"Dickson, Gordon - Dragon And The George Txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

"Well, my real name is James-Jim Eckert," he said. "But I seem to be in the body of a dragon named Gorbash."

"And this," said S. Carolinus, wincing and massag- ing bis stomach, "disturbs you, I gather." He closed his eyes and added faintly, "Do you know anything that's good for an unending stomach ache? Of course not. Go on."

"I'm afraid not. Well, the thing is- Wait a min- ute. Are you talking dragon, or am I talking whatever language you're talking?"

"If there's a language called 'dragon,'" said S. Car- olinus, grumpily, "naturally, you're talking it. If you were talking it, I'd be talking it with you-naturally. Actually we're simply talking. Will you stick to the point? Go on about yourself."

"But, I mean, do dragons and humans here- I mean georges-speak the same language? I mean, I seem to be speaking your language, not mine-"

"Why not?" Carolinus said, closing his eyes. "In the domain of the Powers there is only one language pos- sible-by definition. And if you're not talking to the point in five seconds, you're a beetle, on general prin- ciples."

"Oh. All right. Well," Jim explained, "the thing is, I'm not so interested in getting out of this dragon- body as I am in getting back to where. I came from. My-uh-Angie, the girl I'm going to marry-"

"Yes, yes, on October thirteenth," said Carolinus impatiently. "Get on with it."

"October thirteenth? This October? You mean in just three weeks?"

"You heard me."

"But, I mean-so soon? We didn't hope-"

Carolinus opened his eyes. He did not mention bee- tles, but Jim understood immediately.

"Angie-" he began hurriedly.

"Who is where?" Carolinus interrupted. "You're here. Where's this Angie?"

"At the dragon cave."

"She's a dragon, too, then?"

"No, she's human."

"I see the difficulty."

"Well, yes- No," said Jim. "I don't think you do. The difficulty is, I can send her back, but possibly I can't get back myself; and she won't go without me. Look, maybe I better tell you the whole story from the beginning."

"Brilliant suggestion," said Carolinus, wincing and closing his eyes again.

"You see," said Jim, "I'm a teaching assistant at a place called Riveroak College. Actually, I ought to be an instructor in the English Department..." He ran rapidly over the whole situation.

"I see," Carolinus replied, opening his eyes finally. "You're sure about all this, now? You wouldn't prefer to change your story to something simpler and more reasonable-like being a prince ensorceled into a dragon by a rival with access to one of those Inner Kingdom charlatans? No?" He sighed heavily and winced again. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"We thought you might be able to send both Angie and myself back where we belong."

"Possible. Difficult, of course. But I suppose I could manage, given time and a proper balance between Chance and History. All right. That'll be five hundred pounds of gold or five pounds of rubies, payable in advance."

"What?" 1 "Why not?" Carolinus inquired, frostily. "It's a fair fee."