"L. Sprague De Camp - The Queen of Zamba" - читать интересную книгу автора (De Camp L Sprague)

the gravel of the Novorecife drive.
Beside him on the seat, Ruis said: "Give him a looser rein, Senhor Victor. And you must learn not to speak
to him in so harsh a tone. You hurt his feel-ings."
"Tamates, are they as sensitive as all that?"
"SoтАФyes. The Krishnans carefully grade the tones in which they speak to their beastsтАФ"
The drumming of the aya's six hoofs mingled with Ruis's chatter to put Hasselborg into a slight trance. He
smiled a little as he thought: No comic-book here he, with ballet suit, ray gun, and one-man rocket. In-stead
he was about to invade the planet Krishna in this silly native outfit with its divided kilt, wearing a sword, and
driving a buggy!
It had been some weeks before by subjective time that Hasselborg had drawn on his client's expensive
cigar and asked: "What makes you think your daughter has gone off Earth?"
He watched Batruni narrowly. Although at first he had been ready to dislike the man, he was now
be-ginning to think the textile manufacturer a friendly, generous, well-intentioned sort, if inclined to be
lach-rymose.
Yussuf Batruni shifted his paunch and blew his nose. Hasselborg, visualizing hordes of germs flying out of
Batruni's nostrils, shrank back a little.
Batruni said: "She talked about it for months be-fore she disappeared, and she read books. You know, The
Planet of Romance, The Martian's Vengeance, and trash like that."
Hasselborg nodded. "Go on."
"She had enough money for the trip. I fear I gave her more than was good for a young girl alone in London.
But she was all the family I had, so nothing was too goodтАФ" His voice caught and he shrugged sadly.
"I'll go over her belongings," said Hasselborg. "Meanwhile, do you think she went with somebody?"
"What do you mean?"
"I said, d'you think she went with somebody? And I don't mean your Aunt Susie, either."
"IтАФ" Batruni stiffened, then checked himself. "Ex-cuse me. Where I come from, we take care of our
daughters' virtue, so I cannot helpтАФ But, now that you bring it up, I am afraid the answer is yes."
Hasselborg smiled cynically. "The Levant ought to advertise its virgins the way Egypt does its pyramids.
Who's the man?"
"I do not know."
"Then how d'you know there is one?"
"There are onlyтАФlittle things. Nothing you can put a finger on. On my last trip to London, when I asked her
about her young men, she evaded. Talked about other things. That was a big change from the times before,
when I would learn every detail of the young man's appearance and habits whether I was in-terested or
not."
"Don't you suspect anybody in particular?"
"No, just a vague general suspicion. You are the detective; you draw the inferences."
"I will," promised Hasselborg. "As soon as I've looked over her apartment, I'll wire Barcelona for the
passenger lists of all the spaceships that have left in the last month. She couldn't get away under an
as-sumed name, you know, because her prints would be
checked against the European Central File as a mat-ter of routine."
"That will be good," said Batruni, looking out of the window into a fog that had so far defied the ef-forts of
the fog sweepers. His great Levantine nose showed in profile. "Do not spare the expense, and when you
find where she has gone, follow her on the very next ship."
"Wait a minute!" said Hasselborg. "To chase some-body on another planet takes preparation: special
equipment, trainingтАФ"
"The very next!" said Batruni, beginning to wave his hands. "Do you think I like sitting around? Speed is of
the utmost importance. I will pay you a bonus for speed. Have you never heard of the early bird, Mr.
Hasselborg?"
"Yeah, and I've also heard of the early worm," said Hasselborg. "Nobody gives him a thought."
"Well, this is no joke. If you cannot hurry, I will go toтАФ" He broke off in a fit of sneezing.