"Foster, Alan Dean - Flinx - Bloodhype" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

small. About 10 cms by 20 by 20, with a slightly concave top. It was packed
solidly among other containers of myriad shapes, sizes, and colors. He
vaguely remembered the crate as being full of class?C luxury goods. A
diverse collection.

The small case was half out of its assigned spot, indicating that the
would?be thieves had discovered it just as he'd arrived. He entertained
brief thoughts of leaving it untouched. Mal had had occasional dealings
with Rose in the past. The old man had accrued a certain amount of power.
Although on a major planet he would have to strive to be noticed, on Repler
he could wield a definite amount of heft. He stayed just the right side of
legal, meaning he paid taxes.

Mal was a little surprised when the small box opened with the merest touch
of the laser. It might be a trick. One device many people used to protect
valuables was not to protect them at all but to give the impression of
their not being valuable. Once the initial cut was made, the plastic rolled
back easily enough. A sturdy case of some silvery metal was revealed
beneath. He lifted it out of its plastic casing and held it up to the dim
warehouse lighting. It was attractively engraved, although clearly
machine?cut. The decorative etchings cut into the metal were recognizably
Largessian. A modest thing, certainly. Hardly worth the expensive and
highly illegal efforts of two men to recover secretly.

There was a simple combination lock and snaplatch on the box. He could have
used the laser, but if it proved necessary to repair the box a simple break
would be easier to explain than a weltcm. The latch snapped on the third
tug, just as he was beginning to fear that it was stronger than it looked
and that he might have to use the pistol after all. The cover sprang back
to reveal ten bottles of a slightly greenish cast. Each bottle of cut
crystal was filled with a different colored powder. On the inside of the
box cover was a printed key, It located the bottles below and gave their
contents in thranx, terranglo, symbospeech, and formal largo:

These special spices have been carefully selected by the professional staff
of Sirial Foods, Inc., Lo add exotic and tasteful seasoning to any organic
vegetable dish with o cellulose content al at least 90%. Exceptions and/or
maximum recommended servings for .. .

There followed a comprehensive list of races and species, with specialized
information for each spice printed inside a small booklet resting on top of
the bottles. This went into detail on which being could consume what spice
and in what quantity, with effects varying from unappetizing and mildly
corrosive at worst to aphrodisiacal at best. The mufti?lingual instructions
indicated that the contents were marketed over a wide section of the
Commonwealth and perhaps even outside it. If the machined box was any
indication, the spices were a high volume item. But that didn't jibe with
its being shipped as a luxury good. Still, maybe the old man was primates
fat Largessian spices and wanted to insure their arrival.