"Asimov, Isaac - Robot Mystery - Chimera" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asimov Isaac)

"Wore a mask. Not too big, though, but--"
"Nobody stopped her?"
"The other one was with her, stayed outside. "
"You don't know where Jeta might have gone?"
"No," the man insisted.
Coren grunted. He took a gamble. "Who's Seven?"
The man frowned. " 'Seven'? I don't know..." He seemed honestly ignorant, so Coren dropped it.
"Did these gatos talk to anybody else?"
"Might have." The man paused, thought it over for a moment. "Yes, did. Cobbel and Renz. They got the first cubes at the edge."
Coren suppressed a smile. "What did this tall gato sound like?"
"Kind of raspy-voiced, like he had trouble breathing. But it came out of his chest, real deep. Cobbel and Renz didn't like him too much. "
"Did the woman talk to anyone?"
"No."
Coren considered. Then he stood. "All right, thanks. I'm not here to hurt Jeta. You tell her the gato that paid her twice market for that last data she sold needs to talk to her again. Tell her to find me if she wants to stay alive. Savvy?"
"How'll she find you?"
"Same way she found what I wanted. She'll know. You see her, you tell her to stay on the move, though. "
"Serious shit?" the man asked.
Coren nodded. "Very. "
He backed out of the cubicle and reentered Jeta's cube. He took out his palm monitor and adjusted it, then turned a slow circle till a light flashed red.
From up in the corner, tucked in a crack between the wall and the ceiling, he removed a small button. He repeated the scan and found another one, on her desk amid a jumble of electronics, pretending to be a relay switch.
If there were more, his monitor missed them. He opened a slot in the side of the monitor and dropped them in. They barely fit.
At the edge of the hab collection, he paused. Then he knocked on the nearest door.
A woman looked out at him. She said nothing, only waited expectantly.
"Cobbel or Renz?" Coren said.
"Renz. What?"
"The tall gato talked to you about Jeta Fromm."
She frowned. "What about him?"
"Did he give you a code to tap if you found Jeta?"
"You police?"
"Private. "
"Ah." She stepped out. She was quite a bit shorter than he, surprisingly so. "He tapped us. Ears allover the place. Cobbel's still looking for all of them. We figured that, when he didn't give us a code. "
"He knew you'd lie."
Rena shook her head. "Wouldn't lie." She smiled. "Wouldn't tell him anything. "
"What was he like?"
She frowned again, thoughtfully. "Scary shit. Never blinked. Skin looked wrong. "
"Wrong how?"
"Don't know. Just wrong. Diseased, maybe. Too smooth. No veins." She studied him narrowly. " Jeta's in trouble."
"Looks that way. Bad trouble."
"You trying to help?"
"My fault. Trying to cover accounts."
Renz nodded. "You won't find her. Best she finds you. "
"If you see her, tell her. I need to talk to her."
"Ain't seen her in a few days. She knows how to find you?"
Coren nodded. "I don't think there's much Jeta can't find. Do you?"
That elicited a sly smile.
"Just out of curiosity," Coren asked, "how long has she lived here? People in her profession move a lot, I know."
"Long enough," Renz said. "longer than most--three months or so. "
Coren nodded. That was a long time--for a data troll.
"I'm going, " Coren said. "You see her, tell her. I need to talk to her soonest."
He went to the steps. He glanced back and saw people watching him now, openly. Something had passed through here that had scared them.