"Ron Goulart - A Whiff of Madness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goulart Ron)

free. "I vowed I'd horsewhip any man who daredтАФ "
"Is that what that is you're clutching, a horsewhip?"
"Yes, and you little realize the trouble I had procuring this one! Since there are no horses here on
Barnum, I had to have this one teleported all the way fromтАФ"
"Lorna, did you say?" Summer reached into a pocket of his tunic. "It's possible I do remember
her after all. Let me consult my addresswheel and perhaps ..." A stungun appeared in Summer's tan hand.
He fired directly at the outraged husband.
The lizardman froze, horsewhip half raised.
Summer put his gun away, gestured at two guards across the publishing building lobby. "Dump
this guy someplace," he suggested.
The catman guard said, "Golly, Summer, you roving reporters surely lead a roguish life."
The other, a chubby human, asked, "Did you really run off with this gent's wife?"
"No, but I think maybe she's the blond who grabbed my private parts during the masked ball on
the spaceliner trip back from Neptune," answered the reporter. "Lord knows who she really ran off
with."
"Ah, the muckraking life." The catman sighed while taking hold of the stunned lizard by the
elbow. "Standing guard for Mr. Coult you never get your private parts grтАФ"
"Should a ravishing blond, with her hair over one eye like this, show up in quest of me tell her I've
been sent to some planet like Murdstone to do a Muckrake Magazine story."
"Sure thing, Summer," said the chubby guard. "Would you mind if I made a play forтАФ"
"Nope, that would be an excellent idea." He left them, then hurried across to an ascend tube.
A naked black girl was standing next to the entrance door. "Welcome back, Jack."
"Hi, Nardis" The door whooshed open and he allowed her to enter the chute ahead of him.
"I hope this thing lets me out on the right floor this time," said Nardis. "I'm due up at Galactic
Knitting to pose for a cover."
The powerful currents of air wafted them upward. "I didn't know you could knit."
She scratched a buttock. "Oh, yes, I have terrible domestic urges sometimes. Last night I baked
a pie. I suppose I ought to get help."
"Or move to another planet. Now on Neptune, in the Earth System, they stillтАФ"
"I read the pieces you did from Neptune, Jack, on that water rights scandal. Very incisive."
A door opened and Summer was tossed out of the chute before he could reply. Joyous
pipe-organ music surrounded him on his way to the Muckrake editorial-floor reception desk. "Hello,
Pepper."
The lovely green girl kneeling behind the dark-wood desk said, "Oh, howdy, Jack. Excuse me if
I don't give you a welcome-back hug."
Summer was studying the stained glass windows and the icons, sniffing at the incense smell in the
air. "Coult changed the decor again."
"His wife did."
"I thought she favored Old West Earth."
"Different wife," replied Pepper. "Mr. Flowers is in the conference room down at the end of
Corridor C. Oh, and don't forget to genuflect before you go in."
"I'll try. Bye, Pepper."
"Thought your pieces on the Neptune water business were very incisive, Jack."
 "Thanks."
The organ music followed him down the somber corridors and into the large Gothic cathedral
which was apparently the new editorial conference room. "Fred?"
"Up here, Jack." His weary, lanky editor was seated in a pew toward the front of the church,
near a lifesize statue of a four-armed blue saint. "Here under Blessed Mother Malley."
Overcoming an impulse to tiptoe, the reporter strode down to sit next to Fred Flowers. "This
wife's taste isn't quite up to the last one."