From a viewpoint it looked as if they were friends, but the head of the thin one was unnaturally trembling.

- Squeeze the toothpaste just from below!

- I’m beaten! - Bleated the spirit, darting out to the corridor.

Colonel heard heavy footsteps of big bare feet of the tall one, rapidly moving away, muttering with indecent words, a scream, short muffled sounds reminding cries of night birds.

Dux felt it was time to intervene. He crashed through a wall and tumbled to the fighters. Both were dumbfounded. In front of them there appeared a completely naked man with the signs of violence on his body and soiled with dust and dirt, as a chimney sweep, so that only cold bluish eyes were seen in the twilight. They cried out in one voice:

- Who are you?

- A rescuer.

Colonel heavily punched the tall one, dragged him back to the cabin and put on the same bed, where he slept five minutes earlier. Then Dux strapped him to the bed with tape. The hit one with great pleasure kicked the tall and cried out:

- The fool!

Colonel put on clothes of the tall one.

- And who are you?

Dux, ignoring the thin one, put on his boots, took Luger out of the drawer, loaded it with cartridges, waved a gun and ordered:

- Put on your boots.

The frail one quickly agreed for everything.

- Where are we going?

- To Karaganda! – Colonel evilly forced with the clenched teeth.

A tall one began moving and said with resentment,

- You will be killed!

Dux with a crash opened the drawers, found not fresh socks and stuffed them into that man’s mouth like a gag. He shook his head and mumbled. Colonel pulled out the gag.

- Is there something you want to say?

- You both FFF-freaks, FFF-freaks, I do FFF- I will kill you ....

- There is no any alternative! - Sadly thought Dux.

He listened to that the man said and again shoved a gag into his mouth, having taped it.

- Am I look he? - Pointing at the neighbor.

- You’re a copy.

Colonel realized that the frail had a sense of humor.

- You will go with me and you will tell stories, did you understand?

- Rentgenoelektrokardiographia!

- Once more!

- Rindfleischetikettierunguberwachungaufgabenubertragengesetz!

- Not bad!

He didn’t like this freak.

- Come on.

Brandishing, just in case, Luger, Dux forced the frail into a small hole and carefully closed the hatch. He illuminated the dusty cramped space ventilation.

- I have only ten minutes to talk. Speak softly, and on business. Where is Skull?

The thin one vaguely chuckled.

- I do not know. For us, it's like the president’s protection.

- When did you last see him?

- Yesterday. I didn’t se himself, they said that he was there.

- Did you come to the captain's cabin?

- No, it isn’t allowed.

- Never?

- Never.

He reverently looked up at the sky.

- Who did you were?

- I can not remember.

- Don’t you remember either your father or your mother?

He suddenly burst into tears.

- I know that they were.

- Where do you know languages from?

- They appear from somewhere. But then they can disappear.

- Do you see the future?

- I saw the flood. A tide is everywhere.

- Remember the city!

Dux raised his voice.

*

The puny one had a stabbing pain. He grabbed his head, rocking. He knew that he had then an integral wonderful world. He met a girl. It was the first time she kissed him on the lips. They went to a cozy cafe.

He cried again with a squeal.

- I can not tie together the ends of the rope.

- Believe me. You are not alone.

Colonel frowned.

- Was there the asphalt near the cafe?

- No, there was the block pavement. Everywhere, there were photos on the pillars.

- How did you die?

- Well, my feet were cold. I've heard people behind the wall. They did not hear me. I felt bad.

- Okay. What did they do with you?

- Like in a hospital. The resuscitation.

- Did someone remove extra brain?

- Exactly.

- Come on, get up. Undress.

- What?

- Absolutely. I'm your doctor. Quickly.

Dux, armed with a second torch was studying recent bruises and scars. For some reason he thought that all these poor were did craniotomy.

No. The mad system was indifferent. She could revive the dead and fix the wounded up. And could bring the corpses back to life, but she had a time limit. Twenty minutes without deep freezing. And an unlimited storage in special refrigerated capsules.

- And what about the healthy ones?

- What?

- How they knock the brains out at the healthy ones? With a bat?

- Well, they hit strongly, don’t permit to sleep, give drugs. They are medics in the lock-up. As everywhere.

- Get dressed.

Colonel knew that the puny’s withdrawal pains may begin at any time. So he was on his guard.

- Come on, my friend. We have only fifteen minutes left.

*

At the entrance to the lower deck there was a freak. Colonel moved his short stroke axis and the third cervical vertebra, so that the atlas was left without support. He gave a thin one trophy trunk.

- Try to shoot between the shoulder blades or in eyes.

- Always!

On the first deck there were already about five ghouls and reinforcements.

- Do not show yourself!

The battle began. Having shot down several of them, Dux rushed to the fray. The bullets flew at a terrible screech, bounced off the metal ricocheted, hissing with death, burned the body and the hair ends. He did not see that in the gun-port there was an automatic Colt there with the remaining enemy. But 0.4 seconds earlier the enemy’s Colt was struck with the gun bullet of the puny, and prevented Dux’ death.

Colonel and the thin one jumped from another hatch, shooting the whole arsenal. Fire onslaught was so devastating so the opposition was suppressed. Four minutes later it was all over.

- Double set-off !!

Dux rushed to the captain's cabin.

Luxury, he saw surpassed all his expectations. It was a small Hong Kong Palace of Skull in miniature. The cabin can be change into a huge display showing all kinds of Steve’s Jobs modern wonders of the technology. On the ceiling there was a moving celestial sphere, some small lives were buzzing, like big colorful fruit fly, and there were hung incredibly beautiful cuttles, streptocarpuses and clerodendrum on the walls. In the depths there was twisting duplicated shining plasma globe. One could see the tanker and moving people. On the table there was a cigar. Colonel came to the ashtray. It had a slight smell.

- Five minutes ago he was here!

He sniffed the cigar. It was the Cohiba humidor mesa Aniversario Robustos twenty-eight thousand dollars for a cigar.

- The rich also have their quirks.

There were six minutes left. Dux rushed to the bedroom. He had never seen such bed. Its seize surprised him. But the bed made incredible waves, like a calm sea. The ceiling, also seemed to move to the beat of the finest swaying curtains of the alcove, and the walls were like clear floating horizon clouds and summer lightning. Colonel’s jaw dropped.

In the center of the bed there was Olivia who aimed at Dux’ face.

Colonel widely smiled, and began to approach her, despite of the fact that she waved ominously elegant instructors little silver pistol.

- Where is Skull, amiga mia?

- I am instead of him! - She said.

- Do you have a task?

- Yeah, to kill you, dear!

The distance between them shortened. And she shot. If there weren’t tens of years of daily training, he certainly would have been killed. He was saved by the whole set of knowledge about the shooting to kill. The bullet hardly touched slid on his chest, tore the service jacket and burned his heart.