"Anderson, Poul - 1964 Nicholas Van Rijn 02 - Trader to the Stars 1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anderson Poul)

finished the cigarette. Further down the corridor, Yama-
mura's men got their captive secured to a steel frame-
work. Unharmed but helpless, the brute yelped and tried to
bite as the engineer approached with his equipment. Re-
turning him to the cubicle afterward was likely to be al-
most as tough as getting hiD) out.
Torrance rose. Through the transparent wall, he saw a
female gorilloid viciously pulling something to shreds,
and realized he had lost his turban when he was knocked
over. He sighed. "Nothing much we can do till Yamamura
gives us a verdict," he said. "Come on, let's go rest a
while."
"Sick bay first," said Ieri firmly. She took his arm. They
went to the entry hole, through the tube, and into the steady
half-weight of the Hebe G.B. which Van Rijn preferred.
Little was said while Ieri got Torrance's shirt off, swabbed
the wound with universal disinfectant, which stung like
hell, and bandaged it. Afterward he suggested a drink.
They entered the saloon. To their surprise, and to Tor-
rance's displeasure, Van Rijn was there. He sat at the
inlaid mahogany table, dressed in snuff-stained lace and
his usual sarong, a bottle in one hand and a Trichinopoly
cigar in the other. A litter of papers lay before him.
"Ah, so," he said, glancing up. "What gives?"
"They're testing a gorilloid now." Torrance flung him-
self into a chair. Since the steward had been drafted for
the capture party, Ieri went after drinks. Her voice floated
back, defiant:
"Captain Torrance was almost killed in the process.
Couldn't you at least come watch, Nick?"
"What use I should watch, like some tourist with had-
dock eyes?" scoffed the merchant. "I make no skeletons
about it, I am too old and fat to help chase large econ-
omy-size apes. Nor am I so technical I can twiddle knobs
for Yamamura." He took a puff of his cigar and added
complacently, "Besides, that is not my job. I am no
kind of specialist, I have no fine university degrees, I
learned in the school of hard knockers. But what I learned
is how to make men do things for me, and then how to
make something profitable from all their doings."
Torrance breathed out, long and slow. With the tension
eased, he was beginning to feel immensely tired. "What'~e
you checking over?" he asked.
"Reports of engineer studies on the Ekser ship," said
Van Rijn. "I told everybody should take full notes on
what they observed. Somewhere in those notes is maybe
a clue we can use. If the gorilloids are not the Eksers, I
mean. The gorilloids are possible, and I see no way to
eliminate them except by Yamamura's checkers."
Torrance rubbed his eyes. "They're not entirely plaus-