"Stephen Goldin - The Sword Unswayed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

She shook her head. "No, other than that everything looked as it normally did." She paused and looked
into the phone at her old friend. "I haven't been much help, have I?"

Rabinowitz shrugged. "As Dostoevsky said, God sets us nothing but riddles. Sometimes we're lucky
enough to find a few answers." She sighed again. "But sometimes it takes a lot more luck than others."

***

The police on K'tolu'tan were not at all helpful. They would not transmit visually and refused point blank
to answer Rabinowitz's questions -- and once she explained she was investigating on behalf of Bian Dinh,
they became downright rude. Even if she teeped to K'tolu'tan, Rabinowitz would not be allowed to
inspect the murder site. She had no authority in this matter, and the police intended to keep it that way.

"Something brilliant, the man says," Rabinowitz muttered as she broke the connection. "I feel about as
brilliant as a velvet rhinestone. Bian was always good at digging her own grave. I don't know if I can
exhume her this time. I don't even know if I should bother."

Her computer reminded her she had a conference call scheduled, and for the next hour and a half she put
her friend's problems aside to deal with her own business. She finished the call and started to make
herself some lunch when the phone rang with a call from K'tolu'tan. She didn't recognize the person's
name, but she took the call anyway.

"Shallow tides, Deborah Rabinowitz," said the person at the other end of the line. Dinh had been right;
the K'tolu'tanou _did_ look like soft-shelled crabs. "I am called F'tim-Saa. Your beloved, Bian Dinh, told
me I must speak with you."

"My _what?_" Despite almost two decades of dealing with approximate translations over interstellar data
loops, the term still caught her by surprise.

"`Beloved.' At least, that was how my machine interpreted Bian Dinh's word."

"I'd better have a talk with Bian," Rabinowitz muttered to herself, adding more loudly, "Does your
machine have a term for old friend, comrade, buddy?"

"Yes, certainly."

"Well, those terms are probably more accurate these days. I presume your call has some bearing on the
death of P'tar'houn-Hoc."

"I believe it does. I was his second-down, in charge of implementing his business."

"Ah yes, now I remember your name. Bian did mention you. You may turn out to be a godsend,
someone who can fill me in on local customs and practices. Bian is very intelligent, but she has a tendency
to leap into the middle of situations without fully analyzing them. Always with the best of intentions, but . .
.well, I'm sure you understand the problem. Any help you can give me in understanding what's happening
on K'tolu'tan will be greatly appreciated."

She paused. "Um, for instance, I apologize for my ignorance about your customs, but is there some
honorific or title I should address you by?"