The Last Ring-bearer - Kirill Yeskov [160]
Kumai was a man of discipline, but this idea made him nauseous: to poison the very air – some weapon of vengeance! Thank the One that he's a mechanic rather than a chemist and will not have to be involved in this particular project.
…He dropped two large stones from a hundred feet (same weight as the explosive shells; they hit right next to the targets) and set the glider down right on the highway about a mile and a half from Dol Guldur, near where the road emptied into the gloomy canyon it had washed through Mirkwood after cutting through the sickly ruddiness of the heather expanses like a white scar. He got out of the cockpit and sat on the side of the road, glancing impatiently in the direction of the fortress. Soon someone will be here with the horses, and he'll attempt to launch the Dragon right from the ground, towed by a brace of horses, like they used to do with the old gliders. Where're those guys already?..
Since Kumai was mostly looking towards Dol Guldur, he only saw the man walking the road from the direction of Mirkwood when he was about thirty yards away. Looking at the newcomer, the Troll first shook his head: no way! Then he sprinted towards the man head over heels and had him in a bear hug a moment later.
"Easy, big guy, you'll break my ribs!"
"I have to know if you're a ghost!.. When did they find you?"
"A while ago. Listen, first things first: Sonya is alive and well, she's with the Resistance in the Ash Mountains…"
Haladdin listened to Kumai's tale, staring at the busy milling of the earth bees over the heather flowers. Yeah, abandoned ruins with real hiding places, far from human habitation, where a normal person would never go… leave it to the Nazgúl to hide a palantír in such a hornet's nest. I'm really lucky to have been intercepted before I had the chance to foist my clumsy story on a couple of intelligence professionals. I can't tell Grizzly and Wolverine the truth, either. Just imagine this picture. Some field medic, second class, shows up at their super-extra-secret Weapon Monastery: hi, guys, I'm only here to pick up a palantír and go right back to Prince Faramir in Ithilien. I'm working for the Order of the Nazgúl, but the one who empowered me died on the spot, so no one can corroborate this fact. I can show you a Nazgúl ring as proof, but it's magic-free… Yeah, a real pretty picture. They'll probably peg me as a psycho, not even a spy. They'll probably let me into the castle (poison experts aren't common) but they won't let me out – I myself wouldn't have… Hey, wait a minute!..
"Halik, wake up! You all right?"
"Yes, I'm all right, sorry. I just had an idea. You see, I'm here on a special mission that has nothing to do with your Weapon Monastery... Have you ever heard of these rings?"
Kumai weighed the ring on his palm and whistled respectfully. "Inoceramium?"
"The same."
"Do you mean to say…"
"I do. Engineer Second Class Kumai!"
"Sir!"
"In the name of the Order of the Nazgúl, will you follow my orders?"
"Yes, sir."
"Mind that your superiors in Dol Guldur must not know anything about this."
"Do you realize what you're saying?!"
"Kumai, my friend… I have no right to tell you what this is about, but I swear by everything that's dear, I swear by Sonya's life: this is the only thing that can still save our Middle Earth. It's your choice. If I come to Grizzly, he'll surely want to verify my credentials. It'll be weeks if not months while his superiors contact mine,