"Alan Dean Foster - Flinx 5 - Flinx in Flux" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

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his very ordinariness made him the most dangerous member of the group. It
allowed him to move unobserved in a crowd, to peer over people's shoulders
without drawing attention to himself, to wear the garb of harmlessness.
His profession was equally innocuous. So was his private life. Not even his wife
suspected his membership in the organization. She would have been startled to
learn that he was one of the six ranking officials of what she thought was a
harmless fraternal business society.
Yet whenever Lizard discussed matters dear to the heart of the organization, a
sudden change came over him. His expression would tighten, and a nervous tic
would begin in his left eye, increasing or lessening in intensity according to
the passion of his speech.
At the moment he was in complete control of his emotions. Cool heads were needed
now that they had decided to announce themselves to a corrupt civilization. Cool
heads would be needed to carry out their mission successfully. Lizard had acted
as the organization's point man on more than one occasion.
He was also responsible for the oversized image that now flashed on the wall
opposite Spider's seat. Neither the table nor the walls nor the floor appeared
to conceal anything as sophisticated as a holographic projector, which was a
tribute to Lizard's abilities. He could make machinery blend into ordinary
surroundings with the same ease with which he blended into a crowd. Homogenizing
technology, he called it.
The hologram showed a small portion of the galaxy. As the six looked on, it
shrank until only the stars of the Commonwealth were visible. The view narrowed
further until they were looking at an unspectacular star orbited by only five
planets.
When the view reached the third planet out, it halted and the image of a world
began to pirouette before them like a dancer on a stage. Lizard resumed his
talk, statistics spilling from his mouth. His colleagues showed only passing
interest in information about gravity and diameter. What interested them was the
world's unique and heretofore undisturbed ecology.
"Longtunnel," Lizard was saying. "Only a minuscule portion's been explored so
far, but enough to hint at the natural marvels the place contains. Though the
atmosphere's quite breathable, the climate's inhospitable in the extreme. A
tough place to move around on."
"Thanks for small blessings," Ormega whispered.
"Too small, sadly." Lizard's left eyebrow began to twitch. "You know what the
enemy's like. If they see a profit, the weather's not going to be enough to stop
them." He returned his attention to the holo.
"Only one settlement so far. Little more than a scientific outpost." He gestured
with a finger. Responding to his directional body heat, the image reacted by
becoming a slightly curved section of planetary surface. Complex cloud patterns
boiled above it.
"The one company we're particularly concerned about isn't a branch of a major
Trading House." His eyes glittered, and vitriol stained his voice. "Their small
size, however, has not minimized the amount of damage they've been able to do in
a short time. The speed with which they brought that pitiful Verdidion Weave