"Eric Flint - The Philosophical Strangler" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Eric)

earth to get the hunt called off."
"Under other circumstances, no doubt he would." Greyboar rubbed his nose thoughtfully. "I think
our best bet's to make for Prygg. I know the captain of the guard at the southeast gate; we can bribe
him. And once we get to Prygg, Magrit'll put us up till the heat's off. Have to do a job for her, of
course. No freebies from Magrit. Proper witch, she is."
"What're you running onтАФ" A queasy feeling came to my stomach. "Wait a minute. What d'you
mean, 'under other circumstances'?"
Greyboar looked at me, surprised. "Those circumstances under which the Prince would call off the
hunt."
"But why wouldn't heтАФ" A very queasy feeling. "You've seen him!"
"Last night."
"Why? Rashkuta had the moneyтАФI collected it."
"Money." He waved the subject away. "To refute his disrespect for philosophy. ImagineтАФhiring
me to strangle my own guru!"
"To refute his disrespect for philosophy?"
"Well, naturally, what did you expect? I found it necessary to acquaint him with the second law of
thermodynamics."
"YouтАФwhat? What did you say to him?"
"Say to him? Nothing."
I was on my feet. "What did you do to the Prince?"
"I aligned him with Time's Arrow."
I was hopping up and down in a fury. "What does all that gibberish mean?"
Greyboar grinned, a cavern in the abyss.
"The Prince has achieved maximum entropy."
 PART I: THESIS

Chapter 1.
The Sign of the Trough

But that was all in the past. Ancient history. Forgotten unpleas-
antness.
Things were looking up!
First of all, we were back in New Sfinctr.
Not many people, I'll admit, would share my delight at returning to New Sfinctr. Home town or not,
the simple truth is that the place is a pesthole, even by the standards of Grotum. "Armpit of the
continent," they call it, when they're not calling it something obscene. But it was a great city for a
strangler and his agent. Business opportunities everywhere, you tripped over them.
As soon as we arrived back in town, of course, I headed straight off to The Sign of the Trough. Best
ale in the world they've got at The Trough. Although I'll admit The Swill As You Will in Prygg comes
in a very close second. And the Free Lunch in the Mutt is always entitled to honorable mention.
But before we go any further in our story, I should take the time here to describe the setting. Much
of the actionтАФand most of the thinkingтАФwill transpire in this sacred place.
The lowlife's temple. The world's finest alehouse.
The Sign of the Trough.
It's in the Flankn. New Sfinctr's Thieves' Quarter, as I believe I mentioned. Right in the very center
of it, in fact. The heart and soul of the Flankn, The Trough's often been called.
From the outside, The Trough looks like a huge buildingтАФbunch of buildings, maybe, all crunched
into each other; it's hard to tellтАФsome three or four stories tall, depending on which angle you look at it
and how drunk you are. (Rumor has it that some of the towers are five stories tall. Could be.) The thing
covers an entire block, andтАФI'm talking frivolous architecture, here, not serious drinkingтАФmakes