John McNally

The Forbidden City


Скачать книгу

the station and flew to the top of a road sign where he tried to take in the scene. Dozens of images, sounds, sensations hit him. It was busy. The traffic was busy, the people were busy, the buildings were busy … even the air was busy, infused with aromas of Asian food, exhaust fumes and the sea. Then, penetrating the cacophony around him, Finn heard a tinny, high-pitched, stop-start buzzing.

       DZZTZT-ZZZTZTZT-ZTZTZ-TZZZ-ZZZSZ-TSTS-TZZZTZTZ …

      He looked up.

      Incoming. His least favourite insect: stooped in profile, lazy in flight and responsible for the annual death of half a million people from malaria. A mosquito.

      It swung down towards him, body swollen to the size of a Labrador, its wingspan the same as Finn’s height, arrow-thin proboscis pointing at the open side of the Bug, ready to run straight through him … DZZT! DZZZT!

      Finn snatched up the pin he’d taken from Grandma’s bag and, using it as a sword, he parried the incoming stinger with a healthy smack, before thrusting forward to nick the mosquito’s swollen abdomen. BOOOSPLOOSSHHH! Its guts – full with blood harvested that morning – burst spectacularly.

      Not since Finn had totalled the pinata at Max Campbell’s ninth birthday party had he seen such a multi-coloured explosion. Yuk, he thought, drenched in blood and guts.

      But there was no time to recover, straight away …

       DZZTZT-ZZZTZTZT-ZTZTZ-TZZZ-ZZZSZ-TSTS-TZZZTZTZ …

      A dozen or so more mosquitoes appeared, from all directions, alerted by the smell. Finn aimed and fired the Minimi machine gun – DRRRRTT

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4SkdRXhpZgAASUkqAAgAAAANAAABAwABAAAA3AUAAAEBAwABAAAAAQkAAAIBAwADAAAAqgAA AAYBAwABAAAAAgAAABIBAwABAAAAAQAAABUBAwABAAAAAwAAABoBBQABAAAAsAAAABsBBQABAAAA uAAAACgBAwABAAAAAgAAADEBAgAgAAAAwAAAADIBAgAUAAAA4AAAADsBAgAHAAAA9AAAAGmHBAAB AAAA/AAAADQBAAAIAAgACACA/AoAECcAAID8CgAQJwAAQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIENTNiAoTWFj aW50b3NoKQAyMDE3OjAzOjEzIDE4OjM2OjU3AGZyZW14awAABAAAkAcABAAAADAyMjEBoAMAAQAA AAEAAAACoAQAAQAAANwFAAADoAQAAQAAAAEJAAAAAAAAAAAGAAMBAwABAAAABgAAABoBBQABAAAA ggEAABsBBQABAAAAigEAACgBAwABAAAAAgAAAAECBAABAAAAkgEAAAICBAABAAAAgycAAAAAAABI AAAAAQAAAEgAAAABAAAA/9j/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAf/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJ CAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwPFRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQODg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwM DAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEIAKAAaAMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAf/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAD AAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEFAQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwz AQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMicYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXC o3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3 EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcGBTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNz NPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kSTVKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG 1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AKtIJkdtPyqxRjm17a/39B31P0VCgUV1335NnpY+ PUbbX7S6GhzGTsZ9L32IuD1v6tX5FONiZ9j8y2xrKGnHsaC9xhsudLWe9beTmMcDwykBLs8ri5TN lHHCFwvfyS4dZu+y247Ca8gEsuJa4bHCGGyh7RtbkM/mff6n83+jrs+hb6Y2vOre3Hpa62uGegLm udu9W3F9LId6f6v/AEe3Jr/nv0H+D9RRwz0NnW8fotGS49Vw/WrxsR7Ca6y5nqZFVWQ6v+b21P8A Rrfa+umz+Y9P9GtH6v5nQf2q7ouLl5ORmYPrMtpuYTWxzbTblfpRXSyx/wBo3ek92/2fo6PSZ6io z5qRo8Y3IlVfT9H5XUxchAGX6s1QMeKxXe/X8zLpuPXl1PyX1Poor3BjhY1+57LbsN4cNlbqtj8V rv8AhGXM/wAInqrqf1V3SWCbWMZa8vcGu2WA+ndVTt/WcZljfsl2RVb+hyv0dlHp/pVmYX19+pGD Q2qnMzLGsc97X2Ulz/0jn32jc1tbXNddbY/3sVzK+sv1Mw+r4WTk5OQ/Jsa3LwmOrc6uv7XW2r1W e0WV+vj/AM7R6v2f1P03oesojzUuEes3fq0bI5OFn0ADpqvR1NuU/GoY1oyMq6+p9IvY59f2Q2+t ZkMFYfYy77NZ6e3Z/gff+kRsa/7dlX9IZ7L8Z1gc4OFgBrfXS2y5jGMdjfbPX9TF3ep63o5f/cb9 IV1vQendY6Z0B+TlX57L776aQGvBdki2y+zM9Otn6Hbk5Gz2/o/f/o0BvUvq3g/Wz9ksvzP2w7Ie dxAfUTlsqyX0Odt2/Z/0WPcz/CU3V/T9P1vUYOZnp6tj2XnlIa6HUVu18c/tCvpz/QLf2hTZexz3 tLmBkBtVmytu/wBX1G/zfsrVfFtozAwNqcxwe5uVU9w30Paz1mbm+ntyasyn9LiZNTq676P0n+kr ZPF+sf1Sw+oW9NpyMs29Pbk11VW1h1dDaRZlZbMV3tc5n6p+i+0vyP0fp49X6D1Fl1/XH6k1vx7W X5l1uLU7Grvsx2usdU47/Rue2yr1WV2e6n2fov8ArtqkhzcvTc6H6Wn/AKCwT5GHqIx2Tsb/AOlx SbjBXe2xzawG1WXUXOFgdsupsdSaIaxu6x7Wfaf+Cx7cf/TKvbVtdPgp/tP6vU9Lf1xlme3FsyLM S630WbzZZuzmnIp317q67ci1+Dk/zuPbZbjf0b9EoZPWvq9Xi4GS7IyLGdSafstdVO+8+m77M/7R T6tfpvfe11TPTdb6z1Ywc7AR/WT171/Y1eZ+HTkf1WOh2v8A9Cajm+8wJSVjNpdVlvqbJc0S5pAB aY3uqsDHWM9Sr/CbHvSV3jjwcd+muL6OX7c/c9v9K+D/AAvl3f/Qbq2O6v6sdXe6WuOLBHxvx/H3 fRXFfVXaPrL0dx751DdNDJsaGld31vJsv+rHWhduLhjMO88kG7H2rgfqs3/so6MJ4z8Yn5WsU3Om 82vYNH4fGIwRA2sur1DNGB/jJuz3v2sx+q7nkfuCxrLh/wBs7l0X1XcP/HI601jtKz1F9kTB/TD/ AKhzti5L69hp+uHVgDzkHjTXaxdT/i/vq/5xX59jDZn9Uw8rOtsP0K2uu/mam/Rda+2t9mRa/wD4 Oiv/AAvqVezdG9OJ9QfqXX9ZcqyvqTMqjBbj+pXk1AMDnhzGem2y6u1lnsdZ9BWfr30PEx/rEMf7 dRi42Jj4mNQ20vtucKmNYGvoxa7bGfox/OWtqqt/wf8AhPSx+gdO+sX1lvyMXAyDZkOqm823FrjV 7a9Xn3PpY7