"Alan Dean Foster - Empowered" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

"This is all that Kreiger's fault," Earth Spirit growled.
"Maybe. You can't do anything about him, though. He's had a restraining order
put on you. You can't go near him."
"Why would I want to go near him? He's in jail, where his kind belong."
"Are you kidding? His lawyers had him out of the hospital and back on the street
in forty-eight hours. Bail."
Earth Spirit rubbed at his forehead, above the mask. "Is there much more of
this?"
"It's not all bad news." French inspected fresh paper. "Mattel wants to start a line
of 'Earth Spirit' toys. Two major fashion houses want to license your costume as the
basis for new lines of men's clothing. Oprah, Jay, Phil, and Joan all want you for
interviews. Time and Newsweek are preparing featuresтАж you can't buy that kind of
publicity. CAA and William Morris are vying to represent you on the coast, and each
claims to have multi-picture deals already cut and waiting for your signature.
Personally, I'd go with CAA. They already have Hoffman committed to play Kreiger.
"There are book offers all over the place, and I think that with your okay I can get
this incipient Kitty Kelly expose nipped in the bud. We'll also make arrangements to
protect you from the people at Hard Copy, Inside Edition, and Geraldo, though
even I can't do much about the tabloids. Have you seen the Enquirer or the Star this
week? No, of course you haven't."
Earth Spirit looked up. "That's the good news?"
"Impressive, isn't it? You stand to make millions. Of course, there's the matter of
my firm's fee, but I'm sure we can come to an equitable arrangement. Oh, one other
thing."
"I can't imagine."
"The FAA wants you to cease and desist all this flying about. They're worried
about your influence on air-traffic patterns. Better you should take a cab."
 "To fight crime?"
"Why not? The cabbies in this town can get around pretty good."
"What about the government? Why should I have to worry about tax returns? I
have no income."
"You're going to. You might as well cash the checks as they come in because
nobody'll believe you don't have any income anyway. It's un-American. Don't worry.
The accountancy firm that's associated with us will make it effortless for you. And
you can use the leftover money to fight crime in whatever way you wish. If there is
any."
"Crime?" Earth Spirit murmured uncertainly.
"No. Leftover money."
The green one rose dynamically from his chair and began to pace, fingers flexing
like questing stems behind his back. "All I wanted was to help people and battle the
forces of evil."
"And you can, you can," French insisted soothingly. "It's just a question of going
about it in a careful, intelligent wayтАж and making sure all the proper forms are filled
out and filed beforehand."
Earth Spirit halted abruptly, and French flinched. After all, the fellow did have
superpowersтАж and was doubtless a little off to boot. That bizarre outfitтАж
"All right," he said finally. "I'll hire your firm. On a case contingency basis. Get
me clear of this Vaan Pelsen's business and then we'll see."
"That's fair enough." French rose, and they shook hands.
"Would you like me to have my friends ease you down the mountain?" Earth