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

"The way you helped me by dumping this problem in my lap?"

"Excuse me? Who dumped what? I seem to remember a late night `life-or-death' phone call. It's not
_my_ old college chum trying to pervert the morals of an entire planet."

"Look, I just learned what trials are like on K'tolu'tan and I'm feeling pretty crabby. I'm staging the
Scottish play, I'm dreaming _Richard III,_ and now I've got to go star in _The Merchant of Venice._
Not to mention any of my real work, which is hanging in midair while I juggle all the other pieces. I don't
have time to watch you practice your boyish charm."

"Not even if I brought you something to help you?"

"Like a notarized confession from P'tar'houn-Hoc's killer?"

"Maybe as good." He took a paper from his jacket pocket. "This is the rental slip for the robot that
attacked you the night of what's-his-name's murder. It was paid for from the account of someone named
K'anal'orb. I understand he's a high-soaring preacher or something."
"Do the authorities on K'tolu'tan know about this?"

"Where do you think I got it? They've even questioned him about it. He claims he was preaching in front
of a thousand people at the time of the attack. Some flimsy alibi like that."

"Then how did his account number get attached to the rental?"

"He has a whole staff of adoring followers running his organization. He says there are something like thirty
people authorized to use his account. From what I gather, the police haven't checked more thoroughly
than that."

"So we've just added thirty suspects. What good does this do me?"

"Maybe you can try to introduce some reasonable doubt. At any rate, it might give you something to zero
in on."

"The trial is tomorrow morning. The only thing I'll zero in on is your head if you're not out of here in thirty
seconds."

Hoy smiled. "I go, I go; look how I go."

She stared, bemused, as the door closed behind him. "The boy's learning something. I may civilize him
yet."

***

The recording arrived two hours later. She had asked F'tim to send her a holo of K'anal'orb in action,
and F'tim had assured her such recordings were readily available. Although she had no way to know for
certain whether K'anal'orb would attend the trial, it seemed a pretty safe bet he'd want to milk this for
everything it was worth. And since the verdict was by majority vote, he'd pack the courtroom with as
many of his followers as possible to guarantee the outcome he wanted: death to the alien subverter.