Consider Phlebas excerpt

An excerpt from Consider Phlebas, a stunning scene where Horza does away with the man the changer has been slowly transforming his body into. Kraiklyn was not a nice guy at all, but the fight is brutal and reveals the viciousness of the assassin.

‘Fine. Stop,’ Horza said. The Hover stopped, sinking on its skirts. ‘Thanks.’ Horza got out, still facing the man and the white-haired woman.

‘You’re just lucky you didn’t try anything,’ the man said angrily, nodding sharply, his eyes glistening.

‘I know,’ Horza said. ‘Bye now,’ he winked at the white-haired woman. She turned and made what he suspected was an obscene gesture with on finger. The hover rose, blasted forward, then skidded round and roared off the way it had come. Horza looked back at the sub-plate shaft entrance, where the three people who had got out of the car stood silhouetted against the light inside. One of the might have looked back down the dock towards Horza; he wasn’t sure they did, but he shrank back into the shadows of the crane above him.

-

He got to his feet, ducking as he thought of whirling impeller blades just overhead. He felt like a puppet being controlled by a drunk. He swaggered forward, his arms out, and hit Kraiklyn. They started to fall again, and Horza let go, punching with all his might at the place he guessed the man’s head was. His fist crashed into bone, but he didn’t know where. He skipped back, in case there was a retaliatory kick or punch on its way. His ears were popping; his head felt tight. He could feel his eyes vibrating in their sockets; he thought he was deaf but he could feel a thudding in his chest and throat., making him breathless, making him choke and gasp. He could make out just a hint of a border of light all around them, as though they were under the middle of the hovercraft. He saw something, just an area of darkness, on that border, and lunged at it, swinging his foot from low down. Again he connected, and the dark part of the border disappeared.

He was blown from his feet by a crunching down-draught of air and tumbled bodily along the concrete, thumping into Kraiklyn where he lay on the ground after Horza’s last kick. Another punch hit Horza on the head, but it was weak and hardly hurt. Horza felt for and found Kraiklyn’s head. He lifted it and banged it off the concrete, then did it again. Kraiklyn struggled, but his hands beat uselessly off Horza’s shoulders and chest. The area of lightness beyond the dim shape on the ground was enlarging, coming closer. Horza banged Kraiklyn’s head against the concrete one more time, then threw himself flat. The read edge of the skirt scrubbed over him; his ribs ached and his skull felt as though somebody was standing on it. Then it was over, and they were in open air.

The big craft thundered on, trailing remnants of spray. There was another one fifty meters down the dock and heading towards him.

Kraiklyn was lying still, a couple of meters away.

Horza got up onto all fours and crawled over to the other man. He looked down into the eyes, which moved a little.

‘I’m Horza! Horza!’ he screamed, but couldn’t even hear anything himself.

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note: Blogspot really stuffs up the formating, but it really can't be helped...or at least I don't know how to stop it doing so.