"David Drake - Piet Ricimer 02 - Through the Breach UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

I'd heard that the aide now with Ricimer, Stephen
Gregg, was a conscienceless killer. My first glimpse of
the man was both a relief and a disappointment. Gregg
was big, true; but he looked empty, no more dangerous
than a suit of ceramic armor waiting for someone to put
it on. Blond and pale, Gregg could have been handsome
if his features were more animated.
Whereas General Commander Ricimer wasn't ...
pretty, say, the way women enough have found me, but
the fire in the man's soul gleamed through every atom of
his physical person. Ricimer's glance and quick smile
were genuinely friendly, while Gregg's more lingering
appraisal was ...
Maybe Stephen Gregg wasn't as empty as I'd first
thought.
"Thank you, Guillermo," said Ricimer. "Has Captain
Macquerie arrived?"
Not yet," the slave replied. "I'll alert you when he
does." Guillermo's diction was excellent, though his
tongueless mouth clipped the sibilant. He closed the
door behind him, shutting out the bustle of the pub-
lic bar.






2 David Drake

Guillermo was a chitinous biped with a triangular face
and a pink sash-of-office worn bandolier fashion over one
shoulder. I'd never been so close to a Molt slave before.
There weren't many in the Solar System and fewer still
on Venus. Their planet of origin was unknown, but their
present province was the entire region of space mankind
had colonized before the Collapse.
Molts remained and prospered on worlds from which
men had vanished. Now, with man's return to the stars, the
aliens' racial memory made them additionally valuable:
Molts could operate the pre-Collapse machinery which
survived on some outworlds.
"Well, Mister Moore," Ricimer said. "What are your
qualifications for the Asteroid Expedition?"
"Well, I've not myself been involved in off-planet trade,
sir," I said, trying to look earnest and superior, "but I'm a
gentleman, you see, and thus an asset to any proposal. My
father-may he continue well-is Moore of Rhadicund.
Ah-"
The two spacemen watched me: Ricimer with amuse-