a whole day carrying a full supply load. Still, he was startled when he saw how much blood was on both of them. "Is that from you or from me?" he gasped. Or maybe both of us, as a part of this act? "It is from me," she assured him, in a very soft, sweet, but tired voice. "When we have rested, we will go down to the pool and cleanse ourselves, but there is no hurry. We will do it when we want to, 'cause we're not children anymore . . ." Six A Tale of Two Women Bambi the Destroyer was not very pretty when she was pissed, and she was plenty pissed. Almost as pissed as he was. "I want to know how the fuck you did that!" she spat, sitting down on the stool next to his at the club bar. It didn't have drinks as strong as at the Cuch, but it didn't have the roaches or the smell, either, and you didn't have to put on false hair and such just to be presentable. It was odd how thin, how vulnerable, she looked without that combat suit on. She was short, no more than 155, maybe 160 centimeters, and if she weighed fifty kilos it would be amazing. Still, her martial arts skills and gymnastic-type moves, even like this, were the stuff of legend among her troopers. "I opened fire and cut you down," he responded, sipping his whiskey and soda and trying to sound nonchalant. "That ain't what I mean and you know it! I been beat before, sure, when I was just out of school and a smartass second looey, but I ain't been beat on the sims since. Not on one that easy, particularly!" "Not so loud," he responded playfully. "Do you want the word to get around that you got took? Think of what your troops will think of you if that gets around! They might actually shoot you in the heart instead of in the back." "Don't get smartass with me! I don't like bein' beat, but I recognize it when somebody does somethin' I never saw before. I can't figure it out, unless it was somethin' brand new they added to your suit. " "Nothing like that. I just did a flee, execute, and defend in three-sixty mode, that's all." "Bullshit! That's what all the data said, but I seen a ton of the best of the best and I ain't never seen nobody able to do that. The human mind and the interface ain't good enough to make it work." "It'll work. It did work. I can't tell you how, because I don't know. I just know that something about that kind of knack is what got me recruited for the Commandos a few years back now. It's like explaining to a groundling what it's like to be inside the suit and fight. You either have it or you don't. Those Page 44 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html who have it they somehow spot and train and train and train until it can be executed when needed. I'm surprised I could still do it. Last time I did it I died. They scraped up the pieces and got me into a pickle wagon fast enough to restore me, more or less, but I didn't know if I still had it until I tried it in there." "Teach me!" "I can't. I told you. Not even the Commandos and Rangers, the only two organizations where it's even attempted, can teach it. They can only make you better if it's already there. Some way in which the brain works. Maybe a mutation, maybe even brain miswiring. They aren't sure. They been trying to build it into the suits for those who don't have it for a long time, but they never seem to be able to. The wiring, both suit and soldier, seem to have to be just exactly so. It's luck. Or a curse. I spent two years in a pickle jar because I could do it, and that's only because I was lucky. You ever spent any time for major repairs in one of those units?" She shook her head. "Nope. They had me in for a few days for some burns, but it wasn't the full treatment and it wasn't any big deal. Just boring as shit, even with the feel-good stuff they put into you." "Don't let 'em put you in one for the kind of injuries I had. Just don't. And don't let 'em give you that bullshit that you're not really in pain, that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |