zerbino: переводы

→Frey consulted with Pelaru at a junction, and they turned a corner into a wide street. They were in a newer part of the city, where the stones were not as ancient as the twisted, winding lanes at its heart. Here, some walls and buildings had resisted the last quake. They survived partially or in sections, mazy with creepers. But now the explosions overhead were disturbing the fragile structures. Huge pieces of stone came tumbling down from a crumbling tower that overlooked the street.

→Yet here they were. The Cap’n had assured the crew that the heavy fighting was elsewhere in the city, and even though this was supposed to be a rescue mission, it was really all about the loot they’d find in that temple. But that was only a sweetener to justify the risk they were taking. There were easier pickings than this to be found, and they all knew it. It was a measure of their loyalty to the Cap’n that they went along with it anyway.

→Silo understood. He knew what love might make a man do. And better this than following some patriotic dream of joining the war on the Coalition’s side, as Malvery would have it. The civil war wasn’t their fight: Silo and Frey agreed on that. They might have helped start it, but that didn’t mean they had to die in it.

→Silo wasn’t sure what the Cap’n was up to, bringing them to a place like this, but he had his suspicions. The Cap’n hadn’t mentioned Trinica once since she left him back in Samarla. That was evidence enough that he was hurting about it. He’d chased that woman to the North Pole before. He’d taken on the Manes to save her. Only a fool would think he’d given up now.

→They headed up the street, shotguns and revolvers at the ready. The night was crisp and brittle. Black and broken buildings rose up on either side, silhouetted by flashes in the sky. The sound of gunfire and autocannons had them all on edge. They ran with shoulders hunched, expecting to be shot at.

→Reckon he likes her, he thought, and was faintly amazed. Reckon he likes her and he don’t like that he does. What’s that all mean?

→The whispermonger glanced at Jez then, and quickly away. He didn’t show much beneath his unflappable veneer, but Murthians were the same way, and Silo was adept at picking up small signs. He saw the slight flush of Pelaru’s cheek, a hint of anger, the way his pupils dilated fractionally.

→‘That map accurate?’ Frey asked doubtfully as they headed off. It looked hand-drawn.

→The whispermonger consulted a small cloth map and compass. After a moment of deliberation, he pointed.

→They clambered over the precarious rubble pile with a certain amount of knocks and bruises. On the other side was a narrow street, narrowed further by the slopes of bricks and debris that had fallen into it. There was nobody about, but Silo could hear pistols and rifles not too far away. The ground troops had engaged.

→‘Think I liked him better when he didn’t speak,’ Pinn muttered to Crake as he trotted off.

→‘You reckon she can climb over these?’ Frey replied, indicating the piles of rubble that surrounded them. ‘She’s too clumsy for this terrain. She’ll hold us up. Besides, the idea is to stay out of any fights.’

→‘We’re not taking Bess?’ Pinn complained.

→‘Yessir!’ said Harkins, saluting. Frey gave him an odd look. If it had come from anyone but Harkins, he might have suspected he was being mocked. Nobody saluted on the Ketty Jay.

→Harkins and Pinn had clambered out of their cockpits and joined them on the ground by now. ‘Harkins,’ said the Cap’n, ‘you stay here with Bess, make sure no one gets near the craft. They’re our only way out of here, and I don’t plan on getting stuck in this dump.’

→Ain’t sure about that one, he thought. Ain’t sure at all. There’s somethin’ between him and the Cap’n. Him and Jez, too.

→Pelaru gave her a glance, but no more than that. Silo watched him narrowly. Most people were more than a little fazed by their first sight of an eight-foot metal golem. That meant he either knew about her already, or he was used to stranger things.

→Frey, Jez and Pelaru made their way down the ramp. Some of the crew were carrying backpacks, all but empty except for ammo. They’d be used to carry loot. Crake’s pack was heavier, full of daemonist equipment. Bess stamped and clanked along behind him. She seemed agitated; the sounds of combat in the air had excited her.

→‘Everybody out!’ Silo yelled, as he opened the cargo ramp. They moved at his command, hurrying down into the yard, where they took up defensive positions, their breath steaming the air. He went out with them, surveying the area for signs of the enemy. As soon as Pinn and Harkins had landed, the Cap’n killed the lights. His outflyers’ engines faded to silence. Silo listened, and heard distant gunfire over the sound of autocannons and anti-aircraft guns. Nothing moved in the shadows. They were well hidden; it was a good spot.

→The Cap’n put the Ketty Jay down in the courtyard of a half-demolished mansion. The walls of the yard were mostly broken and had slumped into heaps of rubble and brick, but they were still high enough to provide concealment on three sides. Belly lights came on as they neared the ground, flooding the cracked square in harsh whiteness. They descended fast and landed with a jarring thump.